Happy Holidys!

I am off for a digital detox ~ same time of year, same place ~ My best to you and your family,
Juergen

Mission Impossible?

Overcoming high contrast condition is not a mission impossible in photography. We as photographers are often challenged by difficult lighting conditions due to the high contrast of a sunset sky and the darker landscape scenery of a landscape in front of us, as in this landscape photograph of a blue dinghy, green marshland, and surrounding woods on Cape Cod. Metering on the boat and landscape scenery provided detail and good exposure in that area but blew out the beautiful sky colors because of the longer exposure time. On the other hand, metering on the sunset sky provided nice sky and cloud colors but little to no detail in the landscape and blue boat because of the shorter exposure time. As a solution I used the exposure time from focusing and metering on the blue boat that provided a correct exposure setting for the marsh landscape and dinghy in the foreground. I then hand-held a 1 stop graduated neutral density filter in front of my lens, placing it near the edge where sky and landscape met. Applying the 1 stop split neutral density filter reduced the incoming light on the sky and clouds above the horizon, maintaining its colors while the blue fishing boat, marshland, wooden area, and sky reflection in the river were correctly exposed for a Serene Cape Cod landscape photography with impact and strong foreground composition.

Who is your Santa?

Even after photographing for nearly two decades, Mother Nature still catches me by surprise. The little things that she provides near my home, at my home, or on the road still give a never ending inspiration.

Just the other day, I had one of these moments when I discovered a tiny 2 inch autumn leaf on our living room window. What amazed me the most was that it was so perfectly straight and aligned. Curiosity kicked in and made me wonder how the leaf actually ended up where it was. If one thinks about it, the fall leaf must have been blown off a tree nearby to start its journey, traveled through the air and then with the help of the rain and raindrops glued itself to our window. And this all happened over night during a feisty rainstorm, early in the morning or just seconds before I looked out of the window to figure out what the possibilities for exceptional nature photography would be that day. Mind boggling, isn't it?

Because the lighting on the leaf was so exceptional I had to pull out my camera and tripod. The beautiful neon like leaf illumination was created by an overcast morning light where the sun is almost breaking through the clouds. The background in the picture was made of the lawn and trees in the park opposite our house. So, who is your Santa? Mother Nature definitely is my Santa and if I open my mind and eyes, she brings joy, day in and day out. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Heartwarming Flower Fine Art Photography

City of Boston Skyline Photography Artwork

Photo of the Week - Zantedeschia

This week's photo of the week is Zantedeschia showing an abstract version of a beautiful orange Calla Lily. Juergen composed around the forms and orange tones while using lines and edges to guide the viewer through the photograph. Learn more about this photo and his award winning photography at his nature photography blog "Where in the World is Juergen?".

Starting today through the week of 12 December 2011 this Flower Photography image, available as art print or on canvas, is on sale.

Photography 101 - Discovering Form

There are many elements of design, which include shape, line, pattern and texture. When combined, we experience form within a two-dimensional media. Each of these can make or break a photograph. I consider them equally important, but I look at the element of form as the most important element of art. Forms are defined by their ... Learn More.

Trust Your Photographic Instincts

Witnessing a sunrise is always very special but becomes magical in Maine Acadia National Park. This time I was destined to capture one of these moments with my camera and made my way out to famous Monument Cove in the early wee hours. I was one with nature and deer were greeting me along the scenic Acadia National Park park loop road. I figured somewhere in the woods a black bear or an owl must watch me pass by. While driving to my location I was thinking of climbing down to Monument Cove to shoot abstracts of Green Pebbles at sunrise. But as often in my photography, after arrival, I changed plans and followed my photographic instincts. Instead of stumbling down into the cove I decided to make my way over to the granite rocky seacoast above the cove. After capturing First Light, I made my way farther along the coastline, looking for other interesting foreground features that make for great photography. Not far from my original location, I found this tiny evergreen tree that looked like a cute little Bonsai tree in this grand Maine landscape. The tree made for a perfect foreground subject that conveys depth and perspective of the rigid seacoast. The beautiful morning light was still striking the Evergreen tree, granite rock formation and Otter Cliff in the far distance when I set up my camera and tripod for one more shot. In this seacoast photography image I had set the focal length to 28mm and the aperture to f/14. Combined with an ISO100 setting these settings provided a 1/30 second exposure time. I underexposed by 2/3 stops to saturate colors. During post processing I slightly adjusted contrast, lighting, and color saturation before sharpening and saving the image. So glad I once again trusted my photographic instincts ...

Photography Artwork of the Week

This week's photo of the week is Radiant Orchid showing beautiful flower photography artwork in full bloom. Starting today through the week of 04 December 2011 this Flower Photography Artwork image, available as art print or on canvas, is on sale.

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/radiant-orchid-juergen-roth.html

Artful Cape Cod Photography Give Away

Follow the link and comment on my Serene Cape Cod photography artwork for a chance to win a signed 8x10 print, framed to 14x17 inches. The signed and framed photo print of this Massachusetts Cape Cod photography will be raffled off from all comments on 15 Jan 2012. This includes free shipping of the photography art ... good luck!

Boston Skyline Photography

Post sunset is one of my favorite times to take photographs; this applies to landscape as well as city skyline Photography. I regularly go out and capture the Boston City Skyline at twilight on days that I am not occupied hunting for nature photographs. The best time is 20 to 30 minutes after the sun has set. The optimum light and magic of twilight does not last long. Because twilight is hard to predict I set up my tripod and camera prior to the actual sunset and then fire away once the sun sets and disappears. This approach requires sufficient battery power and flash card memory to keep shooting while closing in on the optimum light. The Twilight Effect also works on cloudy days and really long exposure times are not unusual.

The other day I set up on the parking garage of Boston Science museum. It is one of my favorite locations and I love to see the sunlight fade and the city lights come to life. This day I went straight to work and kept on photographing the City Skyline of Boston while the sun was setting and disappearing. I included in the composition the skyline reflections and such Boston landmarks as the Longfellow Bridge, Prudential Center, John Hancock building and placed the Charlesgate Yacht Club as a foreground feature. The exposure of the photograph was timed to to coincide with the Boston T subway crossing over the Longfellow Bridge. At ISO 100, the aperture was set to f/4.5 resulting in a 10 second exposure time. In the post processing steps I removed dust spots, minimally adjusted lighting and color saturation before sharpening.

Anatomy of a Lily Flower

Photo of the Week - Hygrangeas

This week's photo of the week is Hydrangeas showing local New England flower photography in full bloom. Juergen applied the rule of thirds for the composition and a Polarizing Filter to saturate colors and remove distracting glare on the flower petals.

Starting today through the week of 14 November 2011 this Flower Photography image, available as art print or on canvas, is on sale.

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/hydrangeas-juergen-roth.html

Morning Maple

I love when the morning or afternoon sunlight strikes and illuminates the colors of fall foliage. In this photo of maple tree leaves from the inspiring Boston Arnold Arboretum I isolated a branch with four maple leaves in peak autumn colors. The leaves were sun-kissed while the background made out of shrubs and other tree foliage remained mostly in the shade. I used a Polarizing Filter to further darken the shadow parts, adding more drama and enhancing the natural green, yellow and orange colors. The polarizer also eliminated any unwanted and distracting glare on the foliage. A 70-200mm lens, fully zoomed in, produced the limited Depth of Field and background bokeh that I had envisioned, laying the attention solely on the beautiful fall colored foliage. At first, the wind was kind of a problem but increasing the ISO from 100 to 200, lots of patience and multiple exposures guaranteed a useable photographic capture of this beautiful autumn scenery. The higher ISO setting allowed me to set a camera aperture of f/8 and provided a shutter speed of 1/200 second. I chose to underexpose by 1 full stop to saturate and intensify colors. During post processing I removed dust spots, minimally adjusted contrast, lighting and color saturation before sharpening the final Fall Foliage photography image.

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/maple-glow-juergen-roth.html

Root Awakening

Human forms in nature is something I always look for when I head out into the field. It all started in the White Mountains of New Hampshire when I stumbled upon roots that appeared very human; in fact like a "Resting" person lost in the woods. Once hooked I continued the quest and made it now a lifelong project. More recently I found someone "Crawling" on Little Hunters Beach in Acadia National Park and "Strolling" in the Boston Arnold Arboretum.

Macro Photography of a Raindrop

Originally I was shooting for raindrops on leaves in the Boston Arnold Arboretum but the wind made it impossible to capture a sharp image that day. I then started focusing on the ground where I was looking for a raindrop on a blade of grass with a decent background to use. Not far from where I hoped to find raindrop covered leaves, I was able to pin down a decent sized raindrop that was in front of a large orange leaf. As expected the wind was not that imminent at ground level and I exposed multiple images to ensure I capture the colorful autumn like droplet image I had envisioned. The setting is shown above and I originally wrote about the final image, technique and circumstance in my blog "I love the rain". Thought it's worthwhile sharing the tiny landscape setting I found in addition.

Photo of the Week

This week's photo of the week is "NE Fall Foliage" showing the Boston Arnold Arboretum in peak New England fall foliage colors. Juergen used a polarizing filter to saturate colors and remove distracting glare on the leaves and to boost autumn colors in this landscape photography setting.

Starting today through the week of 07 November 2011 this image, available as art print or on canvas, is on sale.

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/ne-fall-foliage-juergen-roth.html