Calm Photos

The City of Dayton has lots of little hidden gems when it comes to enjoying nature, thanks mostly due to Five Rivers MetroParks and their commitment to not only preserving green space and wildlife habitats but also managing these valuable resources in a way that allows and encourages access for all to appreciate and enjoy.

Wegerzyn Gardens is a perfect example. I recently received a tip from a friend that this area was in full bloom with late summer flowers and wildflowers, attracting scores of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, a wide variety of butterflies and many other little critters taking advantage of the summer harvest.

I had to stop by for a look and a few shots. Below is just a small sample of what I captured. In all of these photographs I used a Canon 1D Mark II camera, Canon 300mm f4 IS L lens and Canon 550ex Speedlite for fill flash. One tip about photographing hummingbirds - believe it or not it is actually easier to shoot these little fast-movers using manual focus.

Toledo Free Press - A tradition for Toledo’s future

It’s pretty cool to see a mention of CalmPhotos.com in print when I wasn’t even expecting it. Thank you Toledo Free Press.

I actually lived in Toledo, from late summer of 1984 to December 1986. Driving a route truck delivering uniforms and entrance mats to the more industrial sections of town wasn’t exactly the best way to introduced to the Glass City, but from that experience I gathered the motivation to return to college, which I did by attending University of Toledo ComTech. It was there that I completed many of my core required classes before eventually graduating from the University of Dayton. I enjoyed my classes at ComTech, which like my monthly and summer training at that time with the Marine Corps Reserve, served as a positive experience to counter-balance those that were, well, a bit more negative.

About one year ago I had the opportunity to do a three-day photo shoot for an Alabama-based marketing firm. I was hired to photograph horse stalls and horse farm fencing for Ramm Fence, located just west of Toledo out near the airport. It was quite a fun shoot. I did not realize that there were so many beautiful horse properties in that area. Like Dayton, Toledo also has a great metro park system and facilities that they should be proud of.

Yes, it’s easy to tell by my most recent entries that I’m anxious for the arrival of fall. It can’t get here soon enough.

For nature and landscape photography in Ohio there are two seasons that present what I would consider ideal light - autumn and spring. The primary reasons include the lower angle of the sun - not high and direct with harsh hot spots and shadows - and air temperature and humidity levels not too low to be miserable and not too high, to be well, miserable.

Of the two seasons my preference is for fall. It’s been my experience that the sunsets of autumn in Ohio seem to carry this lingering, haunted light that cascades the landscape in a blanket of slight melancholy of golden finality prior to nature’s deep sleep. Fall is the season that speaks most clearly to the artist within me. Autumn is who I am.

The photograph “Barn in Adams County” was taken in late October 2003. Camera used was a Canon EOS 1V film body with a Canon 28-70mm f2.8 L lens and circular polarizer. Film used was my old favorite, Fuji Velvia.

This image was part of a series of fall landscape photographs captured during my first visit to the Murphin Ridge Inn, located smack in the middle of several Amish farms in the rolling hills of Adams County, Ohio. This is a wonderful place to visit to get feel for the full glory of autumn in rural southern Ohio.

The barn, facing southwest, was catching the light of the setting sun, turning the wood and maple tree to a slight shade of gold, accentuating not only the red trim, but most attractive of all, the vintage Coca-Cola sign. This compositional element, combined with the wreath, tells the story of a simpler life during a simpler time.

The key to catching the good light is to be at the right place at the right time. It also helps to understand and know your subject, in this case the Ohio landscape and the unique characteristics of sunset in late October. It’s not as easy as it appears, because like life, light is always moving, always changing, and as a result, changing the subjects that it falls upon.

Seth’s Blog: The Scarcity Shortage

I’d be willing to throw-in originality with “scarcity, respect, honesty, good judgment and long-term relationships that lead to trust.” And I don’t think it is so much actual scarcity that leads to profits as it is the perception of scarcity, because the dirty little secret is that there is always an abundance of resources, whether it be material, monetary or intellectual. Unfortunately the perception of scarcity goes a long way in serving the narcissistic greed of a select few, whether it be for monetary or political gain. These people, along with our growing population of lawyers, find it much easier to profit from fear, loathing and the perception of scarcity.

Competition in a free marketplace is healthy and still provides the best possible opportunity for individual success, but as is the case with any real freedom comes real responsibility - responsibility for one’s self and respecting the basic rights and dignity of others. This soon becomes the quandary of those who venture from their own truth and instead simply follow along simply because “everyone else is making money by doing it.”

Perhaps it’s anxious anticipation as to why I’ve selected “Autumn on Rose Lake” as today’s Story Behind the Picture entry. This is the time of year when the dead of summer just seems like it refuses to let go with the heat, humidity and dull light holding the crisp, clean air hostage far to the north. But autumn will arrive, a season so splendid in all of its’ golden glory that it deserves two names.

I think another reason why I’ve selected this image is because it has come to hold so much special meaning, not only for me, the photographer, but more than one close friend who know this place so well and see this scene as a source of sacred inspiration, sweet memory and calm reflection. One of the many personal rewards with pursuing my chosen career field is seeing the reaction and feelings that my photographs elicit, especially those images of nature, landscape and historic locations.

Rose Lake in Hocking Hills is like a jewel that greets your eyes after a short trek through a canopy of pines and carpet of pine needles. Many visitors to the area neglect to see Rose Lake opting instead for the more popular trails at Cedar Falls, Ash Cave and Old Man’s Cave, so usually the trail around the lake is not nearly as well traveled. But it is here where you can find the best of autumn color in Hocking Hills. My favorite time to photograph Rose Lake is early morning, when the still water holds reflections better than any mirror.

This particular photograph was taken during my first visit to Rose Lake, in October of 2003. This was prior to my complete migration to digital photography. The camera used was a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II medium format camera with a Mamiya 90mm Sekor lens, both on a Kirk ballhead and Bogen tripod. Film was Kodak Portra color negative. For exposure I used a Sekonic L-508 light meter. This was doing nature and landscape photography the old fashioned way, with film and a hand-held light meter. I still have this set-up and I enjoy taking it out in the field at least two to three times a year. My Canon digitals are terrific, but there is just something special about peering down the big viewfinder of a medium format camera and seeing your composition take form.

Beyond the colors and reflection, what really caught my eye was the faint wisp of clouds that provided the composition with that extra element that took the scene from ordinary to one that catches the eye and imagination.

A blue, clear sky can be pretty bright when doing just about any type of outdoor photography. A cloudy or overcast sky can be even worse, especially during high summer. To compensate for the vast difference in exposure levels between the ground and the sky, landscape photographers often employ the use of split neutral density filters, which is basically will cut down the overly bright sky by about one to two stops without darkening the ground. I have two different split neutral density filters, one for extremely bright skies and the other when I just need to drop the brightness down a small bit.

The problem is these filters are always in my larger LowePro bag, which I carry along with my tripod when out doing nothing but nature and landscape work. The other times when I’m traveling light - such as with just a camera body and a couple of lenses - I tend not to pack my filters. However, this doesn’t mean I can’t apply the same effect of darkening a bright sky without losing the ground to dark shadows. It’s called the magic of using duplicate layers in Photoshop.

I found myself going back and applying this post-processing technique to one of my “snapshots” I took this past Sunday while visiting SunWatch Indian Village, just south of Dayton along the Great Miami River. I really wasn’t there to photograph (really), but rather to enjoy this archaeological treasure with my daughters.

Below are the before and after results. Toning down the levels in the sky while adjusting the saturation on the ground provides a bit more “pop” and drama to the scene. Some might think this to be “digital manipulation.” I tend to disagree, because I am not actually adding or subtracting any of the elements within the photograph but rather just slightly enhancing what is already present for increased visual effect.

The before image -

After -

SunWatch Home Page - Ancient Indian Village - Dayton Ohio

Ohio has some truly wonderful archaeological treasures dating back to this area’s original human inhabitants. Remains of burial mounds, ceremonial earthworks and long-forgotten villages can be found concentrated along many of the river valleys that criss-cross the Ohio landscape. Many of these sites are attributed to Native American Fort Ancient Culture, which predated the cultures that are more commonly known and associated with the encroachment of Europeans on North America.

A book I highly recommend is Brad Lepper’s Ohio Archaeology, published in 2005 by Orange Frazer Press. It is probably the most comprehensive volume about the Native American cultures that once lived in the endless woodlands of an Ohio landscape, now for the most part long gone.
One of the best sites to visit and learn about the Fort Ancient people lies just south of Dayton. SunWatch Ancient Indian Village - part of the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery - sits along the western bank of the Great Miami River. It’s not easy to find and feels quite of bit out of place when driving through the heavily industrialized and not-overly -picturesque hamlet of beautiful Moraine, but once there it is easy to imagine what life must have been like prior to what we refer to as “civilization.” The staff at SunWatch have done a stand-out job with an excellent visitor’s center and reconstructed dwellings as well as presentation of the thousands of artifacts uncovered at the site.

One of the pleasant surprises from our visit was experiencing the coolness of the inside of the reconstructed homes, which was nice given how hot and humid it was outside.

The original inhabitants of SunWatch were worshipers of the mystery of nature and avid followers of the light of the seasons. Everything about their lives involved the signs of earth, sun and sky. When to plant, when to harvest, when to hunt. Everything had its’ time and season, like the concentric circles obviously used in the layout of their own village.

In today’s society of immediate gratification, cell phones, wireless laptops and digital disconnection I think we can stand to re-learn a thing or two about the natural rhythms and mysteries of nature and life that are just outside our doors, perhaps learning from teachers who have been quietly waiting for over 1,000 years.