Great Hurricane Sandy Photos

I live on the Connecticut shore (actually a few miles inland) and so had a front row seat to Hurricane Sandy. Fortunately I was able to keep power throughout and so felt relatively safe--even with 80-90 mph winds smashing the house for hours at a time. It was scary, but quite exciting, too. Tragically, however, the storm ruined a lot of lives and totally destroyed parts of Connecticut, New York and especially New Jersey.

Once the storm was passed I figured that going out to shoot photos would only be gawking at other peoples' misfortune, so I resisted the urge. But I did find a site with some excellent photo coverage--and I highly recommend taking at look at the great photos gathered there. I hope that the folks who were most affected can regain their normal lives as quickly as possible.
(Photo: MICHELLE MCLOUGHLIN/REUTERS)

New Autumn Foliage Tutorial on Main Site

I've just written a new tutorial on photographing autumn's colors on my main site. Check it out if you have a minute! We're still waiting on the colors here on the Connecticut coast, but they should be peaking elsewhere around the northern parts of the country.

Photographing Autumn Foliage in Reflections

I love cruising around on a sunny autumn day looking for pretty scenes to shoot. One of my favorite local venues is a small pond just a mile up the road from my house. For whatever reason that pond seems to be surrounded by trees of many types (oak, maple, sycamore) that produce a beautiful assortment of colored leaves in autumn. I took this shot while standing on a small dock shooting scenes of the shore at the opposite side of the pond. As I was shooting, I noticed noticed how pretty the scene was if I eliminated the shore itself and just shot the reflection of the trees, so I ended up shooting a few dozen shots of various parts of the reflection.

I was shooting toward the end of the day (my favorite time to shoot almost any landscape) and as the sun got lower the colors on the trees and in the reflection got more and more intense.  In fact, I think the colors in the water were even brighter than in the trees themselves. The trees that are in the reflection face west, toward the setting sun, so that really helps bring out the colors, too. The water was very still--like a mirror--and I think that helped, but I also experimented with throwing pebbles into the pond to create ripples and I like some of those shots as well (and if they weren't buried somewhere in one of my six hard drives, I'd post one of them!). Make sure if you toss things into the water to make ripples that you use rocks so that they sink--otherwise you end up with something floating around in your shots.

If you're out shooting the autumn colors this year, see if you can't find a nice reflection in a pond or a stream. I think that one of the tricks to a good reflection shot is to completely eliminate the source of the reflection and just shoot its mirror image, though again, while working this scene I also shot a lot of photos that included the shore. Hey, digital is free, shoot lots!

My new travel blog. I've recently begun another blog, this one devoted to travel topics. The blog will be a collection of tips, news, ideas and photo tips all related to traveling. And please don't forget to check out my main site from time to time. And, as always, feel free to leave me comments!

9-11 Memorial--Jersey City, New Jersey

This is a memorial to the victims of the World Trade Center attack. It is located on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River in Jersey City. The Manhattan skyline is in the background and it looks out on exactly where the WTC once stood. The memorial was created by an actual beam from the WTC and has been adorned with various mementos, angels, American flags, etc. Ironically, this memorial is just a short drive from Liberty State Park where you catch the ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty. It has always seemed stunning to me that tourists were on Liberty Island, visiting the Statue when 9-11 happened--and from that great monument to liberty, they watched America being attacked.

I've Started a New Travel Blog

I've started another blog--this one is devoted to all things travel. Right now it's called Travel is Good for the Soul. I considered calling it Soulful Traveler, but was a bit afraid people might think it was a New Age blog. I'll be talking about places I've been, places that I want to go, good travel deals, ideas, etc. And, of course, I'll be offering travel-photo tips. If you have a minute check out it and bookmark it.

My main site: By the way, don't forget there are lots of free tutorials on my main site.

How to Photograph Monarch Butterflies

The Monarch butterfly migration has begun and I've already begun seeing them in my garden here in coastal Connecticut. The Monarchs stop daily along their route to feed, so if you live along their migration route, you're sure to have quite a few chances to shoot photos. There is a pretty extensive tutorial on my main site, so if you have a few minutes, take a look. And here is a map of their migration routes/patterns. I shot the photo here on a tithonia blossom in my backyard last September.

Right Place, Right Time, Old Friends

A few weeks ago I was coming home from a photo assignment and my mind was so fried that I decided to stop at a seawall on Long Island Sound just to stare at the distance and unwind. It's amazing how much a few hours of concentrated shooting can take out of you.While I was zoning out a boat with a very colorful sail started tacking back and forth in front of me, sailing out a mile or so, then turning around and sailing back. I realized after a few minutes that it was an old  friend of mine (we went to kindergarten together!) that lives on the beach. With those pretty colors and the nice late-afternoon sun, there was no way I could not shoot some photos--so out came the camera and the 70-300mm Nikkor lens. Since I had the hood of my van to lean on, I ended up shooting handheld--which is extremely rare for me. But with an exposure of 1/1250 second at f/9, I knew I had all of the shutter speed and depth of field I needed to safely shoot handheld.

A week later I was having lunch with another friend at a restaurant on the same seawall and my friend Peter (the person sailing the boat) came peddling by on his bike (this is a very outdoorsy guy!) and he stopped to talk for a while. By utter coincidence he started talking about having a nice sail a week or so back and I remembered the shots I'd taken! I was so pleased that it was in fact him in the boat! He also told me he was in the process of trying to sell the boat, so there was a good chance that my 50 or so shots of him were the last photos he'd have of him sailing his pretty little boat.

Anyway, coincidence plays a huge role in photography (and in life) and it's up to you to take advantage of the moment. I could have just sat, worn out as I was from an afternoon of corporate portrait shooting, to enjoy the pretty boat sailing back and forth. But now that I know it was a childhood friend of mine, I'm so glad I made the effort to take the photos. As I tell all of my students and readers, my mantra is: When you see it, shoot it! Reality doesn't provide many second chances to capture the shots you want.

My New Book: Digital Photography FAQs is now available everywhere. It's nearly 400 pages long and features 365 questions and answers about digital photography. Please tell your friends about the book and about this blog! I've got 138 followers now, but I'd love to have 1,000!