Fall photo weekend in the Finger Lakes

Watkins Glen will be one of the spots I go to this weekend for some fall photos.  I am taking a road trip to the finger lakes section of New York to shoot at Buttermilk Falls and Watkins Glen and some of the scenic spots in the area.  I will be home Saturday night and will get busy editing on Sunday.  I hope to have some great new images to share by Sunday.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Anthony's Nose and Bear Mountain Bridge on a rainy fall morning.

I found a great vantage point at geology point in the Trailside Zoo at Bear Mountain.  This was taken on a rainy morning here in the Hudson Valley.  The good folks at the zoo let me in early to get the shot before i headed to work.  I would like to try again on a clear day when the sun is coming up on the eastern side of the river with some nice color in the sky.  Finding the location is about one third of the battle.... next comes getting good exposures and compositions then finally it is editing the image to get the most out of it with cropping and color correcting.  Expect to see this scene a few more times before i think i have it just right.


Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Foggy Morning Minisceongo Creek

 I was faced with a dilemma this morning.... do I have the second cup of coffee or do I grab my camera and get out and shoot in that amazing fog..... I love my coffee as many of you know, but the tug to get out there with my camera won and I am glad it did!


I am so ready for shooting in Ithaca and Watkins Glen this weekend.


Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Waterfalls in B&W

I just love the way the shots from this weekend turned out in B&W.  They are so rich with detail and texture.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

A Morning of Waterfalls

This morning I headed to two of my favorite waterfalls with two of my favorite people!  That is Dover Stone Church Falls and Indian Brook Falls with my Mom and my Cousin Marie.  Thank you both for heading out for an early hike with me!  We broke the law..... hehe Dover Stone Church is closed from the recent storms, but it seamed fine so we just trudged on... I was rewarded at Indian brook with a sight I have never seen.  For the first time in five years of photographing this waterfall there was not a tree trunk stuck in the middle of this beautiful waterfall.  Thanks for the great company!  It made a great hike even better.

Keep Makin' Art!

Carl

Minisceongo Creek | Start of Autumn

Even though I am going out tomorrow and photographing some waterfalls with friends, I could not pass up the flat overcast light and a chance to shoot at Minisceongo after the recent rains.  In fact if it is really foggy in the morning I may head back there before going to the two scheduled waterfalls.  Always take advantage of the light and take the shot when possible.  You'll regret it if you had an opportunity and did not hike and take pictures.  It is better than anything you will find on television.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Fall Photography - Heading into the Woods

With the cooler weather starting to settle in I am anxious to get to the woods with my camera to capture the fall colors.  I am heading out for the next two weekends.  This Sunday I will be going to Dover Stone Church Falls and Indian Brook Falls with my Mom and my Cousin Marie.  These are two of my favorite spots to photograph locally and a great way to start the fall season.  Next weekend I will head out to central New York to photograph Buttermilk Falls Gorge in Ithaca and Watkins Glen.  It will make for a busy day next Saturday, but I hope to come back with some great photos.

Where do you like to photograph in the fall?

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

More LensBaby Tests

I spent the day testing the LensBaby lens kit I purchased by taking pictures at Skylands.  The Composer Pro is the lens body I picked up and it features a system of swappable optics and uses manual discs you place in front of the lens to set the f-stop you want to use.  I first thought this was nifty and kind of went with the totally manual process you use with these lenses.  My first location was to try some of the optics at a stream i like to photograph.  I won't do that again.  First i dropped one of the aperture discs in the stream... That was bad enough.  I did get it back so no harm no foul.  I liked the results of the double glass optic I used yesterday, but wanted to try the others.  The pin hole / zone plate optic gives a real antique look like a turn of the century(19th century) camera.  The problem was with an effective f-stop of something like f177 The viewfinder is un useable because it is too dark.  Next I wanted to try the plastic optic.  It gives a very diffuse dreamy look.  I forgot to lock the optic into the lens and it fell out of the camera and into the stream.  I did salvage it and use it later, but it is so diffuse I struggled with getting any focus.  It has it uses and I will try it again.  After that the stream was not working for me so i headed to skylands with the double glass and single glass optics installed and got the photos below.  I love the ability to tilt the lens... this coupled with the double glass optic gives really nice and different results.  It is taking time to get used to how much tilt to use, but I will get the hang of it.  So far I would say static objects like buildings and flowers are great choices.  I look forward to trying some portraits very soon.  All in all I am enjoying the LensBaby Composer Pro and am figuring out when is best to use it and when to use a more standard lens and approach.

*Note - the 2x1 crops i used for these pictures were not a result of the LensBaby... they were my artistic choice for the day.

Keep Makin Art!

Carl

I really like what the Lensbaby Composer can do with shots of wildflowers.

How could I try something new at Skylands and not take a photo or two of the pumphouse!

Lensbaby - Composer Pro lens

I recently picked up the LensBaby Composer Pro.  It is a special effects lens with swappable optics for different styles.  It allows you to tilt the lens for radical focus shifts.  These shots were with the double glass optical that came with the LensBaby Composer.  So far it is very cool.  I am still getting used to how much to tilt and adjust the focus, but I have some great Ideas for shots.  Over the next few days I will be testing and showing you the results, but tomorrow I think will be a day for watercolor.....

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

More Cape Cod Photos.

 Sunrise Sesuit Creek

Skiff on Bass River

These are the last of the Cape Cod photos.  I am working in the studio today and will be posting some of the watercolors on Wednesday.

Keep Makin' Art!

Cape Cod Photos - 2011

This series shows some of the wonderful sunrises and sunsets we were treated to once Hurricane Irene passed the cape on her trek northward.  By Monday we had beautiful skies and temperatures and it stayed that way all week.

Keep Makin Art!
Carl

Community Photo Challenge - Reflections

Community Photo Challenge's current Challenge is reflections.  I chose this photo I took in Venice.  The architecture and the canals make for some really great reflection photographs.  I could spend months and months photographing this city and still not capture all the magic she has to offer.  Don't forget to follow the link and wander over to see what the other photographers have posted for the reflection challenge.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

PS - To my regular readers... I have finished editing the Cape Cod photos from last week and will be posting over the next few days.  I am also heading into the studio to work on watercolors....

Life is Good!
CS