Nature Calls

I tend to consider myself a "big picture" type of photagrapher. I like the whole kit and kaboodle. That is why cityscape is my favorite type of photography, panoramics, high vantages...etc. If it doesn't fit in my kit lens from 500 feet away...Its good stuff. Half of the thrill is finding locations to fit the image in my lens. I mean, Chicago makes it easy with a 103 story elevator takes you to the top of the Willis tower to give you a 50 mile vantage on a clear day...But scouring Detroit for a location to give you a great view is just as fun as finalizing the photo. What I'm getting at is part of my attempt to become a better photographer is to take images outside my "comfort zone". Not that its any more difficult to take a picture of a landscape...but it is just not what I am naturally attracted to. In conclusion here are some photographs of my attempt at capturing the essence of nature.


This image is of the West Falls of the Black River. I found these in a small town called Elyria just outside of Cleveland Ohio. This was a rather low flow day due to the lack or recent rain. Normally the two seperate falls can be found cascading as one due to the large amount of water, but such was not the case. I did not mind however, as I though the detail in the rocks was just as great as the flowing water itself. I just wish that at the time I had a ND filter of some sort, as the sky is extremely blown out and it was rather blue that day. But for the sake of the trip I couldn't sit around and wait for the sun to set.

This tree was in a park off of Walton in downtown Rochester, MI. The colors were perfect that day as this image was barely altered during post-processing. The reds and oranges of the tree popped right off the blue sky, and the clouds were perfect. Normally I would crop this shot lower, but this image blows up perfectly in 3:2 ratio, and the clouds look phenomenal and add more depth to the shot.

Also in downtown Rochester this was a nice wispy river underneath Rochester road (underneath the bridge heading north from the Rochester Hills to downtown Rochester. It was very tough getting any motion in the water as the sun was extremely bright. Thankfully it was under a bridge, I had a ND2x filter on me and I just made the aperture as miniscule as possible. This allowed for a great depth of field allowing crisp rocks, clear water motion, and a sharp background.

I photoagraphed this little gem in a fountain in Cranbrook. I thought the water and leaf had great freshwater colors, often found in Michigan fall. The leaf was very deteriorated and had obviously been there a while but I thought it looked great as it passed under water droplets from the fountain.

This tree is from a summer day at St. Clair Shores, MI. I was trying to find some good lanscapes with water in the background, but the lake colors looked very poor in the bright sun. So I was fooling around with a new combination of equipment and was getting a little annoyed with the sun. So I used this tree to block it and the shadow lined right up to my feet. I decided that the high contrast would work great in black and white and I really like the image. I just wish such an open tree was a little more detached from society because I do not like the park slide, gymnasium, and cars in the background.

This is another monument from Cranbrook. This fountain made for a great reflection, and the differing colored trees, great symmetry, and nice afternoon clouds all paired together for an excelling snap.

Just another version of the tree from above. I was actually using the sunset setting on my Sony alpha-300, to try and boost the reds. I think this is a great image and looked awesome on my computer background...I also really like the varying colors of trees in the background, some already naked, others with greens and yellows.