Thursday morning, I spent half a day hiking along the river in Clifton Gorge. The weather was perfect & as always in the spring, I had the itch go get out and comune with Mother Nature. When it comes to the woods, I am pretty predictable.
supervised play
I haven't posted any numbers in a long time. I've gotten some nice comments about the light in this image. The light is natural and comes fromt he windows to the right. Notice that I had to bump up the ISO and crank down on the shutter speed to get these tones. 1/30 is at the limit of my ability to shoot hand held. Any slower and I would have to use a tripod.
| Exposure | 0.033 sec (1/30) |
|---|---|
| Aperture | f/4.5 |
| Focal Length | 28 mm |
| ISO Speed | 1600 |
sailing upstream
The rock in the center of the river is called Steamboat Rock. I think it looks more like a giant Spanish galleon. This is one of my favorite parts about hiking in the gorge in Clifton, OH. Our area of Ohio is generally pretty flat. However, when you hike down into the gorge, you feel like you are following a river in a valley between two mountain ridges.
hiding in plain sight
I was shooting early morning on Huffman pond. The reflections of the golden leaves were simply gorgeous & I shot several frames.
And then I suddenly realized that hidden in plain sight at the edge of the spectacular color was a trio of deer. It was at this moment that I really regretted the fact that I don't have a long lens.
silver giant
What is the largest tree in North America, west of the Rockies? Why it is my favorite tree, the sycamore. I love the way the bark peels off of the tree as it grows taller. What is left behind is a silver and white, brilliantly smooth trunk. You can see a large sycamore from quite a distance. When you are underneath one, you learn that their leaves are sometimes a foot wide.
Yes, my favorite tree of all time. There is this one very special oak tree in Germany, but that is another story for another time.
the blue hole
This location was the subject of a painting titled "Blue Hole, Little Miami River". Created by Robert Duncanson in 1851, the painting can be seen at the Cincinnati Art Museum. If you don't live in the neighborhood, you can see an image of the painting by following this link:
What do you know? You just experienced a little culture. Didn't hurt as much as you thought it might, did it? I know, I am often shocked my self.
Have a great day folks.
double breasted cormorants
I didn't know that we had cormorants in Ohio. When I got up early and captured these birds on the pond, I thought they were loons. I was set straight by a photo friend on flikr that recognized them right away.
Now I know. Don't you like learning something you didn't know before? So, there you go. Double breasted cormorants on a pond in Ohio. Go figure. I wonder if we have penguins? They might have wandered in with the hard frost we got last weekend.
sunrise overload
My weekend was that good. Every morning, I was able to wander over to see the sunrise over one pond, lake, or farm field. Sometimes I think that I must not be that bad of a person to be able to see such beauty. Sunday morning was the best. I stopped by Panera to get a large hot chocolate and then headed for the pond at Huffman park to see the double breasted cormorants wake up. I'll share those photos with your tomorrow. Today, you get the sunrise.
floating leaf
A common sight this time of the year, but I never get tired of seeing the pretty leaves floating in the streams and ponds. This one was captured on the pod at Huffman metro park, near Dayton.
chilled farm morning
Foggy and chilly morning off Rt. 40 near Huber Heights.
tim mcmurdo 