“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” Roald Dahl
This particular morning, nothing went according to plan. My Milky Way shot failed. Clouds rolled in and I thought I could recover the trip with a beautiful sunrise. Instead, I got a waterfall. But oh what a lovely waterfall it was!
Split :: NY
A few weeks ago, my friends and I (David, Mel and Matt) had the pleasure of met up in the Adirondacks for a few days of fun and photos (if you follow me on the Instagrams or the Snapchats, you probably saw some of the shenanigans and bts posts).
We got one day of fancy light, and (of course) one day of overcast/rainy weather. You know the old saying though, right? When life hands you rainy lemons, make some waterfall-y lemonade! I’m 1000% certain that’s how the phrase goes.
This, btw, is Split Rock falls. On rainy days, there is only…like…two safe spots to shoot from. As you can guess, most of us chose adventure over safety. I’m not saying I was clinging to a slippery cliff…..earmuffs Mom! (*whispers* but I was definitely doing that. Many many many thanks to Matt for making sure I didn’t get dead!)
A few weeks ago I finally got a chance to hike Mt Monadnock, which I’d stumbled across on the internet about a year before. It did not disappoint. Once you get south of the Greens in VT and the Whites in NH, good mountain views (especially day hikes) are tough to come by in New England….with the exception of Monadnock.
You can read more (and see more pictures) of my trip on the Outbound here.
Special thanks to Jorge for the company (and modeling skillz) on the hike. 😊 When he isn’t hiking w me, he is a barber at a great new shop in Meriden, CT called J.Scott&Co. If you need your hair did, give them a try!
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!
Sometimes I think that one of the hardest parts of releasing a photo is thinking of a name. Anyone have any good suggestions? I’m all ears! (I mean, not literally. I couldn’t type with just ears.)
Oh…and yes, this is a photo.
This image was a long exposure, of a stand of trees bathed in some tasty golden light, while moving the camera vertically. As you can tell by the silly-string looking wisps, I do not have the steadiest hand for slow-panning. In this case, it turned out alright though. haha
Interested in learning a bit more about the various techniques I use in the field and while editing? I teach! Email me for information. 🙂 seespotsphoto at yahoo dot com
The settings, for those who like that technical stuff: f/11, sec, 135mm, iso 100
Subtle :: OR
Did you know there is a massive sea of sand dunes in Oregon? Yeah, me neither. But they’re there, and they’re awesome! (I put that adventure up on The Outbound, for those of you who want to learn more.)
Now, the nerdy stuff…this is a simple focus stack, of two layered images. The first focused on the foreground, the second focused on the ridge line in back…I merged the two in PhotoShop using masks. Interested in learning more about things like focus stacking? I offer private lessons and structured online lessons through Light & Landscape. You can contact Matt over at L&L for more information about the program.
Radiance Wild :: OR
This waterfall, known locally as Sawmill Falls, is part of the Opal Creek Wilderness in Oregon. It started as a “side stop” along the way to the Alvord Desert, but it ended up winning me over within just a few short minutes of stepping foot beneath the trees. The whole forest was lush, the light was diffuse, and the waterfalls…well…as you can see, they weren’t bad. 😉 This water was actually a spectacular shade of blue-green, but when I started the edit, because of the overcast skies it seemed to work best in black and white.
This shot is actually a composite – one exposure for the trees, and one exposure for the sky and water using a 10 stop ND filter.
Also (earmuffs, Mom!) this particular vantage point involved a narrow crest of rock with a…um….steep decent behind me. While it wasn’t the most comfortable of seats, you couldn’t beat the view. 🙂
Looking for other bloggers, book reviewers (if you can read, you're in!) and photographers who want to join forces to save the world! (Or something like that.)
