Lovely Stuff!

I am just back from a few days in Dolly Sods Wilderness and confess it's only now, Thursday night before out next meeting at Riverbend Park, that I have had a chance to view the blog. Thanks for the nice intro Jim, and for the varied collections from other contributors. Rebecca's images I thought could be hers - as I recognized a certain something. These images tell me you found your own places and experiences. Looking ahead to Sunday's forecast for rain, I may be able to hunker down and spend a little more time here. In the mean time, I hope to see you in the morning by the river.

Great Falls, MD - Rebecca

Apologies for missing my first assignment on the blog last week!
My name is Rebecca Doran and this is my third Potomac Landscapes class with Barbara. I am a self-employed graphic designer specializing in exhibitions. I began rekindling my interest in photography a few years ago after purchasing my DSLR. My interest is mainly in nature and landscape photography but I also enjoy making visual records of places and objects that may disappear or change. Looking forward to getting to know all of you in this class.

Here are a few of my images from last Friday.

Great Falls Morning

If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.  So wade through all of these if you want!

What do you think--do the B&W versions work better?

Happy Monday. Friday was wonderful; I had never been to the Maryland side of Great Falls before and was astonished at the range of beautiful locations to photograph.

I used a combination of hand held and tripod approaches so the ability to lean on the railing was helpful. My lens use varied as well. For the past year I have been using my 50mm and 35mm prime lenses and used them a lot Friday. I started using prime lenses after advice from a teacher and lots of reading. The challenge is definitely getting the right distance from the subject, but these lenses are so terrific that I have been very pleased with the results. In fact, in Peru, I only carried a wide angle and my 50mm for the whole trip. I attached two photos - misty rocks taken with a long lens at 70mm and the bridge taken with my 35mm lens.

Someone asked about Friday - per Barbara's first email, I have us meeting at Riverbend. Do all concur?

Leslie Landerkin

Hi,
Sorry to be confused, are we meeting at River Bend Park or at Great Falls VA? If RB where, boathouse or visitor center?
Tks so much

What an adventure this morning. It has been more than 10 years since I visited the Maryland side.

Here are a few images of what I saw.

Upper Great Falls

OK, it may be a cliche.

Heron on the Canal

Pool below C&O Tow Path

All at ISO 100

I learned that I should pay more attention to a focus point.

Look forward to seeing everyone at sunrise on the 27th at River Bend Park, Virginia.

-- skip

Nice morning at Great Falls!

Even if I did get lost, but I did catch up with everyone eventually.  Need to remember to shoot Raw!

Anyway, I walked past the overlook and saw some nice misty scenes.  First a curved bridge shot at 100 and 200 ISO:

100 ISO/28M 

200ISO/20MM

I liked the curve of the bridge and the 100ISO shot looks better to me. 

This next two are essentially the same shot, same settings. The lighting just changed a bit. 

One more landscape, then a few heron shots (at 300 MM)

Also at Photo Class

Looking forward to next week!

Jim