Transient Moments of Beauty

For some reason the Muses have overtaken me at this most dark time of the year and have seen fit to energize not only my physical body but also my creative spirit. I am amazed at this occurrence, for truly I am repelled from the very cold that has enveloped New England in these  winter months. But as I have observed the many creatures of nature and seen that they have embraced the challenge of being outside and facing the brutal elements of wind, temperature, and precipitation, I have become emboldened from their example.

What I am trying to describe is that I have been going outside into the winter elements to capture the fragile and quickly vanishing moments that have been occurring. Naturally, I have chosen the various twilight times, simply because of the muted light, and, from what I discover, the increased activity of the various creatures at this time of day.

I have been rewarded beyond what I would have expected, having captured some very special moments of nature. The photo posted here is a very common view of marsh grass, but the hues and shades of stillness were uncommon features the eye may truly miss if not captures by the camera. I have been trying to capture these moments in my latest quest to explore photography.

Without getting too philosophical I will say that I am drawn to the in-between shots or phases of an event that is happening. For example, in regards to a person, if that person is looking at something, and then turns to look at something else, I am interested in the transition phase of the movement (aka photo shot).

The currently posted shot is on the shore of Occupessatuxet Cove, around the time of sunset in mid December — an enchanting time. The shot is of marsh grass (actually an invasive species, not good for the ecosystem). But, attractive, nonetheless.  A Canon 5 DS was used, with a Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens @ 400mm, f/5.6, 1/500″, ISO 1600, post processed with DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC (2018), and Nik Color Efex Pro.

Almost Getting It


   While my comfort and confidence levels continue to grow in taking photographs, the results are not always up to what I expected. Obviously, the elements of a great shot under a range of varying conditions is challenging, but I, nevertheless expect to at least get a good quality shot, at least with the top-notch, Canon equipment I use.

This did not happen in my last shooting experience. This occurred today at the time of near sun set on a cloudy, windless day, in early December. Birds, geese and ducks were active or flocking, and the opportunities were happening hard and fast in things to photograph. All of a sudden, above me were several Canadian Geese coming in for a water landing. I quickly made sure my camera settings were adequate, and began making a series of shots as the geese approached and then landed. Surely, I said to myself, I must have at least one good photograph.

Unfortunately, if one considers sharpness as a critical element to a good photograph, I did not achieve my goal.

I offer the best of the lot for consideration and analysis in this blog post. I thought the lighting and form/movement/composition of the shot were what I wanted, and I am truly happy with those, but for some reason my camera settings were not adequate to achieving a sharp photograph. Maybe all things being equal, the lighting conditions were at the edge of what was achievable when you consider the fast movement of the landing geese. I will analyze this set of lighting, movement, and camera settings further to refine them so as to get a sharp shot.

The currently posted shot was taken on Occupexatuxet Cove using a Canon 5 DS, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens @ 400mm, f/8, 1/160″, ISO 1000, using DxO Optics Pro 11 for post processing, with Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop  CC(2018), and Silver Efex Pro.

Doing My Job

The Blog Post title is a take on Coach Bill Belichick’s oft used phrase “Do Your Job.” It was chosen to emphasize the challenge I have been trying to meet of “scouting” and being prepared to shoot photographs so as to make them something of which I could be proud.

The New England Patriot’s Football team had chosen Theodore F. Green Airport in Warwick, RI to be the airport where their airplane is stored and from which the team takes off for away games in the NFL. As the gods had ordained, I live only five minutes away from Green Airport, so I said it’s only fitting to try to capture a photograph of the team’s plane taking off.

Besides actually having a photo of the Patriot’s Plane as a fan, I thought that trying to take a photo of a plane taking off would help develop my photo and camera skills. This it actually did, for I had to figure out when the team’s pane would take off, find a vantage point to shoot without being stopped for security reasons, and finally try to get the most advantageous angle to shoot the photo. Actually choosing the camera settings was the easy part of the process.

There was a Warwick City Athletic Park adjacent to the airport so I could shoot without fear of police or security. The problem was that there was a wire fence surrounding the airport so my angle of shooting was drastically impeded, at least from capturing the plane lifting off. The next best angle was to capture the plane immediately airborne, which I did. [Notice the partially retracted landing gear (done 1-3 seconds after leaving the tarmac).]

The final hurdle to capturing the shot was that I was facing into the setting sun on a late fall day. The Patriot’s were choosing to leave for the away games in the late afternoon (c.3:30 and 4:30 PM). So, for a portion of my shots I was capturing a backlit plane. As the plane proceeded upward the background setting sun became less of a problem.

The current shot was the second time I visited Green Airport to record the Patriot’s Plane taking off. The first time was a disaster. Not only did I not realize that I would be shooting into the sun (at least part ways), but I ran out of CF card memory space. The above posted photo was taken with a Canon 5 DS, EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM @ 185mm, f/9.0, 1/400″, ISO 200, using DxO Optics Pro 11, Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop CC (2018), a gradient map, and Color Efex Pro.