Tag: river

Thursday Throwback – 27

We’re going back to 2004, and a capture of Canada geese on the Quinapoxet River. It’s an image that I still cherish, even after 2 decades!

As I’m having fun putting my web-site together, I’m building portfolio pages that feature particular groupings of some of the images that I have captured over the years. Even though these are just my digital photography, some of them go back quite a while! So for this week’s throwback, I’m going to an image from 2004.

Here are three Canada geese afloating…

Geese on the Quinapoxet

After all this time, I still appreciate this image for a whole bunch of reasons. It took a bit of work to get this capture, as I shot 34 or so images to get one where the geese give off a sense of direction. I still enjoy the coloring of the late September leaves and their reflection in the rather tranquil river. And, yes, despite being an early digital camera, the Canon EOS 10D, which I still have, performed admirably!

I hope you enjoy this image and look forward to hearing about your early forays into digital photography!

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.

Along the Nile – Fishing

A view of the more traditional fishing practices along the Nile, highlighting a hands-on and sustainable approach compared to industrial fishing.

In this series of posts, I didn’t want to leave out one of the obvious industries of the Nile: Fishing. Nowadays, most of us are used to the industrial scale of fishing that takes place on our seas and oceans. Traveling along the Nile, I observed fishing at a much smaller scale.

Here is one of those endeavors…

Simple Approaches

A much more hands-on approach to fishing along the grassy islands that form in the river. Throwing out a net from a rowboat and gathering the catch. In this scenario there is a division of labor between gathering the fish and rowing, so I wonder if this is a trawling approach.

Here’s a one man operation…

One-Man Operation

I have to admit that looking at this type of fishing, I don’t feel the hurried pace of our lives. There is a certain balance with Nature in working this way, as it would be unlikely to deplete the supply provided by the river.

Along the Nile – Living

The Nile River is central to Egyptian life, offering vibrant views and fostering habitation near its banks. Improved water predictability due to dams has encouraged closer living.

As mentioned in earlier posts, the Nile is the beating green heart of Egypt. As one cruises up and down the river, cities and life is visible right from the ship. As the river has become more predictable in its water volume since the introduction of dams, people will live closer to the water.

Here’s a view from board…

Life along the Nile

Among the palm trees houses have been built to enjoy the river’s proximity. Note the rebar sticking up from one of the houses. This was a practice under earlier tax laws, as one would not have to pay property taxes until the building was finished. This loophole has now been closed, but the rebar sticking up from buildings is still rather commonplace.

And another view…

Ready to set Sail

Kids wave as we pass by. I can imagine that they are waiting for their parents to take them for a bit of boating themselves!

Of course there are risks associated with living right next to the river…

Too Close

River banks do shift over time, as they meander. It would appear that this was a little too close for comfort! Although, I still wonder if this was meant to be a pleasure boat.

Along the Nile

While cruising the Nile, it was fun to capture fleeting glimpses of life along the river, highlighting the ongoing significance of the Nile to Egypt.

As we cruised up and down the Nile river, there were numerous photo opportunities to capture from our Viking ship, the Aton. Photographing some of these quick-takes provided a bit of what life along the Nile might be like for some of the Egyptian people. While these vignettes provide a rather incomplete picture of Egypt, I want to share them nonetheless.

Here’s one of those moments…

Boat Parking

The Nile is still a major transportation network for Egypt; most of the goods are now transported over the road with trucks, but there is still a connection to the river for many people. Boats, such as the one here, are frequently used to transport tourists to points of interest along the river. This one is parked for later use…

Winter’s Arrival

We ponder a photograph of a canoe amidst a serene landscape, and appreciate its stillness.

The Winter Solstice has come and past, and slowly our days are beginning to lengthen once again. Now is the time when Winter will really start announcing itself in New England.

As I write this post, there is a gentle snow falling in our yard, which will make those who are wishing for a white Christmas happy, so they can sing that song without a sense of longing for what could have been. This also is the time to start pulling together some of my wintry images…

A Canoe in the Assabet

This shot goes back 15 years, when my daily commute would take me past this locale quite frequently (I like to vary my route into work, when possible). This particular location also has a really nice aqueduct, which I will highlight another time.

I really like the stillness of the landscape when it’s snowing, as sound doesn’t carry quite as far, thus giving a sense of being by oneself in the moment. The blue of the canoe and the more muted tones of its surroundings made this stand out a bit. I’ve done other treatments of this image that highlight the blue a bit more, but I have to admit that I’m partial to keeping the entire image a bit more subdued.

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!

Changing Times

Seasons and industry

The WordPress Daily Photo Challenge provides the theme of Transformation.

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned the change of the seasons; today, another area of transformation.

In New England, one of the changes we see in many towns is that transformation of industry across the last century or two. Mills were built everywhere during the 19th century, using the power of the water that was available in many locations.  However, as the 20th century changed the main source of power from water and steam to electrically driven manufacturing, locations of the mills would change. As a result, many of the bustling mills were abandoned and many towns faltered.

Here’s a look back into the 19th century…

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Mills on the Connecticut River

The good news is that many of these classic buildings are being repurposed as office space, living space and some new manufacturing. This type of reuse is fantastic to see!

Have a wonderful day!

Round the Bend

Perfect day on the river

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge has the theme of Rounded.  This topic gave me some immediate ideas, as Nature is full of rounded features.

The image that I decided on for this post is one from last weekend’s outing to Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard, Massachusetts.  It was one of those fantastic days that don’t occur often in Autumn, although we have had an abundance of them this year! The Nashua river runs through Oxbow, as it meanders gently through a rather swampy area to create a wonderful wetlands location for birds, turtles and other animals.

Take a look back toward the light through trees, our eyes follow the river ’round the bend…

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Round the Bend

As you can tell, the weather was perfect!  A glassy surface reflects the trees on the opposite bank, as we can imagine gliding down the river in harmony with Nature.

Have a wonderful day!