Celebration! Abigail and Grayson's Wedding

Abigail and Grayson

Mayfair Farm Barn

This week I will not be discussing the finer points of Lightroom or showing yet one more way to display a beautiful tree. Instead, this week was all about my wonderful daughter Abigail, and Grayson, her, nearly as wonderful new husband.  There are times when life completely blocks any opportunities for the usual photography and last week was one of those great times. I apologize to those who come to this blog for tips on landscape photography, but this week is a celebration of life outside of the forest.

The Bloom Family Folk

Abigail and Grayson decided to have a small wedding, and this spring about 20 of their closest friends and family joined them for a ceremony at the edge of Fresh Pond in Cambridge Massachusetts.  With the wedding out of the way they were ready for a bigger celebration.  They chose a farm in the woods of New Hampshire.  Among the sheep and pigs, Mayfair Farm in Harrisville features a beautiful event barn which accommodated 120 friends and family for a locally raised dinner, the necessary speeches and then hours of exuberant dancing. 

Kerry, Cuyler and Don Bryant

Newcomer Family Folk

Everyone had a great time and, in addition to the mandatory father-daughter dance, I actually got out a few times to embarrass myself on the floor.  I promised Abby that I would play the part of the proud father and not let my camera get in the way of the professional photographer.  Of course, I couldn’t resist a few shots and Mark was wonderfully tolerant of my occasional second shooter role. 

Jeremy and Gina

Saturday night at the Mayfair Farm was the highlight, but the celebration extended through the entire weekend.  We had an informal welcoming taco bar buffet Friday night at Odelay  Restaurant in Keene and a great brunch on Sunday at our home in Spofford. 

Gina, Jeremy, Chris and Lisa

Of course, the brunch also gave me the chance to show off my new studio, which is slowly being filled with all the stuff which has been cluttering the house. The studio is becoming functional just in time for the long list of projects which have been accumulating. 

Susan and I were happy, but exhausted after the weekend, but we had no chance for rest.  We turned around and headed for NYC to see Hamilton and stay with Jeremy and Gina.  We will return just in time to set up for Art in the Park at Ashuelot River Park during the holiday weekend.  Whew!

Studio is beginning to fill

Longtime Friend Michele

Anyway, that is why my blog is late and why I can only throw up some happy party pictures.  This business of being “retired” is exhausting.  I promise to get back to real photography stuff next week.

Jeff Newcomer
www.partridgebrookreflections.com

Abigail is Getting Married

High School Grad

Abigail is getting married this weekend, and I hope that I can be excused from my usual celebration of cold and impersonal trees and mountains to indulge myself with a few images that reflect my beautiful daughter’s spirit, love, wit, brilliance and dedication to the service of others.  

There are no tears here.  Abby is marrying a wonderful man. Grayson is a good match for her strong personality, and after seven years it is about time!

Determination, Abby and Susan

Gap Mountain, Nelly, Ab and Dad

  The only crying comes from the fact that Abby has made it clear that I am NOT allowed to take any pictures of the ceremony.  I guess I understand.  She has a wedding photographer and she wants me to be free to be part of the ceremony, without a camera around my neck.  Abby has even taken my camera to be used for the video.  Ok, she is definitely the boss, but of course I will have my little Canon G11 neatly hidden in my pocket.

Ab and Bart

I have reviewed lots of old pictures, and have picked out about one hundred, ranging from her birth and first vocalizations (immediately after), all the way to her time with Grayson.  I will largely let the pictures do the talking.  In addition to the few images here, I have placed a larger collection in a Gallery on my website.  I hope Abby will not be too embarrassed, but I have seen an endless procession of  pictures of young children from my friends, and I feel that I can be allowed my chance to show some old 

pictures -  at least while we patiently wait for Grandchildren!

Jeremy and Abigail

My few words cannot remotely approach a resume of all of Abigail’s activities and accomplishments.  Simply speaking, I am endlessly amazed by my daughter’s intelligence and poise, and her ability to disarmingly connect with all sorts people, and I am so proud.

Early years

From birth, Abby had an often exhausting store of energy.  She loved to talk but also to quietly ease-drop on the adult conversation.  Throughout her local schooling she had a remarkably talented group of friends who spent much of their time in friendly, loving  competition.

Reading with Grampy

Away to School

Abby in Washington - Not her real Office

Abby went to Bates College in Maine and then completed a Masters in Public Policy at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy.  Since then, first in Washington DC and recently in Cambridge Massachusetts, she has worked on projects designed to help the underprivileged and disadvantaged.  Of course, we are happy that she was able to move her job closer to home in Cambridge.

Chesterfield Friends

The Wedding

Beautiful Abby at Fresh Pond

Of course the wedding was beautiful.  It was an intimate affair with only about twenty close family and friends.  We gathered in a park on Fresh Pond in Cambridge and, happily, rain held off.  Grayson's sister-in-law Kerry did an amazing job with the ceremony and surprised us all by hiring an acapella group to float in at the end of the service singing All You Need is Love. It was the perfect "Love Actually" moment.  After the ceremony, we all retired to a local beer pub to continue the informal celebration.  

It was a great weekend.  Abby wouldn't let me take many pictures and I had to sneak some with my pocket Canon G11, but the end result is that I have a married daughter and a wonderful son-in-law.  And I'm sure the "Professional" pictures will be great.  Yeah! 

Abigail Has Her Grayson

But She Will Always be Home With Us

  

Jeffrey Newcomer

www.partridgebrookreflections.com

I Get My Dose of Fenway

Xander's Swing

Susan, Grayson and Abby

We always try to get down to Boston in the summer to catch a couple of Red Sox games.  Now that my daughter Abigail has moved to Cambridge, we have the added incentive of spending time with her and her boyfriend Grayson.  Earlier this year we picked up four Sox tickets in a raffle benefiting Keene’s Colonial Theater.  It was a great chance to travel south for brunch with Abby and Grayson in Cambridge before the afternoon game against the

View from Mass. Ave Bridge

Angels. We live a little less than two hours northwest of the city, so it is never a struggle to make it to civilization.  After brunch, we drove to the MIT Campus and parked on a side street.  It was a lovely day for a walk, over the Mass. Ave bridge, to Fenway.  Passing through Kenmore Square and I had a chance to show Abby the windowless, basement Hobbit hole that was my home for the early grind of my medical school experience.

Fenway Green

I have never lost the sense of magic that I experience every time I come to the top of the stairs, and first see the vivid hue of Fenway’s historic turf.  It is like no other green.  We were seated along the first base line, and despite the hot sun, we were in a prime foul ball catching zone.  Sadly, no luck, but I got my mandatory popcorn and settled in.

Photography at Fenway

Fenway doesn’t have a lot of restrictions on bringing fancy cameras into the park; “Cameras and video cameras are permitted but cannot be used to reproduce the game and must not interfere with other fans' enjoyment of the game.”  No problem, I could bring my big DSLR and 100-400mm zoom, but I prefer to keep things light and inconspicuous.  The perfect solution is “Susan’s” Canon SX50 HS.  The same camera that Susan has steadfastly refused to touch!  

Let me explain

I got the SX50HS for Susan to take along on our tour through Alaska in 2014. The camera is light, with a small sensor, but has a 24-1200mm fixed lens! With that focal length range, why would you need other lenses?  Susan and I tend to choose different hikes on our tours.  I generally stay with the photographers, making frequent stops for shots, while Susan moves more quickly with the non-photographers, who are often called the “natural history” groups.  Since we are usually exploring different areas, I assumed Susan would want her own camera to capture the action, especially if she is the lucky one to be charged by the angry grizzly. 

Hungry Grizzly, Pavlov Island Alaska

 "Angry charging Grizzly" is one of those situations for which a 1200mm lens would sound pretty good.  But NO.  She continues to argue that I’m the photographer and she has no need to touch that crazy cameray thing.  Cameray? - My word not hers, but I suspect it will catch on.  I’ve tried to sneak the camera over to her side of the bed when she is sleeping, but all my strategies have failed.  

Peddy's Windup, 1200mm View Uncropped

Ok.  I’ll admit that I don’t mind being saddled with this nicely capable little “carry around” camera, but Susan has just upgraded to the iPhone 7, which means that she is unsuspectingly carrying a pretty decent little camera.  My evil plan has succeeded!  Now if I can only get her to use the DAMN thing!

Sorry for that unfortunately long diversion, but I had to get it off my chest.  The bottom line is that I have a nice little camera to bring to athletic events such as the Red Sox, or to third world countries where a big “fancy” camera could be a dangerous attraction. Obviously, the 1200mm focal length on the SX50 HS allows me to get closer to the action, but the camera also has a full range of controls, and although the small sensor can show problems with noise at high ISOs, it does result in a deep depth of field in macro images.  And, perhaps most importantly, the camera shoots in RAW!

Children's Day

We got to the game early and had the fun of watching Children’s Day.  The Red Sox players had a chance to frolic on the field with their kids.  It is a healthy reminder that many of the players are only a little more than kids themselves and have their own new families.

 

Brush-Back

The game itself was a bit of a disappointment with the Sox loosing 4:2 to the Angels and, again, no foul balls coming near.  Photographically, I focused on trying to catch some of my hometown heroes in mid-swing.  The SX 50 has only a slight shutter lag, but it was still difficult to time my shots to the right moment in the pitcher’s delivery.  

Pappi Unleashes

A couple of years ago I was lucky to capture the “holy grail” of such shots when I caught Big Pappy in a gigantic swing with the ball visible sailing off the bat.  AND it was a home run – I swear!!   No such luck this time.  Among the pile of failed shoots, I did catch a couple of swings and one with Mookie Betts ducking away from a brush-back pitch.  1200mm is great, but the biggest challenge was to hold the little camera tightly enough to keep the images sharp.

Capturing action shots from far back in the stands can be a challenge.  Obviously, a long lens can be helpful, but anticipating the key moments is difficult. Your arms can get numb continually holding the camera in front of your face waiting for the magic to happen. As much as I would love to capture the critical play, I don’t want to spend the whole game with a camera blocking my view of the live action.  I usually shoot in just a few situations.  Catching the swings is fairly easy.  Of course, being along the right field line I could only catch the right-handlers.  Capturing the quick and unpredictable action in the infield can be difficult, but with a man on first I can watch for a steal or a dive back to first to avoid a pick-off.  If I am on the left field side I can look for action in the home dugout.  A little scratching or spitting is always exciting.  All of this needs to be limited within reason.  There are professional sports photographers right on the sidelines who I can trusted to shoot the key plays. I just try to get a few images to document my attendance at the event and settle back to finish my popcorn.  After all, I’m a landscape photographer and despite years of visiting Fenway I have yet to see a tree in the “park”.

Fenway Pano

 

Like many newer cameras, the SX50 can construct a panorama image from a series of shots, so I had to capture a disorientingly complete view of the park, but my favorite pictures are of the family while they were trying to steal my popcorn.

Despite the score, it was a great day trip and a good chance to play with my little carrying around camera.  My only disappointment was that I failed once again to slip “Susan’s” camera into her pocket book.

 

Jeffrey Newcomer
partridgebrookreflections.com

Negative Clarity for Landscape Photography

Let's talk about "Negative Clarity". This phrase sounds like it belongs in politics and not photography, but Clarity, both positive and negative, is actually a relatively new Photoshop tool that is remarkably powerful in affecting the contrast and mood and of your images

Mitch bathed in WAY too Much Negative Clarity

The clarity tool first appeared in Lightroom with version 1.1 and worked in a scale from 0-100, that is, only in the positive direction. In Version 3.3 the tool acquired negative values, ranging from -100 to + 100, and it is the effects of negative Clarity that I will focus on for this article. Clarity is also available in Adobe Camera RAW and, significantly, with Photoshop CC, it is found as part of the Camera Raw Filter menu.



Finding Clarity
The Clarity slider is found at the top of the list of the last three tools in the Basic Panel, above Vibrance and Saturation. Simply stated, Clarity has its effect on the mid-tone contrast of images. It adds

A little Positive Clarity

contrast without bringing out excess grain in the highlights and shadows, as might a general increase in contrast. It give a sense of sharpening without actually adding sharpness. Early versions of the Clarity adjustment tended to be bothered by Halos around areas of high contrast, but in the more recent editions of Lightroom and Photoshop this problem is much less noticeable. Increased Clarity works best when an image has a lot of detail in the mid-tones. I often use it to bring out the detail in my landscape images, but recently I have been impressed with how selective use of "negative" clarity can add a sense of depth to many of my images.

It should be no surprise that moving the Clarity slider into the negative range causes a decrease in mid-tone contrasts resulting in a softening effect. Applied generally, negative Clarity causes an increasingly prominent soft, watercolor-like appearance, but I have generally used it selectively to soften skin tones and blemishes. Taken too far it can create a plastic appearance, but used in moderation it can apply a beautiful soft air-brushing. Not that my beautiful daughter needs any air-brushing!

Abby Doesn't Need Negative Clarity

Selective Clarity
Selective application of either positive or negative Clarity can be applied in Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW using the Adjustment Brush, but now that Clarity is available in Photoshop CC as part of the Camera Raw Filter it can be more easily controlled and finely adjusted. By using Clarity within a Smart Filter I can make adjustments in the intensity of the effect and control its application with a mask.


Early Spring Mist

A few weeks ago I was out shooting in the soft mist that so frequently develops as snow meets the warm air of our early spring. I love this barn nestled in a valley in Chesterfield, New Hampshire and on this day the distant tree-line was diffused by the hovering mist. Back home I felt that the image didn't accurately reflect the depth of the scene as I remembered. I wanted to

Fully Applied Negative Clarity

accentuate the contrast between the sharp detail in the foreground barn and the softness of the distant trees. I started by creating a smart filter and then experimented with the application of a moderate amount of negative Clarity. The whole image took on a softening reduction in mid-tone contrast, but then I applied a gradient mask to block the

Selective Negative Clarity in a Smart Filter

effect around the barn and fine tuned the mask by painting out the effect in the extreme foreground. The great thing about using the Smart Filter was that I was able to further adjust the amount and location of the negative Clarity effect. In this case, as I often do with other layer adjustments, I dialed up the negative Clarity a bit higher than I felt was optimal and then pulled back on the effect by adjusting the layers opacity. In this image, I liked the way the Gradient mask allowed a more gradual application of the negative Clarity, but in other situations a harder mask works well.


Buckets

Sugaring season is upon us and I was recently shooting the buckets clinging to some truly majestic Sugar Maples in Dummerston Vermont. I wanted the tree to stand out against the pasture and the distant, mist shrouded, trees. I found that a touch of negative Clarity worked well. It was relatively easy to create a mask to

Negative Clarity Masked

shield the foreground tree and nearby snow piles from the softening effect and, here again, I was able to dial the negative Clarity slide up and down until I had what was just the touch of softness that I wanted. After reducing the size of the image for web use, I found that I needed to increase the negative clarity effect and the nice thing about using the Smart Filter was that it was no problem to make the adjustment. 





Is Photoshop great, or what!

Leaves with a Touch of Negative Clarity

There are other approaches to adding depth to images. Backgrounds can be softened with the addition of a selective
Gaussian Blur, or contrast reduced by decreasing the highlight and black setting in a levels layer. Each has its own unique effect, but I have enjoyed my recent discovery of the soft feel that results from subtle selective adjustments in negative Clarity. Like any photoshop adjustment, it is possible to overdo negative Clarity. It is all a matter of taste. Applied to excess it can lead to a an unnatural sense of viewing the scene through grounded glass, but subtle adjustments can add warmth and depth to an image. Give it a try, if for no other reason than it is a fun term to use especially when you can bathe a picture of your local senator or representative with well deserved veil of softly obfuscating "negative Clarity".