Wildflowers

Yesterday I came across a few wildflowers starting to bloom in the yard and on the path to the woods...here are a couple of images taken with the G9...the colors of these fragile plants are just amazing this month; unfortunately, rain is predicted for the next few days so I can't bring out the macro lens and Canon5D if that happens. But if it's a light rain or drizzle, it may be ideal for shooting these flowers.

Time

This month my birthday arrives again; I often think about being a teenager who couldn't wait to grow up. Now, it seems my youth was evanescent and perhaps not really appreciated at the time. It takes aging to realize the gift of living on this planet, the incredible journey that life holds for each of us. To some extent, we control our destiny and in many ways, it is determined by circumstance...

For me, photography has become my life record; images are moments that can never be repeated in time or place. I have photographed the Canadian Rockies in all seasons, have felt the power of this planet in those mountains; every time is different. The light is always different, my choice of locations may change, but mostly it is my feeling that changes..the myriad emotions surging in my mind on the day I am photographing determine the way I will capture an image.

Down to the sea with cameras

These three images were taken two nights ago along the coast of Newport, RI..on the left is the Castle Hill Light and on right, below, Castle Hill Inn...the sky looked amazing as sunset approached with turbulent clouds and even rain showers in the distance..you can see a rain shower behind and to the left of the Inn. However, as time went on and dusk drew near, the clouds seemed to just disappear over the ocean; the earlier images, when the light just wasn't quite what I was seeking, seemed to have more fascinating clouds in the sky.. images were taken with the Canon 5d Mark II, the 17-40mm wide angle lens, a 3 stop soft grad ND filter and polarizer...I always use Singh-ray filters in a Cokin holder..the Cokin filters give a strong magenta tone, which some people seem to love, but I just don't like that particular tone. The Singh-ray filters, also the Tiffen filters, are always truly neutral...the top right image was taken after the sun dropped below the horizon, leaving just a little color in the sky..it was a long exposure; it's my favorite.

Misty mornings

Some mornings are just magical; the light on visible moisture can be lovely. Last night a cold front came through, making this an incredibly picturesque dawn...the sunlight on the mist was absolutely amazing. Although I was walking Ralph and didn't go back for the 5D, these shots from the G9 are still interesting...it is hard while walking a dog to stop to compose an image.

The lichens are really fascinating this year, too..the first image shows the variety of colors on one rock.

Canon G9 at the beach

Finally have a chance to write; the weather here today is in the 70s: that is a very good thing.

After the vicious winter we had, it is a welcome sight to see the skunk cabbage coming up...I will try to get some shots near the brook this week..

All of these images were shot with the Canon G9 at Second Beach in Newport a week or so ago; at the far right of the shore, there are some fascinating rock formations...the advantage of a good quality point and shoot is portability and fun. I stress the fun part because the camera is relatively small and light, and on the whole takes excellent images without hauling around a tripod. It is my scouting camera, used to take shots when I don't have the slr with me or just to practice composition. It will shoot in Raw but that is seldom used: if there is something truly remarkable, the 5D and tripod will come out...

David Middleton Workshop

David Middleton, the well-known nature photographer based in Vermont, came to Rhode Island to conduct a workshop for PSRI...I was fortunate to have attended with other enthusiastic photographers from our Photographic Society...it was an intense three day workshop, one in which David was able to take us from our comfort zones and challenge our creativity. His patience and humor in the review sessions never wavered.

Since I am primarily a landscape photographer, it was a challenge for me to shoot the docks at Galilee; we were not allowed to use our comfort lenses (for me it is the Canon f4 17-40mm wide angle); this lens and the 70-200mm are my favorites...I shot a lot of the images for the workshop, and all of the ones here in blog, with my f2.8 24-70mm street zoom...and they were all hand-held with higher ISO's then I usually would use..for these it was 400..for most landscapes on tripod, my ISO is usually 50 or 100...

I have never had so much fun being creative, looking at lobster boats and trawlers; things I would have dismissed in the past as not worth photographing. It was an eye opener, to say the least; there were some images that surprised me with their graphic beauty. I recommend him highly as a workshop leader; this is the first time I have been challenged to exit my comfort zone and just have fun creating images.