Capturing History...

When I hear phrases like; "Historic", "Unprecedented", "Once in a lifetime event"... usually my first or second thought is, "I gotta' get my camera!"

Yesterday was one of those days for our little corner of the world. We set a new record for the snowiest winter (which isn't over yet) and we got to experience a true (by the book, not just a lot of snow) blizzard.

From some of my earlier posts; you may have gathered that I have a fondness for snow and snowstorms. Always have; ever since I was a kid. It has grown into a need to get the latest info from Accu-Weather so I know the what, when, and why of a storm. Of course this is also accompanied by a lot of looking out the window. Getting an image of this event was never a question; exactly what image I could get that might convey the fury of this storm to an observer was... I decided to wait until later in the afternoon when the winds and snow would be around their peak. I was not disappointed; nor did I have to go far to get the image I wanted. Only had to go to the end of my driveway...



There is another type of history that I really wanted to capture; to me the most important type. If you are like me; you probably remember images from your childhood of being out during a large snowstorm, building a snowman, sledding, just having fun, no worries, just fun. And the cold never seemed to bother you then. Maybe there are a few grainy and yellowing prints in an album somewhere of you perched on a large snow pile. I want to capture these memories for my daughter's adulthood. She doesn't need them now; she is still a child, a child in a snow globe of magic and fun. She will need them later; after a long commute home through the snow; when she is stranded in an airport because of a delayed flight. Any time she needs a little smile and some fun, if only for a moment, she can shake the snow globe in her mind with the images I have left for her...

Stay warm and safe!

Have a great day! - Ed

Winter Barn

After digging out this morning; I was able to get out for a little while and do some exploring. I had some of the roads to myself for the most part; though there was almost no where to pull off and park. So I ended up stopping in the road where I could to get an image...

This small barn is only about 10 minutes from home. Hope everyone stayed safe and didn't hurt themselves digging out...

Have a great day! - Ed

O'er The Ramparts...

Saturday's sunrise was cloudless; nice color, but no drama...

Errands and tasks kept me from behind the viewfinder until later in the morning. Wandering a bit; I found myself capturing a few images at a local historical spot.

I ended up with about 20 or so exposures for my trouble, and this one stood out to me above the rest for the challenge it presented in capturing it. I underexposed the image to preserve the highlights of the white in the stars, stripes, and flag pole. This is also served to help deepen the blue of the that flawlessly clear azure blue sky. You can only get this kind of sky in this part of the country on clear, low humidity, cool or cold days. Heat and humidity lead to haze which can cause this type of sky to wash into a bluish silver. As an added bonus; I was treated to a chorus of church bells while I maneuvered my way around until I viewed this composition.

The local historical spot; in case you where curious, is the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Park. This flag is at the very top of the bell tower...

I had short but enjoyable time arriving at this image...

Have a great day! - Ed

Rainy Morning Macro Outing...

I have been very eager to try my new macro lens on some beautiful and colorful subjects. This time of year; and in this rainy dreary weather, there is only a few places that can provide that type of outing...
Luckily I am only a short way from Longwood Gardens. It was a pretty light day for crowds as the gardens are between exhibits. The annual Orchid Extravaganza starts next week and shooting space will be at a premium.

Within in a few moments of getting inside; I met up with a couple of fellow local shooters Nancy and Ray. We chatted for a few moments and then it was off to capture some images... Click Here to see a selection from today here

I used the Tamron 90/2.8 for the entire day; along with my tripod and wired remote release. I was also using the camera's MLU (Mirror Lock Up) to minimize any movement. MLU (either 2 0r 10 seconds) basically moves the focusing mirror out of the way before opening the shutter; giving the camera a chance to stabilize before capturing the exposure. I highly recommend using this method if you have the ability with your particular camera when shooting Macros, Still Life, or Landscapes were you typically have longer exposures due to the smaller apertures involved(higher f/stops for sharpness).

Overall; I am very happy with the results so far for this lens. The colors are true, the lens is razor sharp, and at the wider apertures the OOF (Out Of Focus) areas are pleasing and compliment the subject. While I have a lot to learn about Macro photography; this new lens will get me off to a pretty good start.

Have a great day! - Ed

Outside Insight

Sometimes it's good to just mess around with your equipment and see what happens. Who knows, you may learn something...

I was working in the office this morning; doing some straightening up and organizing. I noticed the light coming in the windows; my favorite type, northern light.

I grabbed my camera with whatever lens was attached; it happened to be my newest addition, the Tamron 90/2.8 Macro. Deciding not to try and bother with anyone else this morning, I figured to get myself (or part of myself) as my subject.

Having a fascination with the detail in the human eye; I wanted try and capture mine in a way that would show the detail. I think I accomplished that, including grabbing some details from the neighborhood at the same time.

What did I learn? Shooting a self portrait can be difficult; trying to shooting a self portrait with a macro lens can be frustrating, trying to capture the fine details in one's own eye using a macro lens might be enough to cause one to look for another hobby!

Kidding of course...

Have a great day! - Ed

Heaved...

Despite the warm glow of the light this morning after sunrise; I couldn't help but feel even chillier when I spotted this small building on a farm in Honeybrook. It looks like the years have taken their toll on the walls... I thought about the contrast in light (as well as temperature) from the far lighted side to the shadowed near side.
It was cold this morning; so I didn't spend too much time out of the car...

Have a great week everybody! - Ed

Using the Camera's Tools

I wanted to share an image that shows that sometimes you can get great results by disagreeing with your camera...

When I was shooting this scene; the sky was much lighter and that was kind of hiding the subtle graduations in the bands of colors and wispy clouds. The advantage in shooting in Manual Mode is that you can override the settings the camera determines to be "best". Matrix metering (taking the avg of the entire scene) is the way I usually have my camera set up for setting the exposure. Since I shoot in Manual Mode I can easily adjust the exposure using exposure compensation. Here the scene was adjusted about -1.5 Stops (Underexposed) so that the details in the sky would become more visible. I wasn't concerned with the far shore and trees becoming more of a silhouette because I wanted to make the subtle details and color in the sky the focus of the image.

This was taken on December 30th a few moments after sunrise, the air was cold and my coffee was hot...

Hope this may help you the next time you encounter some trickier light.

Have a great day! - Ed