March 18, 2016

Picture A Day Project,

Pittsburgh At Two-Hundred

I wanted to do something special to celebrate Pittsburgh’s 200th birthday. I couldn’t think of anything more special than capturing the entirety of the city from above. It has always been a bucket list item to photograph from an airplane. When an opportunity became available, I was thrilled to make it happen on Pittsburgh’s birthday. The only hitch was the weather. It was plenty warm, no rain, lovely clouds, but strong winds. When I spoke with my pilot friend, he asked, “You want to give this a try?”. I jumped in the car and headed to the airport. “It will be bumpy” was what he said. I climbed into the 1941 two seater cub and prepared for takeoff. The flight into the city was as advertised. I had a huge grin on my face the entire time. The city grew in size as we approached. It really is a shining jewel of the Appalachians.  We made a few loops around the city at about 800′ and I shot away. It was quite a thrill to see the city that I love from this angle. Happy Birthday, Pittsburgh. You look great for 200!

Pittsburgh At Two-Hundred
Pittsburgh At Two-Hundred

March 17, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Jus’ A Wee Clover

St. Patrick’s Day needed to have proper representation. I had no desire to drive any snakes out of Southwestern PA, so my hunt for clover was on. I wanted to create a shot backlighting the green fella as a central element in my frame. I found a very small patch of clover in a field and selected one to be my model. Our first stop was a tree limb with the last light of the rapidly setting sun behind. The wind made it difficult to get a good shot and by the time I conceded that fact, the sun was below the hill. I was determined to make it work, so I crossed the road, jumped a creek, and climbed a bank that was still in the path of the sunlight. I managed to get a few shots that were ok and then the clouds opened one final time for the winning shot. It must have been a little Irish luck on my side.

Jus' A Wee Clover
Jus’ A Wee Clover

March 16, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Lowdown At The Springs

Killing time while waiting for the sun to set led me to visit the waterfall at Raccoon State Park’s Frankfort Mineral Springs. It had rained enough the previous few days to make the falls flow fairly well. I was excited to see the amount of water falling over the rocks. I’ve struggled to get an angle that I’ve been thrilled with, so I varied my perspective. I got right down in the water and framed up this shot. The light was low, but enough in the proper spots to allow a long exposure. I used a handheld flashlight to “paint” the walls of the grotto to add some texture. The sunset that I was waiting for was beautiful, but this I was so pleased with this capture that I had to choose it for today’s picture.

Lowdown At The Springs
Lowdown At The Springs

March 15, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Springtime Opening

My favorite past of the transition from Winter to Spring is the arrival and opening of flowers. The Crocus is always the first to arrive in our yard. They are small, but brilliantly colored and amazingly detailed. I really enjoy pulling out the macro lens and capturing the colors and delicate stripes of the petals. Our variety of the Iris family tree is a bright violet contrasting the deep orange of the 3 stamens.

Springtime Opening
Springtime Opening

March 14, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Up The Flagpole

Pittsburgh’s courthouse is a jewel of a building. It looks both out of place amongst the more modern structures as well as right at home in the 200 year old city of bridges. Completed in 1883, the Allegheny County Courthouse is considered among the finest representations of the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. I took advantage of a cloudless blue sky to capture the courthouse in a unique way. I crossed Grant St. and climbed into the median to get a better angle. I tossed on my ultrawide lens to get the entire building in my shot and when I looked through the viewfinder I was pleasantly surprised to see a flagpole curving into the frame. The flag and eagle on top sold me immediately. I loved the inclusion of it and how it broke the negative space between the buildings.

Courthouse And Flagpole
Courthouse And Flagpole

March 13, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Rain Down On Me

Waking up to a rainy day gave me an inspiration to attempt a shot that I’ve always wanted to try, but never have before: capturing raindrops.  I’ve seen pictures of rain on a house window and rain on a car windshield with city lights shining through, which are both interesting to me.I wanted something a little different. The water droplets can act like little lenses, focusing things that are outside of the intended range. They also, like most lenses, invert the image. I wanted to capture raindrops refracting what was above them. In my shot you can see the branches of a few trees, moderately out of focus in the background and a sharp image of those tree branches in all of the droplets of water. I did this by shooting up through a large piece of glass. I love how each droplet, even the distorted ones show the trees above.

Rain Down On Me
Rain Down On Me

March 12, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Green On Grant Street

Saturday the 12th was a green day in Pittsburgh. The city celebrated St. Patrick’s day with a parade and appropriate lighting all over the city. I have photographed the tower of the Allegheny County Courthouse many times before. I love how it stands out against the newer surrounding buildings. It is by no means a small structure, but it is dwarfed by its closest neighbors. I chose this angle to catch a little of Grant St. in the bottom of the frame. I’m really pleased with how the vibrant green lighting pairs with the muted yellow buildings.

Green On Grant Street
Green On Grant Street

March 11, 2016

Picture A Day Project

A Gathering Of Baby Moos

The inquisitive bovines that I spent my Friday morning with were awful cute. They spooked at first when I arrived, but after a minute they couldn’t get enough of me. I threw on my ultrawide lens and held the camera at ground level to give a “worm’s-eye view” of the calves crowded around me. There were a few close calls between wet noses and my lens.

A Gathering Of Baby Moos
A Gathering Of Baby Moos

March 10, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Hold The Line

Linear perspectives fascinate me. With all of the different ways to view the world, it is amazing when things just line up. I have seen a great number of clear cut swaths through treelines for various reasons. Some are for gas lines, others are for high tension power lines. This is the first one (in my memory at least) that I’ve seen used for smaller utility poles. I stood out in the rain on a small back road to get this angle. In addition to the desired composition, I get a lot of strange looks from morning commuters. It is something that I’m all to familiar with.

Hold The Line
Hold The Line

March 9, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Shadows At Sunrise

Sunrises in Pittsburgh are always interesting. Sometimes you get an extremely colorful display for only a few minutes. Sometimes it lasts for the better part of an hour. If there’s a considerable temperature difference, you can see a light mist or a dense fog. This morning seemed like it was going to be a brilliant display of color until the few clouds disappeared prior to the sun rising above the horizon. I noticed that the light from the ball of fire was catching the mist hovering at the city’s base and shadows formed in front of the buildings. I used my ND10 filter to lengthen the shutter speed and soften the ripples on the water.

Shadows At Sunrise
Shadows At Sunrise