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Seeing things differently

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Landscape, Summer, tagged Anacostia, Canon 24-105mm, Canon 50D, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, lotus, lotus flower, Nelumbo nucifera, Sacred lotus, Washington D.C. on July 12, 2016| 10 Comments »

Normally I try to move in really close to my subjects using a telephoto or macro lens. Yesterday, however, I decided to try to “see” the world differently by using a wider lens (24-105mm) during a quick trip with my photography mentor Cindy Dyer to Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in the Anacostia area of Washington D.C. to check out the water lilies and lotus flowers.

The trip was a spur-of-the-moment decision while we were eating lunch, so we knew that we would miss out on the soft early morning light that we both prefer. However, the weather was beautiful, with the temperatures and humidity less oppressive than in recent weeks, so we decided to brave the Washington D.C. area traffic to check out the park.

Cindy is no stranger to the park. Last year four of her images of water lilies from the park appeared on US postage stamps, which were so popular that half a billion were printed. Check out this link to see information about these stamps. Earlier this year, one of Cindy’s images of Sacred Lotuses at the park was on one of the 16 postage stamps issued to commemorate the centennial of the National Park Service. Check out this link for more information about that stamp.

Here are some of my images of Sacred Lotuses (Nelumbo nucifera) from yesterday as I tried to step back a bit and see the flowers as part of a larger landscape. Initially I struggled a bit as I kept focusing on details, but my mind and my eye grew accustomed to the idea that the lens was not going to let me get in close. Gradually I started to see things differently and to frame my photos accordingly.

Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

Acres and acres of lotuses

Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

Lotuses fading into the distance

Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

Lotus and seed pod

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Black-crowned Night Heron

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Black-crowned Night Heron, Cameron Run, Canon 50D, Nycticorax nycticorax, Tamron 180mm on June 27, 2016| 12 Comments »

How much of the environment do you show when your primary subject is a bird? Normally I try to fill as much of the frame as possible with the bird through a combination of zooming and cropping.

Yesterday as I walking along Cameron Run, a suburban waterway that feeds into the Potomac River, I spooked a Great Blue Heron when I took a few steps in its direction. A smaller bird was also spooked and it flew to a rock in the middle of the stream. I was thrilled when I realized that it was a Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), a bird species that I don’t see very often.

It would have been easier to get a shot if I had been carrying my long zoom lens, but instead I had my 180mm macro lens on my camera. Fearful that the bird would take flight again, I took some initial shots and then slowly moved forward. As I climbed over large rocks toward the water’s edge, I’d stop and take a few more shots. After I reached the water, I decided to change lenses and put on the 70-300mm lens that was in my camera bag and, of course, the night heron flew off as I was changing lenses.

When I was at the closest point, I was able to capture an image that, with a lot of cropping, shows some of the beautiful details of the heron, including its startlingly red eyes, but as I looked over my images, that was not my favorite one. My eyes kept returning to the landscape shot. in which the heron is only one element of a beautiful composition of rocks and water.

What do you think? I’m posting three different shots of the night heron with varying amounts of background context, so you can see how the scene changed as I zoomed with my feet (and cropped in post processing).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Misty morning blackbird

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, early morning, Huntley Meadows Park, male Red-winged Blackbird, red-winged blackbird, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on May 8, 2016| 6 Comments »

I love the feeling of the early morning, when the world is awash in pale colors and the birds are just starting to wake up. It’s a magical feeling for me sometimes, and the mist in the air last Monday only enhanced that effect.

How do you capture a moment like that? I don’t shoot a lot of landscape photos, but I can understand how some photographers are driven to find the right mix of compositional elements to pass on to others the emotional impact of a particular scene.

As I was walking along the boardwalk at my favorite marshland park, I was drawn to this male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) perched on a railing leading to an observation platform. Normally I try not to include man-made elements in my wildlife shots, but in this case the railing faded out into an almost indistinct set of lines and shapes. Far in the distance, there is a suggestion of the trees and the water. With its bright shoulder patches, dark color, and sharper details, the blackbird provides an element of contrast with the rest of the scene.

Sometimes it’s fun to chase after more exotic subjects, like the owlet that I saw recently, but at other times I am content to try to capture the feeling of a moment, like this blackbird on a misty morning.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Reflection of Vienna

Posted in Landscape, Photography, Travel, tagged Canon SX50, cityscape, reflection, tuba, Vienna Austria on May 2, 2016| 16 Comments »

I love trying to capture unusual reflections, like this cityscape of Vienna that was reflected last week in the tuba of a band that was playing in the center of the city.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Snowfall in early March

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bald Eagle, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Huntley Meadows Park, snow, snowscape, Tamron 150-600mm on March 5, 2016| 12 Comments »

Coated in a layer of snow, the landscape yesterday morning at Huntley Meadows Park was devoid of color, transformed into a study of black and white.

Partially hidden behind a branch, this Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was almost invisible in a distant snow-covered tree.

This was almost a perfect snowfall—the accumulation of an inch or two (2-5 cm) was just enough to create a beautiful snowscape without inhibiting travel on the roads.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Golden moment

Posted in Art, Inspiration, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, golden hour, golden light, Huntley Meadows Park, intimate landscape, Tamron 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on March 2, 2016| 6 Comments »

For a few magical moments Monday morning the sun was shining through the trees at Huntley Meadows Park with a gorgeous golden light. At first I was a little disappointed that there were no birds or animals for me to photograph, but gradually I was drawn deeper and deeper into the simple abstract beauty of the trees themselves.

The varied colors, shapes, and textures of this intimate landscape enveloped me and filled me with a kind of reverent awe and inner sense of peace. I would have liked to freeze that moment and experience it in slow motion, but all too quickly the golden light faded and reality returned.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Off the beaten path

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, landscape, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on February 17, 2016| 5 Comments »

I love to wander through remote areas of Huntley Meadows Park, often following meandering streams. Each time is different, as the level of the water, the varying light, and the changing vegetation alter my perceptions of the landscape.

The park is a freshwater wetland of over 1500 acres with meadows, ponds, streams, and woods that provide a habitat for the wide range of insects, birds, and animals that I often feature on this blog. I am always conscious of the beauty of my surroundings, but generally have either a telephoto zoom or a macro lens on my camera, so photographing the landscape is not something that I do very often.

I was drawn to the twists and turns of this section of one of my favorite streams after a significant rainfall earlier this month. It was relatively early in the morning and there were still shadows in some areas. I captured some images of the scene with the “short” end of my 150-600mm lens and this is my favorite of the group. I definitely need to work more on visualizing landscape shots, but am happy with this initial effort.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Feeling like a beaver

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, beaver lodge, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, winter on January 23, 2016| 7 Comments »

I woke up this morning feeling a bit like the beavers in the lodge I photographed yesterday morning at Huntley Meadows Park. They were snug and warm in their little house, surrounded by a world of snow and ice, with plenty of food at hand.

As for me, there is well over a foot of drifted snow on the ground and more is still falling. Eventually I will need to get as busy as the proverbial beaver and remove some of the snow, but for now at least, it’s nice to enjoy it from the comfortable insides of my warm and cozy house.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Calm before the storm

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, winter landscape on January 22, 2016| 13 Comments »

Early this morning the skies over Huntley Meadows Park were glowing red, adding a beautiful pinkish tinge to the icy landscape. The calm before the storm.

Weather forecasters predict that the Washington D.C. metropolitan area will be hit with a major blizzard starting later today, with a total snow accumulation of two feet (61 cm) or more. The area will undoubtedly be paralyzed for at least several days.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Winter landscape

Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, mist, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, winter landscape on January 9, 2016| 16 Comments »

After several days of frigid temperatures, ice formed on the ponds at Huntley Meadows Park. Yesterday morning, it was finally above freezing and mist was rising from the ice, joining the low-hanging fog.

The sunlight was not strong enough to pierce the thick gray clouds and the winter landscape was almost monochromatic, filled with a sense of bleakness and desolation.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Winter reflections

Posted in Art, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas platyrhynchos, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, mallard, mallard duck, reflections, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, winter on January 8, 2016| 8 Comments »

Some mornings when I am out with my camera at Huntley Meadows Park, I am simply entranced by the colors, shapes, and patterns of the reflections of the trees in the water. For extended periods of time I will become lost in the ever changing abstract world of reflected beauty.

Any wildlife that happens to come into the frame is a bonus.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Early morning stillness

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas clypeata, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern Shoveler, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 23, 2015| 2 Comments »

For a few magical moments, the early morning sky was awash with delicate shades of pink and blue. I hurriedly tried to capture that ephemeral beauty. Then suddenly the color was gone.

Yet somehow the magic remained. There is something really special about taking photos just after dawn—the colors are rich and saturated and the water is often incredibly still.

I captured this tranquil moment with a male Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) early on Monday at Huntley Meadows Park. at about 7:30, not long after the color had faded away.

I love the stillness of the early morning.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Yellow boat in Vienna

Posted in Art, Landscape, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged boat, Canon A620, Danube Canal, Vienna, Vienna Austria, yellow boat on December 18, 2015| 4 Comments »

As I was walking along the Danube Canal in Vienna, a small yellow boat caught my eye. Bright colors, of course, almost always attract our attention, but there is something that I really like about the way that this boat fits into its surroundings.

You can see some of the graffiti that I have featured in recent postings, as well as some undecorated areas of the walls that separate the higher street level from the much lower canal. I am not sure what that yellow structure is used for, but it is an almost perfect color match for the boat. Initially I was disappointed when I saw that there was a cyclist entering into the frame in the upper left, but I changed my mind and now think it adds some additional interest to the shot.

This is not an image that would be easily associated with Vienna, but I like the “artsy” feel of the urban landscape that I was able to capture.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fiery tree

Posted in Autumn, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, autumn, Canon 50D, fall, fall colors, fall foliage, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on November 12, 2015| 11 Comments »

Most of the trees have given up their colorful leaves by now, but one hardy young tree refused to do so and looked almost like it was on fire in the early morning yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park.

The tree really stood out and grabbed my attention and I wanted somehow to capture its beauty. Many of you know that I have very limited experience with landscape photography and I simply wasn’t sure how to approach this atypical subject.

My first instinct was to zoom in closely and fill as much of the frame with the details of the tree as I could. That’s my favored approach with both my macro and zoom lenses. I was shooting over a field of cattails and across a pond and my first series of images looked like this one.

I moved further down the boardwalk and decided to try to capture more of the surrounding environment by shooting in landscape mode. I also tried to get a clearer view of the beautiful reflections my moving beyond the cattails.

In order to get a different view, I climbed up the observation deck and took some shots like this one with various objects in the foreground and some reflected sky showing at the bottom of the image.

I presented the images with only a slight amount of cropping to give you an idea of what I was going for as I “worked” this subject. How did I do? In my view, the middle image is by far the best and serves as a reminder to me that stepping back and zooming out can be beneficial. More importantly, perhaps, I can see the benefits of trying out different approaches and different subjects as a way of stretching and learning and, hopefully, growing in my skills as a photographer.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Early autumn morning at the marsh

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, autumn colors, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on October 17, 2015| 11 Comments »

As the sun gradually illuminates the trees and burns off the mist on the water, Huntley Meadows Park is especially beautiful, especially at this time of the year, when the trees are showing off their changing colors. The park was silent when I arrived in the early morning darkness, but gradually I could hear the sounds of birds singing and I couldn’t help but notice the arrival of a small flock of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis).

The colors of the foliage here in Northern Virginia are not as bold and striking as in some other parts of the country, but there is an understated beauty in the muted tones or red and yellow. I am not used to taking landscape-style shots (and a 150-600mm lens is probably not optimal for doing so), but I tried to capture some different scenes to give you a sense of the park where I take so many of my photographs. It’s a wondrous location, particularly when you consider that it is found in a suburban location.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Full moon over the marsh

Posted in Art, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Butorides virescens, Canon 50D, full moon, green heron, Huntley Meadows Park, moon, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on August 2, 2015| 10 Comments »

The full moon was bright and beautiful early yesterday morning, when I arrived at Huntley Meadows Park as the sun was just beginning to rise.

I struggled a little, trying to figure out the best way to capture the moon. Should I show the moon against the black night sky? Should I show merely its reflection? Should I show it as an element of a larger composition?

Here are some of my attempts to show the full moon in the predawn light at my local marsh.

Green Heron

Green Heron in the moonlight

Full moon in the night sky

Full moon in the night sky

reflections of a full moon

Reflections of a full moon

full moon

Moon over the marsh

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Water lilies at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Posted in Art, Flowers, Inspiration, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Canon 50D, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, Monet, Tamron 180mm macro lens, Washington D.C., water lilies on July 9, 2015| 5 Comments »

While I was at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington D.C. on Monday, it was easy to understand Monet’s endless fascination with water lilies. My opening image of a small wooden bridge brings to mind several of Monet’s paintings of the Japanese Bridge in his water garden at Giverny.

Water lilies seem to draw me in and surround me with an overwhelming sense of beauty and tranquility. How can I possibly capture that feeling in a photo? Here are a few images to show you some of the different approaches that I used in attempting to show the irresistible attraction of water lilies.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Pink water lilies

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, pink water lily, Tamron 180mm macro lens, Washington D.C., water lily on July 7, 2015| 2 Comments »

Yesterday morning I made a quick trip to Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens in Washington D.C. with fellow photographer Cindy Dyer to check out the water lilies and lotuses. Many of the pathways in the park are flooded or muddy, thanks to a significant amount of recent rain. Wet feet, however, were a small price to pay to see so many beautiful flowers, including the two spectacular pink water lilies that I am featuring today.

Stay tuned for more water lily and lotus images later this week.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Kingfisher landscape

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Belted Kingfisher, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Megaceryle alcyon, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on June 29, 2015| 11 Comments »

Instinctively I try to get as close to a subject as possible, often ignoring the “big picture.” One recently early morning, however, there was a substantial amount of water between me and the Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) that I spotted on a fallen tree and there was no way I was getting closer.

I concentrated on focusing, thinking I would probably have to crop a lot, and on composition. Almost despite myself, I ended up with an image that I really like, an image in which the kingfisher is only one element of an early morning landscape.

There is definitely a benefit sometimes in not getting closer to the subject.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dawn at the marsh

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, dawn, Huntley Meadows Park, red-winged blackbird, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on June 13, 2015| 5 Comments »

This is what Huntley Meadows Park looked like this past Friday morning around 6:00, with low hanging mist covering the fields, and the early morning silence broken periodically by the calls of Red-winged Blackbirds.

Normally I am so anxious to take close-up shots that I forget to try to capture the surroundings. This time I remembered and think the shot gives a pretty good idea of the way things felt and looked as the day began.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Heron landscape

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on April 6, 2015| 7 Comments »

Most of the time I try to fill the frame of my camera with my wildlife subjects, but sometimes it’s nice when they are part of a larger landscape, like this shot of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in the rain from last Friday.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Brittle beauty

Posted in Art, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, ice, Runnymeade, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on March 5, 2015| 11 Comments »

The Washington D.C. area is virtually shut down today as we await a winter snowstorm—the federal and local government offices and schools are all closed. With a little extra time on my hands, I was able to go over some of my photos from Monday’s storm and thought I’d post a couple more images from that event, which covered all surfaces, including the pine trees, with a coating of ice.

I find there is a fragile, transitory beauty in these abstract images—an hour later, when the sun’s rays hit the ice, the effect was gone.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Sunset in March

Posted in Art, Landscape, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, sunset, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on March 3, 2015| 2 Comments »

The colors were not spectacular, but the sky still seemed to be amazingly beautiful as I prepared to depart from Huntley Meadows Park yesterday just after sunset. A long-range telephoto zoom may not be the lens of choice for capturing this kind of a scene, but it was the one that was on my camera at the time and I am pretty happy with the results.

We’ve had so many gray, dull days this winter that a day with the sun shining seemed like a real blessing and I wanted to take advantage of every moment of that sunshine.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Screwed

Posted in commentary, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, auger, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, screw, screwed, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on February 12, 2015| 9 Comments »

For months I have observed this large screw-like tool partially buried in the ground at my local marshland park and gradually rusting with the passage of time. Was it deliberately abandoned during a construction project? Was it accidentally left behind? Will it be used in the spring to bore more holes into the earth?

Is it a symbol of abandoned hopes and plans, of dreams that never came to fruition? I leave the interpretation to others.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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New beginnings

Posted in Landscape, Photography, Travel, tagged Canon A620, Norfolk, Norfolk Virginia, sunrise on January 17, 2015| 7 Comments »

A few hours after my return from Brussels yesterday, I got in my car and drove for a bit over three hours to Norfolk, Virginia for a wedding. Even though I was up until almost 3:00 in the morning chatting with the groom (my stepson) and his best man, I woke up a few hours later and decided to walk along the waterfront.

The sun rose with some beautiful colors, a kind of a symbol of the new life just beginning for the happy couple. In a few more hours the ceremony will take place and we will all be celebrating their love for one another.

I couldn’t be happier.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Baby, it’s cold outside

Posted in Landscape, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, winter on January 8, 2015| 11 Comments »

According to the internet weather for my area, it is 8 degrees F outside right now and windy (minus 13 degrees C). Baby, it’s cold outside. We are forecast to get up to about 20 degrees F today (minus 7 C).

This is unusually cold weather for the Washington D.C. area, where winters are relatively mild. Earlier in the week we had a couple of inches of snow right at the morning rush hour and the roads were gridlocked for hours as commuters unfamiliar with the snow struggled to stay on the pavement.

The roads are treated now and mostly passable, but the cold makes even short outdoor trips barely tolerable. Earlier this month I took some shots of ice that had accumulated in the shady area of a stream at my local marshland park and one of those ice shots seem appropriate for today. I really like the way that the shapes and shades of the ice came out in this image, along with some of the bubbles in the water.

I have lots to do at work today—I sure hope my car starts in another hour or so.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Heron at dusk

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Ardea herodias, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, dusk, Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park, sunset, waxing crescent moon on November 25, 2014| 13 Comments »

As the sun went down and a sliver of the moon appeared at Huntley Meadows Park, a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) made a last attempt to catch a fish in the dwindling light.

Waxing crescent moon (thanks to Walter Sanford for the identification)

Waxing crescent moon (thanks to Walter Sanford for the identification)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Three years ago in Paris

Posted in Architecture, Landscape, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged Armistice Day, Armistice Day 2011, canon 18-55mm lens, Canon Rebel XT, Eiffel Tower, fog, Paris on November 11, 2014| 5 Comments »

Three years ago on Armistice Day, the top portion of the Eiffel Tower was hidden in the fog, giving this familiar landmark a feeling of mystery. I really liked the look and got shots of it from both sides of the Seine River

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Armistice Day 2011 in Paris

Posted in Architecture, Landscape, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged Arc de Triomphe, Armistice Day, Armistice Day 2011, canon 18-55mm lens, Canon Rebel XT, Eternal Flame, Paris on November 11, 2014| 11 Comments »

On this date three years ago, I was in Paris and I was struck by the degree to which the French celebrate Armistice Day (Armistice de la Première Guerre mondiale). There were flags all along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and a huge flag was hanging inside the Arc de Triomphe. It was a cold foggy day, which somehow felt appropriate for a solemn day of remembrance.

I too was celebrating and remembering, though in a personal way. I was in the midst of a two week trip to Paris, commemorating the end of almost thirty-four years of working full-time for the government, including twenty years in the US Army. I was on a journey of discovery, though in many ways it was a journey of rediscovery. Although I already owned a Canon Rebel XT DSLR, I had rarely used it, but somehow I decided to take photos every day that I was in Paris and to post ten of them every day in my Facebook account. That experience rekindled my love for photography and I started taking photos regularly, which led to this photography-oriented blog.

When I was in college, I majored in French language and literature and spent a year studying in Paris. Several of my friends noticed that my personality and even the tonality of my voice changed when I was speaking in French. At that time I was quiet and introverted, but when I switched languages, I somehow felt freer to express my emotions and grew to love 19th century romantic poetry, for example. Over the years, my personality has shifted and I have become more like that original French personna.

I sense that a similar process is taking place with photography, as my senses become much more attuned to the natural world and I am experiencing life in a deeper, more self-aware way. I am thankful to Leanne Cole, a delightful Australian photographer, who started me thinking along these lines when she asked me the simple question of why I take photographs as part of an interview that she did in a posting introducing me.

As you celebrate and remember on this day, no matter if you call it Veterans Day, Armistice Day, or simply 11 November, take a moment and ponder this personal question, “Why do you take photographs?”

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Quiet start to November

Posted in animals, Autumn, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, gray squirrel, Huntley Meadows Park, sparrow on November 2, 2014| 10 Comments »

A new month started quietly, with few animals, birds, or insects visible on a cold. overcast day. I walked around my local marsh for a couple of hours and experienced nature in a series of small encounters, signs of the changing season.

A lone swallow sang softly in a tree; (CORRECTION: A sharp-eyed reader noted this is a female or immature Red-winged Blackbird)

A mallow flower bloomed unexpectedly in the water;

A squirrel peeked out from behind some branches;

The trees showcased their muted autumn colors; and

An advance party of Canada Geese came in for a landing.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Impressionist autumn

Posted in Art, Autumn, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, autumn, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, fall foliage, Huntley Meadows Park, impressionist, reflections on October 24, 2014| 14 Comments »

How can I show the beauty of the autumn foliage? As I was pondering that question, I glanced down into the waters of a small pond at my local marshland park and found my answer.

The combination of the light, the reflections, and the ripples enveloped me in an impressionist world, where the forms were blurred, but recognizable. I love the art of Monet, and somehow the autumn reflections brought his works to mind.

As i moved about, the scene would change, as different elements were reflected in the water.

I’m often at a loss when trying to photograph landscapes—I am so used to focusing on the details of a subject that I have trouble seeing the big picture. Somehow it seemed easier when I concentrated my attention on the limited expanse of the water in the pond.

Here in Northern Virginia, we usually don’t have the really vivid colors that I remember from my childhood days in New England, but the subdued colors are beautiful nonetheless. I find in these more restrained shades a kind of melancholic reminder that the days are gradually fading into winter.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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