Sunrise

A few days after posting the sunset image, I woke up to a panoply of color outside my window that catapulted me out of bed to find my camera. With just a few moments left before it would fade, I found the best spot to frame the scene atop a second floor staircase just outside my laundry room facing east. Again, I used my telephoto lens holding it steady for a relatively long 1/25 second exposure.
They say that things come in threes, so I imagine I will see another display of winter color sometime soon. Perhaps at midday?

Silhouette

Following my proclamation on New Year's Eve that I try to avoid the sunset cliche, yep, here's my very next image that appeared across the street. It's a silhouette, a common technique associated with sunsets, of my neighbor's roofline this afternoon. Taken with my telephoto lens at ISO 400 and a slow shutter speed of 1/25 second, it required a steady hand to maintain sharpness.
So why a sunset today? Well, cold, dry weather produces crisper, more vibrant sunrises and sunsets than other times of the year. After doing some quick research to find out why, I found this explanation from Outdoor Photographer:
During the winter, the sun remains low in the sky, which provides a more favorable angle of light. It also hovers closer to the horizon at sunrise and sunset, extending the time at which you can shoot with warmer light.
Also a quick plug for a workshop I'm giving, Blogging for Artists, this Saturday at the East End Arts Council. Any fellow artists out there interested in creating their own blog, come and find out how easy and fun it can be! Details in the News section here.

Equivalent

Today at lunch time I took a bike ride along Dune Road where I saw the most magnificent clouds. But alas, I didn't have my camera with me. As I lamented its absence, I remembered a group of cloud images I had taken of October skies in 2009 that still lay buried in my "C" drive. I also recalled that Alfred Stieglitz, the father of art photography, turned away from portraits and landscapes and up toward the clouds to explore abstraction late in his career.

So tonight I found a short video on YouTube about that series called Equivalents. Here's my rendition taken at mid-day with my telephoto lens when a storm threatened over the bay near my house.

Rain

After a week of the most glorious weather of the summer, it's a rainy Sunday when I have to admit I'm content to stay indoors, catch up on my reading, my blog, and perhaps do not much more than watch the rain fall.

Here's an image taken with my telephoto lens through my front window at f5.6 to emphasize the drops of water falling on the leaf. I could get much closer with a macro lens, but since I don't need to get super close (and don't own one), a telephoto is sufficient. Another reason this lens is a good choice is that the longer focal length further enhances the shallow depth of field.

Following a busy summer of framing and mounting work for several shows, it's nice to get back to making new images...