Dusk to Dawn

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

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

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.

Saturday: Great Weather & Some Shots

Looks like the weather forecasters were wrong… again. Fortunately for us the day was mostly sunny instead of the rain that was predicted. Had some good R&R time along with a chance to take a few photos. Still looking for spots but grabbed some unexpected ones along with your basic landscapes.

Checking out the gardens this morning found these fronds (spelling?), one of which had this lone drop hanging off and partially lit from the morning sun. Captured as best I could given the lens I had handy. I think some more aggressive cropping is in order.

I don’t know what it is but I’ve been looking at lots of clouds lately. This one looked like a horse’s head when I glanced up so took a quick shot. Maybe a large dog.

Further along on the Strange Parade I happened to notice this row of satellite dishes lined up along the roof of a local cabin. Thought it would make for an interesting silhouette. As Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Now onto more traditional fare. Decided to try and frame the sunset with this oddly arched tree along the pier. I have others that still have the sun above the horizon and I’m still not sure which I prefer. Will stick with this for now.

I’ve read on many occasions to always look around while finding subjects to shoot. As I was waiting for the sun to drop on the “arches” above I looked behind me and saw this. The clouds on the eastern horizon were lit up by the setting sun opposite, so much so that they almost appear to be mountains. Quickly spun around, recomposed, and snapped it. Wasn’t planning on going for this type of shot so it shows the value of looking around.

While waiting for the light through the arches above I spotted this stump that would make for an interesting foreground. Tried to capture it as the sun waned but there just wasn’t enough light on the stump any longer, and I was maxed out on neutral density grads. At least I got my milky water. Might revisit it later during the trip.

Last up for the evening was this sparse capture of the sky and distant shoreline. Heavy magenta with the sun well below the horizon. Now I need to try and summon up the courage for an early start tomorrow to catch a sunset shot.

Arrived at Clear Lake

Time for our annual family retreat. Unfortunately arrived to a pretty thick bed of clouds that for the most part didn’t let up through the evening. Felt compelled to try and grab some shots to start off the trip so headed out at around 9:30. Thought the rough clouds made for a good backdrop for the ever-present boats moored in the lake, and the “famous” Clear Lake pier walkway.

These colored chairs sit at the front of one of the ice cream shops – I’m sure there’s a photo in here somewhere. Hopefully I find it.