civilized ku # 1066 ~ summer friends

Hugo and Matthew ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggenHugo made a new friend at the Jersey Shore. Matthew is from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and he is from the wife's "cousins" side of the family. At all of family gatherings (several everyday), Hugo and Matthew were nearly inseparable during the week.

civilized ku # 1065 ~ more lightning and some rain

Bay houses / lightning ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
Rain ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
Rain # 2 ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggenIt may seem like, by viewing my recent Jersey Shore pictures, there was a lot of sturm and drang / rain during our stay at the Shore. That was not the case but I did make a lot of pictures during what stormy weather conditions we experienced.

On hindsight, the reason for that seems to be because, as mentioned previously, I am increasingly drawn towards making pictures at dusk/night and, to which I might add, during inclement weather conditions. That said, and relative to making pictures at the Jersey Shore, I have certainly made enough bright sunny day pictures (see here and here) at the Jersey Shore to satisfy my soul.

That is not to state that I did not, nor will not in the future, make more sunny day pictures at the Shore because doing so is just like breathing in and breathing out for me. However, there is something about stormy/rainy weather which I find to be quite captivating both visually and viscerally - something that is raw, unpredictable, powerful, transformational, and, at times, awe inspiring, not to mention adrenaline inducing.

Add to those stormy/rainy weather characteristics, the fact that relatively few picture makers seem inclined to take their precious gear (and in come cases, themselves) out into the raw elements, and I just can't seem to resist the call of the wild, weather wise.

Do any of you ever get out in the weather?

civilized ku # 1062-64 ~ sturm & drang / front & lightning

Storm front / lightning over the bay ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
Storm front looking SW ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
Storm front looking NE ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggenThis storm front, sweeping in from the NW like a Steven Spielberg special effect, stretched from horizon to horizon - not something we often get to see, end-to-end wise, in the Adirondacks.

The front brought in the storm which eventually moved out over the ocean later that evening and afforded me the opportunity to make the heaven and earth pictures.

FYI, the heaven and earth pictures: the pictures were made by placing the camera on a tripod and making a whole bunch of 4 second exposures. I ended up with a bunch of "blank" - no lightning - frames and about 20 lightning streak / lightning flash (illuminated sky, but no streaks) keepers.

The 4 second exposure allowed for "luck" - which, I must point out, most often rewards the prepared - in capturing the lightning. In the case of the storm out over the Atlantic, the frequency of the lightning was such that I basically made one after another exposures with very little elapsed time - 5-10 seconds - between exposures. I captured lightning in approximately 1 out of every 3 exposures.

The lighting in the storm front picture in this entry was captured using a 1/200 shutter speed and pure unadulterated dumb luck - I snapped 6 quick frames, 5 had no lightning, 1 did. When the picture was viewed on my iPad shortly after the making thereof, the assembled crowd - 70-80 of the wife's relatives - was amazed at my picture making skill and abilities.

Obviously, I didn't tell them about the dumb luck part and I won't tell them if you don't.

civilized ku # 1061 ~ high clouds over haze

Stone Harbor beach view of Wildwood, NJ ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggenThis picture was made, quite literally, during the calm before the storm - the storm that swept in, an hour or so later, over the bay - as seen in the above sturm & drang entry - and out over the Atlantic - as seen in the heaven and earth # 1-5 entry below.

I am not a bird-on-a-stick picture maker ...

Seagull ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen... but every once in a while something not on a stick comes my way.

civilized ku # 1060 ~ nice light if you can get it

Lifeguard rescue boat ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggenThe time spent on the Jersey Shore was not all filled with weatherific sturm and drang. Indeed, there was ample regular late-day shore light - soft, luxurious, all-enveloping and warm.

heaven and earth # 1-5 ~ in the beginning

On the beach ~ 113th Street - Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggen
On the beach ~ 113th Street - Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggenMy intent for the heaven and earth series is to present the work in 5 panel groupings with all of the pictures in a given grouping from the same location / time. In this case - on the beach ~ 113th Street / Stone Harbor, NJ. Single prints of any of the pictures will be available.

Here's hoping, while I continue this series, I don't get struck by lightning.

ku # 1025 ~ Photogene app for iPad

Lightning ~ Stone Harbor, NJ • click to embiggenOn the entry heaven and earth # 1, John Linn wrote: "You processed a RAW on an iPad? I have got to get one of those."

John - perhaps "processed" is not the right word inasmuch as when one connects a SD memory card to the iPad (with the card adapter), the iPad recognizes and displays all of the files on that card to include RAW files. You can then save a picture (or pictures) to an album on the iPad where they can be viewed (embiggened).

I have an app, Photogene, which can then be used to further process an image with Photoshop-type editing tools.. Photogene has a nice set of tools to include; sharpening, noise reduction, curves, white balance / tint, exposure, saturation, spot cloning, dodge/burn, masking overlays, histogram, rotate / straighten, crop, and enhancement tools (vignette / blur / frames / etc.).

While I am not about to do any critical or finished work on the iPad, Photogene does do a decent enough job of on-the-spot/go editing - especially so considering its $2.99USD price tag.