Longwood Gardens Lily Ponds

I made a trip to Longwood Gardens yesterday with the purpose of conducting an iPhone private lesson and for getting a couple hours of  personal shooting in around the Lily Ponds as soon as Longwood opened at 9:00. Photographing Water Lilies, unlike other flower photography is best in bright sunlight with blue skies! I learned that years ago when I was on a workshop with John and Barbara Gerlach in the UP of Michigan. The workshop participants were cut loose for an afternoon during the workshop for some personal time. I was shooting slides then. One of the workshop participants and myself decided to go back to one of the ponds we had seen. We were excited to see natural lilies growing in the water. It was an overcast day, so we did some shooting. When we got back to the workshop session we told John and Barb we had found them and they said oh those are best on a Sunny day....and so it is! I was dreadfully disappointed with my slides when I got them back. So I have been shooting water lilies on sunny days ever since then! This is a collection of images I made in a couple hours of shooting at Longwood Gardens.

This is an image composite blend or three image I shot of reflections in the Lily Pond.

Lonaconing Silk Mill

Don Vetter and I visited the old Lonaconing Silk or Throwing Mill about a month ago where we met Amy McGovern and her husband. I am just now getting around to processing some images from the three hour shoot that day. Amy had called ahead and let the owner know we were coming. The current owner Herb Crawford is desperately trying to save it from the demise of time. (He raises money by charging admission of $75.00 to any desirous photographers.) He has guarded the mill for some thirty years now and single handedly has tried to keep the building in tact. He is fighting a losing battle now due to money, age  and resources. The rain has penetrated the roof and the lead paint is peeling off every wall. The smell of well oiled machinery permeates the thick air of history.
There are current attempts to raise awareness and money on many sites like this Blog by Rusty.
However, my sense is that the building will fall further into ruin. There were many women, who's lives were impacted by the factory and ruined by the factory's unforeseen and sudden closing, leaving many of them to economic hardship. The personal belongings of some of them remain in the building today, covered with the dust of time.It is hard to imagine a factory whose fire emergency system relied on red buckets stored on the tall columns on the factory floor. The women often worked long shifts of ten hours or more for little money. I wish I knew what the sound of the factory was like with all these machines running. Now it is quiet except for the occasional drip of water penetrating the deteriorating roof.

 

The sunrise was just beautiful!

I made it out this morning at 5:00 for sunrise. I started shooting before sunrise as the light was colorful. It was beautiful! There is nothing quite as awe inspiring as watching the sun breach the horizon of the earth with beautiful light. So, I was shooting a lot! Every wave is different and the light changes every second...so every shot is different even if you never changed your camera position, every shot would be different! and just a little sidebar...do you see the shape of the pink cloud below as a human figure waving hello? Look closely...I waved back! You just never know what you will see when you rise with the sun. And, yes, I did as a child always see shapes in clouds, it was a summer pastime.

And even after the sun breaks the horizon there are shots to be made along the surf and shore.

My November 2011 beach workshop is now scheduled and registration is open. The workshop is limited to ten if you want to sign up please see the info on the sidebar of this blog.

It's Horseshoe Crab Time

Yesterday, I spent the day around the beach house finalizing some cleaning chores before the rental season starts this weekend, and as the late afternoon came on I decided to get out and enjoy some beach atmosphere. I headed north first stopping in Bethany for a few iPhone pics, then Dewey for some gas and on to Rehoboth for some Dolle's Caramel popcorn and some boardwalk pics with the iPhone..(but thats another blog) After enjoying some time out I headed back as the sun was low in the sky and pulled into Tower Road south of Dewey to catch the last of the setting sun over the Rehoboth Bay. I noticed when I left Rehoboth that the moon was just about full. A quick check on the iPhone confirm yes at 98%. I love the way the full moon casts its light on the ocean! But even more I love the way the full moon in May and June brings the Horseshoe crabs to shore for their annual egglaying event! If you don't live anywhere near where the Horseshoe crabs live then you probably have not witnessed this amazing event. The link above details everything you ever want to know about the crab so I won't bore you with the details, but all I can say is it has been going on for 540 million years!!!! I can't even fathom that! So these pics are a few from last night. Having said that I have never seen these guys along the shores of the Rehoboth Bay. They must have traveled in through the Indian River from the Atlantic. Amazing! All these shots were made with my 70-200 mm lens with pretty shallow depth of field and selective focus. The crabs come ashore as the sun goes down so the light is very low. The crabs are constantly moving in their ritualistic way as the high tide tosses them ashore sometimes tipping them upside down as the waves roll in.

Early Riser: Foggy Morning

I woke up today at 4:30 when I heard my iPhone alarm clock paying the xylophone downstairs! I had forgotten I set it last Saturday when I had to get up early for my Annapolis Workshop for Penn last Saturday, so by the time I was downstairs, I decided to take a peek outside. The fog was thick. So I thought OK I am awake, might as well go out and see if I can get a foggy sunrise. I was on the beach by 5:00 and waiting for some light. I started making some images. The sea was calm with 2 -3 foot breakers gently hitting the shore. The sound of the breakers is so hypnotizing, I stood there just watching and listening for a while.  By 6:15 there was no sign of the sun..and the fog bank was not lifting so I decided to get some breakfast instead. These shots will give you an idea about the depth of the fog. I even heard some thunder when I was out there. I took my first booking today, for my November beach workshop. It is always fun to capture the sea in any weather and it is always beautiful to me. Maybe you can join me for some ocean shooting in November! Registration is available on the sidebar of this blog.

Summer Wild Flowers

I left Baltimore again today for the beach until Wednesday when I will be presenting a 2 hour session on processing images at Penn Camera on Reisterstown Road. There are 5 spaces left if you have some free time. The link to sign up is on the right side of this Blog in the sidebar. These images are representative of the type of processing and editing I will be sharing. The opening image is an in camera overlay processed with Nik Color Efex Pro and enhanced in OnOne PhotoFrame. There is a stretch of wildflowers on Rt 404 heading to the beach I saw last week and did not have time to stop so today with the overcast skies and mid seventy degree temps it was perfect to make some images. Since this patch of wildflowers is by the road they are constantly being blown by passing traffic. I used the wind in some images to render an impressionist feeling. I also made a few swipes.

This image is also an in camera overlay and then I chose to process it with SnapArt2.

This is a straight shot run through SnapArt2 Watercolor and then processed in OnOne Photo Frame for the fun border. After I left the wildflower field I was thinking, a beautiful field of wildflowers, a good pair of hike boots, by Lowa, a Red Jeep Wrangler and a Nikon camera made me happy today on the way to the beach! Thanks!!

Cerillos, and out.....goodbye..... New Mexico

This group of images were made in the dusty old west town of Cerillos.  This was not the first time I was in Cerillos, I came across it when I made a turn off Rt 25 on to Waldo Canyon Road and made a 12 mile dirt road run into Cerillos a week before the Gottlieb group arrived. The town streets had signs saying special event today.  I drove up to the signs and asked about the event and I was told they were filming a movie. I turned around and headed out, but made note of the very old and interesting town. So when we headed here with the Gottlieb group, I was glad to return, except for the dust and wind. It really is an old west town! with one or two shops a couple homes and ruin. We stopped at the Cerillos Turquoise Mining Museum. It was dark and very close inside so I made just a few shots hand held with the 105 macro lens of the old bottles in the windows. I also made some iPhone shots but that's another blog I have to write! These shots just made me feel so New Mexico in their colors when I was processing them, the blues of turquoise and sky, greens of the scrub, adobe rust of the land, and the weathered old wood dried out by the strong sun. This set of images concludes the shots I will be posting with the "Big Girl" camera from the New Mexico adventure with Steve Gottlieb. It was a fun time!