Week 38, Day 272, January 21, 2010, Ice

As I was walking back to work from lunch I noticed a lot of ice in the bottom of the gorge along side the creek.  After work I walked down part of the gorge to take these photos.  I didn't have my tripod with me, so I did the best I could.

I think if the lighting was just right, this could be an incredible subject.

Lessons Learned:

• From what I've been reading, when photographing snow you should set your camera to over expose the photo by 1.5 to 2 stops.  This has worked fairly well for me for most photographs.  Today however on some of my shots of ice, there was a lot of exposed rocks.  These rocks were much darker in color.  My over exposing of those photos made the ice very over exposed.  I should have compensated for the dark rocks.  I should have also checked my histogram.

 Photo details: Exposure time 1/160 sec, Aperture f/3.5, ISO 200, Focal Length 115 mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held.

Week 38, Day 270, Winter Wonderland, January 20, 2010

The snow conditions were just right.  It was warm enough that the snow was sticky, and large flakes.  The flakes would land on the branches of the trees.  It was a Winter Wonderland.

It was still dark when I arrived at work.  I took this photo in the 5 minutes that I had at lunch time.  It would have been a great day to take off, and look for amazing sites.  Maybe next time.

Lessons Learned:

• Sometimes there isn't enough time in the day to learn a lesson.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/20 sec, Aperture f/8.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 40 mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

Week 29, Day 205, November 14, 2009, Ludlowville Falls

I like these falls. Many times when I go there are only a few of us.  My daughter used to have an apartment nearby, so it also reminds me of her.

  I like the formation of the falls.  There is a large solid piece of limestone over a lot of shale.  It's that large solid layer of stone just above the spout of the falls. This limestone erodes much more slowly than the shale around it.  So there is a little cave behind the waterfalls to the left of this photo.

The cave is very dark, so those photos weren't as nice as this one.  In this photo, I  like how the water flows down in that one pocket, and is lofted into the air.

 Lessons Learned:

• I was thinking about the photo from yesterday.  I was thinking how it's probably a photo that I appreciate more than most of the blog readers because I know the people.  My emotions play a large part of what I enjoy in photography.

What are some of your photos that containing a much greater meaning than the photo itself?

Photo details: Exposure time 1/3 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 40 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 65mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod, circular polarizer filter.

Week 27, Day 190, October 30, 2009, Gorge from the Bridge

After work I had a little time, so I decided to head over to the gorge on the other side of the Cornell campus.  I found some new hiking trails, and took this photo.  Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees, but there are still some trees on the south side (right side of the photo) of the gorge that have many leaves.  In the distance is the foot bridge that spans the gorge.

I feel blessed to be able to have so many amazing natural attractions so close to home.

What beautiful areas are there were you live?

Lessons Learned:

• I'm still having problems with the bright spots on my water shots.  I think that I have to widen the aperture a little more.

Photo details: Exposure time 1.3 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 25 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 41mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod, circular polarizer filter.

Week 26, Day 188, October 28, 2009, A Carpet of Leaves

"It can't snow until the creeks are full.", is a old saying in the North East.  There was a lot of rain today, helping to fill the creeks.

The last of the leaves are a brilliant yellow color, and they are falling quickly.  They produced a carpet of leaves on the hiking trails that follow the gorges.

Lessons Learned:

• The circular polarizer works well on cloudy days as well.  It helps to bring out the colors of the leaves.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/30 sec, Aperture f/9.0, ISO 1600, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 27mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held, circular polarizer filter. 

Week 26, Day 187, October 27, 2009, Gorge Revisted with Zoom Lens

I had all my lenses with me today, so I revisited one of the sites that I had taken a photo about a week ago.   This time I used my zoom lens.  Because of this I was able to capture both the bridge with the local colors, as well as some of the trees on West Hill.

The leaves have changed color in the past week.

I like this photo better than my first one.  I think the beauty of the bridge is highlighted better, and the trees still have some great color.  I also think the sun was more cooperative, and highlighted some of the trees in the gorge.

Lessons Learned:

• Don't be afraid to return to the same site at different times, with different equipment, and look for different lighting.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/125 sec, Aperture f/7.1, ISO 200, Focal Length 70 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 113mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

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