The Path at Bellamy

Recently, I challenged myself to take exactly one camera with one lens out for an extended landscape session. It's interesting to see what happens - rather than slog along with a camera bag with various lenses, filters, remotes, etc. In some ways, it frees your mind and requires you become more creative with composition.

That being the case, and that winter continues to unleash its wrath here - there was little color in this shot - so I envisioned originally as a B&W conversion - keying in on the textures of the grass, tree limbs and the subtle visual path that  carried through the composition. This was taken a few days ago in Dover, NH USA at the Bellamy Wildlife Reserve.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II with the Olympus-Zuiko 12-40mm Pro lens.

Shoreline Storm

Taken several days ago over the coast of Rye, this fast moving storm kicked up both the surf and the wind. The image above is a four image panoramic - each frame shot with my Olympus OMD E-M5 Mark II. The trick in doing a panoramic in weather with fast moving clouds and surf - is pay particular attention to shutter speed (1/500th of a second in this case) and pre-plan your panning motion with a level pan head.

While I'm still processing several other images from that session, I enjoyed the way this turned out, especially with the frenzied detail in both the clouds and surf.

This image was processed in both Lightroom and Photoshop.

The Deafening Stillness

Frankly, I love the forest, nature and beauty of shooting in conditions that keep most people indoors - certainly true for most photographers. During this particular storm, one could hear the snow falling, the branches on nearby trees straining under the load of the wet heavy snow that kept falling at an incredible rate. As well, the snow muffles typical sounds such as faraway traffic, or call of birds - and the silence is quite deafening, in a very peculiar and wonderful way.

In this spot, which is a frozen over estuary, one has to be careful when walking upon the snow, as there are hidden soft spots of ice that one can fall through without warning. But, using a tripod as a walking stick to poke forward before the next step is taken - and turning back, simply walk back in the previous footsteps.

This was taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and the Olympus-Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens at the NWR in Newington NH USA.

Outgoing

Very strange weather this morning - the temperatures rose overnight by 15 degrees Fahrenheit and rain was coming down "sideways" as a blustery wind whipped against everything in sight. I thought the surf might be interesting, so I grabbed my camera, wet weather gear and headed out to the coast of Rye NH USA.

As I slowly made my way out onto the rocks and through the seaweed,  the rain started to magically let up - and intent on shooting large waves in front of me, barely noticed what was coming up from behind from the seashore. It was a huge line of clouds that hung low and formed a nearly perfect line.

Above is just one of the many images I took, and I'll be post processing more as I get the chance over the next day or two.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II with the Olympus 12-40mm F/2.8 Pro lens, taken this morning on the coast of Rye NH USA.  

Thank you Olympus Corporate...

Today, I woke up and found out that Olympus USA Corporate marketing posted one of my images to the world on their site and Twitter feed. I'm both humbled and shocked, as most of you know - I just "do what I do"..

Anyway - the link is here:  Get to Olympus

My thanks Olympus.....

Mist, Snow and Fog

We awoke early this morning to new snow, with a quick changeover to sleet and freezing rain - all of which created a wonderful fog over the coast. As the tide was coming in, and expected to peak in the next few hours, I packed up my gear and headed to the coast. While the wind was brisk on the beaches and inlets (to say the least,  I was thankful that I brought my cold weather gear.

There are a few challenges in shooting in weather like this with the first - staying warm while it is blowing cold rain and mist into your face. The second is trying to keep the fron element of the lens dry enough during a long exposure (such as above) to not blur the image. As a lens hood won't fit (and probably isn't long enough) - I sacrificed my warmth to use the visor of my cap to shield the ND filter long enough to finish the long exposure.

I'll try to post more from this mornings shoot in the next few days, but for now, this was taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, the Olympus 12-40mm f/2,.8 Pro lens and a 10-stop ND filter. Post processed in Lightroom and Photoshop.

First Flight

Taken this morning at GBNWR. The past few days has been a bit challenging weather wise, when until this morning, temperatures have been hovering at the 0F mark. But, that changed early today. We awoke to a new 6" of wet snow and the forecast was for rain and temperatures soaring into the mid-50s (F), which as I write this - it's headed up into.

For that, I knew before heading out this AM that the estuary would be deserted of people and hoped for a foggy mist to continue to roll in as the the wild temperature swing would create.

Walking through the estuary, I heard a flock of Canada Geese making a ruckus - as they always do before taking flight. So, I crept to the shore and simply hoped for the best, as I didn't have my typical wildlife gear/lenses, so I figured I try to combine my two passions - both landscape and wildlife photography. Out of the hundreds of images I shot this AM - this is the one that I thought caught the moment - the stillness of the estuary, an incoming flight and the beauty of the reserve.

Taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II with the consumer version of the Olympus 40-150mm lens.

Winter Mere

Taken during the snowstorm a few days ago, this small pond ("mere") was the only open area of fresh water within the Wildlife Refuge. Numerous deer, rabbit and other tracks were quickly getting filled in by the increasing snow fall. The only sound made by the forest were the infrequent groans from branches as they struggled against the weight of the new snow. It was, for the most part - "deafening silence" for sure.

Shooting during a snowstorm is challenging enough, but to effectively post-process images I find even more challenging and complex, as I always want to show what my mind's eye captured. In this case, I processed in Lightroom - and then exported into Photoshop, where I used several layers/masks and filters to subtly bring out the contrast, lights and tones. This image was taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens. 

Sunset Over the Portsmouth Traffic Circle

Taken this evening just after sunset in Portsmouth NH USA. While outside what I typically post - it was a long day of try to shoot a flock of Canada Geese - and they had a mind of their own in coming close enough. After a few hours I gave up - went home - and grabbed my Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II, as this is an image I've envisioned for quite some time.

Shot in RAW and only post-processed in Lightroom, it shows the traffic flow around the rotary. I liked the lights, sunset colors and patterns. I hope you do as well.