In a recent fundraiser for my Relay for Life team, there were a few families of Irish descent in attendance, can you tell? These young people and many others decorated Luminary Bags which will have sand and a candle placed in them this Friday night and lighted in honor of their close friends and family who have been afflicted by cancer. Proof again this disease can affect anyone of any age.
The following set of photos featuring the star effect on the Sun as I posted on Monday were all taken within a couple of minutes of each other. I was trying to catch various wave patterns. The lens was the Tokina 11-16mm Ultra Wide Angle and the exposure was the same for all four: 1/8th of a second shutter speed, f/16 aperture, ISO 400, EV +1.0. The first three at 16mm, the last at 11mm focal lengths.
Being that these photos were taken under the same lighting and exposures, I had fun trying out a few of Aperture 3’s new presets which come with the photo management software. You’ll see which ones I used in each photo’s caption. I must say I was impressed with them and look forward to trying out more presets which are becoming available for free and for purchase across the Internet.
Lake Ontario Sunset 1 using Apple Aperture 3 Preset Color: Cross Process 1
Lake Ontario Sunset 2 using Apple Aperture 3 Preset Color: Cross Process 2
Lake Ontario Sunset 3 using Apple Aperture 3 Preset Color:Toy Camera
Lake Ontario Sunset 4 using Apple Aperture 3 Preset Color:Punch
Hope I have not bored you with all the sunsets and waves this week! It’s been cool, cloudy and windy the last few days here in upstate New York. These photos help to keep the sunshine around as does this song.
A Cancer Survivor addresses the participants, volunteers and guests during the 2009 Baldwinsville Relay for Life fund raiser for the American Cancer Society as the word HOPE is illuminated in the bleachers of the Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium on the campus of the C. W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville, New York. Luminaries line the inside of the track. Each dedicated to friends, family and loved ones who have lost, are still fighting or have survived their battle with cancer.
Ten months ago I lost my sister, Linda Drew, to brain cancer only two months after I took this photo. Earlier in 2009, my nephew died of stomach cancer and, just last month, my Father-In-Law passed away from complications of bladder and liver cancer. To say its been a tough year on my family is not saying enough.
We can not bring our loved ones back but we can try and help those who are suffering now and into the future. In a few days, my family and I will be participating in the 2010 Relay for Life on June 18. We named our team, Drew’s Crew, for my sister, her husband (who died of leukemia) and her son (my nephew). It is our hope, in some small way, our contributions will help in developing new treatments against cancer which may lead to a cure. We are close to our goal. If you would like to help, click the link below.
Thank you for your past and future support!
Sincerely,
Scott Thomas
Visited my parent’s camp on Lake Ontario’s eastern shore over the weekend. Storms from the night before and continuing unsettled weather allowed me to catch some waves. Photographically speaking that is. 🙂
Lake Ontario waves hit the Port Ontario break wall.
The Sun had disappeared behind some clouds late in the day and created some dramatic light on the waves.
Dramatic lighting on Lake Ontario waves before sunset.
When the Sun did pop out from behind the clouds just before it set, I was ready with the Tokina 11-16mm Ultra Wide Angle lens at 11mm focal length, aperture set to f/16 to create the star effect and hyperfocused for maximum depth of field.
Sunset over Lake Ontario from its eastern shore. HDR image created from a single RAW file.
I further enhanced the sunset via a High Dynamic Range process using a single RAW image in Photomatix Pro 3.0 plug-in for Aperture 3.
I visited the Chimney Bluffs State Park near Sodus, New York, earlier this week as part of my Memorial Day weekend. The rugged bluffs were formed from drumlins, which in turn were created by glaciers in the last ice age. The impressive pinnacles and cliffs rise up to 150 feet (about 46 meters) from the lake shore. Here is a photo of some of the bluffs.
The bluffs of Chimney Bluffs State Park near Sodus, New York.
Can you tell how tall they are? I can’t with the blue water of Lake Ontario behind them. There is no reference as to how big the bluffs are. My first idea was to include something with the bluffs in the frame to give a sense of scale.
A boat floats off the beach at Chimney Bluffs State Park near Sodus, New York.
The surrounding trees help a little though it is hard to tell how tall they are without the boat as a reference. This is better but how can we tell the length of the boat? We can only estimate from this distance. We need a better scale.
Being a holiday, there were many people enjoying the park with me. We all have an idea how tall people are give or take a few inches (centimeters).
A couple plays with their dog on the rocky shore of Chimney Bluffs State Park near Sodus, New York.
This is much better. The bluffs tower over the couple playing on the rocky shore with their dog. The average height of an American man is 5 foot, 10 inches (hey, that’s my height!) or 1.8 meters. I know what you are thinking. These people are not standing up straight. I have that covered.
A lone hiker studies one of the tall stone pinnacles found in Chimney Bluffs State Park near Sodus, New York.
As you can see, this is one tall stone pinnacle the hiker is looking up at. Remember this when faced with a very large natural object or a very small one. Put something in the frame to give someone looking at your photo a way of knowing the scale of the object you are photographing. Now that you have an idea of the size of these bluffs, the first photo in this article should look different to you.
All these photos where taken with a Nikon D70 digital camera and the Nikon 18-200VR lens.
to my personal journal through my viewfinder. A place where I leave the world behind and try to find the spirit of what I am seeing.
Feel free to look around at all the posts and pages. If you'd like to borrow a photo(s) for your non-commercial blog or website, be my guest. Please, do not alter the photo(s) and be sure to link back to this blog with a prominent photo credit(s). Thank you and I'm thrilled you dropped in!
Views Infinitum 