After the Rose Garden, I wandered down to the beach. I shot the Lighthouse with different lenses and speeds and filters, and was thrilled with absolutely none of them. Walking up the stairs to stop by the fountain, I stared at all the gull feathers caught in the grass. Swapping lenses again, I sat down and started clicking. My spirits lifted considerably after each shot. Beats paying a therapist.
I was planning on spending October 1st shooting somewhere, but went with something local and familiar when I got word my grandmother had passed. Lakeview Park was comfortable.
Session Two to follow.
No motivation. No drive. Nothing that has inspired me to shoot. Kristen asked if we could go to the Rose Garden on Father’s Day. So we snuck away for about an hour Sunday afternoon. Just in time, as a matter of fact because, as we made our way through the remainder of the Garden, the rain began to fall. While I’m happy with the way these turned out, I’m still looking for something to shoot. I feel like I’ve shot everything worth it around here. Suggestions are welcome.
After seeing his photography over the course of the last two-and-a-half years, I had offered Matt the chance to post here. When I saw a recent batch of pics, I knew he had to share them. He sent me a set he took at Lakeview Park, of the light display there. He described what he did:
In order to get the effect for these pictures, this is what I did: Having a tripod is a must due to the fact that I used shutter speeds that ranged from 1 second until 20 seconds. The ISO was set at 200 and the apertures were from f/8 – f/32. I simply set the camera to the aperture to what I wanted, focused on the subject, and pushed the shutter. When the shutter is pressed, I then simply zoomed the lens from 18mm – 55mm and vice versa. Doing this causes a plain scene to come to life.
I’ve taken pics of the lights at Lakeview for “Light Up Lorain” over the years, and this season there’s a new addition to the display. A revolving wheel blinking different colors can be seen from West Erie Avenue. I drove through two mornings ago on the way home from work. I want to go back and play a little more with it, as it was quite cold and very wet that a.m.
The video itself is not particularly impressive. But what you can do with your camera is another story…
With the ISO at 3200 and an .8 second exposure, if you click on the photo for a larger view, you’ll see that the strand lights in the background are curlicues now.
With the exposure at 1.3, the lights get brighter, but a little messier, and not as crisp. A tripod will definitely make this a nicer shot at this setting.
Exposure is now set at 2.5, and with a little wiggle in the camera, you get this explosion of light and colored lines.
The same settings, but with a slight movement to the left, gives the illusion of movement to this wheel of light.
Not every shot you take has to be precise and neat and organized. Get out and have some fun!
Maybe I can get Matt Dempsey to share some of the fun he’s had with simply adjusting the lens during a long exposure…..
The last stop on my “Last Hurrah – Get Outta the Funk” tour was Lakeview Park. So many different photo ops, and I hadn’t spent a lot of time there this summer. Definitely the place to wrap things up. And it did not disappoint.
Mike and Kristen are getting to the age where hangin’ out at the beach is the thing to do. Gettin’ ice cream at K-Cream or DQ is on the list, too. Sometimes I get asked to give a lift. Sometimes Mike drives. Kids are growing fast. Where does the time go? This is from one night that I gave Kristen a lift to Lakeview. She was on one side of the park, I was on the other side (don’t wanna cramp her style, ya know?). Goofin’ with the shutter speed can make some interesting things happen.
The first chance I had to get to the Tulip Garden happened to be on an overcast afternoon. While I liked the way the pics turned out, they didn’t have the ‘pop’ I was looking for. I was fortunate to be coming home the next day with the weather soooo much nicer.
And before you ask, Yes, I’m fascinated by these yellow tulips with the red in them.
Some of us don’t realize just how blessed we are to live where we do. A fresh-water lake just to the north of us, walking distance for a lot, that provides fishing and boating and swimming and beaches. A fantastic Metro Parks system, that provides activities from hikes to music to magic shows to ‘meet the creatures’ type events. A quick drive to places like Cedar Point in Sandusky and all the events that are held in Cleveland. It seems there’s always something to do.Lakeview Park is always a great place to go, especially in the warmer weather. Food at the Rose Cafe, the renowned Rose Garden, the beach, the Easter Basket, and this early in the spring, the Tulip Garden.
I’ve wanted to do some late night shooting, and saw some things that folks had done with flashlights. When my daughter asked me to pick up her friend from South Lorain one night, I agreed on the condition that they help me out with the pics. Imagine my surprise when she told me Alainey has wanted to get in on some pics! So, down to Lakeview we went, where I could count on a dark background, and I wanted to retry a shot. The sidewalk shoots didn’t turn out like I was looking for, but were still a little interesting. The others were kinda neat. Hope you enjoy.
Since Kristen did the majority of the drawing, I let her sign her name to her handiwork. Thanks, Hon!
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