Posted on March 20, 2011 in Painting Effect, People
I just couldn’t resist snapping this image of a mom and her children watching the snow goose migration at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. I am always torn about the appropriateness of photographing strangers without their permission. In my mind I justify that if the people are in a public place, then it’s okay, but I don’t always feel comfortable. Still, this was such a sweet scene that I couldn’t help but take a quick photo. The family is likely Mennonite or Amish and all 3 were wearing rubber clogs and trying their best to keep warm on a very windy day. I processed this with a watercolor effect and added some vignetting.
Posted on March 5, 2011 in Animals, Nature, Painting Effect, People, Wildlife
….and you might not need that extra long lens!! 🙂 Most everyone visiting Middle Creek to see the geese migration either has a camera or binoculars. The whole idea is to watch nature at its best and hopefully get some nice close up images of the snow geese, tundra swans, gulls, and maybe even a bald eagle or hawk. So many photographers have fabulous long lenses to try and bring the sometimes far-away birds up close in the camera. In this image the photographer is gazing out toward the lake, waiting for an opportunity for some close-up images of the birds. Hmm…..I don’t think he needed to look very far!
Posted on February 26, 2011 in Painting Effect, People
The ice is slowly melting at Middle Creek and more snow geese and tundra swans were there today than last week. I had serious ‘lens envy’ when I saw some of the fabulous long lenses that folks had at the park. If you don’t have a nice long lens, bringing along binoculars is a big plus. One gentleman that we met found a bald eagle while looking across the lake with his binoculars! Eagles love to prey on the snow geese and as soon as the eagle makes an appearance, the geese take off in a honking blur of noise and motion! It’s great for the photographers and in addition to the honking geese, you hear the click-click-click of camera shutters! The blog image shows some of the children who were watching the geese last weekend. This image has a watercolor effect applied. Don’t worry … there are always LOTS of dogs at Middle Creek for me to photograph, too….photos coming soon! 🙂
Posted on December 12, 2010 in Animals, Landscape, Nature, Painting Effect, Winter
In my neck of the woods there are a LOT of Christmas tree farms. In fact, the tree that graces the White House this year came from a nearby farm. Pretty impressive! Many of the farms offer more than just trees…some have gift shops, petting zoos, snack bars with hot cocoa, and this one has a horse drawn wagon to take folks out to select a tree. It was as quaint as quaint can be! The only thing missing was a bit of snow! Being at the tree farm made me think about the last time I had a live tree….as best as I can recall, it was 1971. Yes, that’s a long time ago! The scent of Blue Spruce took me back to my childhood because that’s the type of tree that my family always brought home for the holidays. The tree, the train, the lights, the glass ornaments…..the needles sticking in my socks…..ah the memories! 🙂
Posted on November 19, 2010 in Lensbaby, Painting Effect
Back in the summer I spent a day at the Fair photographing mostly with my Lensbaby. When I think of a Fair, my mind sees ‘movement’. There are moving rides, lots of people moving along the midway, games of chance, and just all kinds of activities that keep your eyes darting from one scene to another. I thought that the Lensbaby was a perfect compliment for depicting images that portray movement. In this image I captured the top of the merry-go-round alongside the flying swings with a ferris wheel in the background. Yes, it’s a busy scene but using the Lensbaby and processing with painting software has given it the softer and more impressionistic feeling that I was trying to achieve.