Tag: Connecticut

Monday’s Spectrum Exploration

Our focus is on the Infrared light spectrum, featuring an image from a May post-torrential rain event in the Northeastern US.

Welcome back to another episode, as we focus on the Infrared part of the light spectrum once again. As I was going through a couple of images over the weekend, I figured I’d take another look at some of the shots that I had captured during post-torrential rain time in May of this year. You may remember that there was an incredible amount of water in both rivers and waterfalls for that time of year in the Northeastern US.

Here’s another bit of raging water…

The Connecticut

The normally rather tranquil Connecticut river rages in this view in Turner’s Falls, Massachusetts. As a matter of fact, I have walked about a hundred yards into the river without getting my feet wet to a spot that is somewhere in the center of this image.

This photo was captured using my Canon EOS 5D MkIII, converted to cut off at 720nm by Kolari. Adobe Camera Raw was used with a CLiR White Balance profile for the camera. In Photoshop, I used my Pink-Blue channel mixer and hue/saturation presets that I have developed over time. Vibrance was used to create a bit of extra pop to the pink and blue tones.

Monday’s Spectrum Exploration

Another image from a recent walk through Gillette Castle State Park, emphasizing the interplay of water, foliage, and sky.

For this week’s installment, I’m going back to last weekend’s walk through Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam, Connecticut. In the previous post of Monday’s Spectrum Exploration I used some of the juxtaposition between water, foliage and sky to create some visual interplay. I’m using some similar stylings, but to a different effect for this week’s treatment.

Here’s another image from that saunter through the woods…

A River Awakens

In this approach, the processing of the water is bringing it to an almost natural set of colors, contrasted with the pink hues of the foliage. This enables the viewer to be drawn into the commonplace while still being aware of something a bit out of the ordinary.

Monday’s Spectrum Exploration

This past weekend, despite a gloomy weather forecast, I explored infrared photography at Gillette Castle State Park. Join in for some of the mystery that is unveiled.

This past weekend provided some more great opportunities to further my understanding of infrared photography. Despite a not so promising weather forecast, Saturday had a break from the overcast skies. Luckily, I had cameras with me and found some rather interesting views.

Here’s one of the images captured…

Ethereal Foliage

Walking along the paths of Gillette Castle State Park provides a plethora of great vistas that include the Connecticut river. In this image, the river is in the background and the light playing off the water is giving a sense of mystery floating along the river.

A bit of post-processing made for a rather pleasing result.

Smoke and the Water

After the rains I spent this Sunday exploring the effects by visiting local waterfalls and Turner’s Falls.

A late post, as I spent some time on this lovely Sunday to go follow the water! As there had been a tremendous amount of rain over the past week and a half, I thought it might be worthwhile to see the effect. This included a trip to one of my favorite local waterfalls (pictures later), and to Turner’s Falls. The Connecticut river flows through Turner’s Falls and to say it was a spectacle is an understatement.

Here’s an image from today…

Storage Container

Sitting alongside the power canal in Turner’s Falls, it appears that this building was used for some type of storage. I’m not sure what used to be stored in it, but given its proximity to the mill buildings, I expect it may have been fuel. If that’s the case, it would have been for the latter part of the history of the mills along the canal, as water was the main power source originally.

On this day it was a nice scene to capture, especially as the power canal was fully maxed out in terms of water flow.

A View to a Park

Devil’s Hopyard State Park in East Haddam, Connecticut, is a captivating photography location. Enjoy this covered bridge with a bit of early autumn.

One can find great photography locations just about anywhere, as many of you are aware. I am confident that each of you have some spots nearby that draw you in again and again. Some days it’s just for a hike, and other days you see something that you want to photography.

When visiting my good friend, George, one of those places is Devil’s Hopyard State Park in East Haddam, Connecticut. This park has some photogenic waterfalls, but more can be discovered…

Covered Bridge

You can see quickly what caught my eye in this scene. The early autumnal colors behind the bridge gave me just a tinge of yellow and warmth. The pine tree provided a little bit of framing. And the bridge path leads towards a bit of mystery.

Overall, this image makes for a soothing print to hang on the wall.

A Tuesday Teaser – vol. 1

Intriguing objects capture our attention as viewed through the lens. What is your interpretation of the driftwood’s intent?

Have you ever found yourself taking a photo of an object, simply because its shape, color or some other aspect of it intrigued you? I certainly have and every now and then I look at these photos again and still see something interesting in them. Let’s see how many of these I can collect for Tuesday Teasers…

Meigs’ Dragon

While exploring the lovely area of Meigs Point in southern Connecticut, I came across a piece of driftwood with a shape that caught my eye. What stood out is that it worked its way up toward the sky, which provided a backdrop for this almost living form… With a bit of playing around, I created this composition where there is a reach towards the heavens, as the creature attempts to rise above the dunes.

Who knows what this driftwood is really trying to achieve? What do you think?

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 176

Gently flowing over the edge…

Welcome to the 176th round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge! My apologies for being a tad late with this edition; it’s good that I love my job, as it can demand a bit much of my time once in a while!

You really put on a wonderful display of what Fall means to you! Your creative posts ranged from those that made me laugh out loud to those that made me just sit back and appreciate the great colors of the season! There were amazing waterfalls, places where you don’t want to fall, and a fall guy! Thank you for all the thoughtful and wonderful work that you put into all of your posts!

Please tell one another what you like about all these great posts!!

Here’s a waterfall that I enjoyed this past weekend…

Devil’s Hopyard Falls, East Haddam, CT

This waterfall is in Devil’s Hopyard State Park in East Haddam, CT; even though the amount of water flowing on this Sunday was not spectacular, the scenery still stands out, as the water flows across the rock formations.

Please enjoy the following blog posts:

  1. This week’s theme of Fall is started off by Sarah with a gorgeous bit of color in her post in By Sarah!
  2. Debbie showcases one of Iceland’s beautiful waterfalls in her post in Travel with Intent; Irarfoss is stunning!
  3. Shelley is trying to fall back into the work rhythm in her post in Quaint Revival; I’m not sure that it’s working, as relaxation beckons!
  4. Jackie takes a number of interesting approaches to the theme in her post in Junk Boat Travels; I’d watch for coconuts!
  5. I can see why the Ryans like visiting Sheffield Park Gardens in a gorgeous post in RyanPhotography; that’s a stunning photo!
  6. The approach to our theme is a bit playful in another awesome post in theOnlyD800intheHameau; those cataracts are a truly minor fall!
  7. Na’ama goes in the opposite direction in her post in Na’ama Yehuda: the aspiration is not to fall, which I can understand!
  8. Xenia and her wonderful whippets take us into the changing season on the Highlands in her post in Whippetwisdom; such an amazing locale!
  9. That water certainly looks inviting in Chateaux des Fleurs, or do you prefer to lounge among the colorful leaves?
  10. It looks like the harvest is complete and the colors are brightening in Geriatri’x’ Fotogallery‘s post; beautiful photo!
  11. Vibrant colors feature large in a great photo in Granny Shot It, as the autumnal look is amazing!
  12. Ann-Christine finds another wonderful location for her post in To See A World in a Grain of Sand…; the mountain, Kirkjufell, and the Kirkjufellfossar provide a spectacular view!
  13. Mike’s image in his blog, Photography OCD, really gives you the sense of the Fall season, where colorful maize features.
  14. Donna features a gorgeous array of photos that give us a great sense of Autumn in her post in Wind Kisses; Arizona looks amazing!
  15. Jase might have fallen for a rather amazing dress in Proscenium; it also looks very suitable to dress up for fall!
  16. In a lovely post in the blog Beautiful Photographs, Russ spins a couple of approaches to the theme!
  17. This week we get another wonderful post in Don’t Hold Your Breath, as we visit Dawki and the India and Bangladesh border; gorgeous area!
  18. Sirisha shares a wonderful set of images in her blog queennandini; I’m very curious about what might be falling from the helicopter…
  19. This week’s post in the lovely blog Travel with Tech takes us to the gorgeous cities of Prague and Bratislava; the photos are amazing!
  20. Viveka brings us a fantastic set of photos in MyGuiltyPleasures, which play on our theme in various ways; there’s also some wisdom in her post!
  21. Woolly has captured some amazing waterfalls in his post in Woolly Muses; every post of his causes me to add more destinations to my bucket list!!
  22. Sandy expresses my feelings about the Fall season perfectly in her post in Out of My Write Mind; and those colors match the poem to a tee!
  23. Maria focuses on one of the things that we see in the Fall in her post in Kamerapromenader, as the birds are leaving the colder regions to head for warmth…
  24. Elizabatz explores a number of features of the Fall season in her blog Elizabatz Gallery with a wonderful set of images.
  25. Carol showcases some gorgeous photos in her post in Light Words; they really give that autumnal feeling.
  26. In another wonderful post in the blog Kanlaon, we get a sense of what Autumn brings in the Philippines.
  27. Anne is a self-professed HorseAddict, where she posts a gorgeous image of what it is to ride during this season!
  28. The photo in Land of Images made me laugh out loud, and it might just be the most creative take on our theme!
  29. One can always tell a photographer who loves this season, as we can clearly see in A Day in the Life; those photos are just gorgeous!
  30. Tatiana shares several posts with us; first in Travelways we get to see Kakabeka Falls, which look fantastic! A second post in GiftSmart gives us a sense of evening rush hour at the bus stop. Tatiana finishes with another post in GiftSmart that shares lovely images of fall foliage!
  31. Robert shares some gorgeous Fall images from Hamburg in his post in Photo Roberts Blog; I simply love the creative approach that Robert takes in these images, as each of them speaks!
  32. David shares an array of amazing photos of fall color in his post in David M’s Photoblog; those colors are just stunning!
  33. Marie shares the arrival of Fall color in Heidelberg in her post in the New 3Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect; beautiful image!
  34. Amy shares some of the work that she did to put together a great shot of an eagle owl in her post in Photography Journal Blog; both a wonderful photo and interesting read!
  35. Ken’s post in Pictures without Film made me laugh, but then again… people require warnings when they are at Hell’s Mouth!! Go check it out!
  36. Deb takes the prize for animal cuteness in her post in Twenty-Four; meerkats get me every time!
  37. In her final post in the Forgiving Friday series in ForgivingConnects, Debbie shares the impact of a youthful fall on her life story and the intent to move to NYC! Best wishes!!
  38. Cee takes her post in Cee’s Photography into two directions, as she explores both the season and gorgeous waterfalls. Great post!
  39. Hammad shares a wonderful poem and photo in his post in the Blog of Hammad Rais. Might’s Fall is a very apt title!
  40. In Alive and Trekking, we get a gorgeous view of the beach in Iceland, with a twist: the falling rocks and boulders make further passage too dangerous!
  41. The exact time of year might not be right, but the colors definitely are in pensivity101!
  42. Khürt is right that it’s not quite Fall, as he states in his post in Island in the Net; his photo does give the sense of the season and I particularly appreciate Khürt’s use of shadow in this image!
  43. It doesn’t get much more autumnal than Nicole’s photo in another lovely post in Une Photo, Un Poéme; I can see that image hanging on someone’s wall!
  44. In a great post in Thief Images Photography Blog, we get a view of Niagara Falls that combines both Fall and Spring! Great shot!
  45. The leaves are falling in a great post in One Letter Up – Diary 2.0; it’s going to be leaf cleanup time later, but for now, we enjoy the color!
  46. Marie has an incredible backyard view that she shares in Create Space; those colors are just out of this world!
  47. Irene shares a peek at the beginning of Fall colors in her lovely post in Heaven’s Sunshine; the season will be wonderful!

Please let all of these great bloggers know your thoughts about their posts!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Focus

Softly striding across the stream…

Welcome to week 177 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge! I’m still wrapping up the round up and will finish it on Tuesday night, as work is getting in the way…

As you created a wonderful week of Fall-themed contributions, I couldn’t help but wonder where I might direct you next… This week, my inspiration came from one of the images that I captured over the weekend, while visiting my good friend, George, who is an amazing photographer! We often go wandering to see what catches our eye (and lens). From the image in this post, I got the idea to use the theme of Focus, which, to my surprise, didn’t come up as a tag that I used before!

The challenge for you is to take focus into your preferred direction. There are many ways that you can take this: in focus, out of focus, a look of focus on someone’s face, you name it! Let your creative minds wander happily and keep your focus on the theme!

Here’s the image that led to this theme…

Bridge to…

During our wanderings in the Devil’s Hopyard, a lovely park in East Haddam, CT, we came across this lovely little bridge. While George was capturing it from one vantage point, I looked at it through this wonderful tree and thought that it might be interesting to shorten the depth of field and produce this image.

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
  • Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

Focus on your mission and have fun with the theme!! And on a side note, while writing this post, I was listening to Focus.

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Surface

The power of the river

Welcome to week 148 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge.

Thanks to everyone for the great contributions on last week’s theme; you managed to run with Crawl without any problem! For this week, I thought it might be fun to go with a theme that allows you to go to any level that you like: Surface! It’s up to your creative minds to document the surface, or see what surfaces or go below the surface to uncover what lies beneath. Of course, your surfaces can be of any topology that you choose!

Have some fun with this one and don’t hesitate to poke the surface and see what you stir up! I’m looking forward to your creative endeavors!

Here’s a surface with a slight ripple…

Liquid Power

This image came from a leisurely exploratory drive along the Connecticut river; as I drove North into Vermont, I thought it would be a good change of pace to drive South through New Hampshire. That’s where I found this hydro power plant in Bellows Falls, VT.

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
  • Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

Enjoy your week and I can’t wait to see what floats to the surface in your creative endeavors!

Instant Grammar – Page 8

Page 8 displays an image that was captured on April 7 in East Haddam, Connecticut.  The location is in Devil’s Hopyard State Park, which is a great spot for hiking and interacting with nature; the small cascade is called Chapman Falls.

Chapman Falls in Devil's Hopyard State Park, East Haddam, CT.
Chapman Falls in Devil’s Hopyard State Park, East Haddam, CT.

I was visiting friends in East Haddam for the weekend to explore some photography opportunities, help with a web-site and do some off-roading with my newly acquired FJ Cruiser.  On this beautiful Sunday, a bit of exploration along a tricky bit of trails (great boulders and such) led us to the vicinity of Devil’s Hopyard State Park.

As we were all ready to stretch our legs a bit and new there would be a bit of scenery, I parked and we started following trails.  The trail that took us down to Chapman Falls provided access to a bit of clambering over a couple of rocks to get a seat right across from the falls.  The falls feature potholes that have been created by stones that were caught in eddies and spun to wear holes into the rock; as these holes formed, larger stones would get stuck in them and continue the process by carving a deeper hole.

The origin of the name ‘Devil’s Hopyard’ is not entirely clear, but there is folklore surrounding it.  One of the more believable accounts is that hops were grown in the area by a man named Dibble; maybe not as fun as a supernatural dance location, possibly.

Hope you enjoy page 8 and feel free to take a look at the entire book at the following link for the softcover versionInstant Grammar 2013 by Frank Jansen or for the hardcover version Instant Grammar 2013 (Hardcopy) by Frank Jansen