Just Set It And Forget It...

I usually shoot in Manual mode in just about every situation; occasionally mixing in Aperture mode from time to time...
Sometimes doing that, figuring out the settings and fiddling with the knobs and buttons can be a pain. I do not shoot with flash (on camera, studio strobe, etc.) too often, most of my work being shot using natural or available light. So on Christmas Day; I decided to just set the camera to one of it's Auto modes and fire away. This is one of my favorites from the day; as Elise excitedly showed everyone her new Slinky, she paused in front of me with a silly smile and then put it up to her face. I just raised my camera, and without a moments thought or hesitation, I mashed down the shutter button.
At the end of the day; it's all about capturing that moment, that emotion, that memory... its not about what light capturing device you happened to be holding at the time...

Have great day everyone! - Ed

Christmas Eve Visitor...

Just missed catching the man in the red suit as he went up the chimney... But I did manage to get this image of the "crime" scene. It stayed this way for several more hours before our little investigator tore the scene apart looking for clues but only finding fun distractions instead...

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! - Ed

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I wanted to take a minute and share an image from last year's Holiday Season. if we are lucky, we might even get some snow for Christmas this year too...

As I listen to Christmas music and smell the baking taking place in the kitchen; I wanted to say thank you. I appreciate all of the support from my family, friends, and fans. I hope that all of you have a wonderful, healthy, happy, and safe holiday filled with smiles, laughter, and love. Best wishes for the New Year; may the best of past year be better than the worst of the new...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! - Ed

Monuments Big & Small...

I wanted to share this image from my Arlington outing last week. It was a gray, misty, rainy day and I had to wait for a few minutes for the view to clear so I could include the Washington Monument in the composition.

Have a great day! - Ed

Merry Christmas Thomas J...

I don't know who Thomas J is... but someone placed a nice wreath on his marker for the holidays this year.

Have a great day! - Ed

Not Forgotten...

Sometimes it is the littlest of things that scream the loudest message of all...

When I asked a groundskeeper about the occasional rock, pebble, or marble that I saw placed on top of some of the grave markers; I was told that these "messages" were left by family and friends to let others that knew and loved the deceased, that someone had been there to visit.

That more than anything else brought it home... despite being beautifully arranged like some giant's domino set, each and everyone one of these markers is attached to wives, children, husbands, families, generations. These connections are what give this hallowed ground it's spirit and life.

This particular marble sat atop the marker of a WWI veteran that had died a long time ago. I found myself wondering who had left this message, how long since this veteran had a visitor, what was the visitor's connection to the veteran. What must have been going through the mind of the visitor? Was it a son or daughter saying goodbye to their father for the final time before meeting him again in the great beyond? Could it have been a great grandchild wondering who this person was that they share a name with?

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them O Lord, and let Your Perpetual Light Shine Upon Them...

Ed

Arlington Details...

It was my distinct privilege to be able to have the opportunity to tour and capture images at our nation's most hallowed place, Arlington National Cemetery. To say it was a profound experience is putting it mildly. I arrive just after 8AM, walking to the visitor center in a light but steady rain. I was immediately struck by the solemn feeling in the air; as if Mother Nature had somehow hushed herself in this place.

The light was less than ideal for photography; I was told by a guard that my tripod was to stay strapped to my bag (not having a lot of tripod luck lately, lol)...

I must have looked funny; standing by a tree, my backpack on, camera in hand, just looking... it took me several minutes before I felt like I could walk out among the markers. Thinking of my father and my uncles (non of whom are interred there) I began to walk, read, and observe. The first thing that visually grabs most people is the sheer number and the pattern of the markers. While I did take that in (and captured some images that I hope convey it); what caught my attention more were the little details. Details that might get overlooked when taking the whole place in...

When I leaned his wreath out of the way; Russell had indeed served in our Navy during WWII & Korea. Some thoughtful family member or friend had left this hat; maybe it was Russell's, the day before in honor of the annual Army Navy game that was played yesterday. Navy won and I hoped somewhere that Russell was smiling...

This outing today was one of the more memorable ones that I have had. Made me think a lot...

I will have more from Arlington to share soon.

God Bless America...

Ed

Engine No. 12

What are Christmas images without a least a few of some toy trains... This was part of the outdoor display set up at Longwood. The children that were around were very impressed (as was I, it is a pretty cool set up). Made me think of the set I had when I was a little kid, just a simple oval with an inner loop at the one end... Ahh, to be young again LOL!

Have a great day! - Ed

Buds, Blooms, and Bokeh...

I used one of the large Christmas trees in the Conservatory at Longwood as a background for these blooms and buds. Sometimes, what isn't in focus has more impact than what is...

Have a great day! - Ed

The Other Big Tree...

A few posts back; I shared an image of this tree that I captured the other night. I wanted to share this image of the same tree with the morning light coming through all of the glass of the Conservatory...

Have a great day! - Ed

The Big Tree...

Spent a few hours this morning at Longwood; capturing some Christmas themed images during the daylight hours. As an added bonus; tripods are allowed inside until noon, so this made it a little easier... Place filled up fast with happy people and delighted children. More images from the outing soon...

Have a great day! - Ed

More From The Fountains...

Here is another image of the Longwood fountains working their Christmas magic...

Have a great day! - Ed

Christmas Fountains...

The highlight of my evening's visit to Longwood was watching the lighted fountain show set to Christmas music. Highly recommend a visit to get yourself into the Christmas mood. I will have more images of the fountains soon...

Have a great day! - Ed

Magic In The Window...

As I stood outside the Conservatory at Longwood; enjoying the cold air after the slightly stifling atmosphere of the green house, I noticed the windows...
I was struck by the quality of the light and thought about all of the people who have run past this view to get out of the cold to see the display inside. I think the view thru the windows only serves to heighten the excitement of seeing whats inside...

I made my way over to fountains from here...

Have a great day! - Ed

Quiet Gardens...

Normally a spot at Longwood bustling with activity; the main fountain gardens were very quiet, and due to the cold, there were very few other people around up on the terrace. Without the waters running; standing at the rail I was surprised at the amount of peaceful silence that radiated up from the garden. I didn't take too many images at this spot and found myself simply enjoying the few moments of solitude.

Have a great day! - Ed

Golden Tree At Longwood...

I was lucky enough to be able to spend a few hours at Longwood Gardens this evening; figuring the crowds may be lighter on a Wednesday, also helped by the cold temperatures and wind. Spent a little time in the Conservatory; but was only able to shoot hand held as tripods are not allowed indoors after 12PM due to the amount of people. More images to follow soon, especially some really nice images of the fountain show...

Have a great day! - Ed

St. Peters Inn...

Here is another from my brief outing Sunday evening... Not your traditional Holiday image; with the colors hidden in the B&W conversion. I thought the glow of the lights was the more welcoming aspect of the scene; more so than the color of lights.

Have a great day! - Ed

Quick Evening Outing...

Got a thought about shooting some Christmas lights around twilight this afternoon... Decided to follow that hunch and head up to St Peter's Village to see what the lights were like. I was a little disappointed, as it seems the St. Peters Inn was the only building with any holiday lights. Figured this was a good way to start what I hope is some more shooting in the coming weeks. I did get the twilight part right though ;)

Have a great day! - Ed

What I Am Thankful For...

All of my great fans for their help and support of my pursuit of my passion. It is really gratifying to read your comments and see your "likes"...

Just wanted to post an image of my little muse... the one who re-ignited my love and passion for photography.

This holiday; laugh louder, hug longer, and love as much as possible... and capture some images to help preserve those memories!

Gratefully yours - Ed

A New Hat...

On my favorite model...

Elise received this fun hat last week as a birthday gift. I wanted to take advantage of her good mood and some nice window light to capture a few images. Of course this "pose" is the occasional cost of business sometimes; wouldn't have it any other way...

Have a great day! - Ed

Another from the truck...

Yet another rendition from the old Ford in the woods...

In the absence of recent shooting; I like to take some time and go back through what I have captured over the last couple of months or so, just in case I may have overlooked something interesting.

Hopefully I will be struck with a little creative inspiration...

Have a great day! - Ed

V8...

This one is my favorite from my last set with the old Ford in the woods...

Have a great weekend everybody! - Ed

Hard Autumn

Here is another one from last week's outing...

Have a great day! - Ed

In The Woods...

Here is another recent swipe image... this one has a little more structure so you can see a little more detail in the subject.

Have a great day! - Ed

Happy Halloween!!!

Visited the the old truck in the woods to see how it was doing yesterday after Marsh Creek...

"Blending In"

Have a great day! - Ed

Clearly Fall...

Had a nice time this morning at Marsh Creek with a photobud... Little color, some mist, and catching up... Images a little later

I used an ND filter when capturing this to help keep the sky in check and clouds from blowing out. Just felt good being out chasing the color.

Enjoy the weather! - Ed

Pinnacle Path...

This is from the path leading to the Pinnacle Overlook... Here's hoping that everyone's path this weekend is a good one.

Have a great day! - Ed

Falls Magic Light...

Here it is... the last weekend of October 2010.

I have been a little anxious to get out and try to capture some of the season's amazing colors; but other obligations (some way more fun than others) have kept me from behind my camera.

Feeling a little stressed; I decided to take a little time, less than 2 hours this morning to get out in the field. Once I got out there; it was pretty clear that the gusty wind would make it a challenge to capture more "traditional" type of landscape / Fall images.

I decided to try "swiping" again, this time with some slightly wider subjects and compositions. In order to get the slightly longer shutter speeds needed for these types of images; I mounted a Neutral Density filter with my Lee Filter holder to help get the speeds down between .5 seconds to as much as 2 seconds in the strong morning sun.

This image was taken near Holtwood, PA.

I will share more of these "swipes" soon... I find these more "artistic" images to be very enjoyable to create and shooting them was a great way to relax for a while.

Have a great day! - Ed

Cast at Dawn...

Last Sunday's sunrise found me out on the seawall in Avalon. I was all alone for a while until this guy came along, said good morning, and continued out almost to the end of the seawall.

There were no clouds; but that gave me an opportunity to catch this private moment between a man and his fishing...

Have a great day! - Ed

Foam & Shells...

Normally when shooting landscapes; especially wide flat views, I try to keep the horizon line out of the middle of the frame.
Sometimes doing the opposite works, and in this case I think it adds to the image...

Have a great day! - Ed

Beach Patrol...

Here is another image from last week's trip...

Have a great day! - Ed

Sun Catchers...

It's always a good idea to look behind you, no matter where you find yourself shooting...

I guess this is what makes beachfront so special. I was out on the seawall when I turned around and caught the sunrise in the windows of the homes fronting the beach.

Have a great day! - Ed

Here Comes The Sun...

One of my favorite songs of all time; especially the version done by John Williams and the Boston Pops...

Not a bad way at all to start a Monday...

Have a great day! - Ed

Swept Away...

This was one of my first images from this past Monday morning at sunrise...

This was from the beach in Avalon; where I was able to spend a few days hanging and relaxing with my family. I even managed to get a little shooting in also. This was the 3rd and last morning that I was trying to get good sunrise images. I guess that the 3rd time really is the charm, as the sunrises on Saturday and Sunday had color, but absolutely no clouds.

Took this using my Lee ND filter and a longer exposure. Not the Big Stopper yet...

Swept Away... Like the Phillies did to the Reds :)

Have a great day! - Ed

Rock And A Soft Place...

Another image from Holtwood... little bit more abstract than some of my others.

Have a great day! - Ed

Holtwood in Black & White

Here is another image from this mornings outing...

Have a great day! - Ed

Holtwood Falls...

With all of the rain that fell over the last two days; I got the urge last night to do some water images, particularly waterfalls and rapids. This is not my normal subject; but has been on my list as a "to-do" for quite a while...

Thanks to photobud Michael Lawrence for the heads up and guided tour of this new shooting spot. Had a great time and look forward to the next outing...

Have a great day! - Ed

Mozart in Three Quarters...

This is Mozart; one of our "boys"...

Made this image a few weeks ago. There is something special when using natural light; especially northern light...

Have a great day! - Ed

Fire On The Water...

Another image from Sunday's spectacular sunrise...

Have a great day! - Ed

A Little While Later...

As the clouds moved in from the West; over are heads, the color was pushed back until it was just a thin line on the horizon. The clouds were not a solid mass; and it was possible to see the many different layers, even the bright blue sky that tops them all...

Have a great day! - Ed

The Payoff...

You make enough return visits to the same haunts; and maybe someday, a visit pays off...
Sunday's (probably not an accident) sunrise at Marsh Creek. The clouds showed up and the fishermen moved out of frame just in time.
Even better; some photobuds where there to share it with, all of us understanding how fleeting views like this are when the scene is right and the light cooperates...

Have a great day! - Ed

Reflections...

Another image from yesterday's outing...

Took advantage of the water's mirror like surface to capture some reflections of the early morning light striking the far bank.

Have a great day! - Ed

Seeing The Forest For The Trees...

Created this image this morning using the "swipe" technique. Met with some fellow shooters at the Birdsboro Reservoir; Nancy, Beth, and Mike...

Nancy explained this technique and here is my first go at trying it. This is a single exposure image, all the effects taking place during capture instead of post.

Have a great day! - Ed

Looking East...

Processed in a slightly different way than I normally do with my images... I like this one because even without my daughter's face; you can get a sense of her curious nature as she looks out over the ocean.

Have a great day! - Ed

Evening Falls on the Boardwalk...

Here is another image from yesterdays' trip to the shore...

Have a great week everyone! - Ed

Ice Cream at Sunset

One of the best reasons to go to the Boardwalk...

Kohrs Brothers!!!

I know, I know... technically it's frozen custard, not ice cream. Try explaining that to a six year old...

No real trick to this image; get in front with the setting sun over your right shoulder, and then ask Elise for a lick... guaranteed to get you this look every time.

She did eventually give me a lick in exchange for a taste of my own cone later...

Have a great day! - Ed

Fun Along the Edge

I wanted to share an image from my outing on Saturday... The outing was the delightful combination of a much anticipated family day trip, new gear tryout, and photo ops.

From the image you can see the weather was perfect. The new gear; a LowePro Pro Trekker 400AW backpack/bag, performed fantastically, being comfortable and handling the weight of all of my lenses etc. Just need to get a few more miles and hour in the harness to get myself used to wearing such an adjustable bag. The photo ops where plentiful enough; of both the art and family kind.

At the end of day though; the most important thing was spending time with my family. Getting to enjoy my photography while doing it was just a bonus...

Have a great day! - Ed

Heads Bowed in the Cathedral of the Sky

Today was bittersweet for me; remembering more happiness than sorrow...

I wanted to share an image I captured today of the sunflowers near Longwood. Like others before me the past couple of days, the wind played havoc with trying to get a good crisp image of a single plant. But; shooting them as a group, I was able to get some better results.

Through the field; containing almost half a million sunflowers, it appeared to me that all of them had their heads bowed, as if in prayer...

Today's quick photo stop was all for myself; as the beautiful weather and the pose of the many flowers helped me to remember my father...

Missing you Dad...

Ed

Italian Feast...

I had the opportunity; while visiting some family over the holiday weekend, to spend a few hours at the Italian Festival in Scranton, PA.

This was one of the images I captured. Street shooting can be an adventure, never quite sure how people will react to you. I usually use a small prime lens (in this case a 50mm) to not attract too much attention. Sometimes, like in this image, I will simply take the shot with the camera laying against my chest on the strap. Most of the time, it just looks like I am holding the camera and not actually taking pictures with it. You can get good results once you get a feel for it, but you also wind up with a high number of clunkers too...

Have a great day! - Ed

Balloon Landing

Here is the conclusion to my pursuit of this balloon...

The balloon landed on the road at the top of the hill and when I drove up, I spent a few minutes speaking with the pilot and the passengers. This was a great image for me to end the morning on; I was fortunate to get as many opportunities for great light and nice compositions.

Have a great day! - Ed