Echoing Curves
The beaches beyond Marineland in St. Augustine have some beautiful rock formations. This image was captured while the colors in the sky still had some magenta while the horizon was turning warm gold. The way the ocean had receded taking sand away from the front of this rock and exposing the bright green moss caught my eye. Even more interesting were the curves in the sand, the shape of the waves and the shape of the face of the rock. Each curve in harmony with and echoing the other.
Captured with the Panasonic Lumix S1R with the 24 – 105 f/4 lens. A Benro filter holder with a 3 stop ND, a polarizer and a 3 stop soft edge grad was used for this image. The lens was at 35mm and the exposure triad: f/8, 8 sec, ISO 100.
Marineland Beach - A1A St. Augustine
Sunrise the day before leaving St Augustine was mostly cloudless with just a small band just on the horizon. The few clouds were enough to defuse the light and create a lovely warm glow on the rocks. I set up the Lumix S1R with the 24 - 105 f/4 lens. A Benro filter holder with a 6 stop ND, a polarizer and a 3 stop soft edge grad was used for this image. The lens was at 52mm and the exposure triad: f/10, 15 sec., ISO 50.
Some More Birds Species of Keoladeo NP
A few more images of the over 300 species of birds found in Keoladeo National Park.
Indian Peafowl at Sunrise
The image above was captured on the first morning. The following four images are a sequence of a male Indian Peafowl flying toward a snag and then instantly departing. These were captured on the following morning. I selected all the images to have the wings in the same/similar position. These were shot with the Lumix G9 and the Leica 100-400mm lens. Exposure triad: f/6.3, 1/1600 sec ISO 250 and 200 for the last image.
Another great "Glorious Acadia" fall workshop
Got back late Monday Night after a wonderful 4 day "Glorious Acadia" workshop. Had a great group of photographers and met some wonderful friends and made a few new ones too. All-in-all this was a 5 star workshop. One last one left this year in December - The Bosque del Apache and White Sands - a few spaces are still available.Here are few images form various locations:
I was looking to do something a little different during tho workshop. There are way too many images of the same subjects and the same tripod holes. Here isa lone dead tree lit up by the setting sun. I knew it was going to be a full moon so we stayed at the same location and turned around about 130 degrees. The next images is the moon rising.
The next image is a customary sunrise looking out toward Otter Clifs. A few more clouds would definitely have added to the image.
At otter cove I did an IR time lapse using the 16 to 35 mm series two Canon lens. This was a disaster as this lens just like to older version creates a massive hotspot in the center of the frame of each image. Trash canned the lot bout a deep crop on one image was useable.
I will be posting a few more images captured by the wonderful participants. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them for coming and being so supportive.
One final slow shutter speed image from the trip:
When it all comes together
I have visions of scenes and locations that I want but have to wait till it all comes together. On the very last day of the Smoky Mountain Workshop we had planned to go to the Foothills Parkway for sunrise. When I woke up I saw signs of some fog which would make for some very nice images along the parkway but feelings were tugging at me and I wanted to go to Cades Cove in the hope of getting my one image of Sparks Lane. The group agreed to the change in planes and we headed out to Cades Cove. Half way there all the fog was gone, it was too late to turn around so I decided to to continue and take my chances. Arriving at the gates before they opened, I saw that the fog was there - a big thumbs-up.The rest of the story is in the image. The light in the trees, the dogwood in the foreground, the fog along the tree line and the sunrise colors on the mountains - my dreams had come true it was all there as I had hoped to capture one day. Please do click on the image for an enlarged version.
Smoky Mountain - Wild Flowers and Landscape Workshop
7 Days in the Smoky Mountains and Cades Cove - pure thrill. The incredible light, superb lush green of fresh spring leaves, beautiful wild flowers and dogwood trees that were exceptional. Rivers and streams flowing pristine water, moss covered rocks and the occasional mist made for some great photography. The participants were fantastic and we all had a lot of fun. Yes, days were long 4:30 AM wake-up and late evening bedtimes were worth it - every bit of it.Here are a few comments (Audio) from some of the wonderful participants. Click on the links to listen:ArmandLoisNanMany images were captured - this is one of my favorites. Captured on the last day - Sparks Lane - all to ourselves and just two other photographers. Most photographers are under the impression that Cades Cove is closed on Friday - not true, not in the spring.
This image is from the night before.
Participants' Images "Light of Cape Cod"
I was so very pleased to see the progression with the way the participants were making images. The cycle of conceptualization, visualization and capture all coming together was so clear by the time we were closing out the workshop.This can all be summed up with a statement Carole made on facebook:I had the most amazing weekend. I did the Shiv Verma's workshop "Light of Cape Cod". Going in as a total beginner....I walked away with a wealth of knowledge. I now shoot in manual and learned to be so comfortable with my camera. Shiv was there to teach and guide...and then encouraged us to do it on our own. And that is a true teacher. It was like a lightbulb going off in my head....I got it, I understood it, I felt it, I was breathing it. Thank you, Shiv!
Visualization
Visualization is a key theme of my Landscape Photography Workshops and last weekend was no exception. Having been to Fort Hill many times I have not been fortunate to get the sky I was looking for (visualization). On Sunday it all came together. It is worth getting to a location well before sunrise, it is worth pre-visualizing the image, it is worth setting the camera on the tripod, making the image and getting a sense of satisfaction that is so total.As an added bonus, when the participants feel like they got some value from my workshops, it makes it so worthwhile. Thank you to all of you who come to these and other one day sessions - I truly appreciate your support and participation.A few more comments:This is not a 'let's go someplace pretty, take some pictures and have a nice lunch' weekend. It's a fun but intensive workshop for anyone serious about improving their photography. We worked hard from sunup to sundown, literally, but everyone came away with new skills, better aesthetic appreciation, and images they should be proud of. As always, I go for Shiv's teaching. His lessons are appropriate to my skill level, neither beginner nor pro. You'll learn more per hour from Shiv than from anyone else, and it's all good stuff.
Glorious Acadia Workshop Report
- It sure has been a crazy week - returned from a fabulous 3 day workshop in Acadia. Despite all the issues with the hotel closing we got rooms at a decent motel one mile from the park entrance. Some rain the first afternoon resulted in staying indoors but the next two days were perfect. The winds on Saturday were a force to be reckoned with. It was impossible to keep the camera steady with constant gusts.Here are a two more images.
This was shot with a 2 second exposure to tame the ocean a bit.
One bit of creativity: