Wet

We took our kayaks out on the Glimmerglass section of Lake Otsego. The waves were pretty high, so we got wet--it was exhilarating. Here are the boats resting on the shore after our adventure. I used the posterize filter to add some drama.

Mini-assignment: Leading lines

The crack in the ice in the top photo leads right to the odd brick building, directing the eye across the surface towards it and its reflection in the water. The Rule of Thirds also applies here, giving two reasons for the top picture to be more effective.

It was a day of contrasts: we had fog, then yellow sun, the drizzle then brilliant sunlight again. The water at the reservoir was part ice, part running current, and part water still enough to hold reflections. Accented Edges with Watercolor plays up the varied textures and the contrast in lights and darks.

July 18: One of the highlights of our Really Big Lake camping trip was a visit to Isle Royale National Park. Located out in Lake Superior, it is one of the least visited of the National Parks. More people go to Yellowstone in a day than go to Isle Royale in a year. One can only get there by boat or seaplane. At one end of the island, there's a lodge at which one can stay; but it's 4-6 hours by ferry to get there, and we just couldn't work it into our schedule. We took the ferry from Grand Portage to Windigo--2 1/2 hours each way, which allowed only a 2 1/2 hour stay on the island (one can camp, however, one needs to carry everything, and we just don't have that sort of equipment)--but at least we got out there. It's so silent and so deep. On the way back, the ferry passed this small fishing village. Dry Brush with Fade Vertical softens it into a painting.

July 16: We crossed back into the US camping not far from the Canadian border at Grand Marais. We were lucky enough to find a campground right on Lake Superior. In this photo, gentle waves roll up on shore as the sun sets. I played around with Red Tint, Blue Tint and Colorful Center to create more of a moonlight effect.

July 13: The goal of this summer's camping trip was to visit the Really Big Lakes of the north. We saw the Grat Lakes, Lake of the Woods, and several large lakes in Minnesota (including Cass Lake, Lake Itasca, Lake Bemidji and Gull Lake.) The furthest reach of the trip was Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. It was vast and olive green. We saw a bald eagle swoop over head when we were there. It was too fast for me to capture it on camera, but I did snag a two of its distant cousins standing warily on a rock. I know I just used Dry Brush on the previous photo, but it worked nicely on this picture to soften some of the details so that the gulls stood out a bit more.

July 10: We've been camping for nearly 20 years now, and we've never stayed at a place as lovely as Summer Haven near Bemidji, Minnesota. Our campsite was right on Gull Lake, looking out over a stand of wild rice where ducks and loons swam. Blue Tint makes it look like it did under moonlight as we sat by our campfire.

July 6: I'm still trying to catch up on the phots I took while we were on vacation in July. This is Lake Erie from a roadside park. I used the Infrared option in B&W conversion, then lowered the opacity to plau up the clouds and the sailboat.

Thank you to the 365ers--at the Berlin Fair today, I won a first, a second, a third and two fourths in the photography competition. Four out of five of the winners were taken specifically for the 365 project. The blue ribbon winner was this sunset taken at Lake Superior on our camping trip around the Great Lakes.

This is Crescent Lake, located in a town next to ours. John and I were there today, hiking and geocaching. It was a spectacular day to be out in the woods. The trees are just beginning to turn. Give it a few weeks, and they'll look like they're on fire. Dry Brush gave the scene a soft painterly look.

We spent the weekend camping with friends at Otis Reservoir in the Berkshires. These kayakers were paddling out spend the morning out on the water. Dry Brush softens the picture and adds to the feeling of quiet and serenity.

Summer is late coming to New England. Intermittently, we have a few glorious days; but more often than not, the weather is chilly and damp. A sulky mist was hanging over the reservoir this afternoon. A subtle application of Green Tint and Fog softens the photos and gives it more of the sullen feeling of a drizzly day.

Sometimes things don't work out the way one intends. The photos I took of the first crocuses in our yard were all out of focus. Fortunately, as we were driving past the reservoir this evening, there was no one behind us so we were able to pull over to get a shot of the sunset. It's not really a very exciting picture. As I was clicking through the filters, I ran across the Stained Glass filter. I'd never thought it would be useful for anything; but it transforms this rather standard sunset into a pointilist painting, making the water sparkle and highlighting the glowing rim of cloud.