A (little) Spring in Our Step

There were moderately (I say this conservatively) spring-like temperatures this past weekend, so we were able to get out for a bit in Cattus Island State Park. I have been DYING (dying, dying, dying) to test out my new 100mm Macro f/2.8L on bugs so I was REALLY (really, really, really) hoping that we were finally going to see some signs of life. With the exception of a couple ants, my macro pickings have been limited to plant life, household objects, and my extremely uncooperative schnauzer. I’ve gotten to use the lens for bling shots of my brides/brides to be (which it’s awesome for, and I love the bling!) – but I was really hoping for some creepy crawlies.

I was in a little luck, and was able to spy a caterpillar on our walk. It was kind of windy, so holding his branch steady without freaking him out was difficult, but I got a couple of snaps. I also took a few other shots. Check out these snaps from our ‘nature walk’. There are only a few, because it really wasn’t that exciting.
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Sky’s The Limit

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Ray and I go to a handful of ‘regular’ sunset shooting locations depending on time of year. In the summertime, one of our key spots is a little dead end, where you almost have to kind of sit on someone’s bulkhead to get the shot. We’ve never been apprehended doing this, so I assume it’s legal.

Anyhow – while getting this shot, we were approached by a duck gang. They excitedly came up to us, trolling for bread. We don’t usually carry bread when we shoot – and the ducks were incredibly persistent. Lesson learned: bring bread.

Anyway, here’s the shot.

Play Ball!

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This may sound un-American – but I had never been to a baseball game prior to this Sunday. Well. That’s a little bit of a lie. I had gone to high school games (which I’m not sure count) but I had never been to an actual baseball stadium. If you only believe that major-league baseball games count – then I still have not been to a baseball game.

Anyhow – this Sunday I went to go see the local minor league game at a real life baseball stadium. I apologize if I am using terms incorrectly. It should be clear by now that I have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to sporting events. All I knew, was that I wanted a hot dog and a beer – and I wanted to sit down, eat my hot dog and drink my beer while there was baseball being played. Easy enough.

Lucky for me – it turned out to be a beautiful day, I got my beverage and nosh (it turned out to be a sausage sandwich, which was arguably better then a hot dog) and watched some baseball get played. Also lucky for me, the home team won (I was root, root, rooting for them – of course).

Here are some shots from the game. Please note that I was holding a beer while taking these.

There were more balls in the stands during this game than I was told was normal – so I was living in fear that I was going to take a line drive to the face. I had my jaw dislocated by a softball in middle school – so I am extremely shy about any kind of baseball-like ball coming at me.

The Creepy Man: How I ended up in Seaside Park

So the other night, Ray and I were going to see sunset at our usual spot because we were feeling lazy. Just as we pulled up, Ray totally balked and suggested we go someplace else, because ‘the creepy man’ was there.

Ray had told me about a week ago, that he’d been fishing at our favorite sunset spot, when a guy approached him and began talking out of nowhere. Ray said the man looked like a 17 year old boy in a 50 year old’s body, and had a very Of Mice and Men feel to him. After Ray had finally gotten away and escaped to the far side of the dock, he said that he could hear the man talking very loudly to himself, and seemingly becoming enraged by whatever he was saying to himself. Ray felt so uncomfortable that he left, saying he felt like the man was going to pull out a knife and stab him any second.

Anyway, when we pulled up the other night, I immediately saw a disturbing silhouette, and instinctively knew that it was the man-boy. So yeah. We went someplace else.

I’m glad we did – because I got this awesome shot:

Somethin’ Special

I made a modest attempt at using my new portrait lens for some scenic HDR photography. I didn’t really expect much out of the results, because it’s really not the right lens for the job – but I got a photo that I really do adore. It has a strong color cast and is obviously rather surreal, but I do like what happened. I suppose it’s good to experiment every now and again.

That’s lovely, right? Well. I happen to think it is.

 

Bonus Material

Sometimes when I’m going through a day’s pictures, I kind of have to triage and decide what I think is worth working on at the moment. Occasionally some potential photos end up slipping through the filter until months later when I really get a chance to go through my shots with a fine-toothed comb. I’ve done a little of this recently, and come up with a few that I didn’t think would work initially, but with a little love, have taken on a life of their own.

The shot below I really did not imagine working. I had gotten a bunch of really awesome shots from that day, because the sky was completely epic – so I didn’t really care much about what was going on in the other direction. However, the bike and camera bad nestled into some super golden green foliage is pretty cool.

Not bad, right?

The one above took a bit of tweaking. I had gotten a couple other nice shots from that night, and decided to try and go back and snag one more. The sky color was really dynamic and great, and I’m pretty happy with the way the ‘bonus material’ turned out.

On a whole, I’m glad that I had a chance to go back and pick out some other goodies from my heaping pile of unprocessed photos!

 

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Illegal Activity

Occasionally I find myself in places I shouldn’t be, trying to get photos. Once I found myself in someone’s backyard. Quiet trespassing has become a staple of many good photo outings, just because access to the shoreline is often restricted in really good places with cool architecture.

Case in point, this yacht club.

It’s just a nice, new spot for some photography. Unfortunately they are also yuppy Nazis who don’t approve of poor, yachtless photographers lurking around their prestigious club. Whatever, dude. I do what I want!

This one is my fave of the bunch.

All in a night’s trespass.

These Came Out Better than I Expected

I didn’t really have high expectations for Saturday. I’m not sure why. I was honestly feeling kind of lazy when we went to go see sunset, and I was getting a little snobby about how good it was going to be (there weren’t many clouds, and lately I feel like that’s boring). We went to a different location (which I really needed, honestly – because I was getting bored with the same thing in the foreground again and again, and trying to approach it in new and creative ways) and that seemed to make a huge difference.

Tah Dah!

I have been kind of down lately, and overwhelmed with about a billion life problems – so producing something I am proud of was a nice change this weekend. Not that I’m not proud of all my photos (I really am) but something about these I am extra happy about.

I was extra-happy because I really did not think this photo was going to turn out cool, or if the gazebo/bench thing was even going to work in the shot. Luckily for me, it looked like I secretly hoped it would.

So yeah. These photos came out better than I expected. Isn’t that a nice surprise?

Then, in un-related news, and to cap off what ended up a painful weekend – I dropped (MY FAVORITE) glass tupperware in the middle of the driveway, and was too tired last night to clean up the glass. I was holding a glass tupperware (and a million other things) because I bring it to work to warm up my soup in, because I have to be difficult and use glass instead of plastic. Then this morning I left and forgot I’d dropped a tupperware – effectively running over the glass.

Let’s see how this bodes for my car tires.

I Killed My Car Battery for These Photos

I learned an important lesson the other day. In short, that lesson is: do not leave your headlights on if you’re going to sit for an hour waiting for the sun to go down. I got some nice shots (I won’t say they’re terrible), but I do not own jumper cables. Luckily a friend of Rays (hi, John) had them and lived close by, so all was not lost. I didn’t like seeing the silver bullet lifeless, however.

I know I shouldn’t have been sitting with the headlights on and quietly reading a book as I waited for the sky to begin to do epic things, but I was. It was once again one of those cold days, so I was quietly bundled up in my nest, trying not to idle the car and instead use body heat so I didn’t get frostbite. I didn’t need headlights, so I don’t know why I didn’t click them off.

Lesson learned. Photos earned.

I knew I had to wait for the perfect moment on these shots. I need to straighten out the horizons (which I will in the final edits), but these are the rough work. The clouds were pretty heavy, but the light rays shooting through them were just totally epic.

 

Right?

This was one of the few circumstances that arise when I prefer the photos without the sun.

 

Patience

Sometimes, you just have to wait a sunset out. And sometimes, that’s not easy. Especially when it’s cold – and gas is really expensive so you’re not particularly keen on allowing your (fabulously awesome) vehicle to idle (which is bad for the environment anyway). Such is a situation I often find myself in. I arrive to sunset early (it’s getting later by the day) only to find that the sun is far too high and far too bright for me to get decent shots of it. I then have to wait around. This leads me to often stare directly at the sun for some reason (about as exciting as waiting for water to boil), and disrupts my vision for when I do actually start shooting.

Occupational hazards.

Anyway, I am almost always glad that I wait – even though I’ve been freezing while I do so. A ragtop is not conducive to holding in the heat. The following shots were taken from the window of my car. The vantage point didn’t really provide me with a lot of diversity in the shots, so there aren’t many. However – they aren’t terrible.

Yes, yes. Same gazebo as in the photos earlier. Just goes to show how much the sky changing can make a difference in location. I forgot that I did dart out of the car for one shot – so here’s that one.

Not bad.

I don’t typically do this – but I would like to directly address you (the reader) if you’ve gotten to this blog via my link on Instagram – thank you! I’m not sure if that little link ever gets clicked – but if you did click it, you’re awesome. If you did not get here through Instagram (but you know what it is) – I invite you to follow me – my username is realjerseyshore. If you have no idea what Instagram is – then ignore this last paragraph.