Tag Archives: winter

It is what it is

Posted on by

3

I will freely admit that I don’t really like to go out in the rain to shoot but when that’s what we have and it is foggy, and I haven’t been out with a camera for a few days, well, it’s that or nothing.


I seldom have anything but the most general expectation for what I will find, this morning it was ‘there will be fog’.  Sure enough, there was fog and it works well to separate subject from background.

I made a print of the image above and I was surprised at how well it works.  Part of the reason was the condition of the weather but another important factor was the software I used to sharpen the image.  For a variety of reasons a digital camera softens the image a bit and it makes all the difference to get the sharpness back and accentuate it some.  There are lots of ways of sharpening and the garden variety methods, in the hands of an expert, work very well.  I’m not an expert.  I have been using Pixel Genius’s most recent version of their sharpening software (PhotoKit Sharpener 2.0)  and it performs well beyond expectation.  One of its features is to produce an image that looks just lousy on the screen but works well as a print.  As it turns out, the process of printing introduces some softening too and their software accounts for that.  The image above used a different set of parameters for display on a monitor.


I was also pleased to get all the shots appropriately vertical.  I am forever tilting the camera one way or the other and then having to straighten the image in Photoshop or live with it.  Today all went well.


It’s really pretty funny when you think of it, but I was out with a couple of thousand dollars worth of equipment (camera, three lenses, good tripod, etc.) and one addition that saved the day  This was a plastic grocery bag I put over the camera as I was lining up the shot and leveling it.   This is not exactly in the same league as

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

But it was essential that the camera and lens not get too wet.  The plastic bag came through.

Paying attention

Posted on by

2

I suppose that someone walking through the woods on a beautiful day in the winter talking on a cell phone is staying in touch after a fashion.  They just aren’t in touch with what is around them.

Thomas Jefferson had something to say about this:

” A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprize, and independance to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks. Never think of taking a book with you.  The object of walking is to relax the mind.  You should therefore not permit yourself even to  think while you walk; but divert yourself by the objects surrounding you.  Walking is the best possible exercise.”

Nowadays, Mr. Jefferson wouldn’t have to take a gun with him, he could take a camera.  You can shoot with either device.  I have an idea he would have been an avid photographer.


The world around us goes on its merry way whether we pay attention to it or not.  And it’s beautiful whether we pay attention to it or not.


I had shot the same scene (below) the day before but it was overcast then and there were no shadows.


I couldn’t think of a good reason to go swimming, so I didn’t.  To use Jefferson’s words that would likely have been “too violent for the body” although it would probably have stamped “character on the mind”.


Watching the water from the bank was enough of an experience and one I’m likely to repeat.

Wondering in the trees

Posted on by

1

I really had no idea what I would be shooting today, I just knew I was going out.  The day was bright and around 20 degrees.  We haven’t had a great deal of snow but what there is, is hanging on.

I would like to say that I was ready to shoot anything that would stand still long enough but in the case of the image below, the seed pods were still for most of the 1/3200th of a second the shutter was open.  Otherwise they were moving pretty briskly.


I had to chase this one for awhile too.  Not exactly strenuous exercise but fun.


I’ve been doing more with sandwiching multiple images exposed for different lengths of time (high dynamic range or HDR).  This is part of a walnut plantation.

It reminds me of the Robert Frost poem, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ – ‘The woods are lovely, dark and deep.’  And like all of us, I have promises to keep.

Telephone survey

Posted on by

2

I got a call a few minutes ago; the fellow was doing a survey of in-home use of broadband, cellular, long distance and cable service.  I’m not really the one to talk to since I don’t watch TV and while I have a cell phone, I still have to read the customer instruction manual to figure out how to use it.  I believe it does have a camera on it and that might get some use.  But I was the senior male in the household so I got tagged for the survey.


As I was answering his questions, typically by saying ‘that does not apply’, I was thinking about which images from today’s shooting at Fort Harrison State Park I would include in this post.  There were shots of trees but they didn’t seem to have the same impact as simple dead weeds do in the snow.


Or, for that matter, water flowing among snow-covered rocks.  I took several shots and they all are different because the patterns in the water keep changing.  Fascinating to watch.


I remember several years ago watching a movie (on TV) where a fellow put his foot through the screen.  That seemed a bit extreme at the time.  It doesn’t seem odd at all now.


I don’t advocate watching less TV.  If you enjoy it, more power to you.  My interests are just different.  Not better or worse, just different.


I’ll probably go back and shoot more tomorrow.  I know I missed a lot of good stuff.  Especially close to the ground.  And close to the water.

Snowy day

Posted on by

4

We’ve had a few inches of snow so far today, enough to go out with the snowblower but not enough to argue against going out to shoot so it was off to Fort Harrison State Park.


Picnic tables have nice geometries in the winter.


Reflections are fascinating any time of the year but especially so in the winter when the snow outlines shapes.


When I was composing this shot of the tree I thought I would take out the little red flags with Photoshop but I find that they add to the composition.


I wouldn’t even have noticed these leaves in spring, summer or autumn.  But there they are in winter.


Maybe there will be more leaves tomorrow.  Probably, but I had better go check.

EcoLab at Marian University in Indianapolis

Posted on by

1

Becky and I went to look at the EcoLab at Marian University this morning.  Last night someone brought a picture of a cedar waxwing to our camera club and was talking about what a good place the EcoLab is to go to see birds.  So we went.  We did hear a couple of birds but didn’t see any.  That didn’t matter in the least.  This place is well worth visiting for the general photography possibilities.


It was gently snowing and that only added to the charm of the place.



When I saw the scene below I thought of the caption ‘Three Points of View’.


We’ll be going back, I’m sure of that.

Some days it’s ‘HEY!’ and some days it’s ‘pssst’

Posted on by

2

Subjects for the camera talk to me.  Not in so many words, but they do seem to communicate about how desirable they would be for image making.  Keeping in mind that this is a metaphor rather than what passes for ‘reality’, I’ll continue to describe our interaction as a conversation.  On some days, some subjects are pretty insistent in commanding attention.  It is as if they are yelling ‘HEY!’  Today was at the opposite end of the scale, subjects were whispering.  That is not to say they were intrinsically less interesting, they were just more subtle.


I could as easily have stepped on these leaves as notice them.  But once noticed they speak quietly and don’t repeat themselves.


Moving water doesn’t repeat itself either.


Same rock, slightly different cropping and different water.  The water is always different.

I’m listening to Joan Baez sing ‘I wonder as I wander‘ as I am writing this.  It’s a little easier to wonder if the conversation with the subjects is quiet.


Less is said.  More is heard.  And seen.


Good day to be out.  Good day to go wondering.

First shoot in awhile

Posted on by

2

Becky and I went out with our cameras this morning.  There were little rain squalls from time to time but not enough to worry about.  At first we thought we might go downtown Indianapolis, then we switched to maybe the Indianapolis Art Museum – we had gone there last New Year’s Eve day.  We were going across the Butler University campus and the fountain said ‘stop here.’  So we did.

Using it for a background was as close as I got to photographing the fountain and being happy with the result.

Reflections in the ice were interesting.


The leaves are dead but not altogether gone.



And there is a bell tower.


A very satisfying morning.

A day in the snow

Posted on by

2

It hadn’t snowed all that much, but there were about four inches of fresh snow on the ground and it was pulling several people – runners, sledders and a photographer – to Fort Harrison State Park on December 23, last Thursday.


Also some Canada geese.

I hadn’t been out shooting in a week and the feeling of being out in the open on a photogenic day can only be hinted at; I felt as if my soul were being fed.  I hadn’t gotten as far as feeling at one with what I saw but it was moving in that direction.


I tend to see my creative life as being BDP and IDP – Before Digital Photography and Into Digital Photography.  Being able to go out, shoot and get immediate feedback is doing a lot for me.  I would not claim that my experience is universal, but I do believe it is a good bet that total immersion in an avocation such as digital photography stimulates creativity and even nurtures mental health.


Through digital photography I’ve made new friends in the Photo Venture Camera Club, friends who share a passion for pointing a camera and doing something interesting with the result.  That also is a real plus.


Enough with the words.  I plan to go out again tomorrow morning.  I hope to see you there.

A special day: Afternoon

Posted on by

4

When I got back from shooting yesterday morning there was a message waiting saying my friend Sally was ready to go shoot.  Was I ready?  Yes.  We went over to Fort Harrison State Park.  A World War II re-enactment was going on so we chose a different part of the park.


We walked up along Fall Creek and, as was the case in the morning, there were lots of opportunities.





I wonder what today will bring?