Bear-be-Gone

Bluebird Glance

Downy Woodpecker

We are avid winter bird feeders, blowing through pounds of Black Oil Sunflower seeds every winter and being rewarded with a wide variety of feathered visitors throughout the snowy months.   We love helping our birds survive the sparse winters and it is always with reluctance that we decide to pull in our feeders as the weather warms and the snow melts away.  

Hungry Visitor (Summer 2020)

We would gladly keep the feeders up
all year round, but too often over the years our feeders and shepard’s hooks have been demolished by the spring arrival of ravenous bears.  We try to delay the inevitable for as long as possible, but with the halting arrival of April’s warmth, we had to accept that we needed to protect our feeders for next season, trusting that our friends will be able to forage the newly exposed ground.  

Titmouse at the Feeder

Over the years I have taken advantage of the visitors to our feeders to grab some nice and easily obtained bird photographs.  I am far from a dedicated bird photographer, but when I can grab images from a chair in my comfortably warm sunroom, even I can’t resist.  This year, as I prepared to remove the feeders, it suddenly occurred to me that I had neglected to capture any images of our glutinous visitors. Before the removal, I grabbed my chair and settled in behind a newly cleaned window overlooking the feeders.  I rested my camera with its 400mm lens on my lap and waited for the action.   

Black Capped Chickadee

House Finch

The birds are frequent attackers of the seeds coming from my feeder as well as the suet hanging from its cage, but I prefer to capture the birds in a more natural environment.  For this I attach random branches near the feeder and find a location with an uncluttered view of the birds as they perch, awaiting their turn to settle on the feeder.  I have discussed this approach in a couple of more detailed previous blogs.

• Bird Feeder Photography
• Backyard Birding
  
  

Bluebird Perch

The trouble with zip tying branches to my deck railing is that in the course of a harsh New England winter the twigs got progressively pruned, to the point that my marvelous cluster of perches were reduced to a single blunt stick pointing skyward.  

Fresh Perch

Fortunately, the spring melt yielded an abundance of sticks cluttering the lawn and I was able to graft an fresh set of branches to the old structure. 

Gold Finch (Early Color)

In a short time, I was able to capture many of my feeders ”greatest hits”, including the Tufted Titmouse, House Sparrows, Nuthatch, Black Capped Chickadees, Gold Finch, and Downy Woodpecker.  I only missed the brilliant Cardinals and the fluffy Juncos.  

Of course, I couldn’t avoid our ubiquitous intruders, but hell, they didn’t ask to be Squirrels and Squirrels deserve to eat as well.  Besides who else can my dog fruitlessly chase up the trees.  

Nuthatch Hanging On

I was very pleased with the performance of my relatively new Canon R5 mirrorless camera.  With the adapter, I was able to shoot, handheld, using my old 400mm lens. Even with significant cropping, I was able to capture clear and sharp images at ISO 1600.

Gold Finch Takes Wing

Sadly, the feeders are now stored away awaiting another “birding” season.  It is amazing how quickly all my fickled feathered friends have deserted me. About all I have left are the barn swallows nesting above my car and pooping on my hood.  It’s time to enjoy the gathering warmth and await the bursting glories of spring.  Benji and I can’t wait.

Benjamin, Always Patient

Jeff Newcomer
www.partridgebrookreflections.com

Through the Mist

Fresh Snow on Otter Brook, Keene NH

  Despite the strangeness of the weather, we had a reasonably colorful autumn.  By December, our typical November “Stick Season” should have been long past.  We were blessed with an inch or so of snow in late December, but that quickly vanished.  It is now mid-January, and we are just getting our next modest snowfall. The result has been an exceptionally long opportunity to explore the patterns and muted colors of New England’s photographically challenging, post-autumn, in-between season.

  

A couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of one of the climatic conditions that can salvage subtlety and interest from the starkness of the stick season.  I awoke to a lovely layer of fog that hung on the landscape and persisted for much of the day.  It is remarkable how a bit of mist in the air can lift a photographer from his pre-winter funk.  I shot out of the house and headed down the road.

I didn’t need to go far, since fog can dramatically alter even the most familiar or mundane scenes.  It can add mystery and depth while transforming bright colors to soft pastels. Seen through fog, distant features can take on a pleasant, uniformly soft, appearance.  Lovely, but I find these images rather flat.  They miss an important feature of foggy weather, the enhanced sense of depth.

Forest Depth

Placing something close to the camera, unaffected by the softening mist, can provide effective contrast to the shrouded distant subjects.  The effect is an expanded sense of depth.  Whenever I begin shooting in the fog, my first question is, “Where can I find something distinct in the foreground”.  Often the soft background serves to simplify the scene, allowing the foreground to stand out, removed from the busy distraction of the more distant elements.

Screened Hay Rake

Partridge Brook Debris

         

On this day, I found plenty of interesting foregrounds, from an old, weed engulfed, hay rake to a collection of storm-tossed brook debris.   I especially like it when leading lines draw the eye through the scene to the distant background.

Granite Leading Line

   

  It was a lovely afternoon with the mist creating interest in almost every direction.  I was only forced to stop by the fading light.

Mt Monadnock Blanket

Misty Wall, Roads End Farm
Chesterfield, NH 2000

 

Now we have some snow on the ground and the hope for more traditional winter photography, 

but remember fog can also work its magic on snowy scenes.

Our new puppy Benjamin Pierce (Benji) is enjoying his first snow.  He is named after the man who built our house back in the 1830s.  Our previous dogs, Nellie and Sophie were named after Benjamin's daughter and mother.

Jeff Newcomer, NEPG
www.partridgebrookreflections.com

Iceland and Introduction to Adobe Lightroom Course

Gullfoss Falls

I’ve got a couple of major projects competing for my attention right now.  Actually three, but my taxes are nearly complete.  It is always surprising when I discover that I made money.  As usual, last year it was not much, not enough to live on, but for a landscape photographer anything in the positive is good news.  The other two demands on my attention are even better.

Drowning Pool, Pingvellir National Park, Iceland

First Susan and I just returned from a to brief, long-weekend, trip to Iceland.  I have always wanted to shoot in Iceland, and we managed to stuff a lot in a short period of time.  This tour convinced me that I must go back for a longer visit, likely in a warmer season.  I came home with over 400 images to work on, and that has reminded me about how dependent I am Adobe Lightroom as an essential part of my picture editing workflow.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Pingvellir Gorge

I am excited about my up-coming Introduction to Adobe Lightroom Classic Course.  The course will meet on six consecutive Tuesday evenings from March 3^rd through April 7^th at 6pm.  It will be a small group gathered around my dining room table in Spofford New Hampshire.  There are a couple of spaces still open, so get in touch if you are interested in learning about improving and organizing your images with this amazing program.  For more information, check out my article about my spring teaching schedule or give me a call at 603-363-8338.

Given the Power of Lightroom, Is Photoshop Necessary?

People often ask how much of my image editing is done in Lightroom and how much in Photoshop.  I feel strongly that, given the power and ease of use, for the majority of digital photography enthusiasts, Lightroom is all they will need to get started with image editing.  In my own workflow, I use Lightroom for my RAW editing, but I still routinely finish by moving my images to Photoshop for varying degrees of final touch-up.  Often after my full Lightroom adjustments, there is little to do.  I scan the image for small imperfections, dust spots or other distractions that I find easier to remove using Photoshop’s healing bush or cloning tool.  Subtle local adjustments in lighting or color can be applied more precisely using layer masks, and of course, manipulations of pixels can best be performed from within Photoshop. 

Pingvallavatn Lake

I almost always find something to do in Photoshop to complete my image, but how much of a difference does it really make and how much time do I spend using each of these often-complimentary programs?  I usually tell people that I get 80-90% of my image editing done in Lightroom, but that is just a guess.  I decided to look at the question in more detail as I edited some of my Iceland pictures.

Steaming, Geysir Hot Springs

The plan was to measure how much time I spent using the two programs, and also compare the images that resulted from work in  Lightroom Classic to that at the end of my Photoshop “touch-up”.   I realize that time spent was not necessarily an accurate measure of the contributions made by each program.  Lightroom’s intuitive workflow allows for substantial improvements in a relatively short period of time, while subtle refinements in Photoshop can often require more prolonged work.   These examples do not include the time that I spend getting the image ready for a full size JPG upload to the cloud (my web site) and reducing the image size for use on my website.

Lightroom vs Photoshop

Three Little Horses

Final Web Image

Let me start with an easy one.  All over Iceland you will notice groups of small horses seeming to be totally oblivious to the wind and cold.  In years past these cute guys were beasts of burden, but now, I am assured, their only job is to look cute at the side of the road and attract tourist to stop for a petting party.  We found this trio shortly after our visit to the Geysir hot springs.  All adorable, but my favorite shot came when one found the need to comment.

Lightroom Edit

Lightroom: This was an easy edit.  I adjusted the whites and highlights to retrieve some detail in the snow, while setting the black point.  I boosted vibrance slightly and added a bit of texture and clarity.  I usually save cropping for later in Photoshop, but here it was obvious that I had to get rid of the elbow protruding on the left. A bit more work than usual : 15:00 minutes

Photoshop Edit

Photoshop: This is one of those situations where there was little to add with Photoshop.  I used my favorite Shadow/Highlight Tool to add a bit more detail to the wind scoured snowy ground.  I darkened and brought out the color of the hair.  Finally, I drew the eye to the ”laughing” horse with a subtle splash of light.  And I was done.  I normally do a little sharpening in Lightroom, but I don’t sharpen in Photoshop until I am ready to output the image for a specific size and purpose.  Sounds like a lot but only 7:50 minutes

Total :  22:50 Minutes

Gullfoss Falls

One of Iceland’s most dramatic waterfalls is the Gullfoss Falls.  It was truly breathtaking, but what also robbed me of breath was the hurricane force wind that was screaming up the Hvita River Gorge.   I would have loved to spend time exploring all the different angles of this amazing spot, but given the conditions, I could only find two spots that allowed me to stand with a desperate margin of safety. How I avoided being blown away is a story for another time.  Back at home I tried to make the best of what I got.

Lightroom Edit

Lightroom:  My first concern was to avoid blowing out the highlights in the snow and water, especially in the waterfalls.  I dropped down on the highlight slider while watching to avoid making the foreground snow appear a muddy gray.  While setting the dark tones I was careful to avoid losing detail in the rocks. I added a little Texture, Clarity, Vibrance and a touch of sharpening.   As usual, I corrected the Chromatic Aberration.  I reserve cropping for later. 6:12 minutes

Photoshop Edit

Photoshop:  In Photoshop, I started by using the arrange tool to compare four versions of this image, side-by-side.  Studying all the images at 100% magnification I was able to find one that was reasonably sharp.  As my camera and I were being violently blown about, it was surprising that any of the images were sharp. Next, I used the Hue/Saturation Tool to bring out the blue in the water and ice.  Finally, I went into the Camera RAW filter to apply a bit more texture and Clarity.  I planned to use a layer mask to apply this effect just to the falls, but in the end, I liked how adjustment brought out the rugged appearance across the image. 11:52 Minutes

Total : 18:02 Minutes

The Results

I did the time comparison on two other images, both shots I took at the Geysir Hot Springs.  For the record, here are the average times for all four:

Lightroom:  13:30

Photoshop: 16:09

And for completeness, the average time spent fine tuning, cropping, and sharpening for output of a high resolution, full size JPG to the cloud and resizing and sharpening of the approx. 400kb web image:

11:15 Minutes

Grand Total: 40:58

Photoshop Edit
Note the detail in the water

Hot Pot, Geysir Hot Springs
Lightroom Edit

Too Much Time?

Leif Erikson
Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral, Reykjavik

Forty minutes for one image, and these were nor especially challenging.  I can spend hours removing a dense net of wires if the underlying image is strong enough.  I know some very good photographers who say that if they can’t finish editing in about 5 minutes, they throw out the image.  I think they may be missing some great shots.  Personally, I know how hard I work to get in the right spot and strive to get the best digit image in the camera.  For me, no amount of time is too much in the service of bringing an image to its full glory.  As Ansel Adams said, the original negative (or now the raw file) is the score and the final print or image is the performance.  I think that these images show that you can create great performances with Lightroom.  The differences in the Photoshop image are subtle, and I should note that I could have performed more refinements in Lightroom, if I didn’t plan to move the image to Photoshop for further work

Reykjavik Iceland

So get going with Lightroom and if you need some place to start, I will be happy to welcome you at my dining room table next week.

For more pictures of Iceland check out my Iceland Gallery.  I will be adding more images over time.

More Catching Up / Autumn 2019

Dummerston Vermont

Newfane Vermont

It is amazing how quickly time and the seasons progress in New England.  When I last posted I covered our eventful September trip to Ireland. I returned with a mass of beautiful images requiring careful attention and an injured heart that demanded my dedication to an intense program of cardiac rehabilitation.  With help, I have been easing into more regular activity and, of course, that means photography.

Reading Vermont

  This year, our fall colors were full and seemed to extend longer than usual. Without asking permission of my rehab team, I decided that at least a few brief explorations of the autumn foliage would be therapeutic. I felt guilty about canceling my annual fall foliage weekend workshop and decided that, as an apology, I would get together with those who had already signed up for a friendly morning shoot to some of my favorite local foliage locations. My weekend workshops can be exhausting, but I had a great time with friends exploring one of our perfect autumn days.  We covered a surprisingly wide range of sites and, despite the fact that we didn’t get back until about 3PM, I required only a short nap to recover.     

Farm Pond, Reading Vermont

                       

Chesterfield NH

I have been doing better and was able to teach my Introduction to Digital Photography course in November, and I’m excited about a very full set of classes this spring. More about the schedule in my next blog.



The fall colors were great, and despite a general paucity of snow, the winter has provided the usual photographic opportunities, but my daughter has provided a miraculous distract of an entirely different kind.

Dublin NH

The "Bear Cub" 

Our first grandchild, Owen Emerson Bryant was born on October 6^th.  Despite his impressive name, the little “bear cub” came crashing into the world at only 5Lbs 13 Oz, but he has filled out nicely.  Obviously, he has filled us with an abundance of excitement and pride – especially Susan, who has for years been desperate for a grandchild.  It has been wonderful to follow Owen’s early development and watch our daughter transform into an amazing mother.  Of course, I must mention that our son-in-law Grayson has been an equally loving and dotting father.

It should be obvious what will be consuming my time, and my pixels, over the next few years, to perhaps several decades.  Abby and Grayson live a little less than 2 hours away and we will continue to search for any excuse visit our grandson.  You must agree that the harried parents deserve a night off, or perhaps a day or two.



I am sure I will continue to commune with the unique beauty of New England and, since Abby and Grayson don’t want their child to become fodder for Facebook’s media mill, I will be restricting my postings to mountains, trees and such. 

Mandatory Jenne Farm View, Reading Vermont

It will drive me crazy, but I promised to be good - at least until Owen graduates from Dartmouth!      


Jeff Newcomer
www.partridgebrookreflections.com        

Winter Visual Clean-Up

Jackson Square, New Orleans La

This is the second winter that Susan and I decided that by February we had a sufficient dose of cold and ice and escaped for a March road trip to the south.  This year we loaded our rented van and headed toward New Orleans.  On the way we visited family in Harrisburg Pennsylvania and, then struggled through persistent winter in the mountains of West Virginia, until we finally felt the beginnings of spring warmth in the horse country around Lexington Kentucky.  Our route took us for short stays in Nashville and Memphis before we landed In New Orleans. 

Nashville Music at the Listening Room

The trip was about finding warmth, but it was most notable for delicious food and great music.  Yes, even country music.  Of course, I took pictures along the way, but so far, of the 1400 images, I was too busy to edit more than about 30.  More to come, I’ll be adding them to a New Orleans Trip Gallery.  It was great to get away, but I returned with a fresh eye for the special character of our winter landscape. This week I would like to get back into regular posting with an offering of a few of the winter pictures that I was able to grab before we retreated to the south.  

This winter was another disappointment, spells of cold and a few paltry snow storms, but not much to excite the miserable weather fetish of the devoted outdoor photographer.

The Cold
I found manifestations of the bitter cold spells with the smoke coming from the Keene State College smoke stacks and, one of my favorites of the season, the deadly icicles hanging menacingly inside the railroad arch in Keene New Hampshire.

Out From Under

Given the paltry amounts of snow, my pictures often featured what was bravely poking its way through the cover.  At various times, grass, rocks, fences, tress and wood piles and had their moments. 

Christmas Cheer

 Christmas always provides opportunities for warm images in a cold season.  This year’s Keene Central Square tree was not massive, but it had a nice shape.  I never caught the square in the perfect “Winter Wonderland” moment, but I like the contrasting light of the storm clouds behind the late afternoon glow.  

This year I had to go to Princeton New Jersey to catch dramatic holiday lighting.

Finally, to accurately reflect he season, I must include the bare ground around the Chesterfield Town Hall on an early February morning.  The cold clear air allowed a beautiful view of January’s aptly named Blood Moon in eclipse.  


And just as a reminder, I include a nostalgic shot of a frigid winter sunset from a Walpole hillside, February 2008.  Winter the way it ought to be - I hate this global warming s#*t!

And don’t forget to sign up for my Spring Waterfall Workshop. 

I’m expecting a lot of April showers to bring May flowing water as well as the flowers.

Spring Waterfall Workshop 

Weekend of May 17-19
Get in touch soon!

Jeff Newcomer
wwwpartridgebrookreflections.com”
603-363-8338
jeffn49@myfairpoint.net