It feels like forever since I’ve gotten out for a sunset. Fortunately, conditions worked out tonight providing a solid setup for shooting. To change things up I made for Sunset Park in Surf City. I figured I’d give Barnegat Bay some love. I’ve always liked the vantage point here, especially in Spring and Summer months, but sometimes struggle framing up an interesting foreground. Tonight I went with the bulkhead to fairly pleasing results. Except I made one key mistake. I made these seven bracketed exposures at an aperture of f/3.2—almost wide open and hardly conducive for sharp images. I adjusted my post processing approach accordingly.
Hoping to take you away — 40mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/20
Friends and I decided to make our way to Washington D.C. this weekend to behold what is peak season of the District’s famed cherry blossoms. About a million other people had the same idea.
Battling crowds, long walks, and beautiful weather, we made our way about the National Mall. Craning our necks toward monuments from afar, and making a late afternoon pit stop at the National Cherry Blossom Festival. One chicken on a stick and some cosplay people watching later and we were making our way back toward the Tidal Basin for the would-be glory of golden hour.
Fighting throngs of revelers making the most of the wondrous spring weather, it became readily apparent that making any kind of sweeping landscape shot was not going to happen. There was simply too many people armed with camera phones to set up shop. My friends and I resorted to bumping our way through the crowds firing off occasional shots whenever we had a moment to breathe and extend our elbows.
All complaints aside, it was a good time had by all.
It doesn’t matter; it’s in the past — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Lazy poster alert
This photograph is a holdover from this past Sunday and I’m only now—Friday afternoon—getting around to posting it. As it was a Sunday evening I had more pressing priorities, ya know, Game of Thrones premiere and stuff like that. As for why I couldn’t post it some other time this week? Well, I have no excuse. Except baseball.
Thinking back to last Sunday conditions were cold. And windy. I was greeted by a nice headwind off Barnegat Bay as I was making my bracketed exposures and was concerned that sturdy tripod be damned, I’d face some camera shake. Fortunately the sharpness seems solid enough so I don’t think it was much of a factor. The low-lying clouds hanging just above the horizon was actually smoke from an area forest fire that happened in Chatsworth, New Jersey, Sunday afternoon. To my knowledge it was not a controlled burn. Hopefully the damage wasn’t too extensive.
This spot, while on Cedar Run Dock Road, was a new vantage point for me. All in all, not a bad spot.
Upcoming
I’m heading down to Washington D.C. on Saturday afternoon with some friends for the Cherry Blossom Festival. With any luck I’ll have a few pictures to share. Until then happy weekend!
Beset by light — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
It’s been a while. Thanks to poor weather, uneventful skies, the return of major league baseball season, and poor scheduling I haven’t been out shooting in almost two weeks. And while it’s good to step away, double digit sabbaticals get a bit too long for me. Suffice to say, I’ve been jonesing.
With what looked to be a solid setup I made for the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area. It had recently gone through a scheduled controlled burn and all the undergrowth had been taken down to sooty black earth weeks ago, yet low green was already beginning to thrive in the nutrient rich remnants. Fire is life down here in the pines. It’s just amazing how quickly this place can transform in a manner of weeks. I took a picture of the clearing riddled with nascent grasses that I’ll post tomorrow.
As for tonight’s picture, well after some largely meh long exposure attempts I switched on the fly and transitioned to bracketed exposures as the sky really started doing its thing. It played it coy tonight, colors were tempered and muted well past the sun slinking under the horizon until suddenly the lights really came on. I particularly like how the offset oranges and reds to the right reach across to kiss the golden marsh grasses to the bottom left. For me, it makes the photograph. I hope you enjoy.
Getting my feet wet — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/50
This all wound up better than expected.
First I was hemming and hawing about whether to get out there and shoot; the setup was meh worthy at best, its lone saving grace a distinct color cast from scheduled controlled burns in the area. I packed my car. I looked up one last time. I unpacked my car. In the end it was packed again.
Unsure where to go I wound up on 13th street in Ship Bottom, New Jersey. With a quick glance south I saw there was a small batch of exposed jetty rock about five blocks down. I dashed back to my car, strapped on my gear and began my walk against fading light.
I began photographing. Making what I would minutes later find out to be a hack-job move of not making sure my focus was dialed in. Shots wasted. Light wasted.
Annoyed I ditched the tripod and decided I would race in against the receding waves in an attempt to get low angle close ups of the jetty rock. In my desire to get a well composed, properly metered photograph I hung too long and took water up to my shins. Cold water. Most importantly, all equipment was safe.
At this point I’m just thinking this isn’t my day. To rub salt in the wounds, I look west over the berms and ocean front homes to notice their silhouette emblazoned by a fiery sunset. Opportunity lost. But at least I got wet, right?
As really nothing more than a I’m gonna hunch over and dangle my camera an inch off the sand while approaching surf comes and goes around me and hope for the best shot, I got my picture above. And honestly, I’m damn pleased I struggled out there today.
Onward with the black and white binge—I knew straight away I’d at least have to give this a look sans color. To that end, I needed this image to be dark. Dark with strong contrast to render well defined edges.The lines marking the three petals draw the eye inward toward the center bouquet of pistils. There, floating, the eye hangs with the image gradually letting you pull back out.
I had some time to kill yesterday and met up with friends at my buddy’s place. With some fresh growth breaking ground across the property I went for the macro lens. After all this time attached to my wide angle lens, the macro felt good and comfortable. Like meeting up with an old friend.
I made my way flower to flower (most of which were daffodils this early in the season), even stopping at some fungal growth clinging to old wood, until I settled upon a little pine tree. Eyeing it up I went with a center focus on the new growth.
In this setting applying heavy contrast during post processing serves to draw attention right to the midpoint while the background falls away into blackness. I had a hard time deciding upon this image and its black and white equivalent. I like them almost equally. Perhaps I will post that interpretation later.
With weather types talking up the threat of early Spring snow for folks in the northeast, I made sure to document that springlike lifeforms are in fact making their presence known. My front and side yards are both home to daffodils and they never fail to be the first to make the annual flora journey back to life. Like clockwork they sound the springtime alarm, beating all of my other plants, trees, and flowers to the sunlight. In this case though, it looks like my buds may open just in time to be buried by snow.
I’ve got the time — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
I took my time leaving work today. There were no pressing needs at home and pictures were not on my radar. As I walked to my car I felt good about my leisure pace, there were no clouds to be had, and, ostensibly, no worthwhile sunset to chase.
Time to drive.
And drive.
62 miles of drive. Each way. But hey, who’s counting?
People usually balk at the distance, and right fully so. Me? I mostly shrug it off and enjoy the four wheels of solitude.
I was 30 miles from home when I first caught glimpse of a solid cloud layer off in the distance. I unscientifically gauged this as being right over my town. 25 miles later would reveal my best guess was correct. Only I was up against the clock.
6:23: Seven miles from home and running against a 7:04 sunset. Knowing I needed to stop home called for haste—I immediately settled on Stafford Forge, a 12 minute drive door to lake. Making it the closest in my sunset rotation.
6:32: enter driveway. Quickly I toss aside my work bag inside—OK, it’s a satchel—and grab my camera, tripod, ND filter (would later prove unnecessary), sweatshirt and jacket. Oh, and I ditched the loafers.
6:36: exit driveway.
6:48: arrival.
Bored with my usual Forge setup, I eyed a little patch of woods near the park entrance. Camera in hand I worked through the branches and settled in under a tree. Overlooking the lake with long yellow grasses and a fallen branch in my foreground I knew I had my spot. I dashed back to the car for my tripod, got set up, dialed in and made my bracketed exposures. Above is the result.
