landscape photography – Dutch goes the Photo!

Sunsetting the Week

As this week comes to an end, or begins again, depending on your perspective, I thought I’d share another sunset from last year’s outing to Maine.

While enjoying some more spectacular weather, we spent time sauntering around the lovely downtown waterfront of Bar Harbor, anticipating the sunset. Near the end of this exploration, I was fortunate enough to be able to view this scene in front of me.

Part of what attracted me to this vista are the people who have ventured out onto the sandbank, as they provide a sense of scale. The gently gliding seagull made for a lovely bonus element.

This image was captured using a Canon EOS R5 with a Canon RF 24-105mm F4/L lens; exposure was 1/1600s at f/9 and 125 ISO. These settings were chosen to purposely underexpose the image a bit with this much sunlight coming straight into the sensor. Post-processing focused on bringing a bit more detail into the water and darkening the sky to get more balance between the bright sun and its reflection in the water.

Hope you enjoy this one!

Wednesday’s Choice

As I was editing some of the substantial backlog of my images (don’t ask how many), an idea came to mind. Often, during these editing sessions, I like to experiment with alternate looks to create for my images. It’s a way to check what mood comes through with a particular look.

So I thought it might be interesting to ask for feedback from all of you to find out how these alternatives resonate (or don’t) with your sensibilities. Here’s the first one in this series.

This images was taken a bit later in the morning of the A Very Early Sunrise in Maine post, as I had found a different location with a view of some of the Porcupine islands lined up and a sky that was rather pleasing.

The first treatment is the more sedate of the 2, as I made use of Aurora HDR’s ‘Rocks Sunset’ preset that is part of their Natural collection of presets. As I looked at this result, I felt that it didn’t really do the overall scene justice, as even a bit of brightening of the foreground didn’t produce a good sense of the beauty of the landscape on the mountain.

The second treatment is definitely more aggressive; it uses Aurora HDR’s ‘EggHDRugs on Brain’ preset that is part of their Trey Ratcliff Looks collection. It pops the foreground quite a bit and with a bit of darkening, the sky look came in as pretty dramatic.

Hope you enjoy these comparisons and I’m looking forward to hear from you about your preferences.

Weather Is Coming

Dark clouds

Despite all of humanity’s advances, there is still an element of dependence on the weather, that is inescapable even in today’s high-technology age.

As a significant portion of our food supply comes from agriculture, it is important to reduce our adverse impact on weather patterns as much as possible; the ability of future generations to feed themselves may depend on it.

p37-20131004-IMG_2331 — *Waiting for the weather.*

The tractor sits quietly to see what the morning will bring: will it clear up and be ideal for mowing or will these clouds bring heavy rain, thus stalling progress.

Time will tell…

Technical Details

This image was taken with an iPhone 4S using the standard Camera app; some adjustments were made in Instagram.

Inspired by Daily Prompt – Sky.

Mother Earth Day

Respect our Mother!

The theme for the WordPress Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge is Earth, asking us to share our vision of this magnificent planet, on which we reside. On this Mother’s Day, I want to give a nod to the Earth’s raw power…

20150619-Iceland_57A1906 — *Steam Releases*

The releasing steam is an indication of the power that resides within this planet of ours, as untold heat is bottled up in the layers that make up the Earth. Not only is there plenty of heat, but it also creates beauty, as seen in the following image.

20150619-Iceland_57A1979 — *Geothermal Pool*

This geothermal pool in the Myvatn area of Iceland, looks like a tropical lagoon in its serene beauty and color; do not be fooled, as there are spots in this pool that can be scalding hot (one of the signs warning to not bathe here is just off to the right).

Let’s appreciate our Mother Earth on this day and every one, and treat her with the respect she deserves, so we have a great place for a long time!

Technical Details

This shot was taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mk III using an EF 17-40mm f/4 lens.

Hope you enjoy this post inspired by the Daily Post WPC – Earth

Weekly Photo Challenge – Earth

Sitting on the dock of the bay

The theme for the WordPress Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge is Earth, asking us to share our vision of this magnificent planet, on which we reside. I think there may be one or two items that I can come up with.

The first of the highly impressive features of our home planet is the variety of tidal movement that exists around the Earth. Nowhere is this more noticeable than in the Bay of Fundy, as seen here from Digby.

The Bay of Fundy is known for having the highest tidal range in the world. Rivaled by Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, King Sound in Western Australia, Gulf of Khambhat in India, and the Severn Estuary in the UK, it has one of the highest vertical tidal ranges in the world. The Guinness Book of World Records (1975) declared that Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia has the highest tides in the world:

“The Natural World, Greatest Tides: The greatest tides in the world occur in the Bay of Fundy…. Burntcoat Head in the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia, has the greatest mean spring range with 14.5 metres (47.5 feet) and an extreme range of 16.3 metres (53.5 feet).”

Portions of the Bay of Fundy, Shepody Bay and Minas Basin, form one of six Canadian sites in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, and is classified as a Hemispheric site. It is administered by the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and the Canadian Wildlife Service, and is managed in conjunction with Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Technical Details

This shot was taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mk III using an EF 24-105mm f/4 lens. Exposure settings were 1/30 second, f/16 at 400 ISO. This image was not 100% to my liking originally, until I reprocessed it using Photomatix Pro to get the result you see here.

Hope you enjoy this post inspired by the Daily Post WPC – Earth

Friday Mystery Place -vol 10

There’s art over here

Greetings, dear readers. This week’s slide is one of mine; this one hails from 1987, if memory serves me correctly.

Where could this be?

Let’s see who are the clever detectives.

Rust Sleeps on the Farm

Young and old alike

For me there’s nothing better than being allowed to walk around on a farm with a camera. Farms are great sources of inspiration with lots of unique, often rusty, items and little tableaux.

2014-09-12 07.34.09 HDR-1 — *The Old and New*

Rust, to me, is a hallmark of venerable age and long utility, a badge to be worn with pride, as it indicates untold hours of toiling in all sorts of weather conditions. When, after many years of service, retirement allows you to sit by the side of the road, you still look impressive and draw the attention of the young who pop up to see you.

Technical Details

Photograph was taken with an iPhone 5S using the standard Camera app with minor enhancements in Instagram.

Tuesday’s Tree – ep. 1

Green’s energy abounds

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’re aware that I am a lover of trees and obsessed with a particular tree: the Yoga Tree. Her strong beauty and vivid poses never cease to impress me, so I like to give her as much coverage as I can. So how about a Tuesday’s Tree topic?

20140717-yogatree-2014-07-17 07.24.29 HDR-1 — *Surveying the field*

Of course, we’re starting with the Yoga Tree, but today from an angle that I don’t feature very often: a low view looking into the field that she keeps an ever-watchful eye on.

This image was from a beautiful July morning, when the sky was particular interesting as clouds were not lighted uniformly yet. The scene is quite verdant and full of the promise of life’s boundless energy.

May your day be filled with similar energy!

Technical Details

This image was captured with an iPhone 5S using the standard Camera app.

Lighthouses – Bass Harbor

A beacon for seafarers

Lighthouses are always great subjects for photography, as they often are located in picturesque locations and their architecture makes them stand out from their surroundings (intentionally).

20150813-Maine_57A2658 — *Bass Harbor Light*

The lighthouse at Bass Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine, sits on the rugged rocks on the southern tip of the island. Of course, Mount Desert Island is best known as the home of Acadia National Park, which is a truly gorgeous park with lots of trails and easy access to many areas, including Cadillac Mountain.

This lighthouse dates back to the 19th century with the original monies for its construction being appropriated by Congress in 1855 and its construction completing in 1876.

On the day that we visited the area, it was nigh impossible to get a wider angle view of the lighthouse without a significant number of tourists in the shot, so I opted to frame the shot with the trees, which I think worked pretty well.

Technical Details

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mk III using an EF 24-105mm f/4 lens. Exposure settings were 1/40 second at f/10 and 160 ISO.

Wednesday Wonderment – pt 12

Waste not, want not

There are lots of things in the universe that fill me with wonder, and there are a significant number that make me wonder. Today I present you with something in the latter category.

Chincoteague-Sunset_57A3976_7_8 — *A Vista?*

This was during a photography trip, led by John Slonina, to the Chincoteague area. To finish up the first day of shooting, John had brought us to this beautiful stretch of beach where we’d have a great opportunity to catch the sunset over water.

As I’m not always the one to go for the obvious shot, I decided to add a little point of interest to the stunning beauty of the sunset: the not-so-stunning view of waste receptacles just off the parking lot by the beach.

The human footprint on our planet is something that I often wonder about, as I’m sure many of you do as well. Minimizing our footprint and living in harmony with our space home is in our best interest, as we don’t want to overstay our welcome; the planet will survive, but will humanity?

Technical Details

This shot was captured with my Canon EOS 5D Mk III using a EF 24-105mm f/4L lens. The HDR effect came from the in-camera HDR.

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