Blue Sky and Bridge
I like the blue monochrome with the geometric shape of the Memphis-Arkansas bridge and the splashes of pinkish clouds in this image. The sun has already set so no direct light is hitting the earth bound objects in this scene. But because of their height, the clouds are still directly highlighted by the red rays of the already set sun. The short barge was in a perfect position under the bridge. In the larger image, you can see the tiny cars and trucks on the expressway.
Pinnacle View
Pinnacle mountain is a favorite 1.5 hour exercise jaunt for me when I am in Little Rock. This morning, it had stormed the night before. I stopped at this spot to catch my breath and realized this was a great view. I set up my camera to use the foreground trees as a frame and got this shot of the dramatic sky and patchy ground fog. I ended up being disappointed when I saw the slide since the foreground was almost black with underexposure. I had not used my neutral density graduated filter. I went to work in PhotoShop using the curves tool to try to get some detail back in the foreground without loosing any of the dark, dramatic detail in the clouds. This was the way I remember the scene.
Geese flying at dawn
This was a grab shot taken as I was walking up to the lake to set my tripod up. I heard the geese coming and picked my camera up just in time to get this handheld shot before sunrise.
Sun Splash
This is the outflow of a water pump filling up Patriot lake. I love the way the sunlight highlights the water and turns some of the splash drops pink. You can just see the top of the chain link fence around the pump area at the top right of the frame.
Edges of things
On an early morning exercise hike up Pinnacle Mountain in Little Rock I took my camera with me because it had stormed the night before. They say that you can get the best shots on the edges of things. This was the edge of the mountain looking the edge of the weather at the edge between night and day. I remember stopping here before the summit because I needed a breather, and I knew I was going to be too late for the sunrise.
Bee at work
I was driving down Mullins Station road and kept noticing the red flowers on the side of the road. I decided to stop to get some photographs but I remember being disappointed because the late summer flowers had been damaged by the bugs and dry heat. I then heard some buzzing and noticed this bee collecting pollen. A bee stores the pollen she collects on her legs, The yellow on the legs is all pollen. These shots were taken hand held with the tripod hanging off the camera, since I did not have time to set up and the bee was moving around so much anyway.
A bug's red bed
This macro was taken early in the morning while it was still cool so that the bug was still inactive. I used a dual flash setup.
Vanishing fence posts
I am not sure what it is I like about this plain picture but I think it is the vanishing fence posts and the slight S curve they form.
Sunflower Sunset
It was close to sunset and I wondered if I could get the color of the sunset sky as a background for the flower shot. You can see a bit of pink around the flower. This was handheld but the focus is pretty good.
Sticky Weeds
Sun block
Just an experiment with a blue sky and backlit tree.
Table Rock Sunrise
In Branson MO, I got up early to go out and find a good spot to photograph the sunrise from. I found Table Rock lake and had hoped for a decent shot. This was the best I could come up with and I waited a long time. Not so good. You can just see the sun peeping into the frame from the left side. The lake reflected the pink in the sky.
Lady Bug's red bed
Same location in Branson at Table Rock Lake. In August, the flowers are not at their peak and are pretty beat up from the heat and the bugs. I like the red, and I caught a lady bug doing her thing in the shot too.