I just wanted to make a few images.....

It had been a while since I made any images. So off I went to a nearby lake, hoping for some clouds and a little light at sunset.

It was still 80 degrees and very humid at 7pm when I got there.

I parked and walked to the shore of Lake Wingra.

The mosquitoes found me immediately, but the clouds and color were worth it.

I set the tripod at the edge of the water and got to work.

I used a split neutral density filter to balance the exposure of the sky and foreground.

The clouds made interesting patterns as the sun dropped below the horizon.

The bugs were persistent and I was sweating quite a bit.

So I just kept shooting.

In the distance I could see kayakers heading towards the beach where I was standing.

So I made a few more images before they got into frame.

As they brought their boat to shore I put my camera away and stayed just a few more minutes more.

I forgot my sunglasses..

After running some errands I went back to the UW Arboretum to retrieve the sunglasses I had left in the woods the day before. It was 10am and the light wasn't very good.

I took my camera anyway and walked the half mile to where I thought I had left them. I found the sunglasses after just a few minutes then set about making some images.

The light was flat as I walked through the woods looking for scenes I liked. The picture above shows what I saw and it wasn't very good.

I decided to take a break and lay down by a big maple tree. After about ten minutes of just lying there I noticed a bit of decent color and leaves lit by the sun in the canopy. Then I got an idea.

Normally I like my photos pretty straight forward. Beautiful light and a good subject and composition equals a quality nature photo. The problem was, I didn't have good light in the forest and I was having trouble finding an appropriate subject.

So I got creative and started playing with slower shutter speeds and controlled motion. I made the image at the top of the page by focusing and then moving the camera downward during the exposure. Focus, press shutter release while moving the camera down. That's how the top image was made.

I was using a 24-200mm zoom lens and started playing with the zoom to create different abstract images. Focus, press shutter release button, and push or pull the lens to zoom in or out while using slower shutter speeds.

The amount I moved the zoom during the exposure determined how much motion was in the final image.

I know others will think this is a no brainer and no big deal, but for me it was a leap.

I like colorful, beautiful, real nature images and these are something different. Colorful and beautiful yes, but not a straight depiction of what I was looking at.

At the time, this is what the forest looked like.

At the same time using the same camera and settings I was able to make this. I prefer the second image.

As I was looking up and making this photo I heard an animal running towards me through the fallen leaves. I made the image and looked in the direction of the sound just as a young white-tailed doe ran to within twenty feet of me and stopped where I had set a camera bag down in the woods. 

She waited and I waited. Then I said "hello" and she took a couple of jumps to my side, stopped and looked at me some more. I put the camera up and made a few more tree photos as she ran off.

I'm glad I lost my sunglasses.

Finally some fall color...

It hadn't been a very good year for fall color in Madison Wisconsin. So after I saw a few colorful maples at the UW Arboretum I went and got a camera and headed over.

There were a few trees with good looking leaves, while others had already lost theirs, and still others hadn't even started to change color.

Many of the trees I had photographed in years past didn't look good at all, so I started walking to the group of trees I had seen from the road.

It was a warm afternoon with a slight breeze and many leaves were falling as I made these images.

There was such a small group of trees with decent looking leaves and color that I just kept working that one little area for the hour and a half until sunset.

I had all I could do to try and find an interesting composition and create some images I liked.

Accessible and undamaged leaves with good color were in short supply.

So it was really great when I'd find one. 

Then it was just a matter of isolating the leaf, choosing a clean background (working the angles) and making some photos.

I switched lenses several times and found myself lying on my back on the ground in order to get the proper working distance and angles.

They weren't the easiest fall photos I've ever made, but I was glad I spent the evening in the woods finding a little color.

Color and a katydid...

I hadn't been seeing much color this fall when I had a camera and the time to capture it.

 

So I took advantage of a half hour and one lonely maple in the Madison arboretum.

 

 

 

I isolated good looking leaves using the available light and shadow and got to work.

 

 

 

I wasn't having an easy time of it but I kept on working with what was there.

 

 

 

As I moved around the tree looking for better angles and interesting images I heard something in the fallen leaves below.

 

 

 

I looked down and found this katydid on its side making noises. So I picked it up and moved it to a lit leaf on the tree and made a couple of quick images.

 

 

 

Earlier, I had heard a loud insect making noises in a different tree and didn't know what it was. Finding this katydid solved that mystery.

 

 

 

The light was fading fast as the sun headed toward the horizon.

 

 

 

Don't hurry, no worries, just keep doing what you can, I reminded myself.

 

 

 

This is supposed to be fun, it's beautiful out here, enjoy it.

 

 

 

I finished with a few leaves against the color of a maple tree whose crown was still catching the sunlight 40 feet up. And then the light was gone.

 

 

 

Let It Be....

I was looking for fall color in Madison on Halloween day,

 

and noticed a few colorful maples as I drove by a cemetery.

 

 

 

 

 

I pulled in and parked and was pleased with the leaves and light on one big maple.

 

 

 

As I waited for the branches to be still enough to get sharp images, I found myself singing 'Let It Be' by the Beatles.

 

 

 



I did what I could with the color I found. I made a few images of fallen leaves on the ground and started walking down the cemetery road looking for more color.

 

 

 

 

The large oak trees had dropped most of their leaves and the sun kept going behind big clouds. When I got back to my car some employees were blowing the leaves off the grass and out from the headstones onto the road.

 

I was about to get in the car and leave when inspiration struck. Regardless of the light I should try and shoot the flying leaves.

 

So I walked over to where the men were working; there were three commercial lawn mowers with large blowers mounted on them and one mower with a leaf catcher on the front to push it all into piles on the road.

 

 

 

I made it a point to stay out of the way of their equipment as I looked for good angles and interesting compositions.

 

 

 

 

 

I tried different shutter speeds and found that faster was better.

 

 

 

I tried both auto and manual focus and auto gave better results. 

 

 

 

And finally, I found an angle with a colorful maple as they blew leaves out towards the road.

 

 

 

 

I use Adobe Lightroom to change raw files to jpegs for the internet. The next several photos are the normal image and then a more abstract version I created by changing only the clarity setting.

 

normal

 

abstract

 

normal

 

abstract

 

 

 

 

I like the soft focus images.

 

 

abstract

 

 

normal

 

 

 

 

 

After awhile the sun disappeared and the leaves were all to the road. I put the camera away and started walking to the car, feeling pretty good about the opportunity I just had. As I walked by a mausoleum there was a work crew putting on a new roof. I paused just long enough to hear what song was playing on their radio. and 'Let It Be' by the Beatles was just finishing up.