Fall on the Bog

Little Pond Maine, October 12, 2009

Sky

Sky- Image captured in Otifield, Maine, October 2009

Fall in the Maine Woods

Otisfield, Maine
October 11, 2009.

American Flamingo

A Juvenile American flamingo at the Columbus Zoo. November 2, 2009.

On Golden Pond, Little Pond, Maine

A view from the dock at Little Pond.

The View from Pleasant Mountain

The hike up wasn't all that pleasant (1500 feet up over 1.8 miles) but once Megan and I reached the summit, what an amazing view. The wide dynamic range of the scene called me to see just what a tone mapped image would look like made from three different exposures. This type of a photography certainly presents a certain aesthetic style- some like it, some hate it, what do you think?

Tom

Ambush Bug

An ambush bug, our back yard, lying in wait amongst the flowers of Canada Goldenrod, September 16th, Worthington Ohio.

Also featured at: The Ohio Nature Blog

Morning in the Hills

Near Clear Creek Metropark, south of Lancaster, Ohio.

Mother & Son

Monday, August 10th, 2009

Day Lily, Water Lens- Today's Flowers

Daylily through a drop of water, Worthington Ohio, July 20th, 2009.

This is my contribution to "Today's Flowers" #50.

Tom

The "North" Woods- Sky Watch Friday

My first attempt at any type of serious digital astrophotography. The RAW file had a ton of noise, which I removed using Canon Digital Photo Professional. This is a manually focused, twenty-two minute exposure. When we go back to Maine in less than a week, I hope to perfect my technique- The clouds on the right were lit by the neighbor's home, about one-half mile down the road.

Tom

My first SkyWatch Friday post in quite some time.

Megan's Headshot- Strobist Boot Camp

I've been following the strobist blog for quite some time now. And late last winter, I purchased a lightstand, umbrella, flash swivel mount, and some Cactus V2 triggers to get my camera off flash. I really hadn't done much with the setup, and I had really wanted to start shooting people. Strobist's recent boot camp series got me off my duff. The assignment was to do a head shot of someone you know, and have them take a picture of you using the same setup. Not enough time for a picture of me, but I'm really happy how this image of Megan turned out.

Vivitar 285hv, camera left, shoot through umbrella, fill bounced off wall. Background darkened in photoshop, area around Megan left light for emphasis.

Tom

Catawba Nights

Looking out towards Catawba Island, the cars poor inland.

Compositionally speaking, I may have tried to put a little too much in the frame here, but boy are these fun photographs to take. This is a thirty second time exposure using only available light.

The non-native invasive grass, Phragmites australis subspecies australis is present in the foreground.

Tom

Two Fishers, One Great Lake

Dawn at the Marblehead Peninsula, Lake Erie, Ohio. I talked to these two men- they were casting with heavy floats far out into the water, catching freshwater drum, or sheepshead, and also yellow perch. They reeled in a few fish while I was here, but they said that, in the past, they have caught fish with every cast.

Sunset at the Dock

When I use HDR, I try not to give everything away. Having some blacks, some shadowy areas, make the image more realistic. I am doing an HDR, though, and I went all out on this sky. I'm hoping one day, camera sensors themselves will be able to handle this much dynamic range.

Complementary - Pink Lady Slippers, Today's Flowers

Two beautiful pink Lady Slippers, only about fifty feet from my in-laws house here at Little Pond, Otisfield, Maine. For more of our adventures here while staying in Maine, please visit the Ohio Nature Blog (In MAINE!)

For more flower images, please visit Today's Flowers.

Columbus' Most Famous Baby

Thousands have been flocking to the Columbus Zoo to see this baby elephant, born March 27, 2009. May 5th was his fourth day outside, and perhaps his first day outside available to the public. We hit things just right today- not even a line to see this amazing baby animal. He's so small he doesn't even look real- almost like a little robot, yet his movements are quick if not deliberate and coordinated. Go see him if you able.

Never Too Late for Sky Watch

Worthington, Ohio, Friday April 24th, 2009.

For more Sky Watch, go here.

Sporophytes

Munroe Falls, Ohio. April 18, 2009.

Exit

I went back to work full time this weekend after Weston's birth. It seemed to rain quite a bit, and by this morning, I had caught what I'm hoping is a cold, nothing worse, but it has put me out for the count. I've slept most of the day. Here's a quick pic from the Panasonic LZ-8 as I watched the falling rain.

Captivity

I usually try to make zoo animals look their best, but I couldn't help taking this shot. For those of you that shoot at the Columbus Zoo, you know the Markhors, a rare goat native to the Western Himalayas. When they were first added to their enclosure at Asia Quest, the rock climbing male promptly shot right up the wall that was supposed to enclose him, prancing on the roof of the exhibit above the viewing area.

It seems that each time I see these fascinating creatures, there is more fencing installed in the enclosure. Have they had multiple escapes? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't doubt it.

Still though, this is one of my favorite exhibits at the zoo, I just wish there wasn't so much chicken wire. I guess I'm being somewhat selfish. I'm showing this image not to rail against captive aniamls, but to vent my frustrations about how smart and athletic these creatures are that they could easily escape an enclosure that I'm guessing was specifically designed for them, and is now partially wrapped with wire which makes it quite a challenge to get a clean image.

Tom

Hear Me Roar

Today, Megan, Weston and I went to the Columbus Zoo to see the brand new baby elephant, born on March 27th. He was on display from 11:00 to 1:00. We arrived, and there were dozens and dozens adults plus an army of children lined up at the zoo gate just to buy tickets. We bypassed that, being members, and thought we were in like Flynn. We walked to the elephant building, saw another huge line winding around the building, and then spotted a "one hour wait from here" sign. Whew!

Needless to say we didn't wait in line, giving me time to capture this image of the Zoo's male Lion.

Fruit Fly on Daffodil

Yesterday, flowers and flies, tomorrow, snow!

Tom

Hayden Run Falls

April 11, 2008.

Our driveway, Worthington, Ohio, March 25, 2009

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Canberra, Australia

Canberra, Australia, January, 1999.

I've been scanning negatives from my 3-month long Australia trip back in 1999 with Hiram College.

Here's a shot of sulphur crested cockatoos, which were as common as crows in some areas of Australia. The sky was a bit grainy, so I blurred it and used a layer mask to exclude to the blur from the birds themselves.

Shot on Fuji 200, using my first real camera, a Samsung Maxima Zoom.

I thought this would be nice another mid-day addition to Misty-Dawn's camera critters meme.

Restoring Old Family Prints- George Washington Thomas

My great grandmother Ida Thomas probably took this image, sometime, I'm guessing, before 1930, and possibly, much earlier than that. This is my grandfather's father. To put things into perspective, my grandfather is 89 years old. I believe that George Washington Thomas was born on September 9th, 1881 and died in March 1968. I found this photo as I was going through and organizing my "man cave" area/photo studio, and thought that I might be able to use my new found photoshop CS4 skills to restore this photo. What do you think?

Sky Watch Friday- Bur Oak and Film Toy Camera

Take a good look at this one. I captured this image using an Eddie Bauer branded four lens toy camera that I found at Megan's parents home in Maine. Each lens has a fixed aperature, and a little disc rotates around each aperature when you press the shutter, resulting in four views recorded on a single frame of 35 mm film.

I left the artifacts, I'm not exactly sure what they are, but I think they give some character and "old-timey" feel to the image.

What do you think?

I had the film processed at CVS and scanned, I adjusted levels and removed a bit of the grain.

Bur Oak, Quercus macrocarpa, Worthington, Ohio

For more Sky Watch images, and to participate, go here.

Today's Flowers- Tulip

A tulip on our table, April, 2008.

When Tom first introduced his readers to the today's flowers meme, I had always wanted to show this image to you. I was amazed how graceful the tulip had become in death, even though the petals were crisp and nearly ready to drop.

Olentangy- Sky Watch Friday

Olentangy River in Worthington, Ohio. For More Sky Watch Images, please go here.

Baby Weston

Megan and I welcome our new son to the world yesterday morning. More pics at my Nature Blog.

Wood Stork

Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Sanibel Island, Florida.

I created this image as part of my Photoshop for Photographers class at Columbus State Community College. A blur has been applied to the background.

For more Camera Critters, visit Misty Dawn's Meme.

American White Pelicans

American White Pelicans, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

More more camera critters, visit Misty Dawn.

Willet

Just catching an afternoon snack. For more camera critters, visit Misty Dawn.

Roseate Walk

Last year at this time, I was counting the days to our trip to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Although I had influenza, and I shot the whole week with fevers over 100 degrees, I still managed to get some great images. I rented the Canon 400 5.6L from Lensrentals.com, and it served me quite well in the Florida sunshine.

Moonlight Bur Oak- Sky Watch Friday

Sometimes, you don't even have to look up to see the sky. Photo taken January 4th, 2008, Worthington, Ohio. For more Sky Watch Images, go here.

My World- Columbus

I love how the Ohio judicial center, home of the Supreme Court of Ohio, is letting off steam on this Sunday morning. Perhaps there was too much hot air in the building?
The Leveque tower, the trademark of our city, is timeless. This building asks to be photographed.

For more my world images, go here.

Looking for Warmth

I found it in the corner of our family room.

Tom

Good Morning, 2009

January 1, 2009
Worthington Ohio

Downy

Downy Woodpecker, Male, Columbus Ohio, February 10th, 2008

You may also be interested in voting for my Best Picture of 2008, over at my Nature Blog.

This is my contribution to this week's Camera Critters meme.