Posts Tagged ‘landscape’

Outer Banks North Carolina

Bodie Lighthouse in North Carolina ©TimeLine Media
Bodie Lighthouse in North Carolina ©TimeLine Media

Shore Landscapes

During a break in photography assignments, we took a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It is an easy drive from northern Virginia and is a nice break from our regular routine. Anytime you can be close to ocean waters you can really breathe a different kind of air for a nice recharge.

Early morning on the ocean shore in North Carolina ©TimeLine Media
Early morning on the ocean shore in North Carolina ©TimeLine Media
Sunrise in the Outer Banks of North Carolina ©TimeLine Media
Sunrise in the Outer Banks of North Carolina ©TimeLine Media

Creatively the ocean shore give so many possibilities. This is one place where getting up early before the sunrise will yield fruitful results for your photos. The far distant horizon will almost guarantee that you will have some glimmer of morning light even during over overcast mornings. A few mornings, I got up before the sun just to get a feel for what the light was looking like. It was enjoyable just to be out there before the crowds arrived, and when animals passed by both under and next to the breaking waters.

Under an ocean pier in North Carolina ©TimeLine Media
Under an ocean pier in North Carolina ©TimeLine Media

During our trip I found the beautifully set Bodie Lighthouse a favorite subject. It had a minimal setting from where the structure was set. The symmetry of the lighthouse and the clear backdrop made for some memorable images that I printed for my walls at home. At night, we made a trip to the site long after everyone else had left for the day. It was the perfect time to try a long exposure photo. I got what I was looking for, but I left quickly after all the snake warnings scared me from staying too long!

Long Exposure of Bodie Lighthouse in North Carolina ©TimeLine Media
Long Exposure of Bodie Lighthouse in North Carolina ©TimeLine Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Black and White Challenge – Part 1

Tysons, Virginia

Are any of you familiar with this Black and White Challenge that was spread throughout Facebook late last year? At this time, I had seen a few of my friends post up some incredible images. Overall, I thought that it was a great way to push you to make some new monochromes images for sharing. It works by posting up images 5 days in a row. With each submission, you nominate another person to the challenge which keeps it proliferating online. I’d like to thank Jae for nominating me to participate, and I enjoyed sharing the images! Luckily, I had some client-work coming up, so I did not have to look far for some situations in making some new images.

Santa-Claus-waving
Santa-Claus-waving

I was scheduled to photograph a bar mitzvah that had some great lighting setup by the event planners. The uplighting created a nice contrast to my flash which always makes for some nice black and white images.

Alexandria, Virginia

Bar-Mitzvah-Hora-dance-©TimeLine-Media
Bar-Mitzvah-Hora-dance-©TimeLine-Media

The other schedule shoot was at Tysons Corner Center. They had an outdoor Christmas market setup on the Plaza. They wanted to get some nice overhead views of the plaza and ice rink with lots of people doing their holiday gift-shopping. I thought that evening would work best with the light as is usual for most landscape photography. The best angle was to go into the new Tysons Tower to get an overhead view of the shopping with the expanding northern Virginia area as a backdrop. I was just lucky to get that nice colorful after-sunset sky. Although there is no color in the submitted photo, there was still a nice gray gradient in the empty upper right of the frame. I enjoyed the chance to photograph from such a great vantage point, and to be lucky enough to see it at a perfect time of day.

Tysons-Corner-Center
Tysons-Corner-Center

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Sunflowers at McKee Beshers WMA

Poolesville, Maryland

Taking a short drive to the nearby Maryland countryside to stand in a field full of sunflowers will probably become a yearly tradition for us! Like the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in downtown DC, the fields of the McKee Beshers Wildlife Management area are planted with beautiful sunflowers. When they bloom is regularly monitored and posted on their website. Not as many people make it here compared to the Tideal Basin. So you can really get up close and personal with the bees and the blooms.

Sunflowers-at-McKee-Beshers-©TimeLine_Media
Sunflowers-at-McKee-Beshers-©TimeLine_Media

Since they bloom in summer, it is recommended to go either in early morning or late evening. Concurrently, it is better when the sun is not directly overhead. This, of course, makes for better photos too! The spacing in between lines of plantings makes it easier to walk in between the rows of blooming flowers.

Roadside Sunflowers

Sunflowers-at-McKee-Beshers-©TimeLine_Media
Sunflowers-at-McKee-Beshers-©TimeLine_Media

We decided to go out later in the evening. Being July, it was still hot and a little humid, but we enjoyed the colorful view. There are many fields in which sunflowers are planted. However the first one off of River Rd. is probably the most photogenic. As you walk from the parking lot, you can see the yellow glow of the flowers between a column of trees. It is like stepping into an Impressionist painting.

Sunflowers-at-McKee-Beshers-©TimeLine_Media
Sunflowers-at-McKee-Beshers-©TimeLine_Media

It is such a great place to make photos. You can take out your wide-angle lenses, your macro lenses, practice with your tripod, or take your flash off the camera for more fun. Luckily you have lots of space to work and not be in anyone else’s way. There is still some time to get out there and see the sunflowers. According to the website, there are other fields that may bloom from now until August. Grab your camera and a friend or two and make some nice pictures!

Sunflowers-at-McKee-Beshers-©TimeLine_Media
Sunflowers-at-McKee-Beshers-©TimeLine_Media

TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

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