The Maine Thing – Day 4

Day 4 in Maine was a washout, I mean it poured! Perfect for some outdoor photography with saturated colors! I had my sights on Sieur de Monts Nature Center to work the birch woods. For this kind of really wet conditions, I rely on my Olympus E-5 DSLR and Olympus SW 50-200mm lens which are both weather proof. Even in Gore-Tex though, I felt wet from this rain, and water finds ways to get inside your jacket and shoes.

The wet leaves and boardwalk added color and reflection to the image and pretty much guaranteed I would be alone. It was really quite fun to work in conditions about as wet as I’ve ever experienced.

 

Boardwalk in Birch Forest

 

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Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…..

OK, so that’s the postman’s creed, but it’s also emotively, the conditions I like to work in visually. We haven’t had much snow around here this winter (62 F degrees yesterday!). The other day it did rain heavily and that was followed by some wonderful fog. It was a fog that kind of rolled around low to the ground and the water, changing the landscape as it moved.

What I like about rain and fog is how they change the pallete of the landscape allowing me to work with darker more saturated tones. Wet colors are vibrant and deep. The fog allows me to simplify my visual experience in the images I make. With fog in the landscape, I can isolate elements against clean, textureless, evocative backdrops, drawing the viewer’s attention to what excited me most visually. There is a sense of mystery involved for the viewer as parts of the landscape are enshrouded.

In this first image, the tree limbs seem to reach out from nothingness as fog above lake waters obscures their trunks and the ground. It is an image that seems the reverse of what we would expect to see which enhances its sense of mystery.

(c) 2012 Paul Grecian - http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

 

In this second image (part of my “pathways” series), I use the fog to obscure the end of the path which not only simplifies the image visually but adds a good deal of suspense to the piece. Sometimes I like having the viewer need to finish the “story”. I also like sensual lines, in this case both the foreground tree on the left and the curves of the path itself both contribute and offer contrast to the otherwise straight lines of the woods. Compositionally, I use the foreground tree to point the way up the path as well.

 

(c) 2012 Paul Grecian - http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

Sometimes rain isn’t so bad…..

If you were to ask me about it, I’ll usually tell you I can do without the rain. That probably means I have a art/craft show coming up. But yesterday the rain (and fog) was just what I wanted. Visually, I like what rain and fog do to the landscape and the moodiness it instills in my images. I like working in the rain if the wind isn’t blowing it too hard. I like the subtle pastel tones it creates in distant landscapes and the rich wet colors it gives to foliage.

(c) 2011 Paul Grecian

Rainy days are usually spent indoors so they become especially interesting and evocative times to be outdoors creating images if I can. I use a weather-proof camera and lens combination – the Olympus E5 and an Olympus 50-200mm lens. It’s just plain fun to work in the rain with electronics and not worry about it! And it’s fun to be out there with a camera when just about no one else would be.

These two images were made yesterday.

(c) 2011 Paul Grecian - Photography

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It’s Still Fall …..

Sure the leaves are all off the trees and the landscape looks more winter-like than fall-like, but I’m not willing to let go of my grip on autumn quite yet. This fall went extremely fast. The color was never really vibrant anywhere I looked around me here in Bucks County and the heavy rains and winds of October did a real job on any color that did occur.

When I wasn’t doing a show, it was raining, or I was preparing for the next show. Finally I had enough and just had to get out. Sure enough it was raining. But, with my Olympus E-3 and Olympus 50-200mm SWM lens (and some gortex clothing), I was able to spend several hours photographing at a nearby lake. Frankly, I didn’t find the scenery very inspiring, initially. But it was fun working in the rain (sometimes heavy rain), and I began to see the beauty of what was there. Colors weren’t the vibrant reds and oranges I visualized, but the rain made the umber leaves that remained standout well. The cloudy skies offered me smooth, consistent lighting, and if I could keep the blowing rain off the front lens element, I was actually getting quite stoked. By the end I found myself creating some of my favorite fall images ever.

Fall Woods on a Rainy Day

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Back in the Field

It had been 8 weeks since I have been able to get out of the studio and work in the field. Friday I decided that I just had to go to a local park and do some work. Yesterday (Saturday) was a dreary, rainy day, the kind of day where either nothing happens or I feel inspired. It didn’t matter though because I just felt good being out.

When the rain was too heavy in which to work, I ducked into a bird blind and worked the low light at ISO 1600 on my Canon EOS 1D Mark III. It’s those kind of conditions that I bought this camera for in the first place and I feel the image quality is quite good even that high up on the ISO scale.

I spent about 6 hours working favorite spots, studying the light and foliage, and getting a sense for where the birds were. A Cooper’s Hawk harassed birds in several spots, humming birds sped around (and occasionally sat under cover during some heavier rains), and a variety of usual residents (birds that is) partook of the various summer berries.

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Day Off!

I basically had my first day off in over 4 weeks today. Cleaned up the garage a bit, straightened and cleaned around the house (I actually find that calming), and did some odds and ends. But I neither matted nor framed a single piece, nor did I make a single photograph.

Heavy rains in these parts kept us busy manning the pumps and indoors all morning. I was able to have some afternoon coffee outdoors while reading from my Kindle. These periods of stormy weather can sometimes result in pretty spectacular clouds. The image below was made recently just out front of my house. They are called mamma clouds for rather obvious reason.

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Lots of Rain

I’m not complaining because I’ve had fine weather for my 3 outdoor shows so far this year, but we have had a lot of rainy days in these parts. I like water drops as subject matter though and have taken this opportunity to do some imagery in the front garden. I find water drops very sensual, they add a dimension to an image that is both visual and tactile. The oxeye daisies have really popped in the garden and I have always been attracted to the combination of white and yellow (the flower’s center color).

This image was made with a Canon 40D and Canon EF 100mm f2.8 macro lens wide open and hand held. The image has rather abstract features to it, with it’s limited depth-of-field and rather graphic composition.

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