Posts in Category: weather
Bluebird deals with the Polar Vortex!
Eastern Bluebird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, February 2023 — It was negative 12 degrees Fahrenheit on my little indoor/outdoor thermometer right beside the double glazed thermopane deck doors, with a wind chill factor of less then -50 outside, when I took this photo from the warm safety of our kitchen. This flattened bluebird is dealing with the Polar Vortex in is own way. Both he and we appreciated the bright winter sun. I kept the meal worm feeder full all day…and the sunflower and suet feeders for the chickadees and nuthatches and titmice and woodpeckers. (The chickadees, of course, took all three.) Action around the feeders was pretty constant all day. It eventually warmed up to about 9 degrees before going back down to negatives for the night. Today it is supposed to 40. 🙂 I am happy to say both we and the birds survived the Polar Vortex…this time. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Nubble Light, Winter Sky.
Nubble Light, Cape Neddick Maine.
I was coming up the coast from a abortive search for Snowy Owls on the beaches of New Hampshire and could not resist, despite the intermittent cold December rain, swinging out along the coast to see how Nubble Light was doing. They had the Christmas wreath up on the pump-house and a stiff wind was blowing the flag out. The light was dull enough so the beacon was lit and showing as it turned its circuit out to sea. The sea was steel gray reflecting green. Somber, but attractive in its own way.
In-camera HDR. Sony HX90V at 24mm equivalent field of view. Nominal exposure: 1/500th @ ISO 80 @ f3.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Singing in the rain…
Song Sparrow, Back Creek, Kennebunk ME
After it rained steadily all Sunday, and all Monday…and when it looked likely to rain all day Tuesday, I decided that I was not going to let the rain keep me from my photoprowl another day. I put on my raincoat, got out the umbrella, picked up the Nikon P900, and headed out. I figured I could find some moody, rainy landscapes at the least, so I headed for the beach at the end our our road. Of course, before I was fully out of the car, before I even got the umbrella up and sorted out the camera, I heard a Song Sparrow singing in the rain. Classic. The prefect title for a post! So I had to find the bird, fight the umbrella in the wind, and attempt to catch it singing. Before I was done with the bird and few landscapes, the umbrella had blown inside out and I had to dash back to the car to dry the camera off. It was worth it though. If a Song Sparrow can sing in the rain, I can certainly take a few pics 🙂 And I certainly felt better for it! If you look closely at the image you will see the water droplets on the bird’s plumage, and even the tracks of a few rain drops as they crossed the frame.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/200th @ f6.5 @ ISO 400. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet. Cropped slightly for composition.
Cape May Warbler :)
Yellow-rumped Warbler in Cape May NJ
No, of course it is NOT a Cape May Warbler…but it is a warbler in Cape May. A Yellow-rumped Warbler like the hundreds that have been coming through Southern Maine, but here, at the tip of Cape May Point, where the migration is constricted by the Atlantic on one side and Deleware Bay on the other, the Yellow-rumped Warblers are thick, dripping from the trees as they say. It was actually raining when I took this shot, but I could not resist when the warblers repeatedly popped up on this branch maybe 10 feet from my face. I kept wiping the camera with my hand, and dried it off well when I got back to the hotel, and it survived. Not a great shot, as warbler shots go…simply not enough light…but still! 🙂 And not bad at all for ISO 1600 from a Point and Shoot camera.
Sony HX400V at 1200mm equivalent field of view. Shutter preferred. 1/640th @ ISO 1600 @ f6.3. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
October Marsh
Little River Marsh, Laudholm Farm, Wells ME
When October sends a gloomy day…you take gloomy day pictures. There is still a beauty to be had. The sky broods. The colors burn like late embers. I seem to be stuck in cliche mode, but you get the gist. This is from the observation deck on the boradwalk trail at the Well National Estuarine Research Center at Laudholm Farm in Wells, Maine.
Sony HX400V in-camera HDR. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
The way fall is supposed to be…
Old Falls Pond on the Mousam River
“Maine: the way life is supposed to be.” State motto. 🙂 Or at least what it says on the welcome sign on I95 when you cross the Kittery Bridge from New Hampshire. I have been waiting all fall so far for a sky like this over the foliage. Sky the way it is supposed to be. Fall the way it is supposed to be. I stood by this lake, Old Falls Pond on the Mousam River, for over an hour waiting for a spot of sunlight to break through and light the foliage, but I had to settle, in the end, for indirect light. Still, pretty good! And the sky is not devoid of interest. 😉
Sony HX400V at 24mm equivalent. In-camera HDR with the level set to 6 EV and -2/3rd EV exposure compensation. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
October Drama
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Yesterday was a dreary day, just on the edge of rain when it was not raining, and today we are promised thundershowers until mid-afternoon…but this is typical Maine fall weather…and not without its drama. Wonderful skies for a few moments here and there as the front passed over us. I kept my weather eye on all morning, and took the camera out when it seemed there might be something special in the offing. It is wonderful not having to watch the clock and work my photography around real work. Photography and writing are my real work now 🙂
This is the view back to Route 9 from the Kennebunk Bridle Path…which, again, I have photographed in all seasons and all weathers. I love the weathered posts, and the tree line, and, often, the sky. This is a more static composition than I favor…with the horizon too close to the middle…but I find that I can not sacrifice anything at the top or bottom. The shadow of the post needs room at the bottom, and that patch of blue sky at the top is essential. I will have to trust to the detailed cloud-scape to provide dramatic tension. I think it works.
Sony HX400V at 24mm equivalent field of view. In camera HDR. Processed in Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.
Thunder to the North
We had odd weather yesterday. Thunderstorms moved through. What they call isolated thunderstorms. I am standing here at our local beach by Back Creek in bright clear weather watching a storm over Biddeford 7 miles north. High drama.
This is an in-camera HDR from the Sony HX400V. Processed with various graduated filter effects in Handy Photo on my tablet. The Snapseed HDR version is more dramatic but shows too many artifacts. This is more like a just slightly heightened version of what came from the camera. A, I hope, relatively natural but still impressive HDR.
Foggy Morning At Back Creek Marsh
It rained overnight yesterday and we will to heavy coastal fog. Rain was predicted to start again by 9, so I got out early to the marsh and beach to try for some atmospheric for shots. I tried HDR, and prefer the exposure effects, but the wind was blowing a gale and any shot with flowers in the foreground had too much ghosting from the motion and multiple exposures to work. I had to resort to normal exposures and post processing for HDR effect.
I have hundreds of images of this marsh and this tree, but this foggy shot with the bright flowers will be a favorite.
Sony Alpha NEX 5T with ZEISS Touit 12mm f2.8. ISO 100 @ 1/160th @f8. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.
Back in Cape May
I am writing this from Texas on a rainy morning when I had planned to go birding but may in fact be caught in my hotel room doing work in deference to the weather. Such is life. This is an HDR from Cape May taken a few weeks ago now. I love the effect of the light on the water. Aside from the sky and the light it is such a homely scene. With sky and light it is filled with suppressed drama.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in Rich Tone mode. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014, using the new HDR Scene filter.