As much as I like getting the image 100% perfect in the field – there are times when reviewing them later on that they just don’t seem to have the spirit present as when I originally captured them.Â. Â. I’ll download them to my computer, and they will sometimes sit there for awhile until I decide what I want to do with it.Â. As I have written about before, sometimes the image really wants to be a black and white shot – whether I consciously or unconsciously decided that at the moment of the shutter release.
For this blueberry image, I was really drawn into the different tones each berry took on as it ripened. Â. But the overall shot as is had some pretty brilliant green background competing for those tonal values – as well as a scattering of other elements that I wanted downplayed. Â. So my goal was emphasize the different tones of the berries while downplaying everything else. Â. I ended up with this result, which isn’t a lot of tweaking on the grand scheme of things – no content changes, just some layering to select what I wanted the emphasis to be on. Â. I am much happier with this image than I was with the one straight out of the camera, and to me, these tweaks released the true spirit of what I was after to begin with.
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I have been meaning to add a page of favorite photography quotes somewhere on my site for awhile, and finally decided to add them right here.Â. In the sidebar to the right, there is a link called “Quote Collection.”Â. Â. This is where I will collect them.Â. Â. Now I just need to find my Lenswork issue that had a lot of great ones all within a single article.
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Perhaps old news to some – but I just learned about how a large section of Miner’s Castle on Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore has fallen away. This is one of the most popular, and probably one of the most photographed overlooks in Michigan’s Upper Penninsula.
Here is the story from the National Park service http://www.nps.gov/piro/pphtml/newsdetail22788.html
I stumbled upon this news while looking through the Gigapixel site, which has some interesting information as well about landscapes, viewing distances for prints, and their unique project.
Perhaps this event will draw back some photographers who think they have photographed Miner’s Castle to death..
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This past week I received a tip from my mother, pointing out she had seen some ‘big white birds’ while driving home. Likely they were Great Egrets, which I haven’t had too much success in photographing in the past, so I decided to check it out. Since I wasn’t very familiar with the area, I pulled it up on Nasa Worldwind to find out what marshes, trails, etc., might be over there. This is a pretty neat tool, because I discovered what appeared to be a parking lot and nature trails, in the middle of some large wetlands and small lakes, without even getting in my car yet.
Upon arriving, I found out the name of this place, the Robert Long nature park, in Commerce Township. A fairly large parcel of land tucked in a corner, surrounded by a large highway and condominiums. What soon became very apparent is that a lot of birds like this place, primarily herons (Great Blues, Greens, Black-crown night herons, and of course Great Egrets), Canada geese, a few species of ducks, many swallows and song sparrows as well. Some later net research turned up this park is home to the endangered Redside dace fish
One of the neat experiences while there was watching a Great Blue Heron catching voles. First time I have ever seen a heron catching small mammals, thinking their diet consisted mostly of fish or frogs. The heron obviously laid claim to this little section of a pond as he spent the entire morning there. It was also quite proficient at snagging these little rodents, catching three large ones while I was there. ‘He’ also seemed to have a procedure for ingesting them. After stalking them in the grass and catching one, he would take it over to the pond edge and dunk it in the water several times. I am not sure if he was drowning it so it would stop squirming, wetting it so it would slide down his throat easier, or merely adding a little dipping sauce. It was just interesting to watch the entire sequence.
Many of the herons here seemed pretty accustomed to being around people, which makes it easier for photography. The egrets on the other hand were quite skittish, and I really didn’t find any good situations in which to photograph them this time. All in all, it was quite an interesting spot for photography, a thriving habitat, and warrants many future return visits. The only downside is that the Canada geese population here was quite large, which comes with the mess and the smell. I will look forward to seeing what migration brings through this spot.
So, pay attention to these lessons;
1) Listen to your mom
2) A pet heron and a pet rodent probably will not work out.
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Today is supposedly declared no-photography day by one individual that seems to have received a bit of press about the idea on the net.Â. Â. Here is the link to the news article that gave her a lot of attention.Â. Â. The commentaries about this are quite funny at times, everyone from wanting to protest the day by purposely taking pictures to those in celebration.Â. While I can understand part of her concept, I think she misses the point that a lot of people SEE MORE through photography.Â. Â. I know we can become so absorbed into making images that perhaps we overlook some of our surroundings, but I never think it is case of underappreciation.Â. I consider it more of a focused concentration (pardon the pun) or perhaps ‘selective appreciation.’ Â. When you are underwater shooting macro, sometimes you have the habit of so much concentration on a small portion of a reef, that a large shark could swim right over your head and you would miss it.Â. Â. Then again, you could be looking for sharks and miss the great critters below you as well.
Well, I didn’t make any images today – instead I went through some older slides and dug one up of one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Â. I look at this and say – how could I not make this image?Â. It allows me to not only appreciate being there, but to reflect upon what a beautiful place this is many years later.
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