Acadia National Park Fall Foliage Photography

When I visited magical Acadia National Park in Maine for a couple of days of pristine fall foliage photography over Columbus Day weekend, I found the reds and yellows of the trees in peak autumn colors. I remember thinking upon arrival that it would be great to bring home a photograph that somewhat conveys the immense color burst and beauty of Acadia National Park during the famous New England fall foliage season. On the second morning it all fell into place when I was driving to Eagle Lake where I was planning to photograph after sunrise. Half way into the drive, on Route 233, I noticed a small stand of black birch trees with prime red fall foliage in front of a beautiful canopy of yellow leaves. The morning light perfectly illuminated the leaves and was exactly what I had envisioned. I quickly decided to make a u-turn and work the subject. First I moved around with tripod and camera and tried wider compositions. I then realized that a tighter composition would be more beneficial and I settled to cut out the blue sky and only include the complimenting yellow canopy in the back. I kept the reflection of the red leaves to emphasis the surrounding water. At ISO 100 and an aperture setting of f/11, the camera provided me with a shutter speed of 1/10 second. A polarizing filter eliminated any distracting glare in combination with an exposure composition of 2/3 steps boosted colors. In the post processing I minimally adjusted contrast, lighting and color saturation before sharpening the image. So glad I made the u-turn ...

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/black-birch-tree-splendor-juergen-roth.html

Portraits of Flowers

Photo of the Week

This week's photo of the week is "Another World" showing a raindrop on a blade of grass that was taken in the Boston Arnold Arboretum. Juergen used natural light and a fallen autumn foliage leaf to illuminate and bring out the natural colors of the macro photography setting.

Starting today through the week of 17 October 2011 this image, available as art print or on canvas, is on sale.

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/another-world-juergen-roth.html

First Light Seacoast Photography

Witnessing a sunrise is always very special but becomes magical in Maine Acadia National Park. This time I was destined to capture one of this moments with my camera and made my way out to famous Monument Cove in the early wee hours. I was one with nature and deers were greeting me along the scenic park loop road. I figured somewhere in the woods a black bear or 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 rock seacoast above the cove. There was one other photographer in the same area and I later found out that Tony Sweet was working the green pebbles in Monument Cove. I immediately looked around for a suitable foreground feature to convey depth and perspective of the rigid seacoast at sunrise. It did not require much of a search to find a great setting. With the First Light striking the granite rock formation in front of me I started releasing the shutter. In this seacoast photography image I had set the aperture to f/14 and chose an ISO100 setting that provided me with a 20 second exposure time. I used a graduated neutral density filter to overcome the high contrast of foreground and sky. During post processing I slightly adjusted contrast, lighting, and color saturation before sharpening and saving the image. So glad I went and changed plans ...

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/art/all/acadia+national+park/all

I love the rain

Yesterday it was raining on and off in Boston but nevertheless I made my way over to the Boston Arnold Arboretum for a macro photography shoot. I envisioned the leaves covered in raindrops and knew the overcast sky makes for good close-up photography. My goal was to find some extraordinary raindrops on leaves that I could beautifully frame in a photograph. Last year I found a special area of shrubs in full orange and red fall foliage covered in raindrops. Unfortunately not that lucky this year! Instead I had to put in a little extra work by looking around nearby. I actually was looking for dropped colored leaves on the ground that would make for nice backdrops and secondly for a good sized raindrop that would be the main photographic subject. Finally I stumbled upon a large orange leaf with a good sized raindrop on a blade of grass in front of it; perfect I thought! It's truly amazing what nature offers when one looks carefully around. I tried multiple compositions from all angles but settled on a side view that allowed me to use the orange leaf as a full background. With the tripod and camera lowered to ground level, I adjusted the aperture setting to f/16 for maximum Depth of Field. The slightly windy conditions turned out to be quite the problem. I had to sacrifice a low ISO setting for a faster shutter speed and changed the ISO from 100 to 400, providing me with an exposure time of 1/4 second. I then used the camera self timer to minimize camera shake and enhance picture quality. During the post processing process, I removed dust spots, minimally adjusted contrast, lighting, and color saturation before sharpening the final image of Another World. It's raining ... it's pouring ... but I ain't complaining 'cause I love the rain ...

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/another-world-juergen-roth.html

Common Green Darner Dragonfly

Columbus day weekend is fall foliage peak and prime season for Northern New England and I spent a couple of days in Bar Harbor, Maine to visit Acadia National Park. On my last morning I made my way along Ocean Drive and photographed famous landmarks like Monument Cove and Otter Cliff. After the early morning shoot I decided to stop one more time and chose Little Hunters Beach. Little Hunters Beach is a small cobble stone beach tucked away off the scenic park loop road and I once discovered some great driftwood here that made it into my ongoing human forms in nature collection. This time I focused on abstract reflections of rock formations in small tide pools; they made for great subjects and came out nicely. After the shoot I packed up and stumbled across the cobble stones, watching my steps so as not to trip when I suddenly spotted this green burst of color in front of me. The totally unexpected: A common green darner dragonfly clawing to the cobbles stones enjoying the early morning sun! I instantly took out my camera, changed lenses and adjusted the camera aperture to be ready in case the dragonfly didn't take off right away. Let me tell you, luck was on my side this morning. I carefully crawled closer to get a frame filling macro photography image and while in the early morning insects are often lethargic, this one was almost ready to go. I quickly adjusted my camera aperture setting to f/5.6, moved the camera into range, focused, composed the photograph, and captured the photo before the common green darner dragonfly took off. The insect challenged me by giving me only one shot ... darn it, darner!

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/common-green-darner-dragonfly-juergen-roth.html

Artful Give Away Raffle

Artful give away: Like my facebook page and leave a comment on Teary Rose Leaf for a chance to win a signed 8x10 print, framed to 14x17 inches of it. The signed and framed print of this macro nature photography will be raffled off from all comments received by 27 Nov 2011, 11:59 a.m. This includes shipping in the US, oversees will have to pick up the difference … good luck!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Juergen-Roth-Photography/91467613868

Photo of the Week - Rare Beauty

This week's photo of the week is "Rare Beauty" showing an orchid in bloom and was taken in the comfort of my home. I used natural light and white card boards to illuminate and bring out the natural color of the orchid.

Starting today through the week of 03 October 2011 this image, available as art print or on canvas, is on sale.

http://juergen-roth.artistwebsites.com/featured/rare-beauty-juergen-roth.html

Nature Visions - Our Natural World Captured

This week I guest blogged at Nature Vision - Our Natural World Captured, discussing tree leaf photography at the Boston Arnold Arboretum. One does not always travel far to capture nature's beauty ... you often find it right at your doorstep:

http://naturevisions.org/blog

While you there make sure to check out the link to the 2011 Nature Visions – A Mid-Atlantic Photography Association Expo
November 11-13, 2011 – Manassas, Virginia as well!

http://naturevisions.org