Sunrise … Can Be Surprising

August 16, 2023August 15, 2023Kevin

At the time for sunrise (about 5:39 am), the skies were entirely a grey haze and the sun did not show. After waiting four or five minutes with a drone in the air, I abandoned hope and packed up my gear. Walking back toward the road, only then did I see the red disc had risen through the haze. For a brief moment, I pondered whether to simply enjoy the spectacle or quickly re-deploy my gear; I chose the latter.

In retrospect, the haze was more than just morning fog; it was smoke in the atmosphere from Nova Scotia wildfires that month. ‘Cause that will filter light unlike normal morning fog.

Mostly (not completely), I’ve learned not to be disappointed when sunrise doesn’t manifest brilliant colors. That’s challenging because arriving at a location before sunrise implies effort to get up early enough to travel to my intended location. In this particular case, I had to travel by bicycle … before dawn. Because getting a car onto the island is a bit difficult, I left my car on the mainland. And although motorized scooters are common on the island, they are prohibited by law at this time of day.

Flowering Trees at a Cemetary

May 15, 2023May 15, 2023Kevin

I love the season of flowering trees; sadly, in the northeast, the season only lasts maybe six weeks.

Ornamental flowering trees are commonly planted in many different spaces ranging from residential gardens to corporate office parks. One category that commonly hosts plantings of beautiful trees is cemeteries. While it may seem odd to some people, I’ve seen people of all sorts and ages strolling through cemeteries, even having a picnic. Last weekend, I visited a cemetery in Wakefield. Although the crabapple trees had all dropped their colorful petals, I counted more than two dozen dogwood trees in bloom.

From that short excursion, I wanted to share a comparison of two images of the same tree but photographed with wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens. There are a few reasons why you might choose to use one or the other. When in doubt, shoot them both.

The first reason you might choose a telephoto lens is because you can’t get close enough to your subject. I personally encountered that scenario a couple weeks ago, stopping to photograph cherry trees in bloom at a cemetery where the gates were locked. I photographed from outside the fence using a 100mm lens.

The second reason you might choose to use a telephoto lens is to control the background. The narrow field of view may enable you to exclude elements from the background. And a wide-angle lens can include more background, for more environmental context. In the two photos I’ve shared here, both the telephoto and the wide-angle image do show the environment context, but a telephoto also allowed me to exclude the tombstones entirely.

A third reason to choose either telephoto or wide-angle is depth perception. Wide-angle lenses commonly exaggerate distance; multiple subjects in the photograph appear to be farther apart, compared to using a longer/telephoto focal length. Conversely, telephoto lenses tend to compress distance, making multiple subjects (at different distances from the camera) appear closer together.

Lastly, when you have multiple subjects at very different distances, a telephoto lens combined with a small aperture may allow blurring the background – if that’s the effect you’re seeking to create. Both the images here employ an aperture about f\4.5.

2021 Cherry Blossom Watch : Boston MA

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021Kevin

For some folks, the annual blooms of flowering trees are highly treasured. While other trees – magnolias, crabapple, etc – are spectacular, ornamental cherry trees are commonly deemed to be the pinnacle of flowering trees. In Japan, the word Hanami means the viewing enjoyment of flowers (hana), but specifically the blossoms of cherry trees.

In Tokyo Japan, the reported peak blooming occurred around March 22. In Washington D.C., it was March 28 this year. But here in the northeast USA, the blooming is just starting.

Here are a few samples from Boston this past weekend. The first photo is of a Saucer Magnolia in full bloom. The squirrel sits upon a Yoshino Cherry tree that has not yet bloomed at all. The close-ups are both Sargeant Cherry as it was just beginning to bloom.

Wild Katahdin Landscape

March 15, 2021March 15, 2021Kevin

Mount Katahdin, northern terminus of the Applachian Trail

I’ve been thinking of turning this image into a wall poster and have finally done that. The scene is remarkable in particular because a solitary person appears quite small and provides the viewer a sense of scale. This mountain is unlike any other east of the Mississippi River.

I created this photograph during a solo visit to Katahdin. After spending the night at Chimney Pond, I arose early and ascended a very steep trail up to the top of the ridge. As a matter of lucky coincidence, this unidentified lone hiker happened to be about twenty minutes ahead of me.

Here’s what the medium-size poster looks like on my Redbubble store (https://www.redbubble.com/people/kevinheaven/shop).

2020 Cherry Blossom Watch – Boston Update

April 21, 2020November 5, 2022Kevin

April 19 – Boston
At the Public Garden, the flowering plum trees are solidly at peak bloom. Although some cherry trees are beginning to drop their flower petals, color will soon be reborn once the crabapples begin to bloom.

The jackpot of cherry trees is located nearby at the Charles River Esplanade. Here, multiple varieties of cherry trees are near peak bloom and should be giving a great display all this week. Of course, the Kwanzan Cherry trees (near the Hatch Memorial Shell) have not yet begun to bloom.

Charles River Esplanade, Boston Massachusetts

April 21 – Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Cherry trees near City Hall have not yet begun to bloom. Just across the street at Langdon Park, the prettiest tree in Portsmouth is just beginning to display the first few flowers. Downtown on State Street, flowing plum trees are displaying good color.

See my cherry blossom report from two weeks ago here:
https://www.kevindavisphoto.com/blog/2020-cherry-blossom-watch-boston-ma/

2020 Cherry Blossom Watch : Boston MA

April 5, 2020Kevin

All photos in this post were created this morning in Boston.

Considering that the peak bloom in Washington D.C. is at least a week early this year, I am a bit surprised that the timing of cherry blossoms in Boston is looking to be far more normal.

Washington D.C.

“Peak bloom” of the cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. generally pertains to the Yoshino cherry trees.

(According to the National Park Service) This year, peak bloom occurred about March 20, compared to last year when peak bloom occurred April 1. The March air temperatures this year were about seven degrees (f) warmer than last year.

Several years ago, I was in D.C. for the cherry blossoms when spring temperatures arrived earlier than normal. Fortunately for me, I caught the peak bloom just a day or two before a wind storm knocked most of the blossoms off of the Yoshino trees on March 25.

Branch Brook Park, Newark NJ

A 360-acre park, Branch Brook hosts 5000 cherry trees, the highest density of cherry trees anywhere in North America. With numerous varieties of cherry trees, they do not all bloom at the same time and peak season can last two to three weeks.

As I visited Branch Brook in 2019, the trees were spectacular around April 11.

In 2020, in the interest of social distancing for COVID-19, the park was formally closed to visitors. I can find no information regarding the timing of the cherry blossoms.

Boston MA

A bit akin to Branch Brook Park, Boston has a variety of different trees such that “peak bloom” in Boston is not a singular period of three to five days. Furthermore, Boston’s flowering trees include species other than cherry trees. The Back Bay area is known for Magnolias that bloom at the beginning of April, a dozen varieties of cherries, followed by Kwanzan Cherry that bloom near the end of the month, and then joined by Flowering Dogwood.

In 2019, cherry blossoms along the Charles River Esplanade were stunning around April 22.

Today in 2020, along with the blooming of Magnolias, both Haigan and Weeping Haigan cherry are just now blooming. While I did see two other cherry trees blooming, most cherry species have not yet begun to bloom in Boston.

Outdoor Photography – chasing mother nature

June 28, 2019July 28, 2022Kevin

Rumney Marsh photographed with an aerial drone (sUAS)

I first visited Rumney Marsh in the month of May. Although I discovered some great photo compositions, the marsh was mostly brown. Presuming that the grasses would fully transform the landscape into a greener palate, I vaguely planned to return some weeks later. Shown here below is my first image from the May visit:

This year, spring in New England has featured more rain than normal. Dry days are a bit like currency – have to spend them judiciously. Five or six weeks later I returned to the marsh on a dry day and found the green grasses covered the land, as expected. Unexpectedly, coastal clouds were lingering and the water reflected white sky (not blue sky).

While that is a nice image, … I had imagined the water reflecting a blue sky. So, I returned later that same day after the clouds cleared away. That final image is shown at the top of this article.

In all three instances, the image required post-processing for HDR, particularly because the buildings on the horizon were too bright. So each of these three instances is a combination of multiple exposures, simply to control the dynamic range of light.

Photo Opportunity – Blooming of the Cherry Trees

March 25, 2019Kevin

Evening at the tidal basin, Washington D.C.

Flowers blooming on Cherry trees is a harbinger of spring because Cherry trees bloom first, before other flowering trees. While these blooms are a much anticipated spectacle, predicting when the cherry trees will bloom … is difficult business.

From Macon Georgia to Boston Massachusetts, you can visit well-known groves of cherry trees. The trees bloomed in Georgia last week. Unfortunately, I missed it because of car trouble.

The very first blooms appeared in Macon GA around March 10. The very first blooms appeared in Washington D.C. just a few days ago.

The general blooming of Cherry trees in Washington D.C. has not happened yet, but should begin by end of this week. Midweek temperatures this week are still cool with overnight temperatures close to freezing. The current weather forecast tells that the temperature will warm this Thursday. So, blooms should be popping this coming weekend.

At our nation’s capitol, people do actively report the progress of the cherry tree buds. Here’s an update today:
cherry-blossoms-now-at-stage-4-with-peak-bloom-fast-approaching

The best-known location around D.C. is the tidal basin, shown in the photo above. As you can see in this late-day photo, it can draw a dense crowd. You will not find crowds like this early in the morning.

New England Autumn Foliage Season

September 22, 2017Kevin

I love autumn in New England. The colors of the leaves here are world famous. The reason is the large number of sugar maple trees and a good number of red maple trees.

If you are planning your fall vacation, there are a some good web sites that can help, but most are simply reporting the foliage as it is right now rather than forecasting when peak color will manifest.
Here’s a reasonably good map that I found helpful:

Peak Fall Foliage Map

Do keep in mind this is based upon past years and not necessarily an accurate prediction for this year. As they say in the stock market, past performance does not guarantee future results.

I’ve read multiple suggestions online that the color could be particularly vibrant this year, considering this year’s temperatures and rainfall. Eastern Massachusetts experience significant drought during 2016 … but not so in 2017.

Also consider the night temperatures are still warmer than usual. Tonight, temperature will finally drop into the 40s but warmth returns this weekend. This may mean peak color will be a bit later than usual.

Tulips at Boston Public Garden

May 14, 2017May 15, 2017Kevin

The tulips at Boston Public Garden. are an annual rite of spring. They are fun to photograph and I wanted to share some techniques with you.

This first image was shot at 7am on a Saturday morning. Early morning may be the only time when the garden isn’t swarming with people. To visually compress the distance, I used a 200mm lens.

This next image is different for several reasons. Of course, this is a closer view. Using a 100mm macro lens at an aperture of f/7, the depth of field is shallow. I chose to fill the frame with flowers and exclude the surrounding environment. Also note that the light is very different. I shot this image after 6pm with the evening sun directly shining on the flowers from the side.

Getting even closer, the image becomes more abstract. The image is about color and texture; the concept of “tulip” begins to disappear. I specifically chose to use an evergreen shrub for the background, knowing it would fall away to black because this side of the shrub is in shadow. (You can dimly see a green tulip stem rising along the left side of the image.)

Taking a step back, not as close as the previous image, this is more obviously a tulip. Still working with the dark background, I’ve repositioned myself to achieve back-lighting from the setting sun.

Additionally, I chose to break a couple photography “rules”. Intentionally photographing through a foreground tulip creates a highlight in the bottom left. It was a gamble that I think paid off quite well. A viewer will naturally be drawn to the lower highlight and the upper highlight. After bouncing back and forth a few times, you eventually find the beautiful color and texture in between. I find that my mind dwells on this image longer than the others.

A combination of backlighting, dark background, and close-up abstract shape.

Upon thinking “how can I look at this subject with a different perspective?” I finished up the evening by looking down on the flowers from a steep angle, as the sun was soon to fall behind the buildings of Boston. I chose a more narrow aperture here, f 16, because I wanted to hold some depth of focus from foreground to background. And because a smaller aperture means less light entering the camera, I increased the ISO. Aperture priority, f/16, 1/160 sec, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.

Washington D.C.

Branch Brook Park, Newark NJ

Boston MA

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