Nothing encourages like attempted discouragement

Returning to a site that I've photographed a number of times in the past year, I found yet another look, thanks to the angle of the shadows, and my choice of a low vantage point.  On this occasion, I think my iPhone was quite adequately suited to the technical requirements of the scene.  I like the inky black shadows, and even emphasized them in post-processing.

It is, of course, the abandoned bridge over Crabtree Creek near Crabtree Valley.  The Raleigh Greenway, my route to that spot, is still undergoing major work to install new storm sewer lines, and there are closures at Lindsay Drive and at Woodridge Drive.  However, people (not I) have lowered the orange plastic mesh barriers, and many walkers, runners, and bicyclists could be seen traveling the full length of the trail.  One needs to move carefully past some of the heavy equipment that has been left in place.

Ziva cautiously inspected piping for itinerant squirrels.

No mole sounds in there.

I think we're cleared to the next check point.

That's a friendly, inviting gateway if I've ever seen one!

And here we are at the old bridge.

In case you missed the opening photo, here it is again.

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More scenes by the river, via Ziva

Early this fall, one of my blog followers asked if I had ever gotten a shot of a leaf in mid-air.  I admitted that aside from set-up shots, I had not.  Today, walking the Greenway with Ziva, I spotted a leaf just after it detached from an upper branch of a tall tree.  Going for broke, I dropped Ziva's leash while pulling my iPhone out of my pocket.  Luckily, the thumb print reader worked first try, so the phone was unlocked, and I had left the camera app on.  I got this shot:

Not long after, we came upon a very colorful isolated "hanger-on".  I got fairly close to it, to see how similar a result I could get to the delicate photos I did last month with more serious camera gear.  The answer was - not too similar.  On the other hand, I like the way the wide view included the hanger-on in the lower right corner.  Or maybe I should refer to myself as the hanger-on!

I wanted to inspect the evolution/degradation of the abandoned bridge over Crabtree Creek, as it shows signs of being taken over and pulled apart by plant life.

At this point, I think it would be cool if it could safely be allowed to completely disintegrate, but I suppose it will probably be razed at some point.  As I've raised the point, kids - don't try anything foolish, like exploring rickety structures.

The shot above is a stitched panorama, created with the iPhone.

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2014/12/more-scenes-by-river-via-ziva.html

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Mackerel Sky Morning

It was a good day for altocumulus.  I saw a quintessential mackerel sky.  It was a good day for trotting and brisk walking, too, and I hadn't planned to stop and do any photography.  I'm glad I had my iPhone in my pocket, though, because a few brief pauses netted me some interesting shots.

Here's the obligatory photo of my dog Ziva admiring the view.  Well, actually she's looking off into the weeds, probably having smelled something of interest.  I'm just glad that she was amenable to some quick stops for pics on the way home, because her influence was mostly along the lines of "come on, move your butt faster, I want to catch up to that jogger/bicyclist/squirrel!"

This was a scene where I knew the little phone camera couldn't possibly record the dynamic range of the scene (dark to light).  Biasing the exposure toward the sky and letting the trees become silhouetted gave me what I hoped for.  The area around the sun is still "blown out" to white without gradations of tone, but...so what!  I rather like the appearance of an explosive fireball within the cloud puffs.

The next two images are both processed from one shot.  The first version is cropped and adjusted to feature what caught my eye in the first place: a colorful cluster with another stalk curving around it like a frame.  I had to use a lot of shadow recovery to delineate this area clearly and retrieve the colors of the leaves.

The second version is closer to what appeared "straight out of the camera", with the bottom cropped away to turn a horizontal image into a vertical, and with contrast and color saturation strengthened.  The drama of this approach satisfies me more than the one above.

My final shot took advantage of a slightly less intense sun behind the clouds, and a more complete block from a tree.  This let me get the tones and colors in the sky.  The position of the blue sky patches low in the scene worked nicely, for my taste.

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2014/12/mackerel-sky-morning.html

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Waterfowl and a Nice Sunset

Sunday turned out to be a great day for a late afternoon visit to one of Raleigh's un-named artificial lakes where various waterfowl like to gather. Judging by the cloud development, I had hopes for a nice sunset, and was not disappointed. For as long as there was enough light, I enjoyed shooting any birds that flew within range of a telephoto lens.

This Great Blue Heron has found something handy for nest building.

Coming in for a landing.

High flying trio.

Duck fight!

This chase went right past two uninterested bystanders (by-floaters?) who didn't even move in response.

Duck display:

This heron posed so beautifully, I was enchanted.

As the sun neared the horizon, I set up a composition and watched for flyovers.

Here's the boardwalk that made it easy to pick a good location over the water.

The slow shutter in this next shot blurred the birds almost beyond recognition, but they fit so nicely with the windblown clouds that I'm pleased with the image.

Only a few ducks got between me and the sun. I used the reflected light to form these next two shots.

I did a series of exposures that are identical in composition, just watching the subtle changes in the sky and catching some birds at interesting points within it.

No birds in this one, just a moment of brilliant color.

As the broader bands of color faded, I used a moderate telephoto to isolate the part of the sky that was still painted. Final shot, final light, scramble for the car feeling warm and happy!

[telephoto bird shots: EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS II + Extender 2X II

wide angle water and landscapes: TS-E 17mm f/4 L

final sunset shot: EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS]

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2014/02/waterfowl-and-nice-sunset.html

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New [to me] section of Raleigh Greenway

I like walking Raleigh's Greenway system. It's not quite like being out in undeveloped countryside, but you can find a sense of calm just a short way from the noise of the city. This view from a raised wooden walkway gave a bird's eye view of a swampy area and another section of boardwalk.

There are tree stumps that were apparently left (possibly as shelter for fish?) when this artificial lake was created, and some of them have re-sprouted. This reborn tree seems to be doing pretty well - it is winter after all.

A gull put on a nice display. There were some Bufflehead about the lake, but they stayed on the far side, and I couldn't get any worthwhile photos. Next time, or at any rate I'll keep trying.

While I was theoretically out hunting for wildlife, I try not to miss or ignore other kinds of opportunities to create interesting photos. The Greenway goes right under a railroad trestle, and as you'll see, I did a little exploring of its features.

[lenses used were EF24mm/3.5 TS-E II, EF40mm/2.8, EF100-400mm/4.5-5.6 L]

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2014/02/new-to-me-section-of-raleigh-greenway.html

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Can't see the forest for the trees?

Today, to take a break from editing a couple of thousand soccer action photos, I spent a little while looking for individual red leaves and any interesting clumps of the same. I tried to emphasize contrasts by using a wide view (a 24 mm lens for all of these shots) and finding shapes, colors, and "density" (luminance) that were very different from the leaves themselves.

Permalink: http://jilcp.blogspot.com/2013/11/cant-see-forest-for-trees.html

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