Extreme Woodpecker
- At July 08, 2009
- By Jay
- In Uncategorized
- 0
There seems to be a new extreme sport soaring through the avian world these days: Extreme Pecking. Apparently the current World Champion resides nearby our cabin, and begins his training daily between 5:30 and 6AM. As a woodpecker, why peck wood when you can peck metal?
And not just any metal. Ones that are clearly labeled as dangerous. Not to be content at just high voltage signage, Woody also attacks the actual apparatus with vigor…
Needless to say his pecking is quite loud, particularly during the wee hours. I’ve also seeing him attack a nearby pedestrian crossing sign. Perhaps he’s not training for Extreme Pecking.
Maybe he’s coordinating an attack using Morse code with his fellow ‘peckers.
Extreme Woodpecker
- At July 08, 2009
- By Jay
- In Uncategorized
- 0
There seems to be a new extreme sport soaring through the avian world these days: Extreme Pecking. Apparently the current World Champion resides nearby our cabin, and is
Dusk to Dawn
- At July 07, 2009
- By Jay
- In Uncategorized
- 0
Caught a couple last night off the pier, one of which I had scouted earlier in the week. Needed the setting sun to light up the ‘S’…
Turned out OK but can use some TLC once I get back to my main computer. Quickly grabbed this one on the way back to the cabin.
Planned for another early morning as there was one picture I thought might be interesting. Hadn’t seen the location early in the morning so wasn’t sure how it would be lit. There’s a better image in here somewhere, but I was getting barraged by mosquitos so couldn’t take the time to find it.
There was some great clouds happening back towards the lake – I composed this before hopping in the van to head back to another vantage point.
The light was pretty happening over the lake and I thought this boat silhouetted against the lake would be nice.
Another silhouette, this an S-curve of the shoreline into the trees.
And finally a couple of bridge shots reflected against the water. I have a 3-stop ND filter in place to help slow down the shutter and smooth things out.
This last one is a panorama that can be blown up uber-big if required.
On another note, I stumbled across this guy’s Flickr page. Makes me want to 1) cry, and 2) pack ‘er in.
Black & White Afternoon
- At July 06, 2009
- By Jay
- In Uncategorized
- 0
Took a trip out to shoot some B&W images this afternoon. Just a few for the day with quickie conversions.
This last one was my favorite – a closeup of a broken tree. I like the lines and the texture.
First Dawn Shoot of the Trip
- At July 05, 2009
- By Jay
- In Uncategorized
- 1
It’s always a pain to wake up at 5 (or earlier) to catch some shots at dawn, but always worth it. A peak out the window showed promise with some early morning mist and overcast skies. By the time I got out the door it started to clear, but the first thing that caught my attention was the street. Very quiet and moody:
Getting out to the lake area the sky was showing promise – sun was already breaking through so I grabbed this before heading down to the pier.
One of the pier lamps was setting the rocks and trees glowing, classic contrast of warm orange against cool blue. If I were Joe McNally I would have lit the trees like that myself.
The sun was starting to break and I had to get myself set up for the standard rock-foreground shots that pretty much make themselves here. Clear Lake got it’s name for a reason – the water allows a clear view of the rocks stretching out from the pier into the distance. I stack a neutral density filter to slow down the shutter and smooth out the water, plus an ND grad to balance the sky and foreground. Voila – instant Clear Lake shot. Here are a few variations on a theme:
Now, remember my post from yesterday waxing poetic about looking around? Well, in the process of capturing the last shot above I turned to look in the direction I originally started shooting from. I breathed three words: Oh. My. God.
Unfortunately this picture still doesn’t do justice to the real thing. I scrambled to relocate and recompose and grabbed what I could. I’m not an outdoorsman, but I sure enjoy the solitude of morning shoots and seeing stuff like this. It’s pretty surreal.
By this time I figured enough rocks but thought this looked interesting – would have been better were I to have shot it earlier when the sun was in full bloom to frontlight these trees and rocks against the framed distance shore. This was the last gasp, however, as a pretty heavy fog started setting in.
Last but not least, to conclude the morning shoot I had to grab this misty bridge shot. I saw it in black and white from the get go. Incredibly I had to wait for someone to get off the bridge despite the early hour. Guess I wasn’t the only nut out this morning. Had the Sigma 10-20 at full wide thus the apparent topling of the rails. I’ll straighten those puppies out when I get back to a computer with some horsepower.
More to come throughout the trip. Don’t know how much I’ll be able to keep up.