Foggy January

I’m really appreciating being able to get back to making photographs. Earlier this week I saw fog again when I awoke and took off, straight to my favorite lake! There were Canada Geese in large numbers and a distant Bald Eagle perched on the opposite shore high in a tree.

Even when working at a location I’ve been to a thousand times, I need to take time to absorb what I’m seeing and feeling. What moved me to start the process was the mist rising off the water against a winter woodland and a large stone in the foreground.

In the field, I used a Canon 5D Mark II camera and a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II lens on a Gitzo tripod with a Really Right Stuff  head. I like to work with the mirror locked up and a 2 second self-timer. This image was made in color and converted to black & white. I developed the image further using levels, curves, shadows/highlights, and some sharpening. When all was finished I applied sepia toning to emphasize the mood.

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian

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The Maine Thing – Day 8

During the evening of our last day in Maine I walked outside my friend’s house and was struck by the most star-filled night sky I’ve ever seen. There was a very clear Milky Way and a tremendous number of stars. Having done some night image making before, I immediately set up the tripod and camera for some long exposures. The sky was great, but I wanted something more in the image. I needed something to ground it.

Composing at night can be tough, but I knew anything I included other than sky would be in silhouette. Well, anything except an alternate light source or something reflecting that light source.

My daughter had just gone up to her room and turned on her light. My first thought was to have her turn it off. Then I realized that the window would be a great addition, as would the warm incandescent light. This image was made with a Canon Eos 5D Mark II and Canon EF 17-40mm f4.0 L lens. I used an electronic cable release, and in Bulb setting counted to 30 in my head.

Window to the Night Sky (c) 2012 Paul Grecian

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The Maine Thing – Day1

The second time that I visit a location is often fraught with expectations based on the first visit. This is a creativity trap! Conditions are never the same and if I’m smart, I won’t think about the first trip too much. Apparently the weather in Maine is more unpredictable than in Bucks County, PA where I live and so weather forecasts have to be taken with a grain of salt (appropriate enough for an ocean-front environment like Acadia National Park).

The first day after arriving in Bar Harbor I was up early for sunrise and placed myself up on Cadillac Mountain. The image below was made with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon EF 17-40mm f4.0 L lens. I used a split-neutral-density filter to control the sky exposure and of course had the rig on a tripod. I locked up the mirror and used an electronic cable-release to minimize vibration.

In August, you don’t find yourself along much on the mountain and so there was actually quite a crowd. The gentlemen nearest me asked to borrow my filter between my image making and we got to talking. It was a much more social event than I had anticipated, but fun all the same.

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Audubon Show – Hawley, PA (July 21-22)

This weekend I will be participating in the Audubon Art and Craft Festival (http://www.audubonfestival.com/)  in Hawley, PA. This is a fun show with a nature oriented theme. There are live animal shows and a variety of some fine craft and artworks. Held around Lake Wallenpaupack, it’s also just a nice day out.

Great Blue Herons are wonderful birds and a favorite subject of mine. These two images are titled after the yoga poses that this bird is “obviously” holding (Warrior III on left and Downward-facing Dog on right). Both images were made at Lake Galena in Bucks County, PA . I used a Canon EOS 1D Mark III camera with Canon EF 500mm f4.0 L IS and Canon TC 1.4 (700mm optic equivalent). To hold this system stable and yet still have mobility, I use a Foba Superball tripod- head and Wimberley Sidekick.

“Warrior III”

Kutztown Folk Festival starts Saturday June 30!

My 9 days at the Kutztown Folk Festival starts this Saturday (http://www.kutztownfestival.com/ ). This summer staple is always a fun time and draws an audience from around the region which can number over 100,000!

There will be a lot of early mornings in my future and 9-days of smelling funnel cake, but the opportunity to meet new customers, and see some previous ones as well, makes it all worth while. 

One of the newer pieces that I will have at the show is this image – “House Finch”. It has become an image that I particularly like as it has many of the elements that I try to bring to my work. Much of my imagery that is about birds includes a good deal of habitat, some painterly selective focus, and soft light. The bird is  relatively small in the frame but the composition still make it the clear point of interest. The photograph was made with a Canon EOS 1D Mark III camera with a Canon EF 500mm f4.0 L IS lens and a Canon TC1.4X on a Gitzo Tripod with a Foba Superball head and Wimberley Sidekick attached.

“House FInch” available as a 6.75 x 9.75 print matted to 11×14

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