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.
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.
Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, beaver, beaver lodge, beaver pond, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, reflections on March 12, 2014| 9 Comments »
Do you have a favorite spot that serves as a refuge, a place to which you can retreat and just sit and absorb the natural beauty that surrounds you? This winter I found such a place at a beaver pond in one of the remote corners of my local marshland park, a location reachable only by following a thorny, informal trail that was often muddy and/or icy.
Often I would sit on one of the logs that surrounded one end of the beaver pond for extended periods of time and listen and observe. On occasion I was lucky and managed to get shots of an otter and a red fox from this spot, but mostly I would try to relax and clear my mind and reflect on life (I never managed to see any beavers here).
This spot has really beautiful light and sometimes I would marvel at the beautiful reflections that the trees across the pond would cast onto the water. I tried several times to capture those wonderful reflections with my camera, mostly without success. Last week, though, I took some photos that I like and here are a couple of them. They have an abstract quality that I find to be really appealing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Art, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, last rays of the sun, reflections, sunset on February 9, 2014| 4 Comments »
I waited for the sunset yesterday at my local marshland park and was treated to some cool effects as the last rays of the sun made their way through the trees onto the icy pond, creating some beautiful reflections.
My eye is really attuned to this effect because of a recent series of images by Stephen Pitt in his blog “Le temps d’un Soupir…” that show early morning rays of sun illuminating the forest floor. Check out his most recent posting by clicking on the name of his blog.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Art, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged Ardea herodias, Canon Rebel XT, Great Blue Heron, heron, Huntley Meadows Park, reflections, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on April 28, 2013| 10 Comments »
The Great Blue Heron was too far away for me to capture many details, but the light early yesterday morning was especially beautiful, so I decided to pull back and try to capture the landscape, something that I don’t do very often.
I love the rich bands of color that I managed to capture in this shot and the gorgeous reflections in the water at my local marshland park. The red color, I believe, is from buds that were stripped from the trees by winds and rain this past week.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Landscape, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, dusk, Huntley Meadows Park, ice, marsh, reflections on February 4, 2013| 2 Comments »
Preparing to leave “my” marsh yesterday afternoon, I looked over the frozen fields and waters and was struck by the beauty of the light and the reflections of the sky in the puddles. The scene was awash in shades of blue and gray. Somehow the photo of the scene is not quite as beautiful as I remembered, but I decided not to tweak it much. In addition to capturing the moment, this photo also provides you with a view of part of the marshland where I take so many of my photos.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park, poind, reflections, trees on December 7, 2012| 3 Comments »
In the marshland park where I spend a lot of time shooting photographs, there is a small, shallow pond accessible only by an unimproved trail through the woods. It’s really peaceful there. At times there are ducks there or an occasional heron or deer, but usually it’s just me and the trees and the wind and the water. How do you capture that sense of tranquility in a photo? Here’s a modest attempt to do so.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged bee, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, carpenter bee, flower, insect, nature, nature photography, nectar robbing, reflections, sky on August 6, 2012| 4 Comments »
You might think that I am going to talk philosophically about a bee, but my title is meant to be taken literally. If you click on the photo, you can actually see reflections of the sky and bushes on the shiny surface of the abdomen end of this bee.
I am pretty sure that this is a carpenter bee for two main reasons. First, the abdomen area is shiny and hairless, unlike a bumblebee who is more hairy. Secondly, the bee is sucking nectar out of the side of the flower rather than going in from the front, a process sometimes referred to as “nectar robbing.” Carpenter bees are notorious for circumventing pollination in certain plants by slitting open the side of the flower.
Perhaps others can see more reflections on the bee. It’s like looking at clouds and trying to see shapes—it’s a lot of fun and everyone sees something different. Life is like that sometimes.
Click the photo to see more details
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Morning reflections
Posted in Art, commentary, Inspiration, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park, landscape, Monet, reflections, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens, water on May 6, 2013| 3 Comments »
There is a spot in a back corner of my marshland park that I love to visit in the early morning, when the light produces beautiful reflections in the still waters of a small pond.
It’s accessible only by an informal muddy trail, so I don’t have to share the moments of tranquility with the baby strollers and power walkers that interrupt my conversations with nature when I am on the boardwalk. Sometimes I will see ducks and geese here and I have even spotted a bald eagle perching in a tall tree, but the main draw for me is not the wildlife—it’s the sense of peace that envelopes me when I am here.
Sometimes I like reflections in which you can easily identify the objects being reflected, like the two trees in the first image. Other times, I get lost in the reflections themselves, which can result in a Monet-like abstract image like the second image below.
All of us are looking for an inner peace—this is one place in which I am able to experience a few moments of that peace.
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
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