To Power Line or Not to Power Line

Normally when I'm out shooting photos I go out of my way to exclude things like power lines from landscape scenes, but in a way that kind of feels like I'm creating a false reality. Lately I've been hanging out with a friend, just taking drives around town and plunking shots with my little Olympus zoom camera (an Olympus UZ 810 with a 36x optical zoom) and I've been trying not to be too critical about what goes into the frame. Really all I want is a record of what the town looks like now, today, without trying to clean up the scenes too much. I shot this frame--power lines and all--as I walked into a beach-side cafe and literally just pointed at what I saw and shot--I made no effort to get rid of the power lines.

Of course, the picky perfectionist in me did walk a few more yards and I took some more shots without the lines, just to show this pretty little beach at twilight sans power lines or cottages. The shot (below) is cropped a bit differently, but the significant difference is just the lack of anything man made (other than the stone jetty). Is one better than the other? I kind of like the shot with the cottages and the power lines--the beach seems more lonely when you know that its inhabited, I think. And those power lines leading into the shot help to exaggerate that feeling. The second shot is quite a bit more blue partly because it was 10 minutes later, but largely because I Photoshopped them differently.

Note: My main site is down temporarily. I've taken my main site down temporarily because I wasn't happy with the hosting service. I'm looking for a new host and when I find one I like I'll create a brand new site. The old one was looking kind of dusty anyway. I'll keep you posted (a blogger's joke, arr arr).

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.