We were out for a walk in Shrewsbury, and as we crossed a bridge over the River Severn we spotted this swan family in the water. The trick is usually to get critters to align themselves with the rest of the scene in a way that is compositionally interesting and makes them the primarily focus. Darned birds don’t always cooperate! But this time I only had to wait a moment — and then photograph quickly — for them to cross the river in the foreground.
Continue reading River Severn Swans
These trees grow along one of the most exposed coastal locations at Point Lobos State Reserve. Not far behind my camera position s the rugged end of a peninsula that juts out into the Pacific, exposed to waves and wind. In the other direction, beyond these trees, is a cliff that drops to a rocky, narrow bay that where surf constantly washes in and out.
Continue reading Monterey Cypress Forest, Leaning Trees
the best light usually comes early and late in the day. It often has a warmer coloration, and it can be softer than the midday light coming from high overhead. And there’s a good chance that morning fog and mists may linger. But eventually, on most days, the “good light” period passes and the morning’s work is done. It was that time as I began to make my way back to the trailhead, feeling that the morning’s best light was leaving. But then I saw this row of dense trees along the rocky edge above the water, with a hint of clearing fog in the background.
Continue reading Shoreline Trees, Clearing Fog
This grove of leaning and twisted trees lines the upper edge of a steep, rocky Point Lobos cliff that drops straight to a small bay. You can see the beginning of the slope in the photograph, but if you walked past the trees in this scene you would seen be at the precipice. I made the photograph in one of my favorite light conditions. It had been foggy — the thick, gray kind of fog — but now it was thinning and opening up to let in soft, filtered sunlight. The fog still partially obscures the more distant trees on the far side of the little bay.
Continue reading Monterey Cypress Forest