Sunday, April 10, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Bits and Pieces
Fellow Potomac photographers might be interested in this article on wtop.com:
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=920&sid=2325996 The story covers some autistic children who are expressing themselves through photographs of the cherry blossoms.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=920&sid=2325996 The story covers some autistic children who are expressing themselves through photographs of the cherry blossoms.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Cherry Blossoms 2011
The challenge of the cherry blossoms, for me, was how to convey their cherry-blossom-ness without falling into cliche. I wanted to avoid the hunt for the perfect blossom, and look for loveliness in the imperfect -- in this case, blossoms already past their prime. The brown adds a nice color to the pink and white, I think.
Drizzle and overcast skies also meant some built-in imperfection when compared to traditional cherry-blossom shots. Though this photo is a bit soft, I like the raindrops and the gray background of the Tidal Basin.
Again, I like the quietness of the colors.
I swore I wasn't going to take any shots of the monuments, but couldn't resist how much warmth the light at the Jefferson Memorial brought to an otherwise cool, gray scene.
I took dozens of shots of blossoms and buds against the dark, gnarled cherry trees, but struggled technically to get shots in which the white blossoms weren't washed out, or surrounded by the dreaded purple fringe. I think I needed a smaller aperture and longer shutter time, or to wait for better light, to do better on these shots. I welcome your advice.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Hello all. I am posting a few pics from our class for those who did not make the final session.
Janet: yes, it is a multiyear project as I can attest. After 5 of these classes with Barbara, I am only scratching the surface and learning all the time. I enjoy your images so much in the focus on the small detail that is both telling and abstract. Something unique in your vision to focus on.
I enjoyed seeing everyone's work at the last session and working with each of you over the autumn months. Hope to see you in the sping.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Painting the Potomac
Dear Potomac Photographers,
With real regret, I'll miss the last class, so I'm posting a few more photographs here, and hoping that you will post yours on the blog so that I (and whoever else may miss the last class) may enjoy them. I learned so much in this class, from Barbara and from all of you, and I relished your company on our shoots.
One of the things I learned was that pursuing a single theme was not going to be an eight week project for me -- more like an eight year project. I looked at a number of approaches, such following the shift in the palette of colors we saw, from the yellow, red, orange and brown of fall to the blue, white, gray and black of winter. In the end, though, I kept coming back to photographs that tried to capture the essence of the landscape as would an abstract painting, so here are some in that theme.
Your comments are very welcome. Happy holidays, all. Janet
The American beech has the misfortune of smooth bark, inviting graffiti more than any other tree. As it heals, the scarred bark sometimes takes on the look of hieroglyphs, while reminding us of the human impact on the landscape.
This was at Pennyfield Lock, just as the snow began to fall. I like the circles and patterns of the ice and the ambiguity of a landscape within a landscape: are we a foot away or at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, flying over some northern part of the globe?
This is shore ice at Dyke Marsh in Alexandria, Virginia. I left the polarizing filter on even as the sun went down, and I think that may have contributed to the bit of prismatic color in the ice shards.
The Potomac was in flood when we were at Carderock. I was trying to capture the river's tumult and after many starts and stops (and f. stops!), I found that a long shutter speed caught the spinning and eddying of the debris in the water. I chose the bottle over photographs of logs as another reminder of the human impact on the Potomac landscape.
Some of you saw this in class. This is scum on the canal surface at Lock Six. I chose it because it appears to be flowing, although it was still. Wherever and whenever we were taking pictures, even forest scenes, the moving, flowing, changing Potomac was the unforgettable backdrop.
With real regret, I'll miss the last class, so I'm posting a few more photographs here, and hoping that you will post yours on the blog so that I (and whoever else may miss the last class) may enjoy them. I learned so much in this class, from Barbara and from all of you, and I relished your company on our shoots.
One of the things I learned was that pursuing a single theme was not going to be an eight week project for me -- more like an eight year project. I looked at a number of approaches, such following the shift in the palette of colors we saw, from the yellow, red, orange and brown of fall to the blue, white, gray and black of winter. In the end, though, I kept coming back to photographs that tried to capture the essence of the landscape as would an abstract painting, so here are some in that theme.
Your comments are very welcome. Happy holidays, all. Janet
The American beech has the misfortune of smooth bark, inviting graffiti more than any other tree. As it heals, the scarred bark sometimes takes on the look of hieroglyphs, while reminding us of the human impact on the landscape.
This was at Pennyfield Lock, just as the snow began to fall. I like the circles and patterns of the ice and the ambiguity of a landscape within a landscape: are we a foot away or at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, flying over some northern part of the globe?
This is shore ice at Dyke Marsh in Alexandria, Virginia. I left the polarizing filter on even as the sun went down, and I think that may have contributed to the bit of prismatic color in the ice shards.
The Potomac was in flood when we were at Carderock. I was trying to capture the river's tumult and after many starts and stops (and f. stops!), I found that a long shutter speed caught the spinning and eddying of the debris in the water. I chose the bottle over photographs of logs as another reminder of the human impact on the Potomac landscape.
Some of you saw this in class. This is scum on the canal surface at Lock Six. I chose it because it appears to be flowing, although it was still. Wherever and whenever we were taking pictures, even forest scenes, the moving, flowing, changing Potomac was the unforgettable backdrop.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Mirrored Mallard
When we were on Theodore Roosevelt Island, I was trying to capture the gorgeous warm yellow and orange reflections in the water at the end of the boardwalk, where the trail parallels Roosevelt Bridge (and is nearly under the bridge). It was nearly 8:30 am and the sun was high enough to create exquisite reflections, but I wasn't capturing them in a way that satisfied me. Then this handsome mallard landed in the frame of my composition, not only giving me a solid, non-shimmering indication of the surface and a counterpoint to the rest of the composition, but contorting the reflections wonderfully as he paddled. Janet
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