Railroad tracks

Again, my apologies for not regularly visiting everyone's blogs.  It's baseball season and I help coach my oldest son's team, so that will keep me plenty busy for the next several weeks (we have games Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday this week).  Fortunately, we have several coaches, so if time permits, I take photos :-)

Just a down low shot on the tracks.  I know the train schedule and the Philly inbound has just passed, so there would not be an outbound for about an hour.  You can see a bridge just a few feet up the track.  I shot this from under that bridge a few moments earlier.  See that railing on the bridge?  I have some killer shots that I'll hopefully post this week.

It was a very cloudy day, so monochrome was the ticket.

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/320 sec @ f4.0
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast
I did go a little heavy on the black fill, but I think it looks cool. 

Pansy reflections

Another shot from that cold, rainy day, this time I captured some water drops on a pansy leaf.  The reflection is of the arm that is supporting the planter holding the flowers. 

Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro lens
Exposure 1/320 sec @ f11
ISO 100
Curves adjusted for contrast

Monochrome Slats

On the back of the Stover Myers Mill, there is a small building attached.  I'm not sure of it's purpose, but it had an interesting view through one of the openings.  I really like the sunlight running across the bottom boards. 

A submission for Shadow Shot Sunday #104 and for Monochrome Weekend Vol 2, Issue 38.  Double trouble :-)

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/400 sec @ f4.5
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast

Reflections in a water drop

I was walking from my car to the house and I noticed this plant that had captured water drops from the rain the night before.  I set up the tripod and the macro lens and went to town.  Check out the droplet at the 11 o'clock position from the big drop - it's pretty cool too. This is my submission for Weekend Reflections #32

So the next time you are bummed it's raining, think outside the box.  When live gives you lemons, make lemonade.

One note, I scheduled this through blogger and obviously picked the wrong date.  This should have shown up on Friday morning, my apologies!

Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro lens
Exposure 1/100 sec @ 4.5
Aperture Priority with a tripod
ISO 640
Curves adjusted for contrast

Dreary day

This past Sunday was a dreary day - cloudy, very cool, and rainy.  I captured a bunch of shots this day and you'll see move in the very near future, but this one I had to post 'straight away'.

Some cool water droplets on the face of a pansy.  That lovely background is my lawn :-)

Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro lens
Exposure 1/60 sec @ 7.1
Aperture Priority with a tripod
ISO 800
Curves adjusted for contrast

Tower of power

First, my apologies for not visiting your blogs these last few days.  It's been extra hectic with my youngest son's lip sync contest and my oldest son's Junior Prom.

A cloudy cool day made for a boatload of interesting monochrome shots.  This is one of the towers that provide power to the local commuter trains.  I used black fill to darken the tower. 

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens
Exposure 1/800 sec @ f5.6
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast

Bridge Reflections

I was on a ride through Montgomery County in the vicinity of Green Lane reservoir and I go past this sign.  I made a u-turn so I could go back and take a photo.  Evidently, between January and September of 2009, 7  motorcyclists crashed on this stretch of road.  After taking the photo, I continued down the 'treacherous' road and was really disappointed.  I expected a nice twisty road and the road didn't live up to the expectation set by the sign.  I've ridden much more challenging roads. 

Canon EF 24-105mm L f4 IS USM lens
70mm Focal Length
Exposure 1/100 sec @ f5.0
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast

As I approached the end of the twisty part, I came across this bridge, which is my submission for Weekend Reflections #31.  

Canon EF 24-105mm L f4 IS USM lens
35mm Focal Length
Exposure 1/60 sec @ f5.6
ISO 200
Curves adjusted for contrast