Posts in Category: Pic of the Day
Fishing Old Falls Pond
Old Falls Pond on the Mousam River, West Kennebunk ME
Yes, fall is coming on strong now here in southern Maine. I drove out to the Kennebunk Plains and Day Brook Pond yesterday, and then around to Old Falls and Old Falls Pond on the Mousam River. There was a friendly fisherman at Old Falls Pond and I asked if I could include him in the view. He makes it a classic calendar or magazine cover shot. Maybe on the Post, painted by Norman Rockwell. 🙂
Sony Alpha NEX 5t with 16-50mm zoom @ 24mm equivalent field of view. In-camera HDR. Nominal exposure 1/320th @ ISO 100 @ f9. Processed in Lightroom.
The Texture of Fall
Maple Leaf. Kennebunk Maine
Full Fall has finally come to southern Maine. We are not yet at peak color, but it looks now like we might make it by Columbus Day…which would put us right back on schedule 🙂 Both of my Point and Shoots are malfunctioning at the moment (I actually canceled a trip to Panama, at least in part, because my workhorse cameras have gone lame…one is in the shop and the other will go in this week) so I am shooting with my Sony Alpha NEX 5t. I had forgotten what a nice camera it is. It certainly captures all the subtle texture and delicate color of this fallen leaf (if delicate is a work you can use to describe red).
This is an in-camera HDR at 63mm equivalent field of view using the 16-50mm zoom on the NEX. Nominal exposure was 1/80th @ ISO 320 @ f5.6. Processed in Lightroom.
Tailed Blue
Tailed Blue, Grange Insurance Audubon Center, Columbus OH
I mentioned yesterday that I had a good bug day, with several species of both butterflies and dragonflies. This is, I believe, an Eastern Tailed Blue. It is a tiny butterfly, only about 3/4 of an inch from wingtip to wingtip. There were two, doing their rapid Blue spieling dance over a grassy path. I just about gave up on getting a pic, when both of them settled out and sat long enough for a few shots.
Nikon P900 at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 100 @ f5. Processed and cropped for scale in Lightroom.
Green Darner up close
Green Darner Dragonfly, Grange Insurance Audubon Center, Columbus OH
By the time I got out for a walk at the American Birding Expo at Grange Insurance Audubon Center in Columbus Ohio things were quiet on the bird front…but there certainly were a lot of bugs. I saw at least 7 species of butterflies, and four species of dragons. This Green Darner, the largest Dragonfly in North America, was perching along the grassy wetlands trail below the Center. Due to the focus limitations of the Nikon P900, I had to back up quite a ways to get this shot…taken full frame using the Perfect Image Zoom function at a 3600mm equivalent field of view. Handheld!
It certainly shows off the amazingly intricate structure of the dragonfly.
Nikon P900 at 3600mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 250 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Artist at Work. Happy Sunday!
Catherine Hamilton talking art with John Sill at the American Birding Expo in Columbus OH
“If your eye is generous your whole being is full of light!” Jesus.
The first American Birding Expo attracted a handful of the best bird artists in America. I hope to see the art selection expand in future years. This is Catherine Hamilton talking her art with John Sill, both accomplished and well known artists. Catherine spent her days so far at the ZEISS booth and I got to spend significant time with her…and heard her show her portfolio to hundreds of people. I have come to appreciate her love for both birds and art. She certainly has a generous eye!
I love discovering the spirit in people I encounter. I have known Catherine for several years now, and recognized the spirit in her right away. We have shared several adventures (minor adventures) and talked a lot. On the way back to the car after a long day at the expo last night, as we walked along in silence, she said “I am so glad we are already at the point where we can be together without feeling like we have to talk.” (Which is something, since Catherine is a talker! And I mean that in the best possible way 🙂 We are comfortable together. And that is, of course, the shared spirit. We have not talked about what she thinks of the spirit…of the light she is so full of…and certainly not of where she thinks it comes from. It is not necessary on my part. I am so comfortable with her that I know exactly where it comes from. The generous eye is the generous eye, and the light, as far as I can see, and as much as I know, is the light. There is only one good and loving God over and in all, the light of the world. That is my faith. And it is always good to see it in another. Happy Sunday!
Columbus Egret panel
Great Egret, Grange Insurance Audubon Center, Columbus OH
More from the cooperative Great Egret at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center in Columbus Ohio. I am working the first Great American Birding Expo so I did not get out to take any photos yesterday. Still, these Egret shots from the day before at too good not to share. Nikon P900 at various focal equivalents from about 1000mm to 4000mm. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Coolage.
Columbus Egret gets lunch
Great Egret, Grange Insurance Audubon Center, Columbus OH
I am at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center in Columbus Ohio for the first American Birding Expo. Optics vendors and tour companies from around the world have gathered here to show off to what we hope is a large and eager crowd of birders. The event is modeled on the British Birding Fair which attracts 20,000 people a year to the midlands of England. This year the American event will not be nearly that large, but it should grow.
There are several wetlands and ponds on the Audubon property, and I discovered the Great Egret actively feeding in one of them. Nice catch.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 140 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom.
Harvey Ried on Banjo
Harvey Ried. Punkinfiddle Festival, Laudholm Farms, Wells ME
The yearly Punkinfiddle Festival at Laudholm Farms in Wells Maine is a celebration of harvest and folk music, and a fund-raiser for the Wells National Estuarine Research Center. Lots of kids activities. And music on the porch of the Education Building. This is Harvey Ried, a well known local musician with several albums and several books of Autoharp and Banjo instruction. He and his wife, Joyce Anderson, play a variety of folk and old-time music on the fiddle (Joyce), guitar, autoharp, and banjo (Havey).
Sony HX90V in Superior Auto. Processed in Lightroom.
Monarch in Asters
Monarch, East Point, Biddeford Pool, Maine
East Point in Biddeford Pool Maine forms one boundary where the Saco River (or perhaps more exactly, Saco Bay) meets the open Atlantic. It is directly across a narrow channel from Wood Island and Wood Island Light. Perhaps because it sticks out into the ocean a ways and has some interesting vegetation, it is always a good spot to find butterflies, and Monarchs in the fall in particular. This seems to be a particularly large specimen, caught foraging among the New England Asters growing along the edge and in the under-story of a large stand of wild rose and other plants. From the overall brightness of the bug I am tempted to say it is freshly emerged, but in this close view you can see some wear on the wings…which might make it a migrant from further north.
Sony HX90V at 1440mm equivalent field of view (using 2x Clear Image Zoom). 1/250th @ ISO 320 @ f6.4. Processed in Lightroom.
Harvest!
Farmer’s Market Stand, Common Ground Fair, Unity ME
The Common Ground Fair draws organic farmers and gardeners from all over New England. There are two Farmer’s Markets: one near the Pine Gate and one near the Rose Gate. I have always been attracted to the displays of color and texture in fresh fruits and vegetables put out for sale in open markets like this. Such a lot of goodness!
Sony HX90V in Superior Auto. Processed in Lightroom.