Trees Along the Ashuelot River
After many days of heavy rain over the past week, the sun finally broke through for a brief time this morning. I grabbed my camera and left for work early so that I could take a walk through the Ashuelot River Park in Keene, NH before starting my work day.
The river was very high, with a coffee and cream color to it. I was hoping to see a Great Blue Heron as I had during lunchtime a few days ago, but since my camera was equipped with a decent telephoto zoom, there was no chance of encountering one. This setup proved to be perfect for framing the trees on the opposite shore, and I found several interesting spots along the path where I could stop and snap a few photos.
Great Blue Heron on the Ashuelot River
During lunch today I went for a short walk through the Ashuelot River Park in Keene, NH. About five minutes into the walk, I detected something large moving across the river near the opposite shore. As I got closer, I realized that it was a large Great Blue Heron which was perched on a dead tree that was sticking out of the water. The heron appear to be cleaning itself, twisting into a number of different odd contortions to reach the feathers on its back and chest. I was able to watch the heron for about ten minutes, and near the end it hopped up onto the topmost branch and worked its way out to the end which allowed me to capture this photo. Unfortunately I only had a compact camera with a limited zoom, and I was unable to capture the interesting black markings on the top and back of this heron’s head. I was very grateful to have some kind of zoom capability, for an iPhone shot of this heron would have been very disappointing.
Early Morning, Chester, VT
My work took me to Chester, VT this week where I attended three days of training. On the last day I arrived early and went for a short photo walk in downtown Chester just as the sun was beginning to poke above the hills surrounding the village. Having recently read an article about short light, I had that on my mind as I was looking for subjects to photograph. As you can see in the two photos below, I was able to put that technique to good use to give the buildings that I was photographing a more three-dimensional feel. I was quite pleased with the results, and will definitely keep this technique in mind from now on.
Fresh Greens
During my walk in the forest earlier today, there was a distinct difference in its appearance. Most of the new leaves had emerged, and the forest was glowing with bright green colors. There are many beech trees in the woods near my home, and their fresh oval-shaped leaves had made many of the trails noticeably narrower.
For some of these new leaves, their season was already coming to an end. Knocked down by storms, animals, or humans, they now lie on the forest floor with the remnants of last year’s foliage. It was a gentle reminder that we never really know how much time we have left before our cycle is complete.
After the Rain
After a very long dry spell here in Southern New Hampshire, today we finally received a good soaking rain that lasted most of the day. As I looked outside while the rain came down, I could see the colors of the garden coming to life in the soft overcast light. The rain finally came to an end in the early evening, and just as the light was starting to diminish I grabbed my camera to snap a few photos.
I happened to have a gray card handy on the dining room table, as I had been working on window-light photos of Melinda’s beautiful scarves earlier in the day. Before I started taking photos in the garden, I used it to quickly set a custom white balance in my camera. I wanted to capture the rich colors around me as accurately as possible.
The rain-soaked rocks took on a deeper, richer tone than their normal pale-white look. This made the light green foliage growing around them really stand out.
I just love capturing drops of water on the broad-leaf foliage in the garden.
The real treat of the evening was in the back corner of the yard, where I found our Kwan Yin garden statue surrounded by a carpet of forsythia petals that had fallen during the rainstorm. It was a beautiful reminder that such moments are temporary, and that everything is in constant change. Anicca, anicca.
Product Photos – Handmade Scarfs by Melinda LaBarge
I am so not a product photographer.
My normal beat is nature and the forest, with occasional dabbling in architectural photography. Every now and then, my wife Melinda LaBarge completes a new batch of her handmade silk and wool scarfs, and I photograph them for her website. Normally, this is a somewhat complex process involving backdrops and light stands with Melinda and I dancing around one another and our three Shelties as she arranges each scarf on a mannequin so that I can photograph them. This is a necessary part of the process, but not one that either one of us particularly enjoys.
In the last batch of photos I did, the scarfs and shawls looked distant and too formal. I wanted to create something more inviting, something that would make the viewer want to reach out and touch the scarfs. This time around, instead of the backdrop, mannequin, and lighting setup I decided to lay the scarfs on a piece of light-toned wood using only natural window light. While these photos effectively remove that feeling of formality and distance, they are still not quite there. This is the aspect of product photography that I find most challenging, but I am thrilled to see that my skills are slowly improving.
A Deserted Stretch of Route 9 in Keene, NH at Rush Hour
Earlier today, a car driving southbound on Route 12 near the Route 9 East exit crossed the center line and crashed head on into a fuel tanker truck that was loaded with nearly 4,000 gallons of fuel. The tanker came to a stop just south of the Route 9 overpass, and the cab caught on fire. Unfortunately, the two occupants of the car died immediately upon impact, but the driver of the fuel truck managed to escape with minor injuries.
I was at work in the Colony Mill building on West Street when the accident occurred. I saw nearly every emergency vehicle on the Eastern side of Keene racing West on West Street with a sense of urgency like I have never seen before. Shortly after hearing the first wave of sirens, I could see heavy black smoke rising above the Ashuelot River park to the Northwest of my office.
Because of the severity of the accident, local officials closed Route 9 between Washington Street and the junction of Route 12 where the accident occurred. They also closed Route 12 between Maple Avenue and West Street. Though the accident occurred in the morning, they were still working on the investigation and cleanup as I left the office a little after 4pm. I later learned that a significant amount of fuel had spilled in the accident, and the burning truck cab ignited a small brush fire and damaged powerlines that were intersecting the highway.
My route home runs parallel to the stretch of Route 9 that was closed after the accident and I noticed that the normally busy highway was completely silent, an eerie reminder of what had occurred earlier in the day. I decided to cut through the woods over to the highway, and stood in the middle to take two photos of the deserted stretch of road, one facing East and the other facing West.
Ashuelot River – Keene, NH
The Ashuelot River Park in Keene, NH is home to a wide variety of trees in many different shapes, sizes, and colors. During the early morning hours when the river is still, the trees can produce some interesting reflections on the glassy surface of the water. As I walked through the park on my way to work, I was hoping that the cloudy skies would begin to clear, producing distinct sunbeams shining between the fog-shrouded trees. Unfortunately, the clearing came much later in the morning with the sun high in the sky. Even without the sunbeams, the trees in the river park are still beautiful to me, and the dim, foggy light only adds to the mood of this unique place.
