Seems like every time I’m at the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro, the water lilies are closed. I haven’t caught them open all summer. Do they close every evening?
Here is my small collection of (closed) water lilies:
Thanks for looking!
I struggled to pick a lead photo this week. I like the photos I got this week but nothing really seemed to pop.
I started the week of at the lake on a Tuesday lunch time visit. It was about 100 degrees though so I did not stay long. I saw an owl on the side of the road on the way in but was unable to get a shot of him. The only thing I got in Tuesday was this:
On Thursday I went before work. Usually I get a lot of photos when I visit in the morning, however, that morning I did not get much. I came across a doe and fawn but it was 6am and dark in the woods. Everything came out blurry. The only shot I liked from that day was this one:
On Friday, I dropped my son off at school. I wanted to be there to pick him up so I took the day off rather than go to work for only a few hours. So, with my son in school and my daughter in daycare, my wife and I headed to the lake. We hiked the lake trail and took the south lake trail back to make a loop. It was the first time I’d hiked the south lake trail.
We saw an owl…
The background in this is awesome!
The fawns are getting big and losing their spots…
In the middle of the woods, there is a bench with a plaque that says “Play Ball”…. I don’t get it. This was on the South Lake Trail
Another week down! I would like for it to cool down some but that gets me thinking about winter – I’m not sure how I’ll make it through winter….
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Today is my sons first day of school…..EVER! I’ll be dropping him off for Kindergarten this morning. He’s a little worried about it but I’m sure he’ll enjoy it.
He and I went to his school last weekend to get some photos.
More for my Murfree Springs Wetlands series. The last post for this series featured the Night Herons that can be found there, this post will feature the Ducks!
All these shots were taken this summer at the Murfree Springs Wetlands, in Murfreesboro Tennessee
Thanks for looking!
I’ve seen some really great “Cookie Splash” shots on flickr and I’ve been wanting to try it.
Now, I don’t drink coffee (or even own a coffee cup) so I had to think of something else. Being so hot lately, I decided on using a nice refreshing glass of Lemonade.
I also don’t even own a flash, so I had to do it outside in the sun to get the fast shutter speed.
I really liked the splash on this one but I wish there wasn’t so much motion blur. After this shot I upped the iso to get an even faster shutter speed (from 1/2000 to 1/4000)
This was my last attempt, I actually threw the lemon into the glass (instead of dropping) to try to get a huge splash – The lemonade shot straight up
I really had fun with these – I’ll probably be doing more soon!
Setup:
The settings for these shots are virtually the same
Exposure: 1/4000s at f2.8
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 108mm (far enough away to not get splash on the lens!)
Put the camera on a tripod, set it to “Burst” mode (In this case I did a 6 shot burst)
Hold the drop item over the glass, when the burst starts drop or throw the item into the glass – easy as that!
I’ve got a good variety of shots this week – HDR, black and white, wildlife, flower, textured……. All kinds of good stuff!
Despite extremely hot temperatures (heat index at least at 110 2 days!) I was able able to get to the Radnor Lake 3 times this week.
I went Monday on my lunch break. It was very quiet that day, I didn’t get much other that this:
Still on the shallow depth of focus and the black and white kick!
On Tuesday I went before work and was able to catch this amazing sunrise from the shore of the lake
Yes, the lake really is very green – it’s the duckweed that is growing throughout the lake
After the sunrise died down, I headed out along the lake trail. Here is what I was able to capture:
I followed these two around for a while but could not get any better shots of the fawn. I got really close at one point but it was so dark that my shutter speed was around 1/20. I’m just not steady enough to get a clear shot at 1/20. I may need to invest in a good ball head tripod….
Finally by Friday it cooled down a lot – so I headed out on my lunch break. I didn’t see any wildlife, so I started taken some “random” shots:
Also found some wildflowers along Otter Creek Rd
On the way back to the car I got a shot of this butterfly and I wanted to try textures again (Last week’s lead shot was a textured butterfly photo also)
Also, while I was just about back at the car, this little woodpecker landed very close
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I’ve decided to try to post more series, my last post was the start of my Back Yard Fun series (that one for Humming Birds) — So here’s another series I will start – photos taken at the Murfree Springs Wetlands, at the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro.
Most everyone already knows how much I enjoy Radnor Lake, another spot I visit frequently is the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro (much closer to home!). There’s a playground there so the kids love it, and there are always Ducks, Herons, Birds, Dragonflies, Flowers….. All sorts of things for a photographer to shoot.
In this post, I’ll feature the Night Herons. All the shots were taken this summer:
I have so many pictures that I don’t really know what to do with! I’m going to try to make a few more posts here for some of my “Random” shots. This is one series I’ll be posting over the next couple of weeks – Back Yard Fun. Because there are so many, I’ll break it up into groups
This first group is Humming Birds. We are lucky enough to have several humming birds this year (I’ve counted as many as 4 at one time). They’re pretty easy to get close to. I usually just pull out a chair and sit and wait. They always show up soon!
Here are a few:
A very short week for me – I was traveling for work during most of the week. Unfortunately I was only able to visit Radnor Lake for 30-40 minutes on Friday.
I tried some different processing on the shot above, including adding textures. I think it turned out alright but I’m hoping for a much better week next week!
Here are some others I got:
This guy seemed to want his picture taken
A macro lens would be fun to use with these guys! There are tons of them at Radnor
My obsession with shallow DOF continues! I’ve also been converting more to black and white lately
Probably my favorite from this week – I like the simplicity and the light on the leaves.
So that’s all I managed in the short time I was there.
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I was recently in the areas of Dallas and Austin Texas. It was my first time in Texas so even though it was a business trip, I brought my camera. Unfortunately (as I assumed would happen) I did not have time for photography. Not even our hotels were very interesting. I never even saw the Austin skyline until I was on the way to the airport to leave. I spent most of the days in conference rooms and the afternoons touring houses (I work for a home builder Drees Homes)
The only chance I got was after dinner on Monday in Irving, Texas (just out side of Dallas). The skies looked great so I walked across the street from the hotel and found an office building to include in the photos:
The next morning I got these from the window of my hotel room:
The skyline in the far distance on the left is, I believe, Dallas
Austin really seems like a great city, I would love to visit again with my family when I can spend time doing photography…..
Southern Appalachian Spruce Fir – Roan Highlands, Tennessee/North CarolinaJune 13, 2017 - 8:27 pm
Blue Ridge Parkway Mile Post 19 – 20 Minute CliffJune 3, 2017 - 9:32 am
General Jackson – Charlottesville, VirginiaMay 30, 2017 - 8:40 pm
Frisco Pier – Cape Hatteras, North CarolinaMay 30, 2017 - 8:35 pm
Bodie Island Lighthouse and Milky Way – Nags Head, North CarolinaMay 30, 2017 - 8:30 pm