driftwood

This one's getting blown up and put on the wall. It's my favorite photo in quite a while.
(ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/80s)

fenced framing

I took a walk while she was getting her hair done in the bridal suite. Shooting in RAW on manual exposure makes me far more thoughtful with my shots, even though I have quite a bit more frames than I would with a roll of 35mm. I liked this one slightly better than its deleted neighbor that focused on the foreground instead of the background.
(ISO 200, f/13.0, 1/30s)

lobstermen

I planned on getting up at sunrise on our last day to get some shots of the lobstermen taking their boats out. Turns out sunrise is somewhere in the neighborhood of 5AM. My walk started at 7:30 instead, far later than I wanted, but still much earlier than the rest of the tourists.
(ISO 100, f/9.0, 1/30s)

summertime waves

Something about summer makes me want to go to the beach. Florida still courses through my veins, yet beaches nearby are hard to come by. Sand Beach at Acadia National Park was good for my soul, but the water was far too cold for my tropical blood.

Longtime followers may remember my out-of-focus shots from Monet's house and gardens last year. I decided on this trip to try a few. I think this one turned out the best.

(ISO 100, f/14.0, 1/100s)
Related link: DPS article on intentionally taking shots out-of-focus

jordan pond, vol. 2

We went for a ride around the park on our last full day in town. We stopped by Jordan Pond, which we'd seen from above on a hike earlier. It looks a bit different up close, yes?
(ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/200s)

indiscriminate

With the canoe leaking all over my flip flops, I took great care to protect my camera by hanging it on my person. It wouldn't have helped much if we went over, but I was fairly certain that wasn't going to happen.

(ISO 100, f/8.0, 1/125s)

snowdrop

The snow had all melted by the time I made it to the cathedral. Too bad; it would've been lovely.

(ISO 100, f/8.0, 1/40s)

the clouds roll in

It wasn't too long in the day before the sun dipped below the ridge line, and the clouds rolled in. It was not a particularly warm afternoon on the boulders. The friction was spectacular. Sending temps. I desaturated this final shot of the trio to give the cool, grey mood of the later afternoon. Which of the three do you prefer?
(ISO 100, f/22.0, 1/6s)

with time to caption

I spent Saturday playing amongst the boulders of Northwest Branch, a tributary that eventually winds into the Anacostia River. One only needs to visit this fallen gem in the summer to figure out why the water quality of the Anacostia is so dismal. According to a sign at the trailhead, it was once a favorite urban escape of Teddy Roosevelt during his presidency. It's hard to tell these days with the stench of runoff & graffiti on many rock faces.

(ISO 100, f/22.0, 1/3s)

first in a trio

(ISO 100, f/22.0, 1/4s)

handheld

Hiking with my tripod this weekend was a waste. The shots I took with it attached were throwaways. Terrible composition and execution. This one? Handheld. Go figure.
(ISO 100, f/10.0, 1/2s)

in the weeds

"I've never seen that pond look so pretty!" she says. Thanks, friend.

(ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/400s)

adrenaline-fueled fun

Quite often at Great Falls, visitors will see brightly-colored kayaks racing and pausing in and around the many waterfalls. Before I moved here, a climbing buddy of mine who kayaks told me I needed to get a kayak and try my hand at it. After seeing the falls runners' skill and precision, I think I'll need quite a bit of practice and mentoring before I'd even undertake such an awesomely perilous rush.
(ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/20s)

going back

I'm going to head back to Great Falls, for sure. I've been reading up on motion blur techniques beyond my current skill set. Looking at 565 wedding photos taken by an expert tends to inspire creativity. For this one, I'd've loved to be there much later in the afternoon or early morning so I could have a multiple-second exposure to smooth out the ripples in the raging tributary. As Henri Cartier-Bresson said, "Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." I must be getting close to that total by now!

(ISO 100, f/20.0, 1/4s)

just stick to the rivers and lakes that you're used to

A little more detail of yesterday's vantage point. I did have to crop it a bit to get rid of the vignetting from stacked filters.
(ISO 100, f/13.0, 1/3s, 0.6 ND & polarizing filters)

don't go chasing waterfalls

Inspired by fellow photograblogger SCJack, I convinced my better half to go for a walk in the woods at Great Falls last weekend. We'd been to the Virginia side before and hiked around on the Maryland side, but I'd never been satisfied with any photographs I took. This time, I was armed with a tripod that I left in the car and a stacked set of filters to slow down my shutter speed in the bright afternoon sun. As usual, it was a mob scene, but we managed to find a secluded trail before braving the crowds on the overlook boardwalk. I managed a few good ones that I'll post in the coming few days.
(ISO 100, f/13.0, 1/5s, 0.6 ND filter, polarizing filter)

as the story goes

She once was on a bike ride with her dad and uncle. Trying to ford this stream, she lost traction and fell off her bike. We found the footpath much easier to negotiate.
(ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/800s)

bridge over dirtied waters

We came upon a bridge over a creek. It was filthy. Rather than use Photoshop trickeration, I used depth of field and an alternate point of view to disguise the creek's less attractive attributes. I've done it before closer to home.
(ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/200s)

lengthy exposure

Long exposure on moving water always looks good. This may make a great print someday.
(ISO 100, f/22.0, 1.0s)

the creek again

Now for the real snow on the banks of my creek. I love the sky through the trees.
(ISO 100, f/25.0, 1/6s, eV -1.00)