Catalpa Tree Blossoms

I have access to a Catalpa Tree with very low hanging branches. The blossoms are quite beautiful when viewed close up.

Here some shots with my Canon 5D Mark III and 100mm f/2.8L macro lens. These first two are five file HDR composites processed with different presets in HDRSoft's Photomatix Pro software.

These next two shots are single image photos. Exposure information is in the caption.

f/11, 1/1500 sec., ISO 1600

f/11, 1/180 sec, ISO 400

Morning Walk

This morning's walk was over to Waterford and up the old Champlain Canal trail North of the Village. There's a new building on the Waterford waterfront and this is the first time I've shot the scene since construction began.

The path along the old Champlain Canal is great for plantlife, birds, snapping turtles, rabbits, deer, beaver, etc. This morning, it was American Ginseng and Snapping Turtles. The red berries and the leaves to the right of the berries are the Ginseng.

Here's what happens when some animal, I presume a raccoon, discovers a Snapping Turtle nest.

Lastly, here's a shot on top of the old Waterford Town landfill facing South, back towards the village.

Reflections, Rivulets and Rivers - Part 3, Rivers

As I hiked the Peebles Island perimeter trail heading North on the West side of the island I noticed that the water level was lower than it should be. The level on this section of the Mohawk River is controlled by a hydro-electric dam located near the Bald Eagle nest site. It was obvious that something had happened to the dam. There are never ripples in this section of the river. And the water is usually up to the duck blind. I'd estimate the level is about two feet lower.

This is what the dam looks like when it's all intact. Granted, the wooden extension is not the most confidence inspiring construction I've ever seen. When the water's really high, it flows over the top of the extension (Duh).

In any case, here's what the dam looked like once I got to it this morning. Lots of lumber floating down into the Hudson I'd say. This isn't the first time this has happened. The "before" photo above was made prior to the last time it got washed out. The wooden extension was then rebuilt. When it's fully functional, no water goes underneath the wooden part.

Reflections, Rivulets and Rivers - Part 2, Rivulets

When it rains a lot and the bogs on Peebles Island fill up, they drain in a variety of rivulets down to the river. Some of them cross either over or under the trail (culvert). Most of the time they are dry.

Here are three HDR processed photos and a video clip.

Reflections, Rivulets and Rivers - Part 1, Reflections

I'm breaking this blog entry into three parts. I try to keep these things a certain length with about four photos. From this morning's post rain hike on Peebles Island, I've got nine or ten photos and a couple of video clips. So I'm breaking it into three parts.

First, here are some trail scenics incorporating standing water on and along the trails. Equipment used is a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and EF 24-100mm f/4L USM lens. These shots are all five bracketed files processed in HDRSoft's Photomatix Pro software using the vibrant preset.

Boxelder Fail

I was mowing at our Summer party place the past couple of days and noticed that some branches on a three trunk boxelder tree were blocking my path where they hadn't in the past. On further investigation, it was evident that, although the tree had split years previously, one of the recent storms had caused the split to open up more.

Yesterday, while I was photographing the tree I heard a crack and figured it wouldn't be too long before the South half of the tree was on the ground. Sure enough, sometime overnight it let go.

I was reading up a bit about the Boxelder, which is also known as ash-leaved maple, and ran across a well written piece by Steve Nix. Here's a quote:"Boxelder, also known as ash-leaved maple is one of the most common and adaptable urban trees in North America — it also may be the trashiest. Planting it next to the house is probably not a good idea... [it] is a rather nasty tree where limbs break with a vengeance — a landscape maintenance nightmare." Amen. You can read the online article here.

Here are two photos of the tree yesterday afternoon and two similar shots from this morning. Firewood anyone?