My little calico darling, Cecelia, loves to come into my office and do figure eights around my legs as I work. It becomes irritating after 10 or so minutes of her head buttting my right leg as her tail brushes my left, then vice versa until I can’t take it anymore and pick her up. Sometimes she just jumps onto my desk. This is a no no. Her “punishment” this day was a photo shoot. Her dissatisfaction oozes from this image. She might stay out of my office for a few days. (not likely)
February 16 started wet. It poured all night long. Fortunately (as some would say) it wasn’t cold enough to show. I wanted to show what a night of rain could do to places that usually only handled a little water. I went out to Mingo Creek Park in search of a waterfall. I visited a few of the likely spots, but they were absolutely overrun. Most of the park was flooded. I remembered a nice little waterfall still technically inside of the park that was usually a trickle. Today it raged with water. It was so loud at this spot that I couldn’t hear my shutter. I was surprised that so many trees had fallen in front of the falls, but it made for a good breakup of the scene and provided stationary elements that contrasted the long exposure softness of the composition. I was hesitant to leave this one in color, but something about the pastel softness of the sky and the muddiness of the water worked for my eye.
Sometimes taking a walk is enough to stimulate creativity. I had been sitting inside editing for most of the morning and just needed to get outside. It was cold, slightly rainy, slightly snowy, and overall dreary. I thought that the Montour Trail might cheer me up. I parked at a new spot, grabbed my gear, and headed off towards a bridge and tunnel. I ran into a few brave souls out for exercise or the same “head clearing” that I was after. After about a mile, it started to fog up. from around the bend, this bridge came into view and I immediately thought to shoot it with my telephoto from far away and compress the scene. I really liked that shot, but wanted to get closer. I switched to the medium zoom, composed, and snapped a few, but wanted to get even closer. I traded lenses for the ultrawide and got really low for this final composition. I was so engrossed in my shot that I didn’t notice a jogger coming up behind me and running right past as the shutter closed. I apologized for blocking the path and also for being so startled. She seemed to laugh as she went on about her jog. While processing this image, I went back and forth on the color version and the black & white. I ultimately went with the black and white to accentuate the contrast between the straight lines of the bridge and the curves of the trees.
Something a little different for Valentine’s Day. While shooting this, I kept moving closer and closer to capture the right framing. It still amazes me how close I can get with my macro lens. Deeper and deeper into the spiral of the rose!
There exists a wonderful collection of waterfalls in one small area of Southwestern Pennsylvania. The area is knows as McConnells Mill State Park. It is over 2500 acres of beautiful land with streams cascading down rocky slopes and a creek that once powered a grist mill. I went out in search of icy streams and perhaps a frozen over waterfall. I didn’t get exactly what I was after, but it ended way better than the last time I came to McConnells Mill for an icy waterfall.
One thing I’ve learned in my years of shooting is that patience is helpful in getting a great shot. One of the qualities that I most admired about Ansel Adams is that he waited for the right moment and the right light for his images, sometimes visiting the same spot several times for the perfect lighting. This particular morning promised a great sunrise. One advantage that technology has provided us is the easily accessible data on where the sun will rise on any given day. This day I chose to shoot from the West End bridge and capture the sunrise as it moved between a few of Pittsburgh’s taller buildings and reflected on the rivers.
It was about 12°F but the but the air was still. I shot for about 30 minutes and got some really nice color in the sky before the sun poked above the horizon. Then all of the color disappeared. There was a line of clouds at the horizon, then a sliver of open sky, then solid clouds above that. I decided to wait for the sun to rise above the lowest layer of clouds and when I did, the color came back in full force. I moved slightly to use a building to block the bright orange ball and the shadow that it cast was amazing. The water’s surface, heated by the sun, began to steam and everything fell into place. The contrast between light and dark was intense, but I managed to get an acceptable exposure that had detail in the shadows of the buildings without having highlights that were too bright.
While driving to a location I had in mind for a shot, I caught the sun shining through the trees and reflecting off of a partially frozen stream. Sure, I was in my nice coat, but sometimes (most times) you’ve got to get the shot. Yeah, I still went to the other spot, but this was the winner for the day.
I love this church on Pittsburgh’s South Side. I was really pleased that the snow squall blocked out everything beyond the buildings downtown.
This image is the result of a concept that ended up surpassing my expectations due to a slight change in location. I scouted the area that I shot this image in the middle of January. I had to wait until a snowy evening to make it happen. I wanted large snowflakes that would be illuminated by the backlighting. My wonderful wife agreed to be my model and the weather finally cooperated to make it a reality. On the way back to the original spot, we passed by this bridge. I saw the snow on the branches. I hesitated to suggest that we try that spot in addition to the original location, which was ~100 yards or so farther along the trail. Fortunately, Adriana is a good sport, even as cold as it was. We shot in the original spot and then hit the bridge on the way back. I set up the lights and did a test shot. I was blown away with how perfect it was.
I accompanied Adriana to the barn tonight to fix our Houdini horse, Ilex’s gate. After a little MacGyvering a solution, I looked up to see the sky was a wonderful blue overhead and a pale yellow at the horizon. In a frantic attempt to find something to frame it, I decided on these high tension wires. The fun of framing this is that lining things up to be “straight” with a 14mm ultrawide lens is quite the challenge. It is slightly off, but I’m satisfied with the result.
