I turned the alarm off this morning and went back to sleep, but woke up 15 minutes later and knew what I had to do. 😉
Once more it was worth the effort.
Another Morning On The Beach
Tag Archives: Color
Something In Red
These aren’t all “decor” photos, but they are RED!
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Going with the green theme on a Friday!
Dale Chihuly: A Master Of Glass
One of the highlights of our visit to St. Petersburg was The Chihuly Collection, part of the Morean Arts Center. I’ve been familiar with Chihuly’s works for years, of course, having seen pieces in several locations throughout the country. There was an exhibit in Asheville some time ago, but we didn’t make it to that one. Our most familiar example is the ceiling in the visitor center at Makers Mark Distillery in Kentucky.
I suppose all of Chihuly’s works are portable in some way, although the large chandeliers and huge static pieces would require a bit of planning, effort and logistics. It was nice to see such a nice selection all in one place.
One tip I learned at the Dali’ museum (which we visited before this but I’m going out of order) was to be sure and watch the video presentations. Although the video room at The Chihuly Collection comes near the end of the exhibit, it is still worth taking the time to learn more about the person and the process, both the artistic process as well as the actual making of the art. Quite the place!
Postcard From the Adirondack Mountains Of New York
We happened upon this spot on our drive from Lake Placid to the Finger Lakes area of New York. Within minutes the breeze picked up and erased the reflections. A reminder to shoot what we see when we see it.
Postcard From White Mountains National Forest, New Hampshire
We’re now in Vermont, but I wanted to post another photo of some of the small amounts of fall color we’ve been seeing. This is from a spot along SR 112 – before the official start of the Kancamagus Highway. We actually had (slightly) better conditions on the west side of the “Kanc” while the Highway itself was largely socked in with fog.
Postcard From Cadillac Mountain, Maine
Kathy and I joined several hundred of our closest friends this morning to be the first people in the US to see the sun. I took a bunch of photos and some of them turned out OK. But it was mostly about the experience of being there, and we were there. And yes, Kathy joined me in arising at 4am to make the trek to the top. She didn’t want to miss it any more than she wanted me to miss it. It was worth the effort, for sure! 😉
Reservations are required for sunrise, and they are limited. I managed to book mine months ago, and I was glad I did. In a perfect world I would have wished for a few clouds on the horizon. But it wasn’t too cold, it wasn’t raining, and we could actually see the sun. So it was as good as we might have hoped for!
More From Those Early Mornings
I’ve just finished up processing my photos from our Southwest road trip and from our recent visit to Hilton Head Island, SC. Just in time for our next adventure – we shove off again on Saturday! This will be our annual “Friends and Family Tour” as Kathy likes to call it. Other than our kids, most of what remains of our families is in Ohio or will be there for the Fourth of July. I’ve got a childhood friend who lives in western Pennsylvania, and we have friends in Wisconsin. 😉 So off we go!
I mentioned earlier that I only got up early on two mornings at the beach, but I chose them well. I’ve been going to Hilton Head long enough to know when the tides and times coincide to provide the pools I love to use as foreground. An added bonus is when the clouds cooperate too, as they did for me on both occasions. Sweet!
I found it interesting that, even though the conditions were virtually identical both mornings, the overall color cast was radically different – red the first morning and blue the second. I did minimal (for me) processing on this photos and the colors are pretty faithful albeit a bit more saturated than what I saw. I’m sure the difference in color is due to some sort of atmospherical anomaly, but I only know that it made for some purdy pitchers.
Mornings are a lovely time on the beach. I could go out there without a camera, sit on one of the storage boxes the lifeguards use and watch the morning unfold. When the sunrise is early – around 6:15 – like it was in May and June, there are very few people out – just me, a few birds and sometimes a few dolphins. Most of the people are walking, so even if they walk through my frame, a slow shutter speed makes them blurry and sometimes invisible. There was one guy with a dog that had a light on its collar which was kind of annoying, but he thankfully stayed out of my view!
A Hidden Gem In Little Rock
I took pictures at more places in Arkansas than this, but it was such a special morning that I wanted to do a separate post.
The Old Mill is a historic re-creation of an 1880’s water-powered grist mill located in T.R. Pugh Memorial Park in Little Rock, Arkansas. I didn’t confirm this by watching, but it is reportedly featured in the opening scenes of the classic movie “Gone With The Wind.” In addition to the mill and the beautiful gardens surrounding it, the park features sculptures by Senor Dionicio Rodriguez and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
We lucked into a nearly perfect morning to photograph the mill. It was fairly early on a Sunday, the air was a little misty with a nice overcast and the flowers were blooming nicely. I don’t use a polarizer as much as I should, but as soon as I started composing I realized that I had better put it on. It made all the difference, saturating the colors and cutting the reflections.
I had to work around some construction activity that was happening on the hillside to the left (my left) of the mill and a few people that wandered in. The bare hillside and orange construction fencing limited my compositional choices, but I still came away with a few nice photos. I took some photos with the hillside in the background anyway, and may one day soon try my hand at Photoshop to “repair” some of the damage. My skills are pretty basic so we’ll see how that goes.
I haven’t taken the time to make photographs like these too much lately, but it is a good reminder that I still know how and to get out and do more of them! 😉
Full Moon – Sort of a Bust?
The full moon is technically today 2/27, although it was fuller at moonrise last night than it will be tonight. The night that the moon rises just before sunset is what I have heard referred to as the “photographer’s moon” because it rises almost-full while there is still sufficient light on the landscape to show detail.
Last night’s moon rose through a band of thick haze on the horizon into a cloudless sky, so there wasn’t a lot to be excited about. But it was still pretty, we had a nice place to watch from and it was cocktail time! I may try again tonight but moonrise coincides with dinner time so I may need to make do with one night’s photos.
White balance may be a little wonky on this but I think it is pretty true to the scene as it was presented.