Posts in Category: Laudholm Farm
Rose Chafer Beetle
The Rose Chafer Beetle is no friend to those who treasure roses. They travel in packs and can decimate a cultivated Rose Bush in a matter of hours. Taken on its own merits, however, it is a rather handsome creature, in that very other way that insects have. This specimen was one of several working over a Multiflora Rose in the overgrown fields at Laudholm Farm on Saturday. As you can see from the photo the Rose Chafer is interesting, among other things, for having a carpeted caprice. It’s whole upper shell is covered with fine hair.
Sony NEX 3N with ZEISS Touit 50mm f2.8 macro. ISO 200 @ 1/250th @ f14. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Cropped on the left for composition.
Wild Rose. Happy Sunday!
I took the loop down to the beach and back through the woods via the boardwalk at Laudholm Farm yesterday. The overgrown fields on the hilltop above the farm buildings are full of roses…both the common wild New England pink rose (probably Virginia Rose) and the invasive Asian Multiflora Rose with its delicate white blossoms and overpoweringly sweet smell. The wild roses were buried well down in the tall grasses, but were no less beautiful for it.
I shot this with the ZEISS Touit 12mm f2.8 wide angle lens. One of the things I like about the lens is the ability to get in close and frame something like this rose in its habitat. The depth of the wide angle, combined with the amazingly crisp image quality, produces a unique rendering of the scene.
Sony NEX 5T in Superior Auto. ISO 100 @ 1/125th @ f13. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.
And for the Sunday Thought. I had an interesting week, starting on Monday with a heart catheter test which showed that I had indeed had a heart attack, probably back in April, which left an artery blocked and significant damage to the heart muscle. That was followed by what was probably just a panic attack, some chest and upper arm pain and shortness of breath which inspired me to call 911. I was in the hospital for two days, and they did a treadmill stress test and echocardiogram to make sure that the heart is still functioning up to its ability. It is. I have a whole pharmacy of new medications to adapt to, and lots of follow-up, which I am sure will include diet and exercise, to look forward to.
And that last phrase is the key: to look forward to. It could have been different. I could easily have died, apparently almost did die, in April. And, during my episode this week, even if it only was panic, I had to seriously consider the possibility, as they loaded me into the Kennebunk Rescue Ambulance, that I might be living my last day. And it was okay. I am by no means “ready to go.” There are still a lot of roses, life birds, sunsets, and other wonders left to see, to enjoy, and to celebrate. There are people, I think, who would miss me. There might even be yet some good I am meant to do. But I live by the will, by the grace, of a loving God, who has promised in Christ to bring me to the last day, whole and upright, completed and complete. And I found, somewhat to my own surprise, that that faith is sufficient, even in the face of death. To live is Christ. To die is Christ. And I am good with that.
One of my Facebook friends commented that I was one of the people she hoped would hang around this planet longer. I thought of replying: “I don’t know. If they offered me posting to another planet, I might just have to take it. Think of all the new lifers…birds, flowers, landscapes. Think of the wonder.”
And I do think of the wonder. Many people find a renewed purpose in their lives after a heart attack. For me, I intend to go on as I have started…finding and celebrating the beauty in this world, on this planet, that is living testimony to the love of a creator God. I have a lot to look forward to, and I intend to spend every day looking for it! I am not sure what it is, but, as always, I expect to know it when I see it.
Even if it is only a wild rose among the tall grasses. Happy Sunday!
Rainy Day at Winter’s End
On Sunday, it rained all day, sometimes hard, sometimes just a spattering, but always wet. There were aerial and coastal flood warnings from the National Weather Service office in Grey. But, at least in part, because I had only that morning written about finding the wonder in every season and every day, I forced myself to pick up my cameras and head out to see what I could see. If I can’t take my own good advice, well then it is not that good, is it? I took an umbrella, but the wind was blowing hard enough so that I knew I would mostly photograph what I could see from the car. I drove down to our local tidal marsh behind the dunes at the beach, and then down past the Rachel Carson NWR Headquarters to Laudholm Farm and the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, then back up the coast to sit at Mother’s Beach in Kennebunk and shoot gulls out the window of the car. I took a few scenics along the way, trying to capture the wet day/late winter/early spring atmosphere, and hoping for some interesting HDR effects.
This is along the road into Laudholm Farm, where it passes through a thick stand of second growth firs and pines. With the rain, the little brook that passes under the road in a culvert, was brim full. The wet leaves, blown in there from last year, the reflective water, the evergreens and patches of old snow, all framed against a background made soft by the water in the air…well, I liked it enough on the way in to pull over and get out of the car on the way back out, sheltering the camera for a couple of shots. HDR processing and some image tuning in Snapseed brings up the effect very nicely. Or that is what I think.
Sony NEX 3NL with 16-50mm zoom. 24mm equivalent. ISO 200 @ 1/160th @ f4.5. Processing as above.
The tallness of birches.
Panoramas are difficult at the best of times to display on a computer monitor or screen…just not enough real estate…and vertical panoramas are especially cramped. Still, when faced with a tall tree, what do you do? This is a vertical sweep panorama of an impressive pair of intertwined Paper Birch trees at Laudholm Farm and Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. It is along the boardwalk through the wet forest behind the dunes and the marsh. The panorama certainly does not do the trees justice, but it captures the tall grace of them better than a normal shot ever could.
Samsung WB250F in Panorama Mode. Processed in PicSay Pro on the Samsung Galaxy S4. (If you have never used “sweep panorama” on a camera, it is actually very impressive. Unlike a normal panorama, which is several “flat” images stitched together, a sweep panorama is “painted” onto the sensor one thin line at a time as you move the camera. It produces a unique and interesting effect. And it dead easy!)
Laudholm House
An in-camera HDR of the house at Laudholm Farms at the Wells National Estuarine Research Center. Laudholm Farms was one of the original salt farms in Maine. They actually grew hay and other crops on the salt marsh. For me, the shadow of the tree makes the image!
Canon SX50HS in HDR mode. Recorded exif: 24mm equivalent field of view. f4.5 @ 1/500th @ ISO 80. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.
Winter Road: Laudholm Farm
Ah the delights of a Maine winter (when we have one in Southern Maine, which is about 1 in 3 years in my experience). Of course, by winter I mean feet of snow and cold and wind that makes you eyes water and your tears freeze on your face! Foot stamping, glove pounding weather. No half measures here. No freezing rain and slush. No wimpy high 30s days. I mean a real winter. Slightly life-threatening and awesomely beautiful!
Finally, we have winter in Southern Maine.
This is the long drive in to Laudholm Farms and the Wells National Estuarine Research Center in Wells Maine, just down the road from me. It is a great place to cross-country ski, and everyone else there this morning was on skis or snowshoes. Me…I was just taking pictures.
Canon SX50HS in HDR mode. 24mm equivalent field of view. Recorded exif data: f8 @ 1/500th @ ISO 80. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness. Cropped to eliminate the burned out image of the sun at the top.
Laudholm Farms with Sky, Wells ME
This was going on two weeks ago now. Hurricane Sandy did for most of the remaining leaves on Monday, so it would look a little different today. They mowed the field in the foreground for the first time I can remember, at least in the fall, so it is an unusual view of the buildings at Laudholm Farms in several ways.
This is an in-camera HDR from the Canon SX50HS. The University of New Hampshire has placed a “picture post” at the spot where I am standing as part of an ongoing 360 degree panorama project they are running. The idea is to put your camera on the post, lined up with the guides, take 8 images while rotating around the post, and then upload them to their picturepost site. You can find out all about the picture post project and see some of the results at the picturepost site. I just used the picturepost as a tripod for the HDR. As you might imagine I have several different seasonal variations on this shot.
Canon SX50HS. Program with auto iContrast and Shadow Fill. 24mm equivalent field of view. f5 @ 1/500th @ ISO 80. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.
Bittersweet: Laudholm Farms
Bittersweet berries are part of the traditional New England fall/Thanksgiving table center piece. I don’t know enough about Bittersweet to know if this plant, found along the trails at Laudholm Farm (Wells National Estuarine Research Center) is American or Oriental Bittersweet. American is, as the name implies, the good Bittersweet…a native plant that is in danger of being pushed to extinction and hybridized out of existence by the invasive Chinese Bittersweet. As is so often the case, Chinese Bittersweet was intentionally introduced to the US and planted along thousands of miles of roadways and embankments to prevent soil erosion. That was before they knew how fast it would spread and how easily it hybridizes with American. Good idea? It turns out not.
By the way, the berries might look tempting, and are a fall treat for birds and rodents, but they are poisonous to man.
Canon SX50HS. Program with auto iContrast and Shadow Fill. 24mm macro, with 1.5x digital tel-converter for image scale and working distance. The berries are just over live size on my monitor. f4 @ 1/800th @ ISO 160. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.
Marsh Pond at Laudholm Farms
I have photographed this pond in the marsh behind the dunes at Laudholm Farms (Wells National Estuarine Research Center) in all weathers and in all seasons. It is never better than with one of the amazing fall skies of Southern Maine. I watch the weather for fronts coming through from the west, and, if they coincide with a weekend, generally find some landscape to set them off. And, again, there is nothing better to set off a sky like that than a stretch of water to reflect. The pond at Laudholm is perfect.
This is an in-camera HDR, taken with the Canon SX50HS. The Canon has to be very still for the HDR function to work. Unlike some HDR software, the software in the camera has very limited ability to align three imperfectly aligned images. The exposure processing, on the other hand, is spot on! The three images are blended, to my eye, just about perfectly. I took this with the camera propped up on the interpretative sign at the pond. Nice of them to put it there! (I have since invested in an 11 ounce ZipShot tripod that has legs like aluminum tent poles held together with shock cord. It sets up in seconds, is sturdy enough for wide angle to mid-tel shots (with the self-timer), clips to the strap of my camera bag, and is ready for an HDR anywhere.)
Canon SX50HS. Program with auto iContrast and Shadow Fill. 24mm equivalent field of view. f5 @ 1/500th @ ISO 80. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.
Chipper on (or in) the rocks.
On our way to the car while at Laudholm Farm on Sunday, this little Chipmunk skittered across the path and into the rock pile by the visitor sign. It sat there just long enough for me to get off a few shots at 1200 and 1800mm equivalents on the Canon SX50HS. The angle here is not quite right, but I took a chance even getting to this position, and when I moved for a better angle, the critter skittered again and was gone.
This is the 1800mm equivalent field of view version…1200mm optical plus 1.5x digital tel-converter function. Even if the nose is buried in the juniper, I like the little “hand” and that eye.
Canon SX50HS. Program with auto iContrast and Shadow Fill and 1/3EV exposure compensation. f6.5 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.