Biting Flies Vs. Neutral Density Filters

Biting flies and neutral density filters... natural opposites.  Biting flies speed up a shoot, they quicken the pace, they ruin things.  Neutral density filters slow down a shoot, they slow the pace, and, if used properly, they make a picture where there wasn't one before.  Get my point?  Here is where the two intersect.

High Noon at Woodland Beach, DE
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If a person has not experienced the number of biting flies the Delaware Bay coast line can support then they are lucky.  Woodland Beach is about 15 minutes from Bombay Hook.  Bombay Hooks is famous for its wildlife including its biting flies.  So, what is the one thing besides your camera you should always take?  Bug spray of course!  What did I forget?  Bug spray of course!  I abandoned Bombay Hook and looked for additional photo ops and ended up here at Woodland Beach.  The flies populated Woodland Beach as well, but when I spot a shot I am determined to capture it.

It is rare and almost taboo to shoot fine art color photography at noon.  You lose the shadows and tone of light that can make a photograph pop.  I decided to break the rules and lined up my shot.  I added about 7 stops of neutral density filters to allow the water to smooth out and the blues to saturate in the final image.  All the while the flies are swarming and attacking.  Had anyone been watching they would have seen me doing a dance during the 8 second exposures.  Sad thing is, I can't dance.  That is why I love being behind the camera, no silly videos of me trying to dance the flies off.  So, if you go to Bombay Hook in the summer, just remember the bug spray.  And neutral density filters.

Just as a reminder, I am running a sale at Benjamin DeHaven Photography for the month of August 2011.  Just enter in coupon code "tweet-tweet" in the checkout process to save 20% off any purchase over $15.  And I have recently begun offering my work in both limited edition as well as canvas forms.  Check it out and always, thanks for reading!

Amazing What You Find

The first step in a shoot is to find a place to go.  Today I decided to go to Fort Howard down near Essex, MD.  I did little research merely plucking the location off Google Maps because it was close and faced west.  I had even twittered asking for help finding a new secret location in the area but to no avail.  So I hopped in my car and off to Fort Howard I rode.  When I arrived the place seemed shut down with half the gate closed.  Not wanting to go in and get stuck (and not having a great feeling about the abandoned veteran hospital next door) I decided to leave.  I headed to my fallback location, a safe simple spot in Loch Raven reservoir.  Not too fancy, low risk low reward.

When I finally arrived at Loch Raven I had only minutes to spare before sunset.  I grabbed the camera and the dog and headed down towards the water.  Canadian Geese scattered as we approached.  I set up on the shore and begun working towards a final shot.  I just couldn't get what I was looking for.  I kicked off my shoes and into the water I went.  I was shooting this little clump of trees out in the water but was simply too far away to get them to really pop into the skyline.  So now I'm trudging through the muddy, seaweedy water towards the island.  Again, the Canadian Geese honked in disapproval and swam further away from me.  

About halfway up my legs I decided I was in the right spot.  I continued shooting the ever brightening sunset getting more and more happy with the shot I was getting.  Just like that it was over.  Everything was starting to fade fast.  I headed out of the water and walked back to my shoes.  So now I have muddy feet, muddy tripod, and very muddy dog.  As I walk back to the car I turned around...

And there it was, the shot that was even better then the one I went into the water after.  It is not fantastic, but it is nice.  Some nights nice is all you are going to get.  So I took a series of shots to turn into a panorama then continued to the car.  When I got home and cleaned up I edited my pictures.  Sure enough, the in the water shots were nice, but the panorama was better.  All that work, planning, researching, and driving and the shot I end up displaying was an afterthought.  A lucky turn around shot while walking away.  It's amazing what you find when you are not looking.  And its amazing when you get when you least expect it.  Again, as I always preach, you need to be ready for the moment whether you find the moment or the moment finds you.

Loch Raven Dusk
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Elakala Swirls

Elakala Swirls
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Here is another shot from my recent trip to Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia.  I have to admit, of all the waterfalls I have seen, Elakala Falls is by far my favorite.  And this recent adventure reminded me why.  After sliding down the muddy gorge and cutting my arm on a rock I reached the bottom of the falls.  When I got my camera out and identified the feature I wanted in the foreground suddenly the clouds broke and sun filled the gorge.  As you probably know, sun, waterfalls, and photography are a bad mix.

However, when the sun shown down into the gorge it lit up the falls and surrounding moss.  Elakala Falls took on a look that I had never seen before.  All the moss shown bright green like light through an emerald and the falls themselves started to shine and sparkle.  It was a sight that will stay with me for quite some time.  Luckily for the me the sun was coming and going so I had time to shoot a few exposures and was able to capture the swirls as well as the falls.  Sometimes while shooting, I overlook the beauty of what I am shooting while looking for leading lines and power shapes.  I need to slow down and take in the nature of the subject I am looking at and enjoy it for what it is.  I think this shot is great, but the memories of the sunlit Elakala is with me even when my computer is off.  Or I'm not looking at my living room wall... :)

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A Triumphant Return or Bear Rocks Sunrise

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Bear Rocks at Dolly Sod, WV

So, its been a spell since I last posted a blog but I'm back!  I spent some of my time away camping out at Blackwater Falls State Park in Davis, WV.  Early one morning I made a trek out of the campgrounds and towards Dolly Sod.  If you have never been to Dolly Sod you are in for quite the adventure.  You drive through rural back country roads until the road simply stops and turns to gravel.  Then you keep going up the side of the mountain.  Eventually you reach the mountain top and you travel about 8 miles along the crest of the Appalachian Front.  If you still keep on driving you will arrive at a parking lot just beyond a very unimproved camp ground.  You have now arrived at Bear Rocks.

Bear Rocks is windy.  First and foremost.  Second and secondmost it is covered in bushes.  Huckleberry and Blackberry bushes to be exact.  There are these strange paths between the bushes that are in effect a maze.  Every now and then you pass over a rock with little white rocklets that are sharp as razor blades.  So you are scratched by the bushes and cut by the rocks and if you are not careful you are also lost.  Added bonus, if you are there in the fall you are also covered in sticky berry juice.  

If you select the right combination of paths you will arrive at the eastern point of Bear Rocks which overlooks the valley and countless little mountain peaks.  And if your luck still holds out you might just witness an epic sunrise.  With the help and luck of the photo dog I arrived and the sunrise was spectacular.  This place is not for the faint, but it can be quite rewarding.  

Blackstone Summit, Shenandoah National Park

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Sometimes I get the bug to go out and look for new locations and take new pictures.  This was the case in early April of this year.  After a blitz of research on the web I decided on a "quick" 5 hour drive down Virginia's famous Skyline Drive.  I threw everything into the car including the photo dog and set off.

I must say, I have never seen more wildlife then I saw wondering the road of Skyline Drive at 3am.  Countless deer, 5 raccoons, and one skunk (luckily no bear, bears scare me.)  I also must say, if you are going to make the drive, make the drive during the daytime; the scenery is much better.  At any rate, I managed to avoid hitting any critters although I did slow down and stuck my head out the window to scare some of the passing deer.

I finally arrived at my chosen destination on milepost 85 at 4:25am.  I hoped out of the car and climbed into the back and took a one hour nap.  My phone alarm went off and we set off in search of the trail.  We crossed the road and started down a fire road.  Turned out this was just a fire road and didn't connect into any trails, I realized there was a problem when this road headed downhill and I was going to a place called "Blackstone Summit".  I scurried back up the hill and back into the parking lot where I spotted in the back corner what appeared to be a trail head.  Me and Sparky head up this trail which a signpost tells me connects with the Appalachian Trail.  We arrive at the top of the trail leaving only a 100 foot scamper up a rock strew field.  Now, Mr. Sparky is quite agile, even more so considering he is a 7 year old herding breed and not a mountain dog, but he was having trouble, I had to help him up to a spot where I could continue on to the top but still see him.  

So now I am at the top and I realize there is a problem.  There are clouds and they do not seem to be clearing.  That and the 30 mile an hour winds.  I tried to take a few low light shots of the mist in the valleys but they did not want to come out sharp with the winds vibrating my tripod.  I ended up having to switch to targets which could be captured with a shorter shutter speed.  I turned by back to the wind to shield the camera and pointed towards the growing glow in the east under the cloud layer.

This shot is a single image taken at 18mm at f/16 for 0.8 seconds.  

Red Bellied Woodpecker

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This is a red bellied woodpecker who lives in my backyard.  I've been chasing him for a couple months now and these are the best two shots of him that I've gotten as of yet.  It is a very shy bird, always peeking out from behind trees.

Birding can be a very rewarding, yet extremely difficult, genre of photography.  You must have one or both of two things...  You must have excellent field skills, able to sneak up and wait for your subject to show up.  Sometimes this involves erecting a blind so your subject cannot see you, other times this involves hunkering down and keeping extremely still.  The other option is a very long lens.  I shoot with a 500mm lens and ALWAYS wish it was longer.  Especially when shooting smallish birds like these woodpeckers or other song birds you can never have a big enough lens.

This is one of the main reasons I prefer larger birds.  Herons and Egrets are often massive, full grown have nearly a six foot wing span.  They also are usually very tolerant of a person sitting in a car taking pictures.  So find a bird, grab a bean bag, roll down the windows, and have yourself a party.  On a side note, the other thing I like about herons and egrets is they will eat anything they think has a vague chance of fitting down its throat.  Frogs, fish, voles, and ducks have all fallen prey to these wading birds.  In short, grab a camera and go outside, there are more targets then you can even imagine!

Turkey Point Lighthouse

Turkey Point Lighthouse, MD

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I always get excited on days when there is a sunny blue sky that is  scattered big puffy clouds.  These are the ingredients for a potential good sunset.  These were the conditions on February 18th, 2011.  So I collected my camera equipment and my dog, Sparky, and hopped in the car.  The destination was Turkey Point out near North East, Maryland.  Why name a town after a direction I don't know, it must lead to a lot of confusion...

I took the back roads from my house to avoid the toll at the Susquehanna River crossing.  When I got to the Conowingo Dam I of course stopped into the lot for a touch of eagle watching.  This time of year there are not too many eagles hanging around Conowingo because they are all paired up and perfecting their nests before the eggs arrive.

I knew there was a lighthouse out on Turkey Point but in reality I was hoping to get some great long exposure shots of the water as it lapped in on a rocky beach.  Turns out Turkey Point is up on a cliff, likely 100 foot cliff.  There were one or two spots where you could probably make it down the hill (getting back up is another matter) but the beach was made up of large rocks, a man made beach to stop erosion.  Not exactly pretty.  So me and Sparky headed back the trail to the lighthouse.  

We saw signs for a spot on the trail called "Hawk Fields".  I readied my 500mm lens and crept out of the woods as to not scare all the hawks.  Of course there were no hawks to be seen.  In fact, that field was strangely empty of any birds.  So on we hiked.  After about a mile we arrived at the lighthouse on the point.  I kept out the 500mm lens hoping for some sailboats to pass by, but again there were none to be seen.  In the end I plopped down on a bench and waited for sunset while keeping an eye out for passing boats.  The only boat to pass was a barge, a big ugly barge.

The clouds started to dissipate as the sun set lower.  Luckily there were still a few around when the sun lit up the western sky.  In the end the only wildlife I saw was a bunch of seagulls and a black rat snake sunning itself.  I got lucky that the clouds were still around at sunset and gave me a real nice show.  It is always wise to go into an area with an idea of what to look for for a great shot.  It is also wise to not force a shot but take what is given.

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Sandy Point State Park At Dawn

On March 17th I woke up early with a desire to chase the sunrise.  I have been wanting a sunrise over the Chesapeake Bay.  I decided to try out a new location and after a bit of 3am research I settled on trying Sandy Point State Park by the base of the bay bridge.  I have been over the bay bridge many times but have never stopped at the park.

So the photo dog and I headed out from my house at 4:45am in order to make the drive and to get breakfast on the run (sometimes I think the only reason I get early is McDonald's breakfast).  We finally arrived at McDonalds after a brief detour to a phantom McDonalds on the grounds of the Naval Academy (my normally infallible GPS let me down).  As we arrived for breakfast the sky was already beginning to lighten in the east.  Luckily we were on the bay side of Annapolis and we were making great time.

We finally arrived at the gates of the park at 6:35am only to find our next problem.  A sign that said the park opened for general use at 7:00am and was only open early for fishermen and boaters.  So a dilemma...  do I wait and miss the beginning of the sunrise or do I go in early and send Sparky into the water after a fish so that I count as a fisherman?  I chose the latter.  I paid my money and crept quietly into the park.  I parked my car right next to another car, a fisherman I supposed.  I grabbed my camera, tripod, and dog and headed across the exposed grounds and made for the beach.  I finally arrived at the beach without drawing any attention.  I sat down on the sand looking out into the water feeling quite uninspired.  I actually thought about just not taking any pictures and simply enjoying being alive as only watching a sunset can make you feel.  But as the sky began to turn colors it sparked my creativity.

I began moving around finding the right scattering of rocks to take the first picture.  I used a 5 second exposure to get the soft water around the rocks while not over exposing the brightening sky.  Next I moved on to a jetty as the sky and water turned a pinkish purple color.  I had to use the Neutral Density Filter to extend my shutter speed to 30 seconds to get the soft effects on the water.  I also had to use the Graduated Neutral Density Filter to keep the sky from burning out.  Believe it or not the pink color is natural, it was not enhanced by the use of any color filters.  Finally the sun broke the horizon and it became time to line up the disk of the sun with the Sandy Point Shoal Lighthouse.  I pulled out the 500mm lens to get this shot of the lighthouse and the sun.  This image was taken with no filters and ended up being 1/3200 second to keep the sun from bleeding into the surrounding pixels and creating a white mess instead of a crisp white circle.

In the course of moving around and lining up the lighthouse I found out who had the other car that I had parked next to.  Turned out I had a fellow photographer shooting the morning!  And I also came to realize that he had already claimed one of the best spots for shooting.  Luckily it was a big beach and there were plenty of things to make interesting foregrounds besides the long narrow rock jetty that arched right at the lighthouse.  I will get that picture next time...

Blue Heron In Winter

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Blue herons are one of the few wading birds to stick around the Mid Atlantic during the winter.  It uses its long, sharp beak to spear all types of prey.  In fact, they are known to choke on food that is too big for them... they have no sense of what can actually fit down their throats.  I have seen them eat huge bullfrogs, and once a mid sized muskrat.  I am not sure if it managed to get the muskrat down, I think it was a young one, but to even try takes a bit of crazy.

I also always think of a story I was told about a Blue Heron that set up shop in someones backyard.  The homeowner had a small pond stocked with koi.  Within a few days this one heron had completely eaten all the koi.  Expensive koi.  The homeowner was understandably slightly afraid of the heron.  The average wing span of an adult can be up to 6.5 feet!  Thats a big bird!  They often tuck themselves into small balls like the one pictured here, so their size is very deceptive. 

Blue herons, like all wading birds have patience that I can only dream about.  They will sit still while standing or slowly walk around with baby steps in a body of water or right on shore waiting for a fish or other prey to wander too close.  Then it strikes.  As for me, I get impatient when my two hot pockets take 4 minutes in a microwave.  And it really makes me irritated when the Taco Bell drive through has more than 2 cars in line.  

Butterfly Wing Art #1

Butterfly Wing Art #1

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Nature produces the most beautiful art.  Photography only hopes to catch a portion of the natural beauty.  This is a close up of a butterfly wing.  Butterflies are some of the most beautiful and graceful animals on the planet.  Their wings are veritable canvases on which nature has painted a masterpiece.

Make sure you take time to look around and notice the art all around you.  Of course it helps if you fill your house with beautiful photography for those times when you are stuck indoors... :) 

Winter Doldrums Ramblings...

Small falls in Patapsco State Park, MD
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I'm posting a picture taken back in late summer / early autumn today to remind us that warm days will soon be back upon us.  Days where we can kick off our shoes and wade into a local creek and play near waterfalls.  Where we can see green plants instead of yellow plants.

Right now we are still deep in the winter doldrums where everyday is either cloudy or perfectly clear.  We seem to be missing those days with big puffy clouds that tend to lead to great sunsets. 

It is often though that sunny days are best for photography, but this just isn't so.  Think about the most dramatic nature and landscape pictures you can think of and what do you see?  Foggy days with trees hidden in the mist?  Epic sunsets with clouds lit up every color imaginable?  I'll tell you what you don't see, you definitely don't see a touristy type attraction shot at midday with a flat blue sky in the background.  Those are called snapshots and they usually fail to set themselves apart from the pack.

The job of the photographer is to get up early and to be out at sunset ("the golden hours") and hike or kayak off the beaten path to show you what you missed when you followed the trails set out by the park service or even worse, paved by the park service.  Next time you find yourself wanting to take a picture that can stand out from everyone else's vacation and weekend pictures try taking a few steps off the beaten path.  Look for a new angle.  If you see a crowd of people in one spot looking and snapping pictures, walk away from them and find a vantage point that is different, not worse, but different.

Immature Red Shouldered Hawk And The Art Of The Draw

Immature Red Shouldered Hawk
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On a bright winters day I took a long trek to the local wildlife park.  Ok, it was a zoo.  But until I make it on safari I will have to work my skills on captive animals.  Besides, the animals there are very pretty as well.  Anyway, I was at the wildlife park and had already been to the far east and photographed a giant panda.   I started walking down a hill towards the big cats while lugging my tripod with my long lens on it.  This setup weighs a ton so my first instinct is to simply pack the camera and lens back into my pack.  I decided to just carry it this trip.

This would turn out to be very very fortunate.  I was passing a frog pond (with no frogs, at least on the surface, perhaps they were down below buried in the mud) when a form caught my eye in the tree.  I swung around and saw a bird in the tree, a big bird.  First I thought it was a plastic joke, but not taking any chances I threw open my tripod and took aim.  After a frame or two I realized I was dealing with a live bird.  

Here I was in a downtown urban area and I find myself 12 feet from a wild unbanded hawk.  This is the closest I have been to a hawk breaking the record of about 20 feet at Conowingo, Maryland.  Turns out this is an Immature Red Shouldered Hawk, a species I have never seen in person.  Now I was so close that if I zoomed in to 500mm I got the view you see above, half a hawk (not that I was complaining, it was a great portrait opportunity!).  I kept shooting and recomposing for about 25 frames.  Then the hawk decided not only were there no frogs or koi in this pond, but that I was quite an annoying person (see the glare he gave me below...).  The whole encounter lasted maybe a minute.  Had I not had my camera at the ready I would have gotten nothing but a very disappointing story.

The moral of the tale?  Always carry a camera and know how to use it.  And set it for action before you head out.  If my camera were in my pack, or set up for taking portraits of my dog the night before I would have gotten nothing.  If I didn't know ever nook and cranny of both my lens and my camera I might have fumbled the shot and gotten nothing.  Learn your equipment and keep your head on a swivel and you never know what you may catch!

Immature Red Shouldered Hawk
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Bald Eagles and The Nest Building Time Of Year

Bald Eagles Share The Work
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So its that time of year again.  Time for the bald eagles to separate themselves and return to their annual nesting sites.  Then comes time to fix up any damage the summer and fall storms have done.  Its also the time of the year for trekking to the Conowingo area on the Susquehanna River to watch the eagles.

So up I headed to Conowingo and set myself up at one of the easiest nests to photograph.  I spent many hours standing on the ground looking up into the nest last year.  This was my first trip up this year and I was greeted by two old friends who were busy sprucing up the nest.

It was great fun watching them, they would fuss around the nest rearranging sticks for reasons completely lost on the rest of us.  Then one or both eagles would fly off in random directions and land in nearby trees and start trying to break off branches.  It is actually quite funny watching a creature with no hands, only a beak trying to break branches.  It looks like they are going to fall out of the tree canopy.  I am still working on why they feel the need for fresh sticks as opposed to the myriad of branches that are down everywhere from the ice storm.  Best I can figure is the sticks on the ground stand a chance of being soaked thus bringing the possibility of mold and mildew into the nest.  The only flaw in that thinking is the nest is out in the open and gets rained on.

Returning to the nest with a prize!

This year I decided to audition a video camera for the job of sidekick to my photo camera.  Here is a clip of the eagles working on the nest.  At the end of the video they are looking up watching a vulture fly uncomfortably close to the nest.  A little closer (or if it was an eagle) the female would have taken flight and shown the offending party off.

Elakala Falls

Elakala Falls
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Deep in the heart of Blackwater Falls State Park outside of Davis West Virginia there is a small stream named Shay's Run.  Shay's Run has not one but four waterfalls within the span of about 100 yards or so.  This is waterfall number one.  Each sequential falls gets harder and harder to get to.  I would say this area is off the beaten path, but in truth there is a beaten path that leads by it.  Two things keep me from saying this...

1. It is overshadowed by Blackwater Falls State Park's main waterfall: Blackwater Falls.  Unless you do your research on the internet first I doubt you will find any signs or notices of the series of falls.  There is a small sign at the trail head, but that is along the brush line behind the lodge.
2. As you travel down the beaten path, you have to then basically jump down a big hill to get down to a good shot of the falls.  For some reason unknown to me this trail that someone took the time to gravel parts of and build a wooden bridge over Shay's Run did not bother to guide the trail down the slope for a good view of the falls.

I tend to be a person who works on impulse.  I would rather fly by the seat of my pants then sit down and plan out a trip.  This does not always serve well, with this being a great example.  And apparently I am not in the minority, in all the times I have been there I have never seen anyone simply looking at the falls.  Everyone on that trail is either loaded down with photographic equipment or following someone who is.  So remember, if you want to see all there is to see in a park you are visiting, do your homework first.  Don't count on signs, especially if you want a different point of view.

Urban Wildlife and the Immature Green Heron

Immature Green Heron

It is simply amazing where wildlife can thrive even as humans take their natural territory.  In the past year I've spent a lot of time at National Wildlife Refuges and National Parks.  I have developed an affinity for the Green Heron.  It is a wading bird that will stand still on a reed or edge of a marsh for hours.  We are talking perfectly still, no movement for hours.  Then suddenly when it sees a fish swim by just a bit too close it strikes out like lightning and grabs a meal.

At Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge I have even abandoned my car and gone slopping into the muddy marshes in search of this bird.  In fact, I've lost more than one pair of shoes and socks to the mud of Bombay Hook.  It is always a nervous moment when you sink above your knees while carrying an expensive camera and lens.  First you think about the camera gear, then you realize you might have even bigger problems!

I think in 34 trips to Bombay Hook and a trip to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge I have had  total of four Green Heron sitings.  So what is the closest I have ever gotten to one?

I had gone to Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring, Maryland to shoot the butterfly conservatory (if you have never been there and enjoy butterflies you simply must go!).  While leaving the garden I walked by a drainage pond and stopped to photograph some moss on a rotting stump.  I was alerted to the sound of wings and spun around.  What did I see in this drainage ditch in the suburbs of Washington DC?  Nothing other than an Immature Green Heron!  

Immature Green Heron in a drainage pond

This bird has probably never known any life besides an urban one.  It has learned to hide in drains and fish from man-made ponds (hide your koi...).  This was a fat, well fed bird so it was obviously thriving, not just surviving.  And the fact it was a juvenile leads me to believe there is a breeding population in the DC suburbs.  

White tail deer, raccoons, and red foxes are other success stories of adaptation.  They are annoyances to us humans as the deer run in front of our cars and the raccoons topple our trash cans.  Truth is we invaded their space and they adapted to survive.  It simply amazes me sometimes.  So next time you are walking by a pond or drainage ditch keep an eye open and you might just see an unusual bird making a living.

Beckleysville Road Bridge

Beckleysville Road Bridge at Dusk #1

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I've found myself spending a lot of time up in the Prettyboy Reservoir area lately.  This trip was at least the 6th in the last two weeks.  The day before this I went up hoping for the clouds to clear up for a good sunset but it never cleared.  For this shoot I went up while again it was still cloudy, this time however everything cleared up at pretty much the right point.  I kept shooting the evolving sunset thinking at any moment it was going to cloud back over.  This might have been one of the most documented sunsets from start to finish of all time.  This was actually one of the last shots taken after the sun had set below the cloud bank and the light quickly disappeared.

After parking in the slush I slogged through to the trail that led down the hill.  Luckily I found a cement run off path that was rather broken up and provided relatively good traction as I went down the ~30ft hill to the water.  I then crossed under the bridge and walked along the very edge of the reservoir, over what I was hoping was the rocky shore, on a sheet of snow covered ice.  I would take a few solid steps and then all the sudden it would collapse and break through.  I kept going till I found a good angle that had a) no tree branches in the way and b) a solid ice sheet so I didn't fall through while standing with the camera.  With the exception of the occasional passing car, everything was silent save the occasional passing flock of geese.

I like this particular shot because of the solid permanent feeling the bridge gives off contrasting with the movement in the clouds.  I especially love how the eye (at least my eye) is immediately drawn to the bridge then all the sudden sees the clouds and its like a whole new piece of canvas is suddenly there where before was nothing.  I also like how the motion of the clouds radiates away from the center point of the canvas pulling the eye away from where it wants to naturally rest (again, at least my eye).  I wish there was a bit more of the pink / red color on the large cloud but it was not to be.  It wasn't 2 minutes later that there was no color in the sky at all.  Thats what makes photography different from most other arts, you have to make the best of what you are given.  Hopefully that is what I've done here.

Specs: Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm lens working at 30mm, f/16, ISO 200, 30 second exposure.  Unknown number of stop reduction from neutral density filter(s).  Tripod and cable release were also used.   

Long Shadow Of Winter

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Me and my mother / photography partner (she puts the DAJ in DAJ Designs Photography) went for a drive in the late afternoon.  I took us up to Prettyboy Reservoir where I have been spending a lot of time recently.  Neither of us were feeling particularly inspired as we drove along.  We stopped here and there to take a few shots but nothing seemed to be clicking.  This was the day after Baltimore's latest snowfall on January 11th.  It was extremely cold and very windy.  Having driven every road around the reservoir that I am aware of we headed back to this known spot to catch the sunset.

I had been at this same place a few nights earlier shooting star trails.  When I walked down the path to the boat launch the first thing I noticed was this canoe sitting half buried in snow.  I had not seen in during my night shoot.  Immediately the creative juices started stirring and I carefully planned my steps so that I didn't put any footsteps in my shot.  Luckily, for once Sparky was not with me and off the leash or he surely would have put tracks all through my planned shot.  I loved the way the scene looked so I set up my tripod and started setting the camera up.  I snapped a few shots but nothing was coming out right.  So I had to reach into my bag of tools and pulled out a filter I very rarely use.  I used what is called a Graduated Neutral Density Filter in order to get the brighter sky to balance out with the darker ground.  It is basically a 4"x4" plate that starts tinted on one end and gradually goes to perfectly clear on the other end.  Even this was not enough as I needed to take several shots to ensure I had a good exposure for both the sky and land separately.  I also tried to time it so that I captured one of the many snownados swirling around on the snow covered ice.  I think that it really helps drive home how cold, windy, and desolate this place was.

This spot is quite busy during the spring and summer.  It is a boat launch used by many fishermen.  I am not sure who left this canoe or why but it really illustrates how the seasons affect us all.  A recreational item that at one time carried happy people out onto the water now sits alone half buried in snow next to solid ice.  This one spot goes from popular to deserted and from pleasant to barren over the course of a year.  Strange thing about me is I don't really get cold.  I was standing out in what was likely a wind chill in the single digits and the only thing cold was my nose.  There is something very centering about standing basically alone in a frozen reservoir with the wind howling and snow blowing.  I am not sure how most people feel, but for me, at that moment there was no where I would have rather been.

Spook Hill Road Bridge #1

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I woke up today expecting to take a morning trek up into Northern Baltimore County in the snow for some nice "snow on trees" types of shots.  But when I got up instead of the 1-2" we should have had at that point we had about 1/4".  I looked at the weather, realized they changed the forecast taking away most of our snow so I went back to bed.

After I had been up for a while I noticed the sun was breaking through the clouds and there was actually some blue skies mixed in among the clouds.  Quickly I shifted gears realizing the potential for a good sunset.  I have no idea why but I immediately thought of this bridge.  I didn't even know what way it faced, I had photographed it during the daytime the previous winter with a flock of Canadian Geese in front of it but thats about it.  Weird thing is I even figured I would be heading back into the cove behind the bridge.  I guess I was taking mental notes that day last winter when I had shot the bridge during the day.  I got a later start than I had wanted so I ended up watching the infancy of the sunset while still in route.  I got a little impatient and got going a little fast on the road that surrounds Prettyboy Reservoir.  Despite the slightly slippery roads I arrived at the bridge in one piece.

I decided I needed to be at a low angle in order to get a good angle to get the bridge and sky in the same frame.  This meant climbing down a snow covered hill about 25 feet to the waters edge.  I let Sparky off his leash and sent him down the hill first.  He has four paw drive, he always makes it everywhere safely.  I have two feet and I didn't make it down without incident.  I made it about 15 feet down when I slipped down about another 10 feet on my butt.  If it wasn't cold before, it sure was cold now!  No time to worry about that now, light was approaching peak!  I set up  my camera on the tripod (made of metal and also very cold by this point) and set up with the appropriate lens.  After getting a few run of the mill shots (Spook Hill Road Bridge #2, #2 actually came first but was edited second...) I began to play.

For this shot I wanted as long of an exposure as possible because I saw the clouds were moving across the sky at a pretty good clip.  I closed my aperture down to f/22 and lowered my ISO to Nikon's fake 100 (Lo1.0) and put on two neutral density filters and a circular polarizer.  I was able to take my shutter speed from 1/4 second on Spook Hill #2 down to 6 seconds on this image.  This allowed me to keep the shutter open for long enough to have the clouds "paint" themselves across the frame while not allowing anything to blow out and turn white.  After some careful post processing I brought the foreground levels back up so you could see the bridge and ice covered reservoir.

Now in the twilight I put all my gear away, turned around and realized just to my left was a much easier way to get up to the road that didn't involve a 75 degree hill.  When I see a photo opportunity I get so focused I often miss the obvious.  That can be a real hindrance to not only taking the easy way to a location but to getting the shot to begin with.  If you lock yourself into one image you often miss the obvious image which is even stronger.

"Snow Cap" at Great Falls, MD

This image was captured during a recent trip to Great Falls on the Maryland side of the gorge.  It was a decent day, not too terribly cold, with the sun shining and a few scattered clouds.  This was the first time my dog came along to Great Falls.  There is a "no dogs" policy on the boardwalk to the Falls overlook, but I decided on a weekday I would go ahead and chance breaking the rule.  Turns out the place was mobbed.  Dogs everywhere including on the boardwalk.  In fact, I think I spend more time moving Sparky out of peoples and dogs way then I spent taking pictures.  I finally made it through the gauntlet of people, dogs, and potential images and arrived at the overlook where I was hoping to catch a stunning sunset over the gorge.

I was taking in the falls when this rock caught my eye.  The static nature of the rocks and ice contrasting with the rapid movement of the white water rapid instantly excited my curiosity.  I've always loved the smooth look of water over a long exposure, "cotton candy water" as some photographers refer to it as.  A couple of test exposures showed me I needed to stack a few neutral density filters as well as a polarizer in order to get the effect I was looking for.  As soon as I reviewed the image in the camera monitor I knew I loved this picture.  It portrays both a sense of sorrow and solitude that I have been feeling lately.  In fact, many of my pictures have had that feeling of late.  I can't wait to hear on the blog, facebook page, and at shows to find out if this shot speaks to people the way it speaks to me.

The sunset never evolved.  It was a very plain jane sunset with the clouds not picking up any light.  It also turns out that this time of year the sun is at the wrong angle to catch from that viewpoint.  But the couple images I did get more than make up for the lack of an amazing sunset.  In fact, the "Snow Cap" image much better portrays how I was feeling than any sunset could have done.

Favorite Images of 2010

Ok, been absent for a little while, but with the new year here I want to share a few favorite images I've taken in 2010.  As some of you may know, 2010 has been a year full over very high highs and very low lows.  It has been both the best year of my life and the very worst of nightmares at the same time.  Anyway, heres to 2011 with a look back at 2010:

This image of Blackwater Falls in Davis, West Virginia was taken on October 10th. This stop capped off a weekend where we traveled over 1000 miles going from the Delaware Bay, to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and finally to the mountains of West Virginia.  Normally I do not like to have the main subject of my images obsured in any way, but the color of these leaves against the white of the falls was simply striking.  I chose a long exposure because I simply love the velvety soft look of flowing water.  I broke the rule of thirds with how high the top of the falls is, I did that to try and convey the size of the falls.  For those who have not seen or heard of this waterfall it is actually roughly the height of a five story building.  It is quite an impressive sight.  Almost as impressive is the number of stairs leading down to the falls, 294 if my memory serves.  This goes down in my book as one of the hardest "easily accessible" sites in the area.

This image is entitled "Bashful Raccoon".  This was an image of sheer luck (always remembering that even with luck, if you do not know what you are doing when you get the opportunity to get the shot, you will fail).  I was at Bombay Hook along the Delaware Bay on July 3rd.  I had brought my kids along to what they called "the bug place" due to the number of biting flies that would sneak into the car only to be squished by a hyper 5 and 3 year old.  Driving along one of the back trails where nothing is normally sighted, I spy movement along the edge of the road in the brush.  I immediately hit the brakes, grab my camera with the telephoto zoom on it and rush towards the movement.  It turned out to be a raccoon.  And he was not very happy to see me.  He bolted for a tree and went to climbing it.  Luckily for me he stopped about 10 feet up in a nook and was curious enough to peer down at me.  It really looks like he was posing for me, perhaps he was...

Click here for the original, this smaller thumbnail just does not do the eagle justice.  I've spent a lot of time this year up a Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River.  If you have not heard, they have a thriving population of eagles that live and breed there in the area.  This is a very popular spot for photographers, bird watchers, and fishermen.  I've spent much time there learning how to use an ultra-telephoto lens and learning the ins and outs of eagles and how they move.  This shot was taken very late in the year: December 11th.  Some days you go up and the eagle simply sit and watch the world.  Other days, like the 11th they are hungry and decide to fish the entire day.  But I have found that finding them fishing is the easy part.  Learning how to track with their movements so you can get a good crisp shot is the hard part.  Its taken many months and many, many shots but I am finally getting the hang of it.  There is something about the cry of a Bald Eagle that is simply intoxicating and keeps drawing me back with hopes of catching these amazing birds in action.

If you like what you see you can see more at Benjamin DeHaven's Gallery at www.dajdesignsphotography.com.  Here are a couple more photographs that hold a special place in my heart:

Great Egret Taking Off At Dusk in Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Old Fishing Boat on Hooper's Island, MD

  

Elakala Falls in Blackwater Falls State Park