Capital Reflections | Washington DC
During my recent visit to our nation’s capital, I was plagued by painfully clear blue skies. I prayed to the photography gods to bring me some clouds at sunset, and finally on my last night in town they answered.
Such a big part of photography is about being in the right place at the right time and I think that is a big part of the allure of the trade too. There is so much that is out of your control. On this evening, my wife and I just happened to be along the Tidal Basin (directly across from where this was shot, actually). Walking toward the Jefferson Memorial, I could already tell the sky was shaping up to give us a grand sunset. I knew that, with the sun setting directly across the water from the memorials, that there would be some fantastic reflections on the still water. We walked around to a little bridge on Ohio Drive near the George Mason Memorial and I set up shop there. The purples, pinks and blues in the sky were an amazing sight to see as a backdrop for two memorials that are perhaps most synonymous with Washington DC.
Pictured here are, most obviously, the Washington Monument (left) and the Jefferson Memorial (right). The very large building in the middle is the Bureau of Engraving, the ‘money factory.’
The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm Nikkor VR lens, tripod held. 3 exposures, manually masked together in Photoshop. Finished with Nik Color Efex and Viveza plug-ins.
Crossing the Neuse | Bridgeton, North Carolina
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Each and every photographer has a list of shots that the dream of. This ‘Photographer’s Bucket List’ is something that helps keep us going, striving for that shot that we have planned in our head time and time again. Most, if not all, of these dream photos can only happen by being incredibly patient or just being in the right place at the right time. If they could be planned, then they wouldn’t be so special, would they?
I have two sets of Bucket List Shots. The first one contains shots of and at places that will probably not be places that I spend much time at in my life. Fog on the green mountains of New Zealand, the blue interior of a glacial cavern or a foggy sunrise at the Golden Gate Bridge…places I fully plan on shooting eventually, but not places where I anticipate I will frequent. Set two are local shots. It’s a shorter list, but easier to achieve. All I have to do is be in the spot when conditions are right.
The above image was on that list. For those of you not familiar with the New Bern, NC area, at its mouth, the Neuse River is the widest river in the United States. Just a few miles upstream, in New Bern, it is still plenty wide. There is a very long span of railroad bridge that passes just a few feet above the water’s surface. I have long wanted to shoot a train passing over, just after sunset, so that I could capture the clouds and color of the sky, the light on the engine and the reflections of it all on the calm water.
I have been to this spot numerous times in hopes of achieving my shot. I have seen trains pass, I have seen the sun set. But never at the same time. On this particular night, I set out to shoot some pretty astounding storm clouds that were passing just west of New Bern. I figured my best bet was to shoot them from the other side of the river, and capture the sun setting over downtown. Soon after the sun set, I was packing my gear up when I saw the light of a train slowy moving across the far corner of New Bern. When I saw it make its turn toward the river, I hopped in my Jeep and sped to this little spot along the tracks for my shot.
The train was coming toward me so slowly. It just seemed to be creeping along. But, as it reached the point on the tracks where I wanted to start shooting, it seemed to just blow right by. I was able to get two shots, this one and one of it closer with a lot of motion (which I like more).
In the end, sometimes the best way to plan one of your bucket list shots is to not plan at all—just hope for some good luck and timing!
The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm Nikkor VR lens @18mm. 3 exposures, bracketed. Tonemapped in Photomatix and then masked together with original frames in Photoshop. The water is from the middle exposure, the sky from the darkest exposure (lightened with the middle exposure) and the bridge was from the tonemapped file. Finished with a touch of contrast and glamour glow using Nik Color Efex Pro.
Sunset on the Trent | New Bern, NC
Purchase prints here.
On this calm, windless night, the water of the Trent River was at a glassy calm. I crawled down into this little pocket between a street and a boardwalk to get a different vantage point to a spot that I frequently shoot. Boy, the water and muck I was in to shoot this did not smell good at all!
Living at the Edge of the World | Emerald Isle, North Carolina
This weekend, I had the pleasure of welcoming Curt Fleenor and David Baker to my little corner of the world. We’ve all been in contact with one another for quite sometime and it was great to finally meet and do some shooting!
On Saturday, we ventured out to Emerald Isle to shoot the sunset. We decided to head down to ‘The Point,’ the very end of the island, to shoot the sunset. The long hike was only made worse by the numerous four wheel drive vehicles that sped past us. If only I had a permit… Anyway, clouds were nowhere to be seen for most of the day (a photographer’s nightmare) and the evening was no exception.
Sometimes you just have to point your camera into the sun and hope for the best. Here, my goal was to capture the wide expanse of the beach and the windswept sand as well as the homes that dot the end of the island. i cropped out the majority of the sky, leaving the nice sunburst created by my 8mm Rokinon lens.
I think it turned out alright, thanks to that awesome sand!
Standing Alone | Croatan National Forest
This tree, standing alone in a salt marsh, really caught my eye during a recent hike. The cloud that seems to perfectly line up behind the tree may have been what made me notice it so well. I shot this with a wide angle down low to really stretch out the grass that was bent over.
