I was on the verge of thinking this shot was impossible, that I'd have to seriously risk real bodily harm (or possible death) in order to get it. If you've ever gone waterfall hunting, or spent any time at a creek in the woods, you know how deceptively slippery rocks like this can be. Even rocks that look dry can be almost as slick as ice. Navigating terrain like this requires extreme caution. I can't stress that enough. Anyone who ventures into environments like this needs to think safety first, second, and third. The shot comes in fourth place.

It took 3 months of planning and waiting, then twice I had to reschedule due to cloudy skies, but it finally worked out this morning. Sunrise alignment with Sandy Point Lighthouse, which is near Annapolis, MD on the Chesapeake Bay.

 The photo club's assignment this month is HDR so I was looking to experiment with some processing techniques. In addition, I'm thinking about going back to Blackwater Falls this coming weekend so I went back through shots from my last trip for planning. I never processed this shot from last year and I had taken it bracketed (with 4 exposures) so I figured why not work on the assignment.

The shoreline at this spot was fairly flat by the water's edge, but this one large mound of dirt & mud had quite the community growing around it. Grasses and plants, insects of all kinds. And at the bottom there were crabs and amphipods and a myriad of other marsh creatures....even lots of mummichogs splashing in the shallow puddles at the base.

My favorite sunrises are by far the colorful ones, but even though this morning was virtually guaranteed to be cloudy and likely rainy, I got up early because I wanted to see if there might be some magic in the clouds. Besides, I had the photo club meeting at 10am so I figured I might as well make the most of the morning.

 

It started with a 5 minute drive down to the shore to see what it was like over the bay. Right away I noticed it was pretty windy, with consistent waves and spray blowing on the beach. And rather than a flat gray sky there were distinct patches of darker and lighter gray...perfect for picking up the patterns in long exposures.

My first visit to the Highline on the west side of Manhattan. I'd read about it last year and was very much looking forward to visiting in person. It is such a cool place. The history is palatable and the environment is so unique to be right in the middle of the city.

For those that don't know, the Highline is an elevated park above the streets of Manhattan. It stretches from 30th street down to just past 12th street. It was created on the old elevated railroad tracks that were originally built in the early 1900s. The tracks fell completely out of use by the 80's and began to be reclaimed by the forces of nature (trees and vegetation started to grow on the tracks).

How was the moving image created? You start by taking a series of photos using burst mode. Then use a little bit of Photoshop power and a few plugins with the technique I describe here to create your own moving photographs.

I've been avoiding getting up for sunrise photo trips lately, which is especially odd given I just finished my first photo book on that exact subject. At first I missed a few weeks because I was busy but then the sunrise just got so darn early. It's tough to get anywhere before 5am and most of the places I want to go usually mean I have to get on the road by 3 or 3:30 (sometimes earlier). It's also tough to rise early when a backlog of photo processing keeps me up late at night :)

One subject I've been trying to push myself on this year is street and urban photography. I've always thoroughly enjoyed the sunrise and landscape subjects and the natural environment is still my favorite subject. But I think shooting in the city is so much different. Most of the subjects are either in motion or constantly changing, the scenes are usually busier, and I find myself having to make decisions much faster. It's a great training ground to sharpen your skills.

Went back to the power plant last night. Earlier in the evening the atmosphere was perfect for very tall vapor trails as I could see them rising from miles away in the distance. I headed over trying to catch a colorful sunset behind the plant, but as it got closer to sunset the atmosphere changed and the trails shrank. In addition, the sunset wasn't all that amazing...pretty but not "oh wow" pretty.

If at first you don't succeed...

...try, try again.

I occasionally attach little stories or some background information about a particular image, but this one's definitely got a story to it.

As some of you know, I'm usually one to ask for forgiveness rather than permission when it comes to photography. But I almost gave up on this shot because I didn't want to break the rules.

The National Botanical Gardens has a strict no tripod rule, which sucks when there are so many awesome things to take macro photos of, and doubly-sucks when the day is overcast and the light inside the greenhouse is soft and even (but low).