Field of Future Fuel

Not much to say on this one. I have versions where the barn is in focus too but I liked this best I think.

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Great Grandma's Embrace

On our recent trip to MI, my grandmother managed to corral my son into her arms for an extended hug and some quiet time. He lasted about one minute and then was off like a bullet. But it is a tender minute, and I am very glad I was able to capture it.

From a photographic prospective, there is a good bit going on that I really liked. First of all the expressions, for something like this having them look directly into the camera is not really the mood I was looking to convey. To me this is more of a quiet moment together captured without thought about the camera. In some later frames, he gets a toothy grin, and I think that breaks the mood. I like the leading lines of his arms which bring you right up into their faces. Their hands clasped together. These elements also create an interesting triangle shape (his eyes, her eyes, and their hands together). The symmetry between his yellow gloves and the yellow tint of the bush in the background add a splash of color and pop to the subtle tones of the image. Yellow usually recedes but here it stands out well and does not overwhelm like a red tone would. As for post processing, I lightened their faces a bit to bring them out just a bit. I also used a set of Lightroom presets (Focus Beauty) to blur and darken the edges. These together I thought helped pull in the focus onto their faces.

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Stone Wreath of Lickville

As you likely already know, I find cemeteries interesting places. There is such history there and a special sort of connection. While out roaming around last weekend, and after visiting Millard Fillmore's (13th President of the USA) birthplace, I decided to swing by a cemetery that was noted on the map and was close by. I have stopped by a lot of cemeteries in the area over the past few months. One thing that I have noted pretty consistently is the lack of statuary in small cemeteries. Clearly these memorials cost more and for most of the population they were too expensive. But in the small (still in use) Lickville Cemetery, there was one statue. This was a lovely memorial from the late 1800s. I was drawn to the extensive detail on this wreath. The individual flowers combined with years of lichen gave it a certain loveliness.

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Dawn in the Rain

This weekend I was going to meet up with a friend to go shooting. We had planned to get together early but by Saturday evening we were wimping out a bit so we settled on 7:30. Like clockwork though, my son came bounding into bed at 5:30 on Sunday morning so I decided to get up and head out. It was foggy, raining, dark and not very inspiring. But I thought I would go drive around and see what might be discovered in the rain. In the end, it turned out to be a nice morning. Got some images, spent time hanging out with Pam talking shop and had a nice breakfast.

While out and about I happened upon this view near one of my favorite photo spots. The rain was coming down just a bit and there was finally a touch of color in the sky (this lasted only about 2 minutes and was gone for the day). This is the reason I shoot for HDR most of the time. I love being able to pick up the soft colors in the fog and in the stream and yet also get the boldness of the wet green grass and yellow flowers. This is very close to what I saw.

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Dunlop Tires at K.C. Rowe's Garage

I was out driving around a few weeks ago as part of my field research on the cemeteries of Cortland county. That afternoon, I decided it was time to head over to McGraw, which is a small town east of Cortland. I had been through McGraw a few other times but had not spent much time exploring. On this afternoon, the light was great as it was past mid afternoon. I looked down a small alley and saw a very cool Sunoco sign painted on the side of what looked to be a garage, so I turned and headed over to check it out. I try to make a point not to miss interesting opportunities.

On the front of what turned out to be K.C. Rowe's Garage, I noticed this very interesting sign for Dunlop Tires. I was really intrigued by the worn, rusty and red sign, the peeling green paint, the two toned stucco wall, and the light streaking in from some windows into the otherwise dark garage. To me all these elements added texture and mystery to the place and the image. I am sure other times of day with the Sun in another spot it would not have been as interesting too me. But the light and shadows from the late afternoon really brought out the elements that were there. I was just lucky enough to be on hand to witness it.

Shifting gears a bit (ok, bad pun), I went out shooting all day this past Saturday for a new local interest magazine that is just getting started, Lakeside Stories Magazine. I am going all the photography for the magazine and had a long list of shots I needed to get. Busy busy day but very rewarding. So I except to have some images from this day o'shooting to post over the next few weeks. Check out the web site, it is still early as we get closer to publication in July things will really start to fill up.

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