With all of my travels, it is frustrating that I do not get a chance to get out and shoot fall colors very often. While traveling to New York City a couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to get out and shoot for a couple of hours. I was hoping that Central Park would be at the height of color, but that was not the case. There were limited locations with fall color, but those small areas still proved to be beautiful!
I saw this statue amongst the red and orange leaves, but wanted more in the photo. I moved to a location where I had a tree with green leaves in the foreground, and shot through those colors to create a dramatic contrast in colors. I photographed this at f/5.6 to make sure that the primary focus was on the statue, using the leaves as secondary subjects.
The light was trickling through the upper canopy of trees and hitting this branch. I walked by and noticed the awesome light on these leaves. It is times like this that I love being a photographer. If not for photography, I would probably have walked by this and never noticed this simple beauty.
More pretty fall colors... You will notice that I shot most of these images at -.3 exposure compensation. This is a great way to accentuate the colors in the trees and the sky. It is also a great way to protect your highlights to make sure that the bright areas of your photos are not blown out.
As I mentioned, there weren't that many trees showing fall colors, so the ones that has color were attracting a lot of attention. I was attracted not only to the color of the leaves, but also by the way that all the people were rim lit by the sun behind them.
It wasn't just the fall colors that attracted me. I saw this one plant and got in really close to show the repetitive patterns of the leaves. I just love finding natural beauty in small places.
OK, this might not qualify as natural beauty, but on the edge of the park, I came across this light post and had to shoot this photo. I really like the one white pigeon amongst the rest.
Back into the park again, I saw this old light that was side lit against the fall colors. This is a simple photo, but it is also a good example of how standing close to an object and shooting at the right aperture can draw the eye to the sharpest part of the photo.
And then as I continued to walk through the park, I came across this woman painting a Tupelo tree. It was not long before this, that I thought "I need a good subject to photograph in this surrounding" and here she was.
And of course, I went up to her and introduced myself and asked her about her painting. Her name is Patricia Melvin and she does amazing work which can be seen
here.
I walked around and photographed her from different angles, making sure to include the scene and her interpretation of the surroundings. She also had some other bags of supplies which were blocking the wood easel. I politely asked if I could move them out of the frame to shoot this wide shot.
I especially love this shot of her unfinished painting and her pallet. I showed this to my wife (also very artistic) when I got home and she said "wow - I love her pallet!!"
And lastly, here is a photo showing mother nature's pallet. So awesome!
11 comments:
Jeff you are an inspiration for all of us!!
keep us the amazing uniqe work of yours.
Hi. I was in Central Park this morning and caught a few of the lovely colors myself. And the flowers are still out - such delicate small winter flowers.
I especially love this shot of her unfinished painting and her pallet. I agree with your wife that the pallet is quite lovely and looks great with her painting!!!
Jeff - you seem to be using the 28-300 on your travels a lot... Do you find it is heavy? The quality of your shots is great... Love your thoughts.
I really loved the photo of the woman painting in front of the trees. Great job, you are very inspiring for me!
Hi Jeff, thanks again, had this very similar tour last year. Love that place.
Iain - I have been using that lens more. It is a little heavy, but saves me carrying 3 or 4 lenses. And I can carry the one lens and not have to constantly change and get dust on my sensor. :)
Nice work Jeff!
Dave
Hi Jeff, do you use Canon cameras when you are travelling..
Yes, I carry a Canon DSLR with me everywhere I travel. :)
Thank you for sharing! I am a new photographer and I am still learning; simply getting to see good shots is valuable.
Jeff, Appreciate you sharing your experiences. Beautiful pics and interesting stories. Like the behind the scenes explanations of setting up for the photos. this inspires me to go out and shoot!
Post a Comment