Solomons Island - Enjoying the Bay

 Before Thanksgiving I was able to make a trip with my girlfriend to Solomons Island.  The trip was about an hour and half drive but well worth the time.  I think I got some of my best pictures of the year.  I also experimented with using a signature/watermark on my favorite images.  I haven't had any problems with theft, but thought it added a nice classy look to the pictures.  I've also added a border to a few of my favorites.  My favorite part of the trip came towards the end when we were lucky enough to watch a group of blue heron's feeding the bay at sunset.  I never realized what strange dives they make into the water, as I'd only seen them feeding in small streams, rivers, and inlets.  It was a great experience and a great day!

 The above picture is actually a gull, not a heron like the rest, just FYI

Please let me know what you think about the pictures and watermark :-D

Thanks

Still Life: DuClaw Brewing Company Swag

So in a moment of inspiration I took my new DuClaw brewing glass (A promo for their newly tapped Devil's Milk Barleywine, which is quite good) and tried some macro photography on the glass.  One side says 'Hell Yeah' and the other 'Devil's Milk 2010'.  After first trying hand held with my 18-135mm, I busted out the tripod and the 70-300.  I was able to get a few good shots but the lighting wasn't anywhere near ideal.  It makes me want to make a softbox, but I'm not sure if I've got time for that small project this week.

Also walking around Ritz photo yesterday I was checking out the 50mm 1.8 (no AF-S) and it would probably do a good job also (better yet if I got the reversal ring!).  Anyhow,  Cheers!

Self Portrait in the Afternoon

Staying Busy

Well I've been reading a few blogs recently which have had posts about self-portraits.  I'm not much of one for the normal narcissistic, holding the camera up to your face style of picture.  I went with a more multiplicity spin, which I admit I've done before, but still makes me smile when its all done.  Due to the dynamic lighting of my living room, the shadows did change a few times in the light, which made my end image have clear signs of where the Photoshop layer masks intersected.  That being said, I'm happy with the outcome for a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Hopefully some beer or wine pictures this week.  Cheers!

Truxton Park Photo Hike

Light playing across the Bridge

Foot Bridge in Fall

This weekend I was able to take Sunday and go for a photo walk.  I originally started thinking that I'd be able to explore the Bacon Ridge Natural Area.  After driving around the area for almost an hour I'd seen no parking lots, but did stumble across a very creepy abandoned hospital.  I used HDR to try and capture the nuances of the light and of the decay.  The fall foliage and the eeriness of the building made for a good Halloween capture.  After not being able to find any way into the hiking trails of Bacon Ridge I drove to Truxton Park.  I'd only been to Truxton Park previously once to catch crabs, but I hadn't walked through the woods before.  The weather was perfect and it was a very nice day to stroll through the woods and near the water and take pictures.  The entire set from that day can be seen here: Truxton Park Set.  After taking nearly 75 pictures I went home and spent a few hours in PS editing what I'd gotten.  My favorite photos ended up being either macro shots or shots where I was able to capture the details of the light and shadows that day.  I was also able to stalk a Great Blue Heron pretty closely for about twenty minutes, but never got a take-home shot.  I wished that I had brought along my 300mm lens when I had that opportunity because it would have allowed me to get much closer with my optics.  Overall I felt that it was a very successful trip, albeit in a place I didn't think I was going to end up.

Changing your Perspective

Alone in the Clouds

I read an article today on Gizmodo that discussed clever photos taken by changing your perspective (45 Clever Photos).  That made me think about the images that I've taken where I've had to change my perspective in order to get a creative shot. The shot to the left required me to lie under the swings and wait for the perfect moment to take the image of the swing against the background of the sky.  I'm going to try to remember perspective the next time I go out shooting and maybe it'll more quality, creative shots.

Autumn Leaves: Still Life

Yesterday I went for a brief walk to try and take in some of the leaves before the rain hits this week and many of them fall.  I took the picture to the left as a still life of what autumn looks like in my current area. I'm not usually much of a still life fan, I think mostly because I don't have a lot of experience with lighting techniques for still life or macro images.  This shot was just using natural light, diffused through the overcast day.

Got a lot of traffic yesterday from my facebook post, so welcome anyone who is new to reading, please feel free to leave comments.  I'll be up in Baltimore later today so I'm not sure if I'll get any new pictures up for tomorrow but I'll hopefully be able to post something.  Possibly about the types of blogs that I read daily to keep up to date with the news and keep myself inspired.  Cheers!

FOLLOW UP: This photo has been very hot on Flickr at Autumn!  Go comment :)

Bay Fishing Trip

Birds at Dawn

Well I spent my Saturday on a fishing trip on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay.  We got the marina well before sunrise, which is a time of day that I rarely see, but it one of the best times to take photographs.  On the way out I was able to grab a few shots of the gulls flying before dawn.  The sun came up right before we got to our first trolling spot.  The sun rose directly over this small tree covered jetty which was a great subject because the shadows of the trees created a nice silhouette. I took a few shots while the boat was moving, but the image to the right was my favorite.  We were able to catch quite a few perch on the trip and overall it was quite a success. I took all the images in .NEF format, light editing in PhotoShop and Picasa. The entire set can be seen on Flickr at: Bay Fishing Set. 

Hardware wise I used only my D60 with my 18-135mm Nikkor lens.  ISO was mostly set on Auto setting.

Putting the little guys back