Archive for the ‘Michigan’ Category

Apr

2011

Zatarra

Zatarra – an old trunk of a tree washed ashore – View in Gallery

I’m very glad it is getting warmer out, at least some of the time, it was actually snowing earlier today. On a different day when it was warm out, I took a long walk on the beach and this old tree that had been washed ashore caught my eye. There is also a flock of birds in the background. From a distance they might be mistaken for seagulls, but they are actually Caspian Terns.1 I haven’t been able to get very close to them, they seem more reclusive than the more common Ring-billed Gull.2


Caspian Tern in flight	Ring-billed Gull

Hydroprogne caspia [↩]
Larus delawarensis [↩]

Tags: beach, driftwood, Sea Swallow, Sterna hirundo
Posted in Michigan | 2 Comments »

Apr

2011

Surreal Ice

Surreal Ice – A frozen, wave-swept lighthouse in Michigan

You don’t get a photo like this, without getting cold.

I took this back when it was a bit less temperate out.

I didn’t post it for two reasons.

One, I couldn’t handle looking at it during the winter.

Two, it was chromatically aberrated to a point that I thought it was ruining the photo.

However, I actually had a nigh-identically composed shot that did not suffer as much from chromatic aberrations, which you see here.1

I think it is a winner. It also demonstrates one of my principles of photography: Taking photos from vantage points or locations deemed too risky (not risqué) , can result in unique images.


This is good	This is bad

When a lens fails to focus all colors to a single point. Happens most noticeably on edges of high contrast areas, the HDR process magnifies this problem in some cases [↩]

Tags: cold, HDR, hdrspotting, ice, lake, lighthouse, michigan, pier, winter
Posted in HDR, Michigan | 19 Comments »

Mar

2011

Swirling Sky

Went down to the beach to take some pictures. Although lighting was striking a few miles away out over the lake I decided to sneak out of my car and take a few shots on the beach anyway. There was some interesting contrast between the beach and the dark clouds and the brightness further away, so thankfully I was able to cheat death yet again, and capture this shot.

Tags: beach, thunderstorm
Posted in HDR, Michigan | 2 Comments »