Lake Saltonstall ("Plug Pond"), Haverhill, MA

This lake is accessible via Winnekenni Park in Haverhill, MA. A short ten minute walk from the parking lot will get you to this spot. This location is not too far from the castle in this park either so it makes for a worthwhile visit if you're short on time.

The lighting was fairly complex at the time this photo was taken. There were a few distant bands of orange in the sky, but for the most part there were varying shades of yellow, white, and grey. On the lake itself, however, the colors had more of a traditional sunset hue.

An overcast sky can make for a dramatic scene, and although this would probably be a great spot for a more colorful sunset, I was happy for the complexity and darker tones in this scene.

Visit www.abovetheglow.com for more poetry and photography from David Mark Fowler.

Cleaning up a Scene Before Taking a Photograph

I hoped to see some bald eagles at Maudslay State Park, which are known to nest here, but was surprised to see signage all along the Merrimack River  on the east side of the park advising that this section was closed in order to protect the bald eagles. It seems the ban is only temporary, so I hope to go back and revisit this part of the park when the ban is lifted. The last time I saw a bald eagle was in Maine while white water rafting on the Kennebec.

On the west side of Maudslay State Park in Newburyport, MA is the Artichoke River, which creates the division between Newburyport and West Newbury. There is a small trail that leads (mostly) down to the riverbank, with a short but steep scramble at the end to get the river’s edge which is the place where I took this picture. The clouds lifted briefly enough to allow some sunlight in this photo.

However, before I could take the shot, I had to remove a green frisbee from a rock in the scene, as well as an oil pan containing some mechanical parts which was inexplicably sitting there on the bank. This isn’t the first time I have had to remove things like soda cans, plastic bags and other assorted trash from an otherwise scenic location. Maybe sometime I should leave these elements in for a different perspective/statement, but for now I’d rather take that pristine shot!

Visit www.abovetheglow.com for more poetry and photography from David Mark Fowler.

Maudslay State Park

On Saturday, I hoped to shoot some landscapes for some experimenting with HDR, but it was mostly dull and grey and not too promising for that endeavor. Instead, I went to Maudslay State Park and settled on an area of the grounds where the remnants of 19^th century gardens provided some interesting things to shoot.

The crumbling walls were crawling with vines, and plants were sprouting out of the rocky surface areas. The light was certainly muted but good enough for some shots here with the right exposure. Spring has come early to New England, and it’s about time that at least some of my shots have predominant colors other than brown and grey…

This closeup view has some interesting composition. With the background blurred, the newly growing green plants make for a nice miniature setting.  You can just make out some crushed stone and moss before the background goes out of focus. And it’s kind of nice to see something growing in a place where you wouldn’t expect it!

Visit www.abovetheglow.com for more poetry and photography from David Mark Fowler.

Brook in Early Spring

Brook in Early Spring

Found a really interesting - and somewhat challenging - spot for my second video shoot with my DSLR. There’s a trail/brook nearby that has lots of interesting light/shadows in the afternoon.  Lots of closely-knit pine trees block much of the sunlight, but the light that does manage to penetrate is bright enough at this time of day to create some really interesting contrasts.

My biggest problem during the shoot was the persistent fail of auto-focus in many of the shots. I used manual focus during almost every scene, and was disappointed to discover during post-processing that some of my “favorite” shots had to be thrown out entirely due to lingering focus issues.

Unlike my first shoot, I was able to keep and use the entire audio that was captured while filming. There were no wind clipping sounds this time, and the ambient sounds of water, birds, etc. were much better live than if I were to add them afterwards with Logic Pro. I still added music, though. The video, entitled “Brook in Early Spring”, has some flaws due to the extreme contrasts of light and shadow (some of the bright sunlit areas are washed out) but I still really like the way DSLR footage looked in this environment.

Visit www.abovetheglow.com for more poetry and photography from David Mark Fowler. 

What Kind of Owl is This?

Strange weather day. The Weather Channel App on my iPhone indicated it was going to be perfectly clear and instead it was cloudy most of the day. So I decided to check out a new spot and do some recon for future shoots - and very quickly got off trail and lost for awhile. Not sure whether I was in Massachusetts or New Hampshire at this point since the state line runs through this area.

Fortunately, leaving the trail and wandering through some private property turned out to be a great thing since I happened on this owl. (Who says owls sleep during the day - this one sure was wide awake!) Unfortunately, I missed a great opportunity for a closeup, since I didn't see the owl sitting on a low branch until I got really close, and making too much noise scared it up to a higher branch.

No sooner did I get my camera out when a couple walking their Dalmation came on the scene and the dog was literally all over me while I fumbled to get setup. Fortunately, the owl didn't leave again and I was able to get in a few shots. At this point, I have no idea what kind of owl this is but will definitely look it up later. Will have to come back to this spot on another day when it isn't so cloudy.

Visit www.abovetheglow.com for more poetry and photography from David Mark Fowler.

Three Things I Learned Shooting Video with my DSLR

Originally Posted March 10, 2012

My first video shoot this week with my DSLR went really well until post production. I was shooting lakeside at a small stream running into the lake, and the late afternoon lighting was excellent. There was just enough snow in many of the scenes to convey the theme of "Leaves in Winter" which is the title of this 3 minute video. 

It really wasn't until I went into post production that the troubles began. Although images import flawless from my camera into Aperture, the video import into Final Cut Pro didn't work well at all. Although I was able to get footage into FCP, the system quickly became unstable and soon unusable. Turns out T3i video isn't compatible with my video editing software! Lesson #1: Any video I shoot with this camera needs to be processed by a third party application before importing to my Mac. 

The next problem I ran into was with the audio. Although the camera had nicely picked up lots of the ambient environment (waves, birds, etc.), a slight wind kept clipping the sound. Also, other undesirable sounds had crept in (plane flying overhead, traffic nearby, etc.) and so I had to remove the audio entirely and add lake sounds with Logic Pro. This wasn't too big of a deal, since I planned on adding music anyways, but disappointed not to be able to use the original sound source. Lesson #2: Will need to look into an external microphone with some ability to muffle wind sounds. 

Finally, I thought I was done when I exported the video from FCP but no matter what settings I chose, the file came out to big to upload onto various websites. I had to import the finished video back into the program I previously used to make it FCP compatible and then was able to export the 3 minute clip at a high enough quality while keeping to about 100MB. Lesson #3: Creating HD video for web is going to be a tricky balance between video quality and keeping the file small enough to upload!

Visit www.abovetheglow.com for more poetry and photography from David Mark Fowler. 

Why Do Geese Stand On One Leg?

Originally Posted March 3rd, 2012. 

Thought today would be a complete washout but the afternoon cleared up in time to get a couple hours in. It was actually probably a little less than two hours since my memory card filled up very quickly with some HD video I added to the mix. Having only one card on hand reminded me again to bring more cards next time. 

The geese were extremely cooperative today and I had no problem getting close-ups. Many were standing on one leg (sleeping?) which certainly made my job easier and may explain why they weren't skittish. I googled "why do geese stand on one leg" and came up with various answers but it seems like sleeping/resting is the popular answer. It doesn't look comfortable at all, but then I've never tried sleeping that way before. 

Really liked this shot of a couple of geese not only standing on one leg but also leaning up against each other. "Friends Support Each Other" is the name that came to mind.

Visit www.abovetheglow.com for more poetry and photography from David Mark Fowler.