New Site….Same Blog
I have decided to take the next step when it comes to my website and have decided to create my own domain name and wordpress blog. Here is the link to my new site. I am still planning on trying to post a new photo every day to the daily blog. I want to thank you all for continuing to stop by my spot on the net and view my version of photography. I hope you will continue to check out my latest updates and I look forward to seeing you over at the new site.
Lunar Illumination
Driving out to this location, I was hoping that there would still be a deep layer of snow covering the Kansas dirt. I didn’t realize it would still be this much. The drift on the north side of this barn was easily three feet deep. Fortunately it was cold enough that the snow’s surface had frozen over and we were able to walk on top of the snow with out much worry of sinking in. The one thing I distinctly remember from this night was the bone-chilling wind. The wind chill that morning had to have been below zero. Needless to say, I was glad I was able to work most of my camera settings with my gloves on!
Snow Barn
Ventured out into the frozen tundra of southwest Kansas last night in hopes of a grand show of streaking fireballs, blazing across the night sky….yeah, not so much. The moon must have bleached out most of the faint meteors and the two or three bright ones we saw were just out of frame. None the less, I had one of the better nights of shooting I’ve had in a while. It’s always tough to talk yourself into getting out in sub-freezing temperatures but last night was totally worth it. Shot a few star trails and had some great light with the setting moon. Did anybody else have check out the meteor shower, and if so, how was the show from your location?
Two Thousand and Eleven: A Look Back
Since this is my final post of the year Two Thousand and Eleven, I figured it was appropriate to recap this last year with “some” of my favorite photos. I have a tough time narrowing things down, so I’ve got quite a few favorites from my photo adventures over the last year. All the photos are arranged in chronological order and all were taken in the year 2011.
I can’t thank all of you enough for continuing to follow my photography as well as your continued comments and support. Looking forward to another great year in 2012.
Drifting Focus
Tried a little different technique on this shot. I would say on about 95% of my landscape shots, I am shooting at an aperture of f/16 or higher. In this case, I wanted to separate the drift’s edge from the sunset by utilizing a very low aperture of f/2.8. I really like how this separates the image and really draws your attention to the foreground. May have to try this out more often.
Snowy Sunset
Another sunburst sunset shot from the same night. Like I said. I was just a composing mad man during that 10 minutes or so when the sun creeped out from under the cloud deck until it disappeared below the horizon.
Yucca by Winter’s Light
Hope everyone was able to experience some good times with family and friends. I know I sure did. Today’s shot is another from the night after our big snow storm rolled through. I was hoping for a little more snow than we got, but it was still enough for my boys to enjoy and enough to hang around for a white Christmas, so you won’t hear me complaining.
Drifting Sun
I love how photography has changed my view on the world. If you would have told me a couple of years ago that all I would have to work with in a photo is a snow drift, I probably wouldn’t have even bothered trying to take the picture. Now days, it seems that some of the simplest subjects can make the most interesting shots. It all depends on your perspective.
I wanted to take a quick moment on here to thank all of you for your encouraging words and continued support on my blog. It has been just over a year now that I have began posting a picture a day (almost everyday) and it has been the greatest year in photography for me by far. I’ve learned more in the past year than I have all the other years I’ve dabbled in the craft prior to this one. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas surrounded by the ones you love and hold dear! Cheers!
Winter Wonderland
One of the things I seems to enjoy most when out taking pictures is the rush to find a new perspective in the little time you have during a setting sun. On this night, I managed to capture 4 or 5 different comps with the sunburst as it transitioned from the clouds to the horizon. I was sprinting like a mad man in upwards of a foot and a half of drifted snow trying to find different looks. I kept running higher up the hill in this shot as the sun continued to drop lower in the sky. This shot was one of the earlier sunburst shots I took that cold snowy evening. But it was a blast (not to mention a little exercise as well, it’s hard to sprint when there is snow up to your knee caps).
Weeds of Winter
As all of you may have noticed, there has been a serious lack of new posts on the blog lately. The reason is pretty simple, just haven’t had time. Weekends have been eaten up with football, weddings and holiday family time. And as I’m sure you all know, there isn’t much time after work to go shoot with the sun setting only a half hour after five. Fortunately I was able to get out and shoot a little last night after we had a pretty nasty blizzard move through the area. Quite a bit of snow and a lot of wind. A lot of drifting occurred and left some pretty sweet lines in the snow. Hope everyone has been doing well and preparing for a very merry Christmas!
Tangled
Tried to take some Christmas card idea shots last night with the boys. My wife came up with the idea of wrapping the boys in a strand of lights and it sounded like a neat idea to me. So we gave it a shot. Here is what we came away with.
Ripple in Time – II
Time of the year again when football season begins to come to a close. I’ll be heading back up to Manhattan for the last KSU game of the year. Big game for us cats, but hopefully we can pull it off. I’m planning on trying to get out and shoot atleast once while I’m back. This Tuttle Creek shoot was the last time I’ve been able to get out and take some landscape shots so I’m definitely getting some cabin fever. Hope everyone has a safe weekend with some amazing light. EMAW!
Sprinkler Sunrise
A couple of early morning shots before the sun crossed the horizon. There is no shortage of these irrigation sprinklers around Garden. The irrigation engine that is at the center of the sprinkler pivot has a light on top of it that blinks periodically at night. When driving down the country roads at night, it’s cool to look around and see just how many irrigated circles there are around.
‘Tis the Season’
Another year has flown by and once again it is time to untangle the huge knot of christmas lights and throw them up on the roof. Decorating for the holidays is always something I’ve enjoyed doing. I try to set out a big display for halloween as well as for ol’ Saint Nick. This year I added the candy cane appearance to the poles on the porch and my wife added a strand of multicolored lights to the front bush….what’s that, you don’t see the multi-color strand. Well, they were “accidentally” unplugged for the picture… 🙂 Hope everyone is having a great holiday season!
Water Strider
Hope eveyone had a great Thanksgiving. I had lots to be thankful for this year, and I was able to spend this past week with those people that I am thankful to have in my life.
Today’s shot is another from, you guessed it, the River Pond on the south side of Tuttle Creek Damn. Now back to the grind…
Foggy Convergence
Today’s shot takes us back to the iron railway bridge that crosses the Big Blue in Manhattan, KS. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this location was a complete accident and the fog was just complete luck. This was my “backup” location due to the fact that there wasn’t any water flowing over Pillsbury Crossing. I really wanted to get back to the bridge with the fall colors setting in, but I just didn’t have the time while up visiting in the little apple.
Once again, I am torn between the color version of this shot and the B&W. I still think I like the purple hues of the foggy morning enough that it puts the color version up top for me, but I still like the classic look of the B&W as well. Opinions?
Autumn Shore
Back to the third location on River Pond. I have a seven shot panoramic to stitch at some point involving this area of the pond, but I’ve yet to get around to it. You never see days like this in Kansas with no wind and a lake surface like glass. Was really a pretty fortunate morning.
Serenity at Sunrise
Found a nice little relaxing spot at the end of a dock on Tuttle Creek Lake to sit back and enjoy the sunrise.
Hidden in the Mist
Another shot from the first location the morning of the Tuttle Creek Lake shoot. More of a telephoto landscape shot. This one shot at 85mm. Love the mood the fog and reflection create in this shot.
Tree & Trees
I found this awesome tree extending out into the lake from the banks of the south side of Tuttle Creek Lake that I really wanted to incorporate into a bunch of different pictures. This tree looked like it was an arm with a hand at the end grasping into the water. Really cool looking. However, the angle that which it was facing the trees across the pond made it very tricky to compose in a pleasing manner. Ultimately I only took two or three sets of brackets with it because I just couldn’t find a comp that didn’t have the tree blocking the background or just look out of place. Here is one of the sets that I took.
Reach to the Sky
Well, I fell asleep last night on the couch and didn’t get a chance to process any new material last night, so I had to upload one that is similar to the Fall tree picture from a couple of weeks ago. I must be getting old because I just can’t stay awake late in the evening like I used to. Hope everyone had a great weekend, I know myself and my KSU wildcats did! Did everyone catch the four overtime thriller in the little apple? It was quite a game!
Reflected
Third location of the day here. This is from a little access pond area on the southeast side of the River Pond at Tuttle Creek. This is where I would say the best colors of Fall were showing up. It took about a 15 foot climb down a pretty steep bank to get to the recessed shore line. I’m never a fan of trying this with my gear, but sometimes you have to get a little risky to be where you want to be for the right composition. Hope everyone has a great weekend filled with incredible light. Cheers!
Autumn Road
Another shot from mile marker 17 in SW Kansas. Nice little dirt road right off the highway with a plethora (“Jefe, what is a plethora?” <- Great movie) of trees that were an amazing golden yellow hue lit by the evening sun.
Recommended Preservation
Hope you all don’t mind more shots from Tuttle Creek. I went through almost two 8gb cards that morning from three different locations and lots of different comps at each. This one is back at the dock. It’s hard to see in the first dock shot, but there was a painted life preserver at the very end of the dock that I felt added an extra element to this shot. The fog was starting to thin out at this point so the reflection became more and more prevalent as the time went by.
Scott Ackerman Photography 