Old Dock and Musconetcong River in Autumn

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We are really getting a nice variety of colors in our deciduous trees in Northern New Jersey now.  As much as I’d like to be lazy I know that these opportunities are fleeting, and that an overcast day can really make for beautiful nature captures.

New Jersey Fall Landscape Photo

An old dock twists along the Musconetcong River in New Jersey with a backdrop of Autumn Foliage. Taken with the Tamron SP 24-70mm VC lens and the Canon EOS 6D full frame camera.

The above photo was taken today at the Saxton Falls section of Stephens State Park.  I did try several compositions with this twisted dock including vertical images, but this one “just worked” for me.  Putting the frame of the dock in the center bottom of the image makes a nice leading line into the reflections of the Musconetcong River.

Photo taken with Tamron SP 24-70mm VC lens, a circular polarizing filter, and the tripod-mounted Canon EOS 6D full frame DSLR.  Exposure settings: 2s F/18 ISO 11, 33mm.

New Jersey Panoramic Photography – The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

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I will precurse this post with the disclosure that I have taken very few panoramas in the past which I consider successful.  However, I have invested in an Acratech leveling base that now sits between my ballhead and tripod, this will offset shooting from sloped terrain.

NJ Fine Art Landscape Photo

5 image panorama taken from the parking lot of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. Taken with the Tamron 14-150mm Di III Lens and the tripod mounted Olympus PEN E-PL3 micro four thirds camera.

Exposure settings for above photo: 1/10th F/10 ISO 200.  Manual focus and manual exposure utilized as necessitated.  Taken with the Tamron Di III 14-150mm lens and the Olympus PEN E-PL3 m43 camera.

This five image panoramic photo succeeds where a single frames would perhaps fail in impact.  There is a great range of colors and manageable dynamic range in the trees but the overcast and featureless sky is best minimized by a very expansive view.  Understanding dynamic range, knowing how a camera clips shadows and highlights, and anticipating how the human eye will subsequently view the capture is essential to crafting quality photographs.  What’s the shortcut to studying all of this?  STUDY ALL OF THIS 🙂

Study in Form: Spotted Spreadwing

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In the warmer months, I do devote a good amount of my time to photographing Odonates here in New Jersey.  Odonata is the order of carnivorous flying insects including dragonflies and the more slender damselflies.  They come in a great deal of shapes and dazzling colors, making for eye-catching images.  A straightforward but uncluttered capture of a dragonfly or damselfly can have great impact, but occasionally a person may be lucky enough to image their aerial acrobatics or land contortions.

Lestes congener

A lucky photo of a Spotted Spreadwing damselfly in a greatly flexed position.

A distant background, clear foreground, and attractive perch set the stage for a very minimalistic frame.  The damselfly obliges by pausing for a moment in the shape of the letter “n”.  Looks like it may be ovipositing (attaching eggs)?

Photo taken with the Canon EOS 50D DSLR and the Tamron SP 90mm VC macro lens.  Handheld photo taken at 1/80 F/5 ISO 200.

Autumn at Ken Lockwood Gorge; #1

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What is one to do on a rainy, cool, and overcast day on New Jersey?  Take nature photographs of course 🙂

This was only my second visit to the Ken Lockwood Gorge Wildlife Management Area.  I wasn’t certain if it was a great place for landscape photos. With the element of running water in a nature area and also clouded skies, I figured it was worth a try… It was worth it.

New Jersey Landscape Photography

Brilliant yellow leaves line the banks of the South Branch of the Raritan River in New Jersey.

This was one of the broadest densities of yellow leaves that I laid my eyes on, and it also made a great vantage point for the s-curve of the river.

Photographed with the Tamron 14-150mm Di III lens, a circular polarizing filter, and the Olympus PEN E-PL3 micro four thirds camera.  Exposure settings were: 0.8s F/11 ISO 200

Image Optimization: An Eastern Chipmunk

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I will precurse the photos with a disclaimer that I find it difficult to walk by the enumerated Eastern Chipmunk without taking a picture EVERY SINGLE TIME.  That being said, below is a peak at my RAW conversion workflow for a new wildlife photo.

nature photography photoshop workflow

Left side is with my saved Camera RAW defaults applied. Right side is my output image with contrast and further sharpening and noise reduction applied for web/general print.

The above composite is a megacrop created only for the purpose of showing my 2 minute plunderings in the “digital darkroom”.  Get the settings correct in-camera, expose to the right, and make sure the initial file is sharp.

New Jersey Wildlife Photographer

A small brown rodent takes a break from fattening up on acorns to ponder what the heck this human is doing.

1/80 F/8 ISO 400.  Taken with the Tamron SP 150-600mm lens, the Canon EOS 7D, and a Manfrotto tripod with fluid head.

I got lucky that the chipmunk paused just behind a couple of vivid fallen leaves.  To me, they are the icing on the cake and a fortunate happenstance.

New Jersey Landscape Photography: View Through Barn

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Here is one of my favorite photos I took today on a nature excursion.  The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in NJ contains many historic buildings that are great for photography.  Entrance into the buildings is forbidden, but for this shot I set my tripod just outside of the barn so my lens could peer though.

New Jersey Landscape Photograph

A historic barn divides a view of the woodlands into three sections. Photo taken with the Tamron 14-150mm Di II lens and the Olympus PEN E-PL3 micro four thirds camera.

My favorite part of this photo is the faint splash of light hitting the floorboards in the foreground.

Equipment used: Tamron 14-150mm Di III Lens, polarizing filter, Olympus PEN E-PL3 micro four thirds camera, carbon fiber tripod.  Exposure settings: 1/6 F/11 ISO 200.

New Jersey Bird Photography: Bald Eagle

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Here is a recent photo taken less than 15 miles from my home.  While Bald Eagles are certainly not abundant in New Jersey, we do have breeding pairs that can be found in many counties.  Expansive habitats like the Delaware River are prime fishing areas for our national bird, but they can survive off of inland lakes and ponds if the conditions are correct.

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

An adult Eagle captured mid-air, this bird was circling a meadow on a warm Fall day in New Jersey. Photographed with the Tamron SP 150-600mm VC lens and the Canon EOS 7D.

Above photo of a Bald Eagle was taken in Morris County, New Jersey.  Equipment included the Tamron SP 150-600mm VC lens and the Canon EOS 7D.  Exposure settings were: 1/200 F/8 ISO 400 @ 600mm.

Name that bird

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We had a fairly heavy overcast afternoon today in New Jersey.  While my typical approach to bird photography is to freeze any action, the increased exposure time lent itself much better to creative motion blurs.  I thought I would have some fun with this one, and allow viewers to guess the species name of the bird in the photo below.  It is a composite image, and both birds are the same species.

bif

Motion blur capture of a bird in flight, this a two image composite. Photographed in New Jersey with the Tamron SP 150-600mm VC lens and the Canon EOS 7D.

Any guesses on what type of bird is flying in my frames?

I will disclose the information after I get a good number of guesses.  Photo taken with the Tamron SP 150-600mm VC lens and the Canon EOS 7D in New Jersey.

DSLR Nature Video: Eastern Phoebe

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Here is some recent footage of one of the more common native flycatchers of New Jersey, the Eastern Phoebe.  Like most flycatchers of our area, this little drab bird spends its time gleeming the air and ground for live insects and will often perch on branches just above their food sources.

This footage was shot with the Tamron SP 150-600mm VC lens and the Canon EOS 7D DSLR on a Manfrotto tripod with fluid head.  For best audio and video quality, select 1080p on the YouTube settings.

Macro Photography: Smeared Dagger Moth Caterpillar

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This photo was taken two days in Morris County, New Jersey.  My typical daytime macro setup of the Tamron SP 90mm VC 1:1 lens and Canon EOS 60D was used handheld.  I do like to use a tripod as much as possible, but a paper-thin blade of grass blowing in the wind becomes an even more difficult target from a tripod.

Acronicta oblinita

An isolated view of a caterpillar with a contrasty yellow and black coloration photographed in portrait orientation.

A sharp frame after two or three DOZEN attempts at squaring up to the blade of grass, getting the camera sensor fairly parallel to the caterpillar, getting my composition locked in, and eliminating motion blur within the frame.  If you are going to bother trying to take a snapshot, you might as well take the time to make sure you’ve applied all of your skills and knowledge to the shot.

1/250th F/5.6 ISO 200 in Manual Exposure mode.