Off Season in the Marina | New Bern, NC
I caught this scene at the sun set on February 13 from the Bridgepointe Hotel and Marina in New Bern. The marina is not so busy in these off-season month, but will surely start to ‘heat up’ as the weather likewise does. I liked how the yacht and sailboat to the right filled the negative space opposite of the clouds and reflections to balance this photo out. It really leads the eye across the frame, which I like.
I bracketed three exposures for this scene, but standing on a floating dock, things didn’t line up very well. I auto-aligned the frames with Nik’s HDR Efex Pro (a program I actually use very little) and then masked the reflection on the boat’s window, the water and some of the clouds back in from the original layers.
The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm Nikkor VR lens, tripod held (while bobbing up and down on a floating dock). Nik HDR Efex for merging of three exposures, original layers masked back in using Photoshop CS4. Nik Color Efex and Viveza for finishing.
Symmetric Sunset | New Bern, NC
After a pretty much grey and dismal day, I noticed the clouds moving very quickly as the sky began to brighten up before sunset. I gathered my gear and decided to go try and grab some sunset shots or maybe a timelapse. As I arrived at the New Bern Grand Marina, the sky cleared and the sun burst through giving the entire area a golden glow.
I was walking along the waterfront when the symmetry of this entrance to the dock caught my eye. It’s a little busier of a shot than what I normally do, but I couldn’t pass up this awesome symmetrical scene!
The Shot: Nikon D90, 8mm Rokinon lens, f/22, ISO-100. 3 exposures manually masked together in Photoshop.
My first HD timelapse! Shot entirely with my Nikon DSLR and 8mm Rokinon lens.
Shot at Lawson Creek Park in New Bern, NC.
Wet Feet | Emerald Isle, NC
This one is appropriately named ‘Wet Feet,’ because that’s exactly what I got while shooting it. I am also pretty sure this is the same wave that filled the moving parts of my tripod with saltwater and sand. It was all totally worth it though.
This was part of this evening that provided probably the best light that I’ve shot in. The late afternoon sky was deep blue with wispy clouds, the sunset too on the hues above and after the sun went down, the sky turned deep pink and red!
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The Shot: Nikon D90, 8mm Rokinon lens, tripod held. f/22, 1/8 sec., ISO 200.
Power | Shelocta, Pennsylvania
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This is the power plant in Western Pennsylvania where my dad has worked my whole life. I used to drive past this spot every day when I lived in PA while on my way to and from school/work without paying much mind to it. I knew that during this trip I wanted to shoot some long exposures from this spot along the road. On this particular evening, there was a 35-40mph wind blowing directly at me with some rain and snow mixed in. Makes for very difficult shooting conditions to say the least! At one point, the wind actually blew my tripod over mid exposure…
This 25” exposure really captured the insane motion in the sky well. I went back to shoot it the next night too, with a clearer sky, but I prefer this version with the water on my lens. Just adds to the feel and is a reminder to myself what the scene really was like.
The shot: Nikon D90, 19-105mm VR Nikkor lens @18mm. 25 second exposure, ISO 400, f/5.6. Lightroom for some exposure correction and RAW conversion; finished in Photoshop with Nik Silver Efex Pro for black and white conversion.
©2011 Zach Frailey
