Barred Owl at Night

Barred Owl at Night, a photo by UpstateNYPhototaker on Flickr.

I was at my parent's letting the dog out when I spotted this owl in a maple tree that was partially illuminated by a spotlight on my parent's deck. He/She was sitting very stoic in the tree and was not bothered by my presence. After a few moments the owl came down from the tree and sat in the best light that was available (the spotlight). The owl was very aware of my presence but did not seem to mind at all. He/She would turn their head away from me and I would make a clicking noise and they would turn back around and stare at me. I was shooting on a tripod with the D7000 and 80-400VR. Unfortunately it was dark and I didn't have the time I would have liked to set up my gear. I shot this in jpeg, which I rarely do and would have preferred the flexibility of RAW. Oh well, next time!

Sunset in the Stockade

Sunset in the Stockade, a photo by UpstateNYPhototaker on Flickr.

I haven't posted in a while. Winter doesn't inspire me like the other seasons. It was a beautiful day and I was on my way home so I swung down by the river and caught some nice light. This was taken in the Riverside Park in Schenectady with my D7000 & 18-105mm. The river was open and the ice was flowing smoothly in the main channel. It was one of those days that makes you realize spring is around the corner.

Common Redpoll

Common Redpoll, a photo by UpstateNYPhototaker on Flickr.

Galway Lake eBook.

I have finally got around to making a photo book of my Galway Lake photos. I went back and forth in my head about making an ebook or a regular coffee table book and decided to try the ebook route after seeing how nice it looked on the iPad. Please check out the preview and if you are interested click buy!

http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/354162-images-of-galway-lake

Nice Morning for a Bike Ride

Nice Morning for a Bike Ride, a photo by UpstateNYPhototaker on Flickr.

I went to Saratoga National early this morning to catch the sunrise. As the sun rose the fog slowly lifted from the valley and a nice scene appeared but I felt it was missing something. There wasn't a strong foreground element for me to include and as I thought about the scene these bike riders came into view and I knew I had to act fast. I thought for sure the bikers would blurred from motion but I lucked out.

Obligatory Fall Color on Galway Lake

Obligatory Fall Color on Galway Lake, a photo by UpstateNYPhototaker on Flickr.

Sometimes when taking photos in the fall I am as guilty as anyone of wanting to boost the vibrance and saturation in an image to give it that fall color photo look. In this particular instance I just let the rising sun that was to my back do that for me.

I was not overly enthusiastic about the fall color that I saw this year. On Galway Lake for instance I felt as though this weekend was probably the nicest color I had seen by far but most of the trees had experienced at least 50% leaf drop already. Also, where there was color in one section, it was long gone in other sections a few hundred yards away.

This photo was taken with the d7000 & "Kit Lens" 18-105mm VR. I didn't use any filters. I always shoot in raw and I really only cropped this, slightly adjusted the white balance and darkened the sky just a tad.

Abstract Fall

Abstract Fall, a photo by UpstateNYPhototaker on Flickr.

I stopped at the Saratoga National Battlefield Park after work. I was pretty disappointed overall with the fall color. Most trees hadn't even seemed to hit moderate color and some (namely the old maple near the Neilsen House) were past peak with a lot of leaf drop. Some of the smaller maples were peak but unfortunately I couldn't incorporate them into a nice landscape shot due to their placement in the park. I had just finished shooting some wide stuff when I stood under this beautiful maple in peak golden color and a bright blue sky. I clicked a couple shots but wasn't satisfied with the boring results. I set a wide aperture which translated into a slow shutter speed and spent about twenty minutes trying to get an artistic blur shot like this that I was satisfied with. Believe it or not this wasn't an easy result to achieve.