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.

Rainy Phillies Game

Ryan and I took in a Phillies game last Friday night, against the St. Louis Cardinals. They lost the game, but we still had fun. There was a rain delay to make things a little interesting. Here are a few shots from my Canon point-and-shoot.

Daylily Stamens Up Close

In our neck of the woods daylilies are just about everywhere. They are so common that I usually avoid them - that's just me. But with my new macro lens I can bring out patterns that are normally overlooked. I was able to keep these images of the stamens quite soft which makes them border on the abstract. A nice pair, I think.





Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Bugs

I recently purchased a quality macro lens, a 90mm Tamron for my Nikon D80. I already have a 70-200mm f2.8 made by Sigma that is branded as a "macro" lens, because it has the capability of a 1:3.5 magnification ratio. I haven't really attempted much macro photography, so I didn't really "get" why this lens doesn't do a good job as a macro lens.

First of all the magnification ratio is not all that much. "True" macro lenses can go to a 1:1 ratio - maybe more, although I'm not a lens guru so I don't know for sure. In addition the 70-200 creates a lot of chromatic aberrations when used wide open at close focusing distances. What this means is that funny colors start to appear around edges, more-so at high-contrast edges. This either ruins an image, or forces me to perform some surgery using software (something I prefer not to do).

So I bit the bullet and bought the 90mm Tamron lens, based on many good reviews I've read, including those on fredmiranda.com, and I've been giving it quite a workout. I now find that my opportunities for creating compelling flower photography have multiplied greatly. The image quality is fantastic.

And now that I'm able to work at much closer distances than before I'm now seeing more of a different sort of wildlife than I'm used to, as the photo below shows.



Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Fawning

I found a trio of fawns in a field near Council Rock High School South. They were slowly working from one side of the road across to the other. I was able to get relatively close without them getting too skittish. After a little while they became uncomfortable and ran for the safety of the trees, where I grabbed this image of one of them.



Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Going For a Drink

This was one of two elk we found working through some brush along a stream. This was near the Hidden Valley area of Rocky Mountain National Park. These animals do not react much to humans, even ones that get rather close. I guess that after the thousands of tourists they see each year they realize we're not really a threat.



Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Feeding Time

I am not seeing much variety in bird species lately at the bird feeder. But the activity is incredible right now. We always have had nests in our trees and bushes and I think there are just as many if not more this year.

The other day I saw these younger birds take their spots on the old branch I have set-up near the feeder, and sat there waiting with their little wings fluttering. A few seconds later the mommy or daddy bird came from the feeder and fed the babies. This went on for a while. Very fun to watch.



Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Pikes Peak

14,110 feet. That's the altitude of Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs. The drive to the top is slow but exciting. The drive down is also slow. You absolutely must keep your car is Low gear to avoid using your breaks. There is a break-temperature check station halfway down. I felt I was going too slow, based on the speed of other drivers, but my brakes were only 119 degrees - quite low.

We had a lot of partly-cloudy days, and that often yields beautiful sunsets.