Natural Vs. Artificial: New Jersey Landscape Photography

I have long been interested/obsessed with lightning. As a kid, I used to love going out to the front stoop to watch storms. Living in a neighborhood with lots of trees didn’t exactly afford the best view of lightning or the sky – so the second I could drive, I began logging hours by the shore. At first, it was the bay beach a couple of miles away from my house. After a while, I began to feel comfortable creeping over to the Ocean Gate boardwalk.


I wasn’t doing photography seriously then, but I loved to take my first 35mm film camera with me to take the same 5 photos over and over again on different days. I never even attempted to get a photo of lightning, knowing that the combination of me being a seriously unlucky individual and also a rather cautious one created a cocktail that kept me from the experience. Once I got into photography seriously, I began to love long exposures, fireworks, and essentially any ‘light painting’ photo I could get.


I had not attempted getting shots of lightning until the other night. Having just finished shooting an event, on the way home, I noticed that there was some serious storm going on. It wasn’t raining, the clouds seemed to be in the right position to be able to photograph, and all the impossible variables seemed to fall into place. I set up by Island Heights, and began a relatively frustrating hour checking exposures, getting my timing down, and trying to remember to continuously press the shutter (next on my purchase list: remote shutter). I managed to get several bolts, though the one I’m going to share was the night’s best. It was totally exciting each time I knew I ‘got one’ in my shot, and I am now waiting patiently for the next storm.


Just so you can compare, I’m going to show you nature’s fireworks vs. the ones that we shoot off on the Fourth of July. I tried a little something different with this year’s fireworks and pushed my ISO way higher than I typically do, so I could include some foreground. When I finally got to look at the frames, I was really happy at the sense of ‘awe’ that including the people watching the show included.





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Beautiful Things: New Jersey Landscape Photography

I feel like it’s always a catch-up with this blog! We have done so many great family shoots and weddings recently, that it will take a bit to get all that goodness up. For now, enjoy this sampling from last night in Ocean Gate, NJ. The iconic (to locals) boardwalk and pavilion made it through Sandy – so it’s nice to see one local landmark completely untouched. Yes – these are HDR photos!





If you’re digging all this, make sure to check out our Facebook page where there is plenty more goodness from the Summer 2013 Landscape Collection (as well as much more!).

We also have a site with plenty to see!
www.deepsixphotography.com

Completing the Trifecta

I really meant to post this sooner – but as you are all aware, life gets in the way. Luckily, I have all my shopping done for the holidays(I didn’t cut it nearly as close this year as I did last!). I ended up dropping about $100 on photo prints, but I’m very excited to go pick them up (some are poster size!). Anyhoo – as I promised, here is the third link in the epic sunset chain.

I admit, this is my favorite of the three, so I saved it for last. I love the slope of the sand and the way it compliments the sky and color. I love the clouds, and how it seems like there are dual cloud layers (because there were dual cloud layers). The sand looks red – but I chose to keep it that way, because that is true to how it looked in person. This was a sunset-and-a-half.

I want to throw in a bonus non-HDR shot. I didn’t edit this one – and it’s a bit more of a novelty. I promise you, I did not pose the swans.

It’s All About the Sky

I think the nicest compliment I ever got on my photography work in general, is that I capture beautiful skies. If you haven’t gathered it by now – I am all about the sky. I was all about the sky before I started taking photography seriously, and have hundreds of photos from pre-digital photography days. I thought I would share some of the older stuff in this post, as I am feeling a bit nostalgic. I haven’t scanned the really old ones, but I do have some from my little point-and-shoot camera that had a memory card large enough to hold only 16 photos, and the camera I eventually got after that.

 

This sunset is, and probably always will be – one of my all-time favorites. I remember it distinctly, because I was taking a ride over to the island (that’s Seaside – home of Jersey Shore, for those of you unsure about what island I am referring). I saw the sun going down as I was crossing the bridge – and I knew it was going to be incredible. The sun was a perfect hot pink circle, and it was going down in a wash of fiery oranges and reds and pinks and purples. I pulled over on the first side street I could – and parked in front of someone’s house. It was February, it was freezing, and I wasn’t dressed for the weather (surprise) – but the sky was so amazing I had to put that aside. I eventually trespassed on someone’s property in order to get the shots, creeping quietly into a yard. It must’ve been fate – because I ended up loving the way their dock played out in silhouette in the photos. I often shoot from the same locations repetitively – but you will never see these docks again in my photos. It was one of those times I couldn’t wait to get home to check out the pictures. They didn’t require any post-editing.

This photo surprised me. As many of my stories start off – I hadn’t been planning on going to see sunset. The sky looked crazy overcast, and I didn’t really think there was going to be one. For whatever reason, I went to check it out anyway. Right away, I noticed that there was what seemed to be a peak of clarity beneath all the clouds. I wasn’t absolutely sure, until I saw the sun poke out beneath them and put on a brilliant show just moments before a full descent. One of my friends who saw this photo said it reminded her of ‘the birth of fire’ – and the name stuck. I always think of this one in that way.

How cool is it that both of these shots are capturing the same thing – just on different days. They look diametrically different. Thus is my obsession with the sky.