Canadian Geese
Was driving around some back roads today while I stumbled upon a full field of Canadian Geese.
Don't think these geese got the memo. Psst, your suppose to fly south for the winter.
Happy New Year!!!
Well it is new years eve, Happy New Year everyone. For me it has been a good year. Lately I haven't done much photography. I find I go through spells mainly due to lack of time. In any event I've been meaning to post my favorite photos that I've taken in 2009.
Choosing my favorites is harder than I thought it would be. I'll start with this one here
The Rose
I bought my wife some rose oh back in January I guess it was. I captured this photo with my old camera which was a Nikon D50. This is not the original picture though. A few months ago I went back through some old photos and applied some knowledge I've gained in CS4. This particular photo I applied a couple of different textures.
Fast forward a few months and I find myself with a new Nikon D90. I've been happy with the D90 but I sometimes wonder if I should of held out for a D300. In any event the D90 saw a lot of use, over 3500 photos for the year. In July we went out to Lake Winnipesaukee for vacation. During this vacation I had a goal of capturing some photo that I liked enough to use for a gallery wrap. This is what I ended up with ....
On The Lake
Had this mounted as a 20x30 gallery wrap, came out pretty good. While on this vacation I also ended up with this photo that became one of my favorites
This photo was a total surprise when I transferred everything over to my PC. Didn't realize I captured something like this.
The next couple of photos that made it to my favorite of the year list were taken at Sturbridge Village. I'll tell you visiting Sturbridge Village is a photographers dream. Every time you turn around a new composition pops into view.
Daily Ritual
This is probably one of my favorites. I took this around the time that I started shooting in full manual. This photo was taken indoors using natural light. What you see is pretty much straight out of the camera. The tray is a little blown but overall I'm happy with the results.
I almost didn't include this photo. The original had three turkeys in it. I loved the detail on the turkey pictured, but the other turkeys were out of focus and did the photo no justice. I went to work in Photoshop and added a background. I haven't done much with layers and masks but I was happy with the results I've achieved in this photo.
On my commute to work I pass this barn most mornings. I'd been thinking about this photo and going back and forth on how to frame it best. The problem was directly in front of the barn was a fairly new car garage. It just didn't fit in well with the barn as well as also preventing a straight on capture of the barn. I finally made it out and here are the end results...
This fall I had fun with colors. I was in a creative mood and had my camera with me almost anywhere that I traveled. This here is one of my favorites from that time period captured at rail trail in West Boylston.
We now find ourselves at my last favorite photo of the year.
This is my childhood school. I've been exploring HDR techniques and was very pleased with the results I ended up with here. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is a process where you take multiple photos changing the exposure in each to capture. By doing this you have photos that are properly exposed for the shadows, midtones and highlights. Using Photomatrix I created a tonal map and merged three photos to get these results. Looking back at this photo if I were to do it again I would spend time removing the telephone wires.
Well that's what I have from 2009. I hope to explore HDR more in 2010. I hope to also explore flash photography some. I say I like to shoot in natural light the best. But the truth is I really don't know how to use strobes well. So I may venture into that area.
Happy New Year everyone!!! Hope you and your families have a healthy and prosperous year!!!
Red Tail Hawk
Went out for a ride this afternoon needing to get out of the house. Only went about 1/4 mile down the street and saw this Red Tail Hawk. After seeing him/her I was able to go back home and grab my camera.
At first the hawk did not notice that I was there until another car came down the street. At this point the hawk took a look around to see what was going on.
After noticing us the hawk placed himself so he was standing over his meal. At the same time he puffed up his chest trying to make himself look bigger.
I say he but it could of been a female since male or female both look the same.
I've been living in leominster for over 40 years and I can say that this is not a common site in this area. I can remember as a kid there was a Red Tail Hawk in the French Hill neighborhood that we followed for a few days. I've seen them circling around especially around the Nashua river, but never seen them after capturing supper.
I need to start carring my camera with me more often, almost missed this chance.
Castle in the Clouds
Went to a photoshop seminar taught by Scott Kelby. I learned how much I don't know about photoshop. Anyways went through some old pictures that for whatever reason I chose not to post in the past. With some of my newly acquired skills I was able to save a few. This one here was taken at Castle in the Clouds in the lakes region of New Hampshire. I think it makes a nice monochrome.
This photo is part of the monochrome weekly theme. Click here to see more monochromes from around the
world.
Mass Central Rail Trail
This past weekend we ventured out to the rail trail again. This time around I brought my family with me. The Mass Central Rail Trail consists of what once was a 104-mile route of the railroad that runs from Northampton to Boston. The area I walked is part of what is known as the Wachusett Greenways rail trail. This is a 30 mile stretch found in the towns of Sterling, West Boylston, Holden, Rutland, and Oakham. This section I'm talking about today is the West Boylston/Holden section going from Oakdale to River Street along the Quinapoxet River which totals 3 miles in length.
Right from the start the area is very scenic. This wall with the ivy growing on it is found on the right side at the Oakdale entrance. On the left side you have the which is either the Quinapoxet River or the Stillwater River (not sure which). The Quinapoxet and Stillwater Rivers are the two major tributaries to the Wachusett Reservoir.
Once of the nice features if you have children is the storybook walk found at the beginning of the trail. Every 100 feet or so you can find a sign post. Each one of these posts contain a page from a children's book. For this visit the title of the book was Danny and the Dinosaur. I haven't walked this trail enough to know if the book changes at all. In any event, Ashley loved this feature.
It is not uncommon to find fisherman along the rail trail. Seasonal fishing is permitted. I happened to notice a few signs warning fisherman that water levels can change at a moments notice. I imaging that this dam and the spillway beside pictured below have something to do with it.
My first visit, this spillway did not have any water flowing through it. I was surprised to see how much water was flowing this past weekend.
A little over 1 mile in you reach the I-190 overpass. Here is where the Sprindale Mill River Walk starts. An interesting thing I noticed is that dogs are not allowed past this point. It seems that a lot of people go up to this point and turn around to head back. Not sure if it has anything to do with the dogs not allowed or just the fact that it makes a roughly 2 mile round trip.
1\2 mile past the I-190 overpass you find the Springdale Mill. This is a historic site dating back to 1865. By 1879, the mill manufactured 250,000 yards of fancy cassimeres (closely woven twill wool, usually used for men's suits), and employed over 35 people, a large percentage of the adult population of Springdale.
Not much left of the mill, mostly empty cellars and a lot of rubble. 
Pictured here is not the original turbine used at the mill, but it is the same model.
This site has two locations if you will. Along side the river and on the west side of the rail trail is where the mill was. If you head east and walk up the trail leading up the hill you will find where the village was. An important part of the mill being successful was having able workers to work the mill. This village was owned by the mill owner and had multifamily tenant buildings. In all roughly 35 adults lived here.
About all that is left of the village is these stone foundations. You will find 5 or 6 of these at the top of the hill. Mill operation ceased its operations in 1906. This was around the time that the Wachusett Reservoir was created and there was fear that the river feeding it would get polluted by this mill as well as others.
I'd have to say, I just love the reflections I see here each time I visit.
* Information I gathered came from the following web sites http://www.springdalemill.org/ and http://www.wachusettgreenways.org/. Feel free to visit them to learn more about this area.