Untitled :: MA

Light & Landscape put together a blue hour assignment and honestly, I needed the motivation to get off my couch. Winter is for hibernating, and dragging myself away from the blankets into the February cold was no easy task.

Thankfully, I managed it. This color lingered for an hour and a half after sunset. I’m not entirely sure I like the composition, but I really, really loved sitting there under the stars, enjoying the quiet.

I’m not sure I’ll ever do anything with this shot, but name suggestions are welcome.

Serenity :: NY

Serenity :: NY

Sometimes you drive two hours for a sunset, and end up wading through spring runoff to photograph a waterfall instead. Life, right?

But there is a lesson there (besides a reminder to buy waterproof boots)… Opportunity is all around us, we just have to be open to it.

This shot is a single exposure, taken after the sun went down in a rapidly darkening forest. ( 14mm, 55 second, f/8, ISO 100 ) It was very blue…because blue hour…and color correcting made it look natural, but not better, so I opted for B&W instead!

Solitude

Solitude :: Mt Washington

There is nothing quite like the feeling you get standing at the top of a mountain, looking out at the vast world before you, knowing we are just a small part of something much larger than our day to day, 9 to 5 grind.

This shot was taken at the Lakes of the Clouds on My Washington,  blue hour. Sean was kind enough to model, even though…we’ll…he didn’t know it at the time. Lol

 

Best viewed on black background.

Dusky Blues

Dusky Blues

 

What’s the most important component of a landscape shot?  Location? Composition? Light?  This is the tail end of the sunset from last week’s post, where I spent as much time as I could fully exploring a spot that resonated with me, trying to find the best conditions for the images I wanted to create.  Although it’s the same location and subject matter, to me, the deeper blues of dusk give it a completely different feel.

 

When you shoot, what do you guys look for?  Do you go where the light takes you?  Or do you find a spot you like and wait for the weather to work with your vision?

Long Exposure at Nubble Light

Nubble Light, Maine

A few weeks back, Sean (the wonderful, amazing, supportive bf), David (photog-extraordinaire), my friend Beth (partner in crime for most of my adventures) and I took a road trip to Maine with the intention of shooting some fall foliage.  Well, David and I intended to…Sean and Beth were just there to keep us company.  At the end of the day, just as the sun was going down we arrived at Nubble…the blue hour was starting and the race to get set up was on.

Now, I’d like to point out that this is not my first attempt at shooting Nubble.  For one reason or another though, I was never quite satisfied with my previous images, which is a shame, since its such a nice location. As we got out of the car, I noticed there were a lot of people with tripods there, which surprised me.  I’d never seen it so busy.  Turns out there was a workshop going on, and we had to work around about 10 other shooters (and by work around, I mean, be prepared to photoshop them out!)

David and I scouted our respective locations and I was able to get in a few different compositions before we lost the light.  And boy do I mean lost the light!  This image was a 70 second exposure, though my longest one ended up being about 3 minutes long.

That being said, it worked out perfectly because my friend Will recently suggested a long exposure friendly challange.  Among my circle of photo-friends, we periodically set up group collaborations as a way to push each other to be better.  In this instance, his stipulation was longer than 30 seconds.

I think this qualifies.  😉

This image was 70sec, iso 100, grad ND filter for the sky, single image edit with a combination of luminosity masks and manual blending.  Oh, and people removal. haha

All in all, it was a great weekend.  The Great Fall Foliage (and One Lighthouse Tour) of 2013!

Finding Peace

Blue Serenity

“Complete peace equally reigns between two mental waves.” –Swami Sivananda

This photo was taken in La Jolla, California a few months back during blue hour.  I believe this was taken right after I narrowly missed being swept out to sea by a gigantic wave. haha  Since the moment I decided on this composition, before I even snapped the shot, I loved this scene.  It gives me a sense of calm.

Call me a peace-loving hippie (because I am), but I spend a fair amount of my time on introspection.  What is worth dumping my energy into, what will yield results that will increase the quality of my life, are my actions ones I can live with long term, etc….  My goal for every day is to resist the negativity around me.  Aggravations and annoyances happen, and there isn’t much I can do to control that.  I can only control how I react.

Often, during trying moments, I will remind myself of the logic of the situation.  I tell myself, “It can always be worse.”  During my saddest and angriest moments, I remind myself to be grateful for the good things in my life.  I have food, shelter, and family that loves me, friends that support me, and a great set of basic rights protected by my government.  I’m not desperate, I’m not property, and for the most part, I’m safe.  In the grand scheme of things, whatever is bothering me is probably relatively insignificant.

I suspect at this point, if you read the blog, you know music and musicians are a big part of my life.  This month, one of the musicians in our circle passed away.  He was a young guy, always happy and full of positive energy.  He made a huge impact on the people in his life, both through his music and his attitude.  The tragedy shocked our community.  It is never easy to lose someone who had so much life to live still, but in particular, it was hard to lose a shining light in the sea of humanity.

Events like this are a huge reminder to appreciate the things we have and to live our lives to the fullest every day.  We are but a sum of our experiences, and every day we face choices that will lead us down the path of anger, or the path of quiet peace.  I can’t say that every time I take the high road, but I’m trying. haha  At the end of my days, I don’t want to carry the weight of regret.

We only get one shot at life.  It’s a wild, unpredictable journey and it’s up to every one of us to seize opportunity, to feed our passions, to encourage happiness and to find love.  I’m rooting for all of us. 😉

XO
Shann

Winter? (S)No(w) Thanks!

Winter Sunrise

See what I did there?  I know, I know…I’m so punny. *insert knee slap here*  And that concludes the comedy portion of this blog post!  Thank you, I’ll be here all…um…length of time it takes you to read what I wrote!  (Make sure to tip your waiters.)

The above photo is a great example of a winter New England sunrise.  It’s also the only example I’ve ever posted.  Because…well…I love to sleep. haha  I’m one of those “don’t talk to me until I’ve had some caffeine and a shower” sort of people, because really, I can only respond in monosyllables and grunts.

“Shannon, what do you think about this investment portfolio, should we change our stocks from A to B?”

*grunt*

“Shannon, I think I’ve found the solution to world peace!”

*grunt*

“Shannon, can you lend me your car for a year??”

*grunt*

As you can see, morning-Shannon responses are up for interpretation, which leaves all sorts of room for trouble.  In reality, afternoon-Shannon likes having her money in moderate risk investments, loves world peace and probably can’t go without her car for a year (though she will help give you rides if at all possible).  In other words, I don’t function that well in the mornings…but I’m working on it!

Over the last few months, I’ve been pushing myself to get up around sunset (which is still a pretty reasonable 6am-ish) in preparation for my trip to California with fellow photog David Pasillas (WWWWHHHAAATTT??  You don’t know David’s work??  Get on the band wagon now!  Like…right now!  You can get all sorts of great images and updates on his travels by liking his FB page.  Please and thank you! :-D).  Now…where was I?  Oh yeah…sunrise…training…

My distaste for waking up early doesn’t change the fact that it is one of the few times of day that the light is absolutely peeeeerrrfffeeecctt for taking landscape photos…AKA Golden Hour. Or Magic Hour.  Or Magical Golden I’d Rather Be Sleeping Hour.  The light is soft and there is a good chance of great colors to add interest to your photos.  In other words, dragging myself out of bed is a simple, but powerful change that will give me more opportunities for beautiful landscape shots.

So…what am I saying here??!?

I’m saying if you don’t already, grab your tripod (you’ll need it with the low light) & camera, and find some time to get up way too early/stay up way too late. You’ll be glad you did!

Also, like David’s Facebook page.  He will be glad you did. 😉