One more image from Saturday

I also found this lazy slow spot in the Queensboro Brook Saturday as it meandered through the swampy land near Silvermine.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Rain Pros and Cons

Canon EOS 50D /17-40 USM L / 100 ASA / F18 - 1.3 Seconds

Wenderina will tell you I don't like to be out in the rain. It's true. I scrunch up my face and run as fast as I can to get out of the rain. I don't like being damp and cold and my glasses get all foggy. It makes me unhappy.... So why shoot in the rain? The results. You can get more saturated, rich colors. The rocks get darker where normally they might glow and the highlight contrast gets knocked down. In short it makes for a much more interesting photo. You can also find pockets of fog and mist that make for really great results. The hard part is keeping your lens dry and to keep it from fogging up. I captured these wonderful images... but perhaps the shot of the day got away from me because I could not keep the camera and lens dry when I found a stand of white birches with autumn colors behind them. I'll go back tomorrow morning before work. If I wait too long the rich color behind the trees will fade and the shot will be blah.

Today's images are from an early morning hike I took (in a very light rain) along Pine Meadow Brook in Harriman State Park. It started raining lightly last night and still has not stopped. This really decided today's location for me. I had hoped the rain would stop early and I would drive the two hours to a couple of waterfalls I have not seen before in the Shawangunk Mountains. I did not not want four hours of driving and nothing to show for it. So I opted for a local spot I know well and could predict the brook would be active with the rain from overnight and the fall colors would look even better so long as it was not raining too hard.

I noticed today as I was uploading my images that this trip marks the 25th time I have photographed in Harriman State Park in the last few years. It has so much to offer the hiker and photographer. I could spend a lifetime photographing this park and never discover all of her secrets.

I got home cold and wet, but very happy. I had found some beautiful images in an area I knew would be just right and the 15 minute wet ride home was much better than two hours cold and wet and miserable had I gone to the Shawangunks. It is still early in the fall... maybe next week. Maybe I can drag my brother in law Robbie (a fine photographer in his own right) out with me for a few hours.

There are a couple of important lessons I have learned as a landscape photographer you can glean from today. These are more important than type of equipment or any technical advice.

1. Know you subject. Find a favorite spot and visit it often. Be able to just 'know' when it will be a good time to shoot. I spent a long time trying to force nature to be ready for me to photograph on my schedule. Such hubris does not work for a nature photographer.
2. Be flexible. If your first location does not work out have a back up plan. Even if a trip does not work out as planned you will have added to your mental database of locations/times/conditions to shoot.
3. Do your research... get a trail map. These help me a great deal with no locations to help me decide if early in the day or later in the day will be optimal. Know what time sunrise and sunset are... Is there a chance of fog... I love shooting in the fog.
4. Be prepared. Keep your battery charged and extra memory cards with you. The best shot of the season may present it self to you while you are driving to work or the grocery store... If you don't have your camera with you then you are out of luck.

What tricks do you have to keep you prepared?

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Autumn Reflections

Autumn Reflections - Queensboro Brook Harriman State Park

Fall will be approaching quickly here in the north-east. some of the early color is here already... I love this time of year when the fall color is on its way in, but there is still plenty of green to play it off of. I can be found in the woods three or four times a week from now until the peak fall colors.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Capturing Moments

Cedar Pond at moonset

Moonset Lake Askoti

Canon 50D / EF17-40 mm / ISO 640/f4.5/25sec

What lies in the darkness of an autumn night?

I stood tonight gazing up at the sky above Lake Askoti trying to be still (mental and physically) as the image recorded on the sensor of my camera for the twenty five seconds it took to make the exposure. What you see is a moment frozen that actually took nearly half a minute to record. These images while beautiful can not fully explain to you the wonder of those 25 seconds.... I let my senses wash over me.. I took in all around me. I saw a shooting star, breathed in the smell of the forest on a crisp autumn evening and listened to the birds call to each other from across the lake.... There is wonder and majesty to be found in the woods any time of day or night. There is no magic to finding it except to get out there and let your yourself stop and fully experience the moment.

While I was out there in the woods in the night prose and poetry came to me and left again so quickly I could not begin to record it... Much like the shooting start that was too fast to leave a lasting impression in the latent image of my capture the poetry of the night left its blazing impression with hardly a sign of its existence except my clumsy attempt to convey it.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Where is your happy place?

sunset Cape Cod Bay - One of my happy places

Ok you are having one of those days.... You know the one.... You wake up and the water heater is dead and leaking in the basement, you get a ticket on the way to work because you were speeding to make up for the lost time from the water heater, when you get to your desk there are three people waiting for you for totally different things that you were unaware they were waiting for.... Then it happens all the noise is still there, but you have checked out and gone to your happy place. maybe just for a moment.... Maybe it is a defense mechanism to prevent your head from popping off of your body....

For me there are three happy places. My first is I am home on the couch, there is a fire crackling in the fireplace, I am reading and my beautiful Wenderina is by my side. Next Happy place I am with my favorite people in the world (including again the lovely Wenderina) we are enjoying cocktails and each others company while watching the sun sink away from the sky towards Plymouth, while Cape Cod Bay puts on a light show at sunset (I never get tired of that one) and I added this one to the list Sunday night while hiking in Harriman State Park. Hiking along a mountain trail with no sounds except the the soft crunch of pine needles at my feet and the sound of a brook splashing along happily beside me for miles. These three images can carry me through a lot of stuff.

Where are your happy places?

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

This Morning

There is wonderful fog this morning. I am going to head out with my camera for half an hour before work. I'll post tonight if I get anything good.

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

Follow Up - I had no useable shots today... But I did enjoy wandering around looking for the right shot before and after work.

C

First wash - Chickadee Watercolor

First wash on background of Chickadee complete. I'll post the next wash in a couple of days.

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

Bookends

I am calling today 'bookends day' because I had the opportunity to get out and shoot at sunrise (see previous post 'Moodna Viaduct') and around sunset at two of my favorite spots. I went back out around 5pm to Harriman State Park and hiked further than I normally do up the Reeve's Brook Trail. I found some great new compositions and shooting in the last hour our so of sunlight gave me a chance to capture some really beautiful images in the gloaming, with that wonderful, soft end of day light.

Keep Makin Art

Carl

Moodna Viaduct - Salisbury Mills, NY

Image Info: Canon D50 / EF 17-40mm F4/L - USM @ 22mm - 100 ASA/.3 sec/F22

This morning's Sunday morning nature photo is a landscape of the Moodna Viaduct in Salisbury Mills, NY. I have photographed it previously with a fresh dusting of snow and I found it just as lovely this chilly (almost) autumn morning. This location is best photographed about 30 minutes after sunrise. If you shoot it too early when the sun has not risen past the mountains on both sides of the Hudson river which is about five miles away the foreground will be too dark. The train trestle is nestled in the rolling hills of the Schunemunk Mountains. The rainy cold summer we had will lead us too a spectacular show of fall colors here in the Hudson Valley. I'll be back at this site when the colors are at their peak. My goal is to make a series of scenes of this location in the 4 seasons.

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

Where to Shoot...

SilverMine - Harriman State park NY - Oct 2008

The fall is rapidly approaching here in NY. The trees are still very green thanks to some really wet weather this summer, but you can feel fall in the air. Crisp and chilly. I love Autumn. It is one of my favorite times of the year to take photographs. My dilemma this year is where to shoot. There are so many places I'd like to shoot (and paint) and only so many weeks to do it in and of course there is that whole having a job thing.... Anywhere here are just a few of the places I'd like to get to this fall with my camera.

• Cape Cod - Cranberry Harvest what could be better.


• Catskill Mountains - I don't shoot in the Catskills nearly enough.


• Lancaster County PA - Amish Country. I think the old stone farms will be great in the fall.


• Upstate NY - Wine Country. Luckily I'll be attending a wedding here in October and may get some time to take fall images.

Where do you want to paint or photograph this fall?

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary

Field of Goldenrod

Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary

Cape Cod

Kitchen Still Life

Kitchen Still Life - Watercolor 8x10"

Here is my first crack at the kitchen still life. I am really happy with the bottle and the measuring scoop. I will probably take another stab at it at this size and then do a finished painting. I am not sure if the finished piece will be watercolor or acrylic. I need to think that thru.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Between Washes on the Watercolor

In between washes on the watercolor I was also able to get a few shots of the chickadees stopping by Wenderina's Mom's bird feeder. They really are characters when you watch them for a while. I'll paint these two in my sketchbook when the still life is finished.

So much art so little time!

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

Watercolor Update

I was able to link my camera to my laptop and took a quick shot of the watercolor to show it to you in progress. I need to finish the background and fine tune the highlights a little. I am very happy with the copper scoop. The pear and the bottle need a little more shadowing. Over all I am very happy with how it is go so far.

Final Size 8" x 10"

I am thinking out my approach to the background very carefully and hope to finish it out tomorrow night when we get home Sunday night.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

All New England Show - Cape Cod Art Association

Mine is the watercolor of Highland Light on the left.

My photo is bottom left. It is of Sandwich, MA in the early morning light.

Claire Marcus Was kind of enough to send me these shots from the Opening of the 'All New England' Show at the Cape Cod Art Association. I am thrilled. I think my painting and photo both hang very well with some wonderful art and I am very pleased to have gotten into this show. It will encourage me to keep going and to keep entering pieces in all the shows.

Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me to do this. It has been a great experience.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Watercolor

Hello Fellow Artists-
I am away for a few days in upstate NY. I brought my paints with me and finished the drawing and first washes on the still life set up you see in the photo above. So far so good. I am stopping now to let it dry. I am taking photos of each stage and will post them Sunday when I get back home along with the finished painting.

PLEASE NOTE: There has been some confusion. This image is my photo that the painting is based on. I do not have a way to post the painting until Sunday afternoon. I am taking photos of the painting a s I build it that I will post when I get home. Thanks! CS

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

OK. Really this is the last of the cape photos

I decided to close out my string of Cape Cod photos with this lovely little Sunset of Sesuit Neck. My next post is a watercolor... I promise.

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

Sandy Neck Light - Cape Cod

We are heading out of town for a couple of days to upstate NY for some family events. I'll be back to posting on Sunday. Have a great few days.

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

Wings Island - Cape Cod

The Wings Island nature trails behind the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History are a great place for an early morning walk. Don't forget to bring your camera!

Keep Makin' Art

Carl

Worth the 3AM Alarm

I have to say.... It was so worth getting up at 3am to capture this image at Marconi Beach on Cape Cod. It was windy and dark and the surf was roaring... But this image of a dune and stars before sunrise made it all worthwhile. I can't look look at this without being reminded of how great it felt to be out there and feel the darkness and sound envelope me during the minute long exposures I was taking.

Keep Makin' Art
Carl

Drive-By Art

One of the things I really love most about Cape Cod is the feel from another time and place it has. Driving down 6A this vegetable stand and this farm struck me as wonderfully nostalgic and Americana. When you couple this with small houses built in the 1600's and that wonderful clear yet not harsh Cape Cod light.... I don't go anywhere on the cape without my camera. There is an opportunity at any time of day. I think this little farm stand will end up being a great watercolor.

On this same theme of nostalgia... I am a bit of a purist when it comes to digital photography... Just because we can change things around and combine images does not mean we should... Anyway that is my normal stance and there are others who disagree and that is fine. This next image I saw and decided it would look amazing in a glowing soft dreamlike photo. So I broke one of my own 'rules'.. What do you think?

Keep Makin Art!

Carl

Sesuit Neck

Marsh at Sesuit Neck in the late afternoon. It seemed like everywhere I turned on the cape last week everything from the weather to the light to the location had lined up and was just waiting to have a photo taken of it.

Sunrise - Newcomb Hollow Beach

I arrived at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Welfleet, MA at 5 am, It was worth getting up at that early to capture this image.

Sandy Neck Light - Cape Cod

I painted Sandy Neck Light while I was on the cape this year. This painting is 8x16". I am really happy with it. I loosened up a little and got bold with the color! I also did several other sketches in watercolor and acrylic so I should be completing more cape themed paintings over the next month.
Enjoy the painting. I am back to editing photos!

Cape Cod

Bicycle in a Summer Garden - Cummaquid, Ma

Sesuit Harbor Night

Sesuit Sunset

Hello Fellow Artists-

We have returned from a great week on Cape Cod. I have ~ 8 gb worth of images to go thru... but thought I would share these first few with you today. More to come I promise.

I'll be talking about Cape Cod and Art over the next week... Stay tuned.

Keep Makin' Art

Carl