Photographs by Frank

13 October 2015

Autumnal Abstracts Et Alia

Filed under: Autumn — Tags: , , — Frank @ 1:00 PM

It has been about two weeks since I last posted here. I have been busy… photographing! Thus this should be the first in a series of posts in rapid succession that will ‘catch me up’.

A week ago*, I took a late afternoon walk on the un-maintained section of Brimstone Corner Road. Newly fallen leaves were just beginning to accumulate on the ground and I was inspired to add to my collection of Autumnal Abstracts that I began about this time last year. (Also included are a couple of other less abstract photos made in the same time frame. Thus the ‘et al.’.)

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* Tues. 6 Oct to be exact.

 

29 October 2014

Puddles of Sky

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 9:00 PM

Sunday afternoon, I made a right at the end of our driveway and walked up the un-maintained section of Brimstone Corner Road.

My plan was to make photographs of the yellow foliage (mainly beech) of the forest understory.

However, I got distracted by the reflections in the puddles left over from last week’s rain.

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Despite the distraction, I did make a few photographs of the foliage along the way.

About a mile up Brimstone Corner Road from the house, one comes to a “T” intersection that is actually in Hancock; this intersection is “Brimstone Corner”. A small stream is carried under the road here in a stone culvert that I would guess to be somewhere between 150 and 200 years old.

I have been meaning to try to photograph this culvert and made a first attempt on this trip.

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20 October 2014

Last Call for Autumn Landscapes (for this year, at least)

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 10:00 PM

Foliage season here in the Monadnock region is finally winding down. The season began early with the swamp maples turning in late August,  For the past week or so the landscape has been dominated with the yellow-browns of the oaks and beeches, although one still finds a splash of the reds and oranges of the maples here and there.

It has been a good season!

I have taken to driving the back roads (rather than the “numbered routes” as I go about my errands. I stop when see a possibility for a good photograph and try not to be late for scheduled appointments! All of these photos were made in the past 10 days or so.

I am having trouble deciding which of the two photos of the barn I prefer. Likewise, I am torn between the horizontal and the vertical compositions that I have titled “Edge of the Field in Autumn” (i.e. the last two photos). Anyone have strong preferences between these alternatives?

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15 October 2014

Gregg Lake Panoramas

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 12:00 PM

The autumn foliage has been about peak for the past few days.

My photographic tendency, when it comes to landscapes, is to concentrate on the details; the “intimate landscape” a lá Eliot Porter.

However, every once in a while, I figure out how to capture the larger landscape. One mechanism for doing this is the panorama; digital photography has made it easy to build panoramas without special equipment.

The first of these panoramas was constructed by combining three frames shot from Gregg Lake Road on a cold, gray day (last Saturday). The second combines two frames shot from my kayak on a warm, mostly sunny day (yesterday).

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4 October 2014

Ashuelot River at Gilsum

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 6:00 PM

After a day of rain on Wednesday, Thursday dawned with a heavy overcast. However, by mid-afternoon the skies seemed to lighten a bit and I headed out to see if I could photograph the stone arch bridge in Gilsum, NH. One of the tallest bridges of its type, it spans a mini-canyon carved by the Ashuelot River.

The terrain (high steep river banks and the curve of the river) and a gauging station conspire against nice photos of the bridge from river level, but I was able to make some nice photos of the river just upstream from the bridge.

As I was headed north on route 10, back towards home, I noticed some “interesting” light developing and was able to find a spot to pull off the road and take advantage of the short interval (two minutes, maybe) before the light turned dull and drab again. The last photo is the result of this quick stop.

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27 September 2014

Autumnal Abstracts

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes — Tags: , , — Frank @ 3:00 PM

Thursday afternoon, I went for a walk hoping that the clouds would break near sunset and I would have interesting skies and “good light” on the landscape.

This was not to be.

While waiting for the “good light”, I entertained myself in the drab gray light by playing with long exposures (10-20 seconds) and deliberate camera movements as I am wont to do on occasions such as this*.

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*Warning photographer talk ahead! Dull, low light makes long exposures easier although I still needed a neutral density filter for these photographs.

 

25 September 2014

Margins Redux

Filed under: Early Fall,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 12:00 PM

One of the peculiarities of landscape photography is that even though parts of the landscape are seemingly constant, other parts (e.g. the light and the weather) are constantly changing.

These facts have two consequences for photography:

#1 — Keep revisiting the same landscape; your photos will always be different.

#2 — If you see an interesting landscape in good light, stop and make a photograph right then and there; second chances on great conditions are rarely granted. Of course, in order to do this you always have a camera with you!

Thus, yesterday morning while out running errands, I could not (once again) resist the combination of puffy white clouds, blue sky and red swamp maples.

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24 September 2014

Margins

Filed under: Early Fall,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: , — Frank @ 2:00 PM

Ecologically, the transitions between different environments (forest and field or water and land, for example) are very important areas. These transitions often provide shelter for animals on one side and hunting grounds on the other side.

In the early autumn many of these margins (especially those involving water) are often highlighted in the red of early-changing swamp maple foliage.

On days with puffy autumn clouds and deep blue skies one can make wonderful photographs of the landscape.

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20 September 2014

Early September

Filed under: Birds,Early Fall,Landscapes,Mammals,Monadnock Region — Tags: , , — Frank @ 2:00 PM

The beginning of September brings three harbingers of the autumn that is just around the corner…

The hawks and other raptors begin their migration. We, in the Monadnock region, are lucky to have a wonderful spot from which to observe this world-class spectacle. New Hampshire Audubon organizes and staff an observatory on the summit of Pack Monadnock in Miller State Park during September and October each year. Visits are always interesting; I tend to go on weekdays when it is not quite as busy.

The swamp maples begin to turn red. For some reason, the swamp maples at the north end of Gregg Lake seemed to turn especially early this year; there were signs of red in late August. Currently, these trees are about at their peak and there it little change most of the other trees.

The chipmunks become manic. Living more-or-less in the woods, with a property bounded by stone walls, we are well acquainted with chipmunks. However, in early September as the acorns start to drop, the chipmunk activity really picks up. One does not even have to go outside as their squeaking vocalizations are clearly heard when the windows are open.

Late yesterday afternoon, I noticed “nice light” on the chipmunk highway (i.e. the stone wall) down by the road. I headed down, with camera in hand, hoping to get some photos of “flying” chipmunks as they jumped from stone to stone, often with an acorn in their jaws. I failed miserably… they are just too fast for me! I did manage a couple of frames of individuals who stopped to eat along the highway!

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2 April 2014

Keeping Busy in the Late Winter and… Signs of Spring

Filed under: Garden Flowers,Landscapes,wildflowers,Wildlife — Tags: , , , — Frank @ 2:00 PM

Arrrgh… blasted computers!

I went to write this post (the first in two months… how time flies!) and found that WordPress was asking me to update a number of things; which I dutifully did. This broke gallery plug-in that I have been using to display sets of photos. I have spent part of two days trying, without success, to get things working again! I have given up (at least for the moment). Thus, you will note a much less elegant presentation of the photos included in this post. Please click on each thumb nail for a larger version and then click on the larger image to close it.

Here is the post I was contemplating before update hell intervened…

February and March are always the slow time in my photographic year and this year has been no exception. Stretches of cold gray weather followed by a day or two of  cloudless bright sun… neither of which are very conducive to landscape or wildlife photography. Most years we see signs of spring by early April and the photographic opportunities reassert themselves… not this year, as yet!

There is still more than a foot of snow on the ground and “ice out” on the lake  is no where in sight. There are a few meager signs that spring is coming… the snow has a nice wet slushy consistency, a few robins have appeared, the temperatures are falling to barely below freezing at night and the road is a quagmire! Yesterday, it was even warm enough to spend some time making saw dust fly in the garage Spring can’t be too far away… right!?

Although the making of new photographs has been slow, I have been “photo-active” in other ways. For instance, I put together and submitted a portfolio of fifteen 8″x 10″ prints (matted to 11″ x 14″)  in support of my application to become an exhibiting member at the Vermont Center for Photography. I am glad to say that this portfolio was favorably received and I was accepted as an exhibiting member at the end of February.

The Vermont Center for Photography is a gallery and resource center located in Brattleboro, VT (about an hours drive from the house). For the moment, I plan to take part in their group exhibits. I also plan to use their darkroom facilities as I experiment with hand-made cameras (see this post, for example).

Here are the photographs I submitted:

 

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