End of the Year Already....

I read an article this past weekend in the latest edition of Outdoor Photograher magazine about long exposure photography so I figured I'd give it a try. It got cloudy late yesterday afternoon so I went to my usual favorite spot. To make sure the exposures would be even slower I put a polarizing filter on the lens and shot at f16. The photo of the ice was shot at 6 secs. and the flowing water and trees was a 15 sec. exposure. Of course I had the camera on a tripod and there was no wind so everything but the water is sharp.

Theres another snowstorm going on out there today so I plan on spending New Years day taking photos of the new fallen snow.

Winter Wonderland...

I went out this morning and the conditions were perfect. We had a fresh snowfall last night but there was absolutely no wind so the snow stayed on the tree branches, and it was even foggy at one point. The sun is out right now but thats not going to last, the weather is forecasted to get crappy over the weekend. Posted are a couple of photos I took this morning, I'll be posting more soon. I hope they look all right because I just bought a new monitor and I'm not sure if everything is set right yet.

Inclement Weather On The Way

Here is another photo I took last weekend before the thaw set in. More snow is in the forecast for the next few days so hopefully I'll be able to add more winter pics.

Christmas Woodpecker...

Here's another photo from yesterday. I was finished photographing the surf and had my gear packed up and was heading back to the vehicle when I saw a couple of Downy woodpeckers. They were preoccupied with looking for bugs under the tree bark so I took the camera back out; this one let me get pretty close and I was able to get a bunch of shots. This was the very last picture of the day and turned out to be the best shot. Most of them were blurry, those little buggers are fast.

Christmas Sunrise.....

While you were checking under the tree to see what Santa left, this is what I was doing; taking photos at sunrise at Reid State Park.

Merry Christmas.

Thaw..

It was nice and cold Saturday so I went to a different section of Sabattus River to take some photos, I'll be posting them through the week. The snow took a big hit yesterday and last night with the rain and the temp being in the 40's, where before there was two feet of snow on the ground, now theres only a foot. Last night was also a full moon and the sky cleared up by sunrise so I got a couple photos before it set behind the trees in front of the house.

Ice, Ice Baby.....

Icicles are forming, so here is a close up shot taken about half an hour ago with the point and shoot Olympus.

Snowed in Again...

It's another snowy blustery day out there today so I didn't get a chance to get out and take any new photos. Instead I'm posting one I took back from my film days; this photo was shot on Fuji Velvia. The storm is supposed to end overnight and be nice tomorrow so I'll be out there getting some shots.

More Frost...

There is more snow predicted for tonight into tomorrow; I don't think we had this much snow for the whole winter season last year. The weatherman says this coming Sunday there is a chance of rain and a possible high of near 50; Maine weather, go figure. This photo was taken on one of those bitterly cold mornings we had last week.

Winter is Definitely Here.....

I'm looking forward to a four day weekend this week and hopefully I'll get out there and get some new photos taken, I'd like to get to the coast. It's been a few years since I've been during the winter months. It's a big difference going in the winter verses the summer, there are a lot less people around.

Time to dig out...

It's bitterly cold out there today with the wind so I didn't go out to take any new photos. I also need to go and shovel the driveway after yesterdays blizzard. I'm posting a couple of photos again to remind me of warmer weather, they were both taken with my Olympus point and shoot.

It's Gonna Be a White Christmas....

This photo was taken on the same day as yesterdays photograph; it's pretty close to where I took the duck photos from earlier in the week. We're supposed to get another big snow storm over the weekend, so who knows, I may be able to get to use the snowshoes I bought last year. They're still brand new because of the lack of snow we had last season.

Same Subject; Different Look...

Here's a photo of the same two trees I photographed at sunrise the other day. This photo was during a snow storm.

More Duck Shots...

I decided to go back to the river today to see if the mallard and merganser were still hanging out. Sure enough they were so I was able to get some more photos of them. That is one lazy mallard, two days in a row it's sleeping. This time I brought my flash and the Better Beamer flash extender, it was overcast this morning so I figured the flash would help brighten things up. I was able to get closer to them today, I guess they've figured out I'm harmless. I actually waded in the water and I probably could've gotten even closer but the water was only two inches from the top of my boots by the time I stopped. I fell in the water a couple of years ago, in the same spot so I know how cold that water is. I also included a shot of the duck tracks in the snow.

Frosty Again...

It was another below zero night out there last night and everything was covered in a heavy frost this morning. I went back to the river where I took the photos last week of the ice covered rocks. This mallard and merganser were there and I guess it was so cold they didn't feel like moving much; they let me get to about 30 feet. As you can see the mallard was snoozing but the merganser was keeping its eye on me.

Yesterdays Sunrise....

It's snowing again today but before the clouds moved in yesterday morning I went out and took these sunrise shots. This is where I saw the turkeys on Friday but they weren't around yesterday; at least while I was there.

Another cold one.....

It was really cold last night; 3 below zero on my thermometer and everything was heavily frosted. I went back to where I photographed the muskrat last week to photograph these red winterberries. There was ice all the way across the river so I didn't see any wildlife but I did see a flock of turkeys on the drive over so maybe I'll go back this weekend and try to get some photographs of those, I've seen them in that field before. This morning I had my gloves on but the fingers froze anyway.

Autumn Abstract....

I took this photo earlier this fall while hiking in Greene, I used my point and shoot Olympus. Technically it's still the fall season but it sure looks and feels like winter. It was 6 degrees here this morning; the ground is covered with snow from the storm earlier this week and we're supposed to get more tomorrow. I'll be breaking out the cross country skis before I know it.

Before Shot...

Here is the shot of the apple blossoms before I applied some of the Photoshop effects. It finally stopped snowing so I'll have to get out this weekend and get some winter shots to post next week.

The storm continues...

It's still cold and snowy out there so I'm posting a photo that I added some special effects to. I learned the technique on another blog called Digital Pro Talk by David Ziser. Tomorrow I'll post the before shot.

Ice Formations..

The weekend was real cold and today we're having a major snow storm, maybe I'll get to post some winter shots soon. I went back to the river yesterday and because of the cold weather there were a lot of ice formations on the rocks. Here are a few shots I took before the snow started.

Weekend is Here....

It's windy and blustery today so it's probably going to be a cold weekend. I like posting photos that remind me of warmer weather on days like this. Have a good weekend.

My favorite subject matter...

We're having a lot of dreary weather this month so again I have no new shots to post. Instead I'm putting up some photos of my favorite subjects to photograph; with the cloudy weather I need to see some color. Enjoy.

A Few Bird Shots....

I had errands to do this morning so I didn't get a chance to do any shooting. At least it was sunny today but windy and cold. Before I set out to do the errands I drove by where the muskrat was yesterday but there was nothing there today; I'll have to keep checking. Since I have no new shots I've posted a few bird photos, the first couple were taken from my kayak and the grey heron was taken at a small pond in town.

Foggy Morning

It was a foggy start to the day today. I went out with the camera thinking I could probably get some shots of tree silhouettes in the fog. Instead I got these shots of a muskrat on the river feeding on twigs and reeds. I couldn't get any closer because it was on the other side but at one point it did swim right in front of me but then it was too close. I was using my 100-400 zoom. I've seen muskrats in this area before so I plan on going back and getting some closer shots in better light.

More Lupines..

This is a lupine poster I came up with since I have so many lupine photos. I have posters of various subjects that I'll put up at another time.

Happy Thanksgiving....

This is the only turkey photo I have and since it is Thanksgiving day its a good day to post it. Sometimes you don't have to go far for a photo, these were across the street in my neighbors yard; the whole group numbered about a dozen.

Another Dreary Day

Since its another dreary day out there I've posted some colorful flower photos from last summer to brighten things up.

Summer Loons

Today I took some photos of leaves frozen in an ice puddle but I didn't end up with anything worth posting. Instead I'll be putting up some photos I took last summer from my kayak. Even though the lakes where I photographed these loons have a lot of camps on them I didn't run into anyone else. If you get up early enough you can avoid the crowds. The one benefit of the lakes being populated with a lot of boat traffic is the loons are used to having people around and can be approached fairly closely.