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Screwing up the Pristine Scene…

admin — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:37:56 +0000

Winter in New England conjures up romanticized scenes of perfect light snowfalls coating the trees, with a red barn and stone walls and large fields of unspoiled snow. Maybe a small stream runs through the scene with a white church steeple in the background. The reality of these scenes is that the snow rarely stays perfect for long. Heck, in the real dead of New England winter, the streams are frozen over and the snow is too dry to stay in the trees.

Here’s the truth to these classic New England scenes. They aren’t ever truly perfect. Photography in winter, like any season, is finding the best conditions possible, and making them work for the scene.

When you arrive at your nearly perfect scene, the challenge becomes not screwing it up while scouting it. It’s different than in summer, in summer you can walk almost anywhere without leaving much of a trace. Winter records your every move. Move into a scene too fast, want to move back, your shot has a trace of you in it. It’s no longer pristine. No longer perfect.

I tend to work a winter scene in large arcs. Finding every distant angle for a shot before exploring in closer. I make sure that everyone else in my party is done with a scene before moving in, just as a courtesy. I creep inwards methodically, exploring any opportunity for a composition. Winter shooting takes patience. There is no eraser. And when I’m done, all to often, so is the perfect scene. Winter’s beauty is fleeting…

And thus I present this morning’s scene in three acts. The wide scouting arc. The scene. The aftermath.

Scouting the Scene on the Riverbank...

The Scene...Hoar Frost on the Lamprey River

The Aftermath...

A special place that needs your help…

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:43:27 +0000

I mentioned in the last blog post that it would be difficult for me to get out much during the month of June, as a few good friends are getting married, and the camera would be fairly stagnant. That was before the Spirit Airlines strike, that found me stranded in New England this weekend. Making the best of it, I headed out today with a couple fellow photographers to Evans Mountain in Strafford to look for an orchid that has eluded me the last few years.

One of the people I headed out with was Scott Young, a naturalist, amateur botanist and fine photographer. I’m glad that there are people like Scott in this world. First off, while I can give you the name of most of the plants in the woods…Scott can rattle off the Latin name, let you know that there are three varieties, and which of those it is and why. And more importantly, Scott dedicates and donates an extensive amount of his time to the Bear-Paw Regional Greenways, a land-trust that permanently preserves tracts of land in Southeastern New Hampshire.

Red Eft Running Away...

The property that we hiked on today is a parcel of land that NEEDS to be conserved. It is an extensive wetlands, uplands and watershed that abuts already preserved land. It has varied habitat for moose, bobcat, fisher, birds, and active efts, and has ledges with fine views from the Seacoast to Mount Washington! Of interest today though was a small peat bog tucked in the back of the property that likely Scott and only a few others know about. I couldn’t find it again, which is probably good, as I’d want to go there too often for the habitat to handle. Why…orchids!

Snapshot of Orchids in Habitat...

We were there today to find the Rose Pagonia, a species I’d never found before, and we found plenty. It’s not all that rare, but the habitat that it grows in is rather inaccessible. And it is beautiful. Today its petals were heavy and tucked, laden with water from the incessant fog and drizzle this weekend. Many weren’t open, but the water saturated the colors and made for nice compositions.

Rose Pagonia #1

Rose Pagonia #2

Rose Pagonia #3

Scott believes he might know where another colony of this flower is…and I may try a drag/kayak trip to another this week if time allows, as I’d like to try to find these more open. But if not, I’m more than happy with these shots!

As a final note…next weekend, the Bear-Paw Greenways is hosting a Biothon fundraiser to help preserve the Evans Mountain property. They need about $500,000 to lock it away from development, and are hoping people will sponsor a naturalist next weekend as they fan out to catalog the property. You can sponsor Scott in a fixed amount, or per species that he logs. More information can be found here…and thank you!

Now…no posting until after wedding season…hopefully!

A week away…

admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:40:33 +0000

I am most certainly a morning person. I enjoy getting up early, before the sun and experiencing the stillness before the world wakes up. There is a fine serenity to listening to the birds while watching the mist rise off a pond, and feeling the first rays of sun of the day. I’ve also recently reflected upon the fact that I am very in tune to the first breath of wind of the day as well. It’s something that I’ve grown to enjoy, despite the fact that in the spring, I usually despise what the wind does to my subjects…

This morning, I was treated to an extended period of time before the wind came up, and it allowed for some fine macro shots of subjects that are usually bobbing in the breeze. Take this back-lit hobblebush…one of my favorite wild shrubs in any time of year, but especially fine in spring green and flower. Such beauty in a simple plant.

Backlit Hobblebush...

The morning is my time, which works out well in my relationship. My fiance is NOT a morning person, allowing me to get up, shoot, and come home and still have time to make her breakfast. The evenings are her time. It’s a good balance…one of many that we’ve struck in our relationship. I bring this up, as I won’t be around to shoot for the next week or so, as I will be getting married this weekend. A new journey, beginning in the beauty of spring, with my best friend.

Back in a week!