Categories
Adobe Chester County clouds Fields HDR Nature Nik Software Photo Journal Photography Tone Mapping

A Fall walk in the Peacedale Preserve

Some images taken during a late Fall walk in the Natural Lands Trust’s Peacedale Preserve in Chester County, PA.

There was a weather front moving through while I was there, which allowed for some very interesting cloud and lighting conditions, and several times, I was able to see some Crepuscular rays.

At one point during my walk, I encountered a real old-timer.

In the middle of the Preserve, there is a huge beech tree, at is 3-4 feet in diameter, and easily several hundreds of years old!

I don’t think I have ever seen a monster like this!

I was also extremely surprised with all the wooly bear caterpillar that I encountered. (Predicting Winter Weather: Woolly Bear Caterpillars)

During my walk, I had to avoid walking on over a dozen of these critters!

[contentblock id=1]

Categories
Blogging Chester County Downingtown HDR Photo Journal Photography Projects Sunsets Tone Mapping

Sunsets – Week 2

It is very early in the morning, and I have finally finished my last edits and touch-ups of Week 2 of my sunset series taken that Shamona Creek elementary school.

It is been a couple of weeks since the last time I posted, mainly because the weather has been rather dry, and there have been very few clouds wandering the skies.

So without further ado, I offer up Days 8 through 14 of my continued series of sunsets:

Day 08 - 120320 sunset Shamona Creek es 022 efex
Day 08 – 120320 sunset Shamona Creek es 022 efex

What I find very spectacular about this particular photo is I was able to capture the crepuscular rays, which seems to be a theme for this week’s images!

Day 09 - 120409 sunset Shamona Creek es Panoramic 02
Day 09 – 120409 sunset Shamona Creek es Panoramic 02

The panoramic above, is actually a combination of four images that I took very quickly so that I did not have to worry about the cloud movement.

It also offers up a good overview of the location that I have been shooting from for the past two weeks.

Day 10 - 120412 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 03
Day 10 – 120412 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 03

This image captures the sunset fire of the back-lit weeds, growing amidst the cornfield, and also underscores my looking beyond the general sunsets for more elements within my images.

Day 11 - 120417 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 10 efex
Day 11 – 120417 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 10 efex

This is another two shot capture also shows some more crepuscular rays.

Day 12 - 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 02
Day 12 – 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 02

Technically, I should not be including this within my series, only because it was not taken in the same location as the rest of the collection, but it was taken on my way to the hillside where I have been doing my shooting.

The hardest part about this shot, was trying to figure out a way to accentuate the backlit dandelion seed heads, without losing the overall feel due to the brilliance of the setting sun.

Day 12 - 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 06
Day 12 – 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 06

In the shot you can see the newly installed garden planters!

Day 12 - 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 07
Day 12 – 120420 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 07

Again the onslaught of the ever-present dandelion seed heads, which all kids love to pick and blow off the seeds, to the horror of every person that needs to maintain a lawn.

One of these days, I’m going to collect the required amount of dandelions and finally try to make some wine out of them!

Day 13 - 20120501 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 33
Day 13 – 20120501 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 33

There is very definitely turbulence in the air as you look at this image, along with more crepuscular rays.

I also struggled during processing not to overly emphasize the colors that are inherent when dealing with high dynamic range (HDR) images.

Day 14 - 20120512 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 46
Day 14 – 20120512 sunset Shamona Creek es hdr 46

The final image of this week, goes back to the backlit weeds during the early evening sunset.

Every day I continue to look West as dusk approaches to see if it will be another chance to capture more images from the Shamona Creek elementary school hillside that I have spent so much time at during the past couple of months.

I hope you enjoyed my images from Week 2, and you will check back soon to see what I have added for Week 3!
[contentblock id=1]