A rainstorm had just ended when I took this photo of a Tiger Lilly. I had taken a few earlier before the rain but none came out as good.  What they say is true raindrops really do enhance flower photos.

I took this photo the same day I took this other slightly more original reflection shot that I posted a couple of weeks ago. Still I am very happy with this one as well even though it may be slightly cliched.

It was a very busy day on Gloucester Harbor last Labor Day weekend when I took this photo as you can see. I found this interesting because every type of boat imaginable is in the picture. From speedboats, to fishing boats, sailboats, and in the distance dwarfing them all a giant warship. There is even a barge of some sort to the left. The term organized chaos comes to my mind seeing all these boats zooming around in every direction!

I took this photo last weekend while testing my new Tamron 70-300 lens. I was taking a macro shot and I think it came out really well. As a surprise bonus I got a bee buzzing by that came out pretty clear in the photo. It is on the right hand side of the picture in case you did not see it.

I took this photo in Boston last year. This very colorful guy making balloon animals was attracting alot of attention. Notice even the women who are walking away from him in the background cant help but peak over their shoulders without even watching where they are going!

This is a photo I shot of a monument to lost sailors that was overlooking the ocean in Maine. I really like how the b&w conversion came out and it actually makes it easier to see the details of the lighthouses that are carved into the monument then when it was in color. If you look closely you can see the Nubble Lighthouse carved on the left hand site of the monument. If you remember I posted a photo I took of the Nubble Lighthouse earlier if you want to compare the carving to the lighthouse.

I saw this wild Pink Lady Slipper in my yard last spring so I had to take a photo of it. I will have to check again this year and see if I can find some more Lady Slippers in the yard to photograph.

Sometimes you just get lucky when taking a picture. That was the case with this photo I took of the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine. I was just setting up to take a normal picture of the lighthouse but by the time the shutter clicked I ended up getting a seagull in the foreground of the picture that was totally unplanned but something I think enhances the image. The seagull gives a little life to the image since this picture was taken in March when there was still snow on the ground and the grass was brown.

As I have said in my last couple of blog posts I recently ordered and received a new lens the Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro. I was looking for a lens for my Pentax K10d that could get in closer for wildlife pictures and after a lot of research this seemed like the most affordable solution. » Continue Reading…

As promised here is another shot I took today with my new lens the Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro. I barely saw this little squirrel in the tree he blended in so well with it. He looks pretty comfortable laying on that branch. I am pretty happy with this lens so far it. The lens was at the full 300mm and the image is still very sharp. I could never have gotten in this close with my old lenses. You can see some minor purple fringing on the small twig in front of the squirrel but that is something I knew this lens sometimes has trouble with when I purchased it. I took a whole bunch more photos today with my Tamron lens. I will be posting some of them tomorrow along with my mini review of the Tamron 70-300!

I just got the Tamron AF 70-300 LD Di macro that I ordered for my Pentax K10d in the mail today and this is one of the test shots from my front yard. I have been wanting a lens that could get in a bit closer then my Pentax DA 50-200 and the Tamron was very affordable and had some pretty good reviews like this one at photozone so I decided to purchase it. The sun was starting to set when I took this shot so it is a little grainy. I am hoping when I have some better light I will be able to really give this lens a good test. Stay tuned as I will be posting some pictures taken with my new lens over the next few days.

I took this shot last summer while on vacation in Wolfeboro, NH. It is a photo of an old train station in the center of town. The building is starting to show its age and is now used as a tourist information center instead of a train station. Still a very interesting building that has a unique architecture.

I am not quite sure what kind of flowers these are but since it is springtime I figured it would be a good time to post it. I saw these flowers while at a nature conserve that is by a marsh. You can just make out the water in the background behind the trees and leaves. Overall I am pretty happy with it but the image is not quite as sharp as I was hoping. It was the best I could do with the lens I had though. I was using my Pentax K10D with the Pentax DA 50-200 lens at the time. I am starting to think I really need a macro lens so I can get in closer.

Here is a photo I took of the famous Union Oyster House in Boston. For those that don’t know it is the oldest restaurant in Boston and the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the United States (its been open since 1826). Since this is one of the oldest streets in the country I felt this picture would look more timeless once converted to black and white. Overall I am pretty happy with the results. The cobblestone streets and the old restaurants take you back in time even though the illusion is broken since you can see some people with modern items like plastic bags.

Here is a good shot of my cat. It is rare for him to stay still long enough for me to get a good picture of him so this was a bonus. I took this with my Pentax K10d and the DA 50-200 lens. I actually won a photo of the day contest with this picture last year which was cool. Check out the site that featured my picture  photographyvoice.com if you are interested in seeing it there. 

This tree was alone and above all the others overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee. I really like how the black and white conversion came out on this one.

There was not much sand on this beach in Maine so some ingenious people decided to build rock castles instead of sand castles! Of least these should be a bit more sturdy then their sand castle counterparts and harder for troublemakers to destroy to. I kneeled down at eye level with the castles to get the view of the ocean from the castles perspective. Hmm I wonder if these castles rent rooms with ocean waterfront views like that!

It was a beautiful night on Lake Winnipesaukee when I took this picture. The sun was just starting to set and the sky had an interesting color to it.

I took this shot when I was on vacation in New Hampshire. The lake was like glass and was casting a perfect reflection of the mountain. I tried to spice it up a little so it would not be a typical reflection photo by framing the picture in a fence that I found along an old dirt road in front of the lake. So I ended up getting two reflections the two fence posts and the mountain reflecting in the lake.

I was at the bottom of the hill in my front yard when I took this so I was basically at eye level with the squirrel. I zoomed all the way in and I think this image gives a glimpse of what the world looks like from the viewpoint of a squirrel.

I recently read a very good article on several different black and white conversion processes on Matt Greer’s Photography Blog. I had taken this picture of some reeds by the ocean that had some very dramatic looking clouds that I thought would look great in black and white so I decided to test a few of the methods he mentioned on this photo and share the results on my blog.

First here is the original photo in color. Like I said I am pretty happy with this shot but It just seemed like this photo was asking to be converted to black and white. Now to see how the conversions turned out: » Continue Reading…

I took this picture the same day that I took this photo of the sailboat in Kennebunkport Maine that I posted last month. I did not plan for the boat to be so out of focus but the effect is really growing on me. It gives the boat a hazy quality that almost makes it seem like a dream. What do you think do you prefer this dreamlike version of the sailboat or the original one I posted?

I saw this butterfly snacking on a flower and figured it would be the perfect chance to practice a Macro shot with my Pentax k10d.

I took this photo on a trip to Boston. Both the horse and the carriage driver are looking very bored as they wait for customers to arrive. Hopefully the wait was not to long (but judging by the empty streets it may have been!)

It was a very quite summer day on Lake Winnipesaukee when this photo was taken. As you can see there is not one boat in sight. The boaters must have seen the clouds coming over the mountains and known a storm was likely on the way! I converted this to black and white because I think it helps highlight the dramatic cloud cover over the mountains better. What do you think?

Here is a photo I took in Vermont a couple of winters back. I like how the foreground is flat farmland and in the background there are huge mountains. The corn stalks add a little color to the white snowy field.