As a photographer, Fall brings the promise of visual delights that dapple our world with color and wonder. Every passing day brings the possibility of amazing changes to the landscape that has been static through the months of Summer. It’s time to open our eyes and invite in Autumn.
NIkon D800 Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 @ 200mm f/2.8 ISO 250 1/1250 sec
One of the things I like about our national parks is that they make visiting easy. This view of Jordan Pond is a short walk down a rocky path about 100 yards from a parking lot. It’s a wonderful vista showing the North and South Bubble Mountains in the distance. Being an easy trek, waiting for a photo opportunity can be lengthy and fraught with challenges. While I knelt at the edge of the shoreline for half an hour, peering through my camera, scores of people wandered through the area. I realize that the world doesn’t revolve around me, and by now I have learned a modicum of paitience, but all I needed was about 30 seconds of uninterrupted sight across the lake. A few people felt it would be great to walk out on the rocks and see what they could see from there. One family actually had their two toddlers join them on their quest. I was splashed at and had rocks thrown at me from children whose parents barely chided them if they even noticed at all. Oh well, I digress. Technically the pond is really a “tarn”, which is a mountain lake or pool formed in an area excavated by a glacier. During the last ice age the Wisconsin Ice Sheet dug through Acadia to form this 150 foot deep basin. The water for the nearby town of Seal Harbor is supplied from Jordan Pond so no humans or pets are allowed in the water (yet evidently they are allowed to torture photographers).
Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm f/14 ISO 100 5 image HDR
This Saturday I had the opportunity to photograph an amazing football game while working for Independence Sports Magazine. The event was at Highpoint Stadium in New Jersey and it was a blast! In a nutshell the Scarlet Knights charged to victory with a come from behind win against the Razorbacks 28-24. Rutgers was down 24-7 and then dominated the second half of play.
One funny thing while I was at the game: When Rutgers scores, there is a canon that is fired in the stadium. I was unaware of the tradition and when it first happened I was about 20 yards away from it. The roar almost knocked me over! I took a picture of the ritual later in the game. Here are my pictures from the game via Independence Sports Magazine.
I didn’t even notice them at first. I was stopped at a red light and glanced to my right. There they stood. Thousands of them, with their gazes fixated in the sky above. They looked like rows of disordered people with shining faces, waiting for something monumental to happen. The field stretched into the distance, displaying blooming sunflowers for acres. I think it’s an optimistic way to start the weekend.
I took this picture using a long lens (Sigma 300mm f/2.8) knowing how lenses with greater magnification tend to compact the depth of the landscape. I felt it would accentuate the feeling I had seeing the endless forest or bright yellow flowers all jumbled upon one another.
Nikon D800 Sigma 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm f/8 ISO 100 1/400 sec.
As wonderful as it is to wander outside, soaking in the Sun’s rays, basking in it’s warm glow, often this is not the best time to photograph the landscape. Drama in the sky above gives depth and detail to what is often a field of endless blue. During our trip to Acadia we were fortunate to have some weather roll in as we toured around Mount Desert Island. The rocks had been bathed in a soft mist earlier in the morning and sprinkles would occasionally patter on our raincoats, reminding us to take extra care with our footsteps. Looking out over the Atlantic, with the heavens churning, presented an amazing view of nature’s palette. We paused at inviting locations and composed images of the coming storm for an exciting half hour when the drizzle became more intense. This picture was my favorite from the fleeting moments spent on the rocks beside an intensifying ocean.
Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm f/13 ISO 100 5 image HDR