Tag Archives: Landscape

Nature’s Pristine Wilderness

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Today I thought I would share an image from a trip I took to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada some time ago. This was my only trip to this part of the world and it was simply breathtaking. The image shown is of the location called Spirit Island on Maligne lake, and it requires a 45 minute boat ride through incredible aqua colored waters to get to this final destination. The water is so cold,about 39 degrees  passengers are briefed on what to do in case of problems with the boat and the guide joked no one ever drowned here because hypothermia gets you first. Upon arrival at the landing area, passengers are told they have precisely ten minutes to get off the boat and shoot whatever pictures you can, and be back on the boat for the return trip. I have never been in such a beautiful place with such a miniscule amount of time to shoot. I remember setting a land speed record to get to the overlook before anyone else claimed the best angle, and I also remember some poor soul who had an expensive 35mm camera and his batteries were dead and he had no backup battery. Who on earth goes to such a destination with one battery?  Anyway, as I recall, this area is untouched by man except for the boat that pulls in, and seeing such a pristine landscape really was something special,even if it was for only 10 minutes. I know there are many amazing landscapes throughout the world, but this image is one of my most memorable from my few travels.I went in the fall and will hopefully share more images and experiences of this grand place in the future. I have a slide show presentation I do and within that show I have several quotes including this one from John Muir.   ” Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves”.

Look Out Below!

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This image is one that came to mind when a friend called tonight to tell me the geese were starting to arrive in large numbers again in eastern Pennsylvania. For the last several years, tens of thousands of snow geese and tundra swans have made a stop at the Middle Creek Wildlife preserve in eastern Pennsylvania on their way north to the arctic tundra. Depending on the weather conditions, amount of open water on lakes, and other things I have no clue about, their numbers can soar to amazing amounts. The year I shot this photo, The snow geese population was estimated at near 180,000. This image was pure luck and there are so many layers of birds,it is hard to grasp the numbers in such a small image. I had a 44×66 print made of this which is unbelievable to see the birds in every foot of space. I was driving the park road and stopped briefly to get out to watch and an eagle flew over way up in the stratosphere, and because these birds go crazy when a predator is flying, they took to the air just as I started to focus, and I captured birds in every stage of land and air. The Middle Creek website currently lists snow geese at 35,000, and tundra swans at 2,500 and climbing. Early march is usually the peak, and if you are anywhere near eastern Pennsylvania, it would be worth your while to see this yearly spectacle of nature.The blue color in my image comes from a hillside in late day shade. My title is hopefully self-explanatory.

Reflections of simpler times

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As a photographer, I am always on the lookout for beautiful locations, and this spot is one I had bookmarked in my brain for the right moment. Many times, I will just drive around looking for opportunities, and this particular evening I saw the potential building in the way the clouds were positioned in the sky, and the angle the sun would probably hit them. I headed to this locale to look things over and after coming across a no trespassing sign at the edge of the public parking area located across the river from the farm, I decided I would put on my hip waders and venture into the water directly from the lot. I had to traverse slick rocks for about a hundred yards to get to this point in the river. All the while I was thinking about all my past experiences with water, and maybe this was not a great idea after all. As I got to the final spot where the reflection looked good, The water was about 6 inches from the top of my hip waders, and I was getting slightly nervous as a slip would mean big trouble for my gear. I mounted a wide-angle on the camera and had it locked to the tripod before I set out, and had my loaded camera backpack on my back, which has to weigh 40 plus pounds, so any misstep can get dicey real quick. The sunset materialized nicely and the water was really pushing against my tripod legs, so I shot a series as things kept building, till everything faded and I made my slow and deliberate way back to shore. Sometimes going the extra mile yields images that others can’t get or are too lazy to try, and I take pride in giving it my all.

A light Dusting

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Yesterday we got a light dusting of snow and once again it was nothing to get excited about. For some reason I woke up a little early this morning, and took a peek out the front window, and I saw a nice pastel sky with an near full moon getting lower to the horizon. I hurriedly threw on some clothes, while my mind raced to think of any possible locations to shoot. Nothing came to me, so I just drove around and ended up with these two so-so images. Hopefully some significant snowstorms are still coming this year yet, so I can get some real snow scenes.The windows in the house are illuminated by the rapidly approaching sunrise behind me.

Splish,Splash,Takin a Bath

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Several people told me they enjoyed the stories of my Maine escapades, so due to the fact I am behind on processing new images, I will share another story and image. Several years ago, I asked a friend if he wants to travel to the Poconos in Pennsylvania to shoot some fall foliage and a few waterfalls. It was a lovely fall day and we arrived to see perfect conditions for shooting. The location shown here is called Silver thread falls and although it’s not the most photogenic, it is among the highest at 80 feet. I was shooting film at the time and this image was snapped on the way to the top of the falls. We took the trail all the way to the top, and upon reaching this point, we were greeted with an overlook of sorts that included a rail fence. I took one look at the fence and decided I was having none of it, and immediately reached over the railing to set my loaded camera bag on the ground on the other side. I then turned to my buddy to say something, only to hear a small bumping sound, which was my camera bag headed down the embankment to the flowing stream. By the time I jumped over the fence, my bag was already heading downstream toward the top of the waterfall shown here. Without hesitation or thinking, I jumped off the bank from about 6 ft up and splashed into the water,which was about knee-deep and grabbed my bag. I made my way to the water’s edge real quick, opened my bag which was buckled shut, and of course every lens,camera etc was totally filled with water. I remember being so upset at my own stupidity as we drove home, as I held my lenses out the window to try to dry them.

The funny moment came when several hikers came rushing up from down below to the top of the falls to find me soaking wet, and told us they thought someone was committing suicide when they saw me jump. As I settled back down after the incident, I realized how dicey the situation was and how it could have gone downhill pretty quick. I was maybe 10 feet from the edge of this falls in fairly fast water, so one slip on a rock and both myself and my gear may have taken the express lane to the bottom. One thing I specifically remember after I got home was that my parents owned this kitchen device that cooked food with cyclonic heated air, which basically was air spinning incredibly fast inside this circular contraption. My 80-200 that would not dry for days, suddenly dried out totally in about 20 minutes in this thing. It was too late anyway, but it absolutely worked to dry the water out. This image is one of the few that survived because they were already in film canisters that stayed dry that day

Persistence pays off

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Several people who know me have commented that they enjoy my light painting photos, but want to see more of my nature and scenic photography, so I will appease them with a shot I did in Acadia National Park one fall morning. I really love traveling to the New England states in autumn, because the landscapes and quaint villages make for some terrific possibilities. Many times in the past I have made the trek to Vermont and New Hampshire, only to find a nasty batch of bad weather has destroyed most of the fall color, or I am slightly early or late. After suffering through that situation several times, I started to have a back up plan each trip, and that turned out to be the great state of Maine. The beauty of Maine is the fact that even if the color is a flop, you can hit places like Acadia National Park, which is really quite spectacular. It features a rugged rock lined coast, lovely pines, crashing surf and more. The title of my post refers to the fact that I headed to this mountaintop overlook Four days in a row, and on the very last day I was rewarded with this sunrise. This view is from Cadillac mountain in Acadia, which is the highest point along the atlantic seaboard and the first place you can see the sunrise in the United States. Each day before this one was full of nasty winds, rain, thick fog,etc, but this day awoke to the ocean being covered in a spectacular wave of rolling fog. The Sun made an appearance and provided the finishing touch to the scene. All the mornings of getting up an hour and a half before dawn for nothing great, were soon forgotten as I took in the awesome scene before me.

A few tidbits of info for anyone contemplating visiting Acadia or anywhere along the coast of maine. First take plenty of high-capacity memory cards, wake early and see things that 99 percent of tourists miss by sleeping in. Next, if you are one that likes to get unique perspectives, be aware that if you fall in the surf or get washed out in Maine, chances are fairly good that you are finished. Maine pretty much figures if you are brave or stupid enough to be pulled in, that’s your problem. I basically like that view and will tell two simple stories of my escapades in Maine.

The first is from a trip I took to Acadia years ago, and as I was working the rocky coast, I made my way along a ledge that lead to a small cove of rocks that was almost ten feet high by about twenty feet wide. I was dazzled by the crashing surf on the rocks below,which were at least 8 feet below me,and even though I knew the tide was coming in, I was oblivious to that fact. After about thirty minutes of shooting, I noticed the ledge I came in on, was now under two feet of water. If you ever had a scare where you feel your heart racing, then you know what I felt at that moment. My only possible way out was to climb the sheer walls in this cove, and I did that by using my Gitzo tripod,which is very strong,and I literally stood on it to reach the top. All this while The surf was spraying me occasionally and getting closer. It was a real eye opener, because had The surf got me, that would have been all she wrote.

My next memory of Maine involves a trip to the Portland Headlight, which in my view is a very gorgeous lighthouse. Anyway, as usual,they have a fence to kind of keep you off the rocks, but again, if you are after that special image, you most certainly feel the call to jump that fence. I have ventured into this usually very safe landscape of granite many times, and gotten great images over the years. On this particular trip I was somewhat close to the ocean, but I was standing on a mountain of a rock that no kidding was at least 25 feet high and 20 feet square.This rock was far enough and high enough from the crashing surf that the incoming waves were only just nipping at the rock next to mine. To get a clear picture, imagine you are on a 25 foot high rock and there is a two foot gap to the next rock and you can look down and see surf at the bottom. wave after wave mildly washed around the bottom few feet of these house sized monsters. As I was looking through the viewfinder, I hear a thunderous crash and look up to see the entire rock next to mine covered, the 25 ft deep crevasse filled with water and water washing up to my ankles. If you have never heard the term, rogue wave, familiarize yourself with it, before hitting Maine. Those memories are forever etched in my mind because of the intensity of the experience.

Okay, one more funny one,to me anyway. I was photographing at the pemaquid lighthouse one fall morning. There was only one other guy there shooting. I said hi and noticed a small sticker on his tripod that said John Shaw. I asked why he had a John Shaw sticker and he said well, it’s because I am John Shaw. For anyone who does not know him, he is a fairly well-known nature photographer who has published numerous books. I had all his books, but in person, he looked different than I remembered. He was very cordial, left me load a roll of 220 velvia slide film in his fuji panoramic camera and shoot a series with it. I was dazzled by the meeting and even had my wife snap our picture together.

The Birthday Present.

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I am constantly amazed by architecture from days gone by, and I enjoy capturing locations that I find visually appealing. This home was originally commissioned by Peter Watt, co-founder of Watt and Shand department stores, and he presented it to his wife on her birthday. It was built in 1896 and remained in the family for over 70 years. As far as I know, it is currently for sale, and the last I heard, it started at 5 million, but is now listed at 3 million. If I ever hit the lottery, perhaps I will buy it. I photographed the home from the sidewalk, just outside the iron gate shown in the black and white infrared version.The cascading ivy was the perfect complement as it turned white in the infrared spectrum.I had an old Nikon D200 converted to do only infrared by the light pixel company.I was never really that dazzled by that camera,especially at any iso above 200, but it works great now for infrared.sorry to those who saw only one photo this morning.I missed the update button last night.

Classic Victorian

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Just wanted to let anyone that might be following my blog to know that I do not just do light painting, so I felt I would share an image of what I consider to be a beautiful old Victorian home . It was shot with a Nikon camera that I had specifically modified to capture only the infrared spectrum. I used to use an expensive filter to do it, but that got to be a real nuisance because the filter was so dark, you had to remove it to focus on every new shot. The modified camera can almost be handheld,but I still insist on the tripod. I mention handheld because with the filter, you had daylight exposures in the 4 second range.

A Fleeting Moment

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I was hoping to sleep in this morning, but I woke up early thinking about several photo projects I am planning, so I bundled up and headed out for a potential sunrise. Temperatures were right at 20 degrees,which is not that cold, but when the sunrise is a bust, it seems colder as you wish you were home in a warm bed instead. After conceding the sunrise was not happening, I headed home and suddenly the rays broke through the clouds and side lit the plowed snow along this country road. It only lasted a minute or two, but I had my gear on the seat and captured the fleeting moment.

Dreams of Europe

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Todays image features a small village in Pennsylvania that was created by a Husband and Wife, who enjoyed traveling throughout europe and wanted to re-create the beauty they had experienced there.As a landscape photographer, I have dreamt of visiting places like Prague,Paris, Vienna, among a long list of others.The architecture, antiquities and sheer beauty have always been beckoning me, but for now this is as close as I can get. This village has numerous homeowners who have quaint shops, and while the concept seems great, public support has not always been what was hoped for. Periodically I make a brief stop there to dream of european adventures that someday will hopefully come to fruition. This image was taken yesterday after a brief shower, and includes the large fountain within the main village courtyard. I used wireless flash triggered by radio poppers to sidelight the cobblestone and fountain details.

No Pain, No Gain

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Although we still have not had any significant snowfall this year, I thought I would share an image I took exactly one year ago during the same week. I mention in my about me section that photographs can trigger many memories, and I remember this day like it was yesterday. A fast-moving storm coated the region in fresh snowfall just in time for weekend shooting, and as I drove around looking for images, I found this church and cemetery ready to greet the new day. Winds of 25mph plus were howling as the front moved through and even using hand warmers left me in a good deal of pain from the wind chill. I composed this image this way to direct your eye through the scene, going from the stones to the church to finally the sunlit clouds. Despite the brutal cold, I enjoy feeling the wind, snow and cold hit me, verses sleeping in a warm bed and watching the world go by. As they say, no pain, no gain.

Full Moon Rising

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Today was full moon, and It reminded me of a shot I took last month during full moon. As a photographer, I make every effort to plan ahead as much as possible, and by using a free program called – The Photographers Ephemeris, which uses google earth to show you sun/moon locations, I previewed a few potential places I wanted to shoot to see if the full moon would be in the right spot. This farm, complete with a flooded field yielded the perfect opportunity. The key to capturing such an image is to shoot when moonrise happens right at sunset, so exposure can retain detail in the moon and the landscape. It’s a fleeting few minutes.The glow on the water is all real, and a slight breeze almost ruined my shot. Instead of rushing around back roads, I arrived, set up my tripod, aimed exactly where the program said the moon would rise and simply waited for it to appear.The accompanying buggy shot is taken from the same location a few days later. The water just sits here from the summer floods and has covered the road numerous times. I made over two dozen trips to this spot, which is approx 15 miles away to capture this unique double horse-drawn buggy image. A link to the Sun/Moon tool is in my blogroll. Try it on your home address to see its accuracy.