Category Archives: sunrise

A Stop on the way to Work

Posted by Mike on

Bellamy Harbor Park

The past few mornings have started off with beautiful sunrises. I was getting tired of watching the sky show on my way to work so yesterday morning I stopped at Bellamy Harbor Park to capture some images. I did not have to be to work my usual amount of early. It was a great decision. Starting my day with the camera was definitely the way to go…

The first view is where the Mohawk River meets the barge canal. I was a little early for the morning colors but I really like the lights along the pedestrian bridge and their reflection in the water.  The long exposure also helps create an interesting pattern in the water below the small dam.

The second image is Bellamy Harbor Park proper as the sun starts throwing that color into the sky.  There was slight movement in the clouds which creates the blurred effect in the sky due to the 25 second exposure. 

I could have stayed at the park all morning.  When I got to work there was a better display in the sky with the sun peaking through the breaking clouds.  I know that would have looked good as the backdrop to either of these images.  Maybe this weekend I’ll get lucky…

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; The Mohawk at Bellamy Harbor Park

The Mohawk at Bellamy Harbor Park
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 6s, 17mm, f/16, ISO 200

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Mixing Colors

Mixing Colors
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 25s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200

I Stand Alone

Posted by Mike on

Sunrise along the Thruway

Have you ever had that image in your head, of a scene you pass every day, and when you finally capture the image it is nothing like you visualized? This image would be that one for me. I have passed this solitary tree in a pasture on my way to work for over a year. I have envisioned it with the sunrise in the background and this majestic looking silhouette standing alone in the field. This is not quite what was in my head.

Yesterday morning the clouds and sun were putting on a good show in the morning sky. The timing was right and my courage was running high. I stopped the car along the thruway and grabbed the camera. The pasture fence was only 40 feet from the edge of the road and I was wearing my waterproof boots. The tree was not quite as tall as I envisioned. I though the silhouette would be more into the sky. The sun could have been more to the left creating a little more drama in the sky.

If I had access to the pasture I could have improved all those negatives, but from my vantage point on the side of Interstate 90, this is what I captured. I’m sure there will be more opportunities. I’m sure there will be better views to capture. Now that I have done it once, the next one will not be so difficult…

   

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; I Stand Alone

I Stand Alone
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/100s, 40mm, f/9, ISO 800

Generation Gap Bridge

Posted by Mike on

Pop Century Resort, Walt Disney World

I know! Only a few days ago I blogged an image of this bridge. But that was a sunset image and this is a sunrise. And that image was looking toward Art of Animation and this is looking toward Pop Century. Totally different… 🙂

On Sunday morning I walked across Generation Gap Bridge to the Art of Animation resort to capture some scenes in the resort’s Cars area. It is wonderfully themed if not lit with way too many spot lights (really makes photography challenging). On my walk back to my room I was greeted with the following sunrise view of the Pop Century resort.

I did my normal thing… I setup the tripod on the left side of the bridge and captured a few images. Before I continued on my way I thought maybe a few shots from the opposite side would look good. It was then that I realized the symmetry of the views. And being one who can not pass up good symmetry, I planned on capturing two images that I could use to create the pseudo-panoramic image below.

In Lightroom I played with the crops until they were as near mirror images as I could make them. I transferred the images to Photoshop and set about adding the two views in a new file with a black background. I had sized the image to leave a smll border around each image. After everything was set I processed the images with my normal workflow. Ta-da!

  

MLCreations Photography: Around WDW &emdash; Generation Gap Bridge

Generation Gap Bridge
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 2.5 & 2s, 12mm, f/11, ISO 200

Wind Swept Sunrise

Posted by Mike on

Backyard

Although I didn’t get that walk through the snow yesterday I did manage to snag this sunrise in the morning. I was distracted enough by getting my laundry done that as I was getting ready to leave to have the car looked at I noticed the colors in the sky and the winter beach look to the snow. I had a few minutes, so I put the camera on the tripod and trudged my way into the backyard. I almost called this one red, white and blue morning…

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Wind Swept Morning

Rise and Shine Bellamy!

Posted by Mike on

Bellamy Harbor Park, Rome, NY

Sitting in my chair Sunday morning reading through my emails I slowly noticed that the sky was setting up to possibly put on a show for the sunrise. Normally, groceries are the order of business in the morning but there would be time if I got my butt moving. I quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed the camera bag and headed out the door with the singular destination of Bellamy Harbor Park in Rome. It was on my way and I knew the canal was still ice free where the Mohawk empties into it. I was even thinking far enough ahead to drive to the west side of the park so I wouldn’t have to hoof it very far for the shot. The sky did not disappoint…

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Rise and Shine Bellamy!

Coming Home

Posted by Mike on

Melbourne Beach, Florida

The weather hasn’t truly been bad. Listening to the reports I am happy I do not leave off the Eastern shore of Lake Ontario. They have been hit hard this past week. We did experience some unpleasant weather on Tuesday. There is a warm front coming through my area. Around 3pm the sleet and freezing rain started. I opted to leave work early in hopes of out running the weather East. The ride home had its moments but in the end I only traveled an extra 5 minutes due to the weather.

The drive did have me thinking about the beautiful weather I left in Florida back in December. In particular, the last day where I was at the beach for the sunrise. I had an opportunity to switch out my lens to the telephoto and capture the sandpipers and seagulls. On the way home I kept thinking of this particular image I was able to capture of three gulls heading back toward the beach. I had to finish processing and then post it.

  

MLCreations Photography: Florida &emdash; Coming Home

  

I used quite a few of my compositional tricks to help improve the chances you will like this image. 🙂 I’ll tell on myself and explain what I did…

In my post about the new 52 week challenge I joined I talked about the rule of thirds. That rule is in full force in this image. Can you spot them all?

First, the horizon is on the bottom third horizontal line. Next I placed the three seagulls on the left vertical line. As luck would have it the gulls are also on one of the intersection points. Now, the highlight on the right where the sun will eventually break above the clouds is on the right vertical line. See what I mean by the rule of thirds is in full force.

Now there are few other eye-catching tricks employed in this image. There are three separate layers to the image. The water/waves are in the bottom third of the image and become the foreground. The clouds on the horizon are in the middle third while the gulls and bright yellow/orange sky are the top third. The clouds effectively become the background and the gulls and the hint of the sun are the subtle subject.

One last trick is the odd number of seagulls. This is often referred to as the rule of odds. The brain does not try to ‘pair’ off the odd number and bring a dullness or ‘sameness’ to an image. You can read more about this photographic ‘rule’ at another Digital Photography School article here.

So, did I succeed? Did my tricks influence you at all?