What's Happening

We're in the dog days of summer right now. It's been hot and humid, and frequently raining, for the past few weeks. A few nights ago we had a tremendous thunderstorm with very loud thunderclaps. No need to add water to the pool this summer, instead we're draining water out.

As far as photography goes, I'm trying to create shots of summer flowers before they wilt due to the summer heat. Some of the local fields of wildflowers have finally flowered to the point where they attract birds like goldfinches, as well as butterflies. The bird activity at my feeder has stopped almost entirely, and that's because they have moved on to more natural sources of food. Lately at my local nature center the birds are all over the wildflowers growing there. When the natural sources start to wane then I'll expect them to return to the feeder.

Below is a hawk that I discovered at a local park. He stayed on his perch atop a tall tree for awhile, apparently looking for signs of small animals for which to feed on.

Summer Morning

I don't chase sunsets so much any more, but I do chase sunrises on occasion, or at least the post-sunrise sunlight. There are a few personal reasons for this. I believe sunsets look great with some other beautiful landscape scene for the sunset to accentuate, especially a water feature. And we don't have a lot of those in our area. Also, as beautiful as they can be, sunsets are quite common. So if I'm picking some time out of my schedule to spend photographing I'd like to work on subjects that are more unique.

As for morning light, I often find interesting things happening. Such as fog or animal activity. Also many people aren't up in the early morning hours, so the scenes I find are often very surprising to people. I like my chances of having the images being more impactive and unusual.

In the photo below the sun had been up for a while, but the fog had not yet cleared. This is the time when I find very dramatic images.

Collingswood Show

This weekend I will be at the Collingswood NJ Crafts and Fine Arts Festival. The weather doesn't look too bad, considering all the rain our region has been getting lately. Saturday looks great. Please take advantage and stop by - I have new images and 2 new gallery wraps that I'm adding into the mix.