Feeling Sorry for a Goose……..

And laughing a bit about it as well. Sometimes the impact of an image is that it makes you laugh. On this blue sky morning at a local lake I was working during morning rush hour (geese taking off and landing after roosting all night). These are really fun birds. They talk up a storm before taking off and are of various degrees of skill when it comes to landing again. It’s hard not to think of these birds as people commuting to work.

For this type of image, I am working with long glass (500mm with a 1.4X teleconverter) and on a tripod. I keep autofocus on the continuous mode and select a large array of sensors to keep the birds in focus while they are flying towards me. I want an image with little or no overlap of the birds so that each is a distinct form. The one bird on the upper right is just plain having some trouble. Maybe it’s just not comfortable with the whole flying thing, but for some reason Don Knotts comes to mind.

(c) Paul Grecian – http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

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It’s a Secret……..

I have been wanting to print a new fox image for a while. In reviewing images I made at one particular den, I chose this image to be a new 7×10 print. These two kits were part of a den of 6! Romping around and playing with each other, they provided a lot of entertainment and some frustration. Their almost constant movement made it challenging to create anything coherent.

I wanted to create behavior pieces but ones that were visually pleasing as well. Composition is always important as are color and lighting. The soft light kept highlights under control and the warm-toned grasses work well with the fox’s fur. Ultimately, it was just a lot of fun to work with them for the 8 days I could spend hanging out in the field.

In this image of two kits, one certainly seems to have something to say that is not meant for my ears!

It’s a Secret!

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Spring, on the inside

I was tired of waiting for spring so I did the next bet thing, visited Longwood Gardens’ conservatory. This amazing indoor garden is my favorite place to find spring when it isn’t coming as quickly as I’d like. Of course, this was  a couple of weeks ago so spring is now here (just mowed the lawn to prove it to myself).

What I especially like about the Longwood conservatory though is the ability to work in a rather controlled environment. Typically the light is soft, the only breeze comes from the air circulating fans, the temperature is constantly spring-like, and it never rains. This type of situation allows me to concentrate only on making images, which is good. On the flipside, the consistency of conditions also limits the creative process. So it’s a trade-off, but one I understand when going in. When spring does hit at Longwood, I can have the best of both worlds. Working inside and outside allows for all the creative freedom I want.

This particular image was made indoors in bright, but diffused, natural light. The colors of the flowers are astounding so my main goal was to create an image with strong lines and geometry. I used a Panasonic GH2 camera with a Panasonic 14-140mm lens and an extension tube to focus more closely. I focused on the buds in the middle, diffusing the flowers around them and composed to place the brightest pink flower at a power point visually.

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian

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A Frosty Cold One!

When I woke up the other day and saw the frost on car windshields, I was mesmerized by the soft, feathery patterns that had formed. I scoped out our two clunkers and my new van to see which vehicle offered me the best light and perspective opportunity. I selected the van. So I climbed in, closed the door and went to work (without leaving the driveway!). The windshield from the inside slopes strongly so I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a DSLR and lens to fit. I opted to go for my Canon G11 which is small, has a macro mode, and articulated screen (there’s no way I’d be able to position myself to see through a viewfinder).

I was working close and at an angle, so I closed down the aperture to f/8 and positioned the camera screen where the pattern and light intrigued me most. It was still a challenge though as I had to hold the camera in such a way that made my fingers activate controls I didn’t want. Still, as the sun reflected off the window of the house across the street, I was able to work in both warm and cool tones.

Frost on Windshield

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I’m still feeling like winter………

I know what the calendar says, but I’m still scrapping my car windshield and wearing winter coats. I’m also still working through some wintry images and enjoying it. We didn’t get much snow this past winter, but some of what we did receive was lovely. It was the kind of snowfall that left a visual impression of the land instead of overwhelming it.

The image below was made during one of our March snows and it was one of the most visually pleasing snows I’ve ever experienced. As a result I bolted out of the house the morning of and went to work. With the sun rising, there was both warm light and cool shadow to work with. I concentrated on those aspects of the land that excited me the most, contrast and form.

I used an Olympus OM-D E5 with a Panasonic 100-300mm lens to isolate and compress the composition. Working in RAW format, I then developed the image in Lightroom and finished it in Photoshop.

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian – http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

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Texture

 Certainly snow adds an etherial feeling to an image, emotionally it may be the most important element in a winter scene. I also find however that snow adds a great sense of texture to an image. In fact, it may even emphasize the other textures in a scene by breaking the image up into an almost pointalistic painting.

The soft, even lighting of a snowfall is critical as well, preventing areas from becoming too light or too dark. In the image below, I composed in layers and included some winter red berries to add color punch to the image. For me though it is the texture that turns me on most, something that when working with a two-dimensional medium really gets exciting.

The image was made with a Canon 5D camera mounted to a Canon 28-300mm L IS lens on a Gitzo tripod. I selected a focal length of 150mm and worked almost wide open and at 400 ISO to attain a shutter speed of 1/60 sec. (fast enough to stop the snow falling from being a blur).

(c) Paul Grecian – http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

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Descendo

The moon is a highly evocative subject whether it’s a sliver, a crescent, or full. It speaks to such a range of emotions from fear to romance. Trees have a similar effect on people, evocative as well, they speak to strength, loneliness, rebirth, and joyousness. Combined, these two elements of moon and trees, make for a pretty powerful visual and emotional effect.

In this image of a morning moon setting against a pre-dawn sky, I composed to place the moon off-center and behind branches. The exposure was made off of the sky and then decreased a bit to make sure I had detail in the moon. The trees are in silhouette but with a twist! Since there is snow on some of the branches, there is a dimensionality to the trees that is otherwise lacking in such an image.

The image was made with a Panasonic G2 and Panasonic 100-300mm lens at around 250mm (which is 500mm equivalent in 35mm terms).

Moonset behind trees

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Breathing the Same Air

I am continuing to prepare for my two-person show at Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville, NJ. I have the honor of exhibiting with artist Norine Kevolic who works in both paint and wood. What is especially exciting to me is that for this show Norine will be hanging landscape paintings for the first time at Artists’ Gallery. I feel that our work speaks to and in informed by a shared response to nature. In fact our postcard for the show presents two rather different works but both made at the same local lake, Lake Galena.

Our show runs from March 8 thru March 31 with an artists’ reception on March 9 from 4-7 pm. The title of the show, Breathing the Same Air, was chosen after I read Norine’s quote for our press release. She stated “My aim is to create a sensuous work in which one feels they are breathing the same air as in the painting”. I knew immediately that Norine and I shared a similar motivation which needed to be reflected in the title of the show.

Breathing the Same Air

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Winter Trifecta

 Certainly one of the aspects of winter that I find interesting from a visual stand point is how it simplifies the landscape. Bare trees and snow-covered ground both contribute to a sense of the austere. Add fog as a component and the landscape all but disappears. I call this the “winter trifecta”.

With this “trifecta” of conditions, I can concentrate on making images that are mostly suggestive of the landscape but still fully representing the feeling of winter.These kinds of images also speak to larger concepts such as being alone, quietness, and visually allow the contemplation of form and light.

There is definitely a quality or feeling to the image that is calming and which I very much like.

(c) Paul Grecian

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Leicester Longwool

Since my first time traveling to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia in 1985, I’ve been back about 25 times. In all of those visits to this amazing historical time machine, one of the things that has stood out to me was the animals. Colonial Williamsburg has a Rare Breeds Program in which they maintain the types of animals which would have been kept by the colonial residents of the period.

One animal in particular though seems to have the most personality – the Leicester Longwool sheep. These comical looking animals have thick, curly wool coats that cover their eyes and give them real character. As many of my visits to Williamsburg have been in early spring, I have also been able to see the new born lambs which are yes, very cute!

For several years I have offered two prints depicting these marvelous animals and have been pleased with the response I received. More and more I am meeting people who are as excited about Williamsburg as I am. In my most recent travels back to Virginia, I made this image of a Leicester Longwool in a winter setting. This image was made with an Olympus E3 with Olympus 12-60mm lens.

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian

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