Posted in Architecture, Art, Landscape, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged Canon 18-55mm, Canon SL2, Notre Dame, Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, sunset on November 24, 2019| 9 Comments »
It is finally beginning to hit me that my stay here in Paris will soon be coming to a close. Will this shot from yesterday evening be my final image of Notre Dame de Paris in the fading light of the day? Perhaps I will have a chance again tomorrow.
We’ll always have Paris.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
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.
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)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Branta canadensis, Canada Goose, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, sunset on October 25, 2014| 6 Comments »
As I watched the glorious sunset at my local marsh yesterday, I kept hoping that a V-shaped formation of geese would fly into the frame. I was happy to settle for this solitary Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) and an amazing pink-tinged sky.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, silhouette, sunset on February 14, 2014| 9 Comments »
Whenever I am at my local marsh at sunset, I am alert for ducks and geese in the air. I have a goal of catching them in silhouette against the backdrop of the colorful sky. I still haven’t gotten the shot I am looking for, but here is one of my recent attempts.
© 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 Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, red sky, sunset on October 9, 2013| 6 Comments »
I watched the sun go down yesterday evening at my local marsh and was initially disappointed as the sun dropped lower and lower on the horizon without any real displays of color. Eventually, though, my patience was rewarded, when for a few minutes the sky turned a beautiful shade of red.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Language, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, December, Huntley Meadows Park, sunset on December 5, 2012| 1 Comment »
The weather at the beginning of this week has been unseasonably warm, with temperatures soaring past 70 degrees F (21 degrees C). Yesterday I spent the entire day indoors at work, but I was able to enjoy this beautiful respite on Monday afternoon, when I spent several hours meandering through the marsh. The day ended with a beautiful sunset that I tried to capture in stages, as the sun dipped lower and lower on the horizon. This sunset’s most striking characteristic was the reflected light in the clouds—the colors themselves were as striking as in some other sunsets. We will soon be back to freezing temperatures and gray skies, but I hope that occasionally we will still be treated to these amazing displays of light and color.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park, light, shadows, sunset on November 30, 2012| 12 Comments »
I spent much of today at home waiting for a FedEx package that required a signature, so it was late afternoon when I finally managed to get out with my camera. The sun was already pretty low on the horizon when I arrived at my favorite marshland and I didn’t find many subjects to shoot. However, almost as compensation, I was treated to a spectacular sunset. The sky was blue and there were a good number of clouds in the west to reflect the colors of the setting sun. I tried to catch the sun as it was setting as I looked across the marsh; as I looked out to the distant treeline after the sun had already gone down; and as I looked through some nearby trees at the beautiful reds that appeared. It was a gorgeous way to start the weekend.
Looking into the marsh
Looking toward the treeline
Looking through the trees
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Flowers, Gardening, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged autumn, Canon 100mm macro lens, Canon Rebel XT, green spring gardens, leaf, sunset on November 10, 2012| 3 Comments »
After a frosty start, today was the warmest it’s been in a while, partly sunny with highs above 60 degrees F (about 16 degrees C). As the sun was starting to set, I decided to be a little creative and see if I could highlight a single leaf with the colorful sky in the background. I found a suitable tree without too much problem, but finding a leaf at the right height with an unobstructed background was a little tricky. I happened to have my 100mm macro lens on the camera and decided to go with that. I knew that I would need to use a little flash on the leaf to keep it from getting lost in the shadows. I used settings of ISO 100, F32, and 8/10 sec to get the effect and tweaked the image slightly in Photoshop Elements, though I chose not to crop at all. Here’s a couple of shots of my experiment. (In case you are curious, the leaf is still attached to the tree, even though it looks like I am merely holding it in from of the lens.)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 