Dawn over Tilton

My wife Sue asked me last night what my plans were today. I, of course, didn't have anything in mind. She was taking the kids over to her 91 year old Grandma (Nana) to do some baking and I was free to do whatever I wanted. I joked - well if I wake up at 4:30 I'll go take some sunrise photos. I didn't plan on getting up early - on vacation I like to sleep late - the only time I really get a chance to catch up.

So - what happens - I wake up without an alarm at 4:30 and decide I might as well go out and get some photos. I snuck out (Sue was awake) but my father-in-law had no idea I had left. The benefit of parking the car out front.

I was figuring I would head to the Franklin Falls Dam and got a mile down the road and was struck by the beautiful sky over the mountains with the clouds in the valley. I pulled over and that became my spot.

D300, 70-300mm VR, 70mm, 1/125s, f/4.5, ISO 220
Click image for larger version

I love the juxtaposition of the dark foreground trees with the clouds hanging over the valley and then the high clouds over the mountains catching the sun still under the horizon.

I stayed around taking pictures from there until the sun completely cleared the horizon, but just barely. That led to this photo:

D300, Tokina 12-24mm, 12mm, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 200
Click image for larger version

This photo is from the same spot with a much wider lens. You can still see the clouds over the valley and some remnants of the red over the mountains. I love what the lens does to the sun - always nice when it makes a star and in this case it appears to make a 16 pointer. I have many more photos but with the laptop trouble I am having it is a little more difficult to edit them while I am here.

The best part of the morning was when I walked into the house and my Father-in-law jumped. he didn't expect anyone to be coming in and was surprised when I appeared. Katie was sitting next to him and had a big laugh at his expense.

Night Time Photography

As usual - I had trouble sleeping last night. What better way to waste some time then to come downstairs and set up the camera to shoot some night time photos out the windows. I hooked up my new corded remote - bought it from a Hong Kong ebay store and placed the camera on a pillow aiming out the window. Too lazy to set the tripod up at 1am and the pillow seemed a good choice. The remote worked like a charm, it gets rid of the vibrations that occur when you press the shutter release.

I took a bunch of photos using only moonlight and a neighbors automatic lights. All of my photos were 4 - 5 second exposures. It will be much easier in the summer when I get rid of the glare from the window I was shooting out of.

D300, 18-200mm, 18mm, f/3.5, ISO 720, 5s

Backyard photo

We had a brief snow flurry yesterday and I couldn't resist this shot of a spot in our backyard.

D300, 18-200mm, 48mm, f/6.3, 1/40s, iso 200

Bullrushes

Another photo from yesterday at Sunset Lake. The Drizzle had stopped and the sun popped out. I shot this with my new 50mm f/1.4. I love the reflection of the clouds in the water...

D300, 50mm f/1.4, ISO 200, 1/60s, f/16, shot jpeg, vivid +2 sat