Water, Water, Everywhere!

Rocky Gorge

Rocky Gorge

Photographers at Lower Falls

Most people travel the Kancamangus in the fall to view the foliage.  I went in the spring, because it is the time of the snow melt and the brooks, streams and rivers will be flowing in the waterfalls will be powerful.  What I had hoped for, were some overcast days, this so that the lighting on the water would be uniform and save me a lot of post-processing to correct the highlights and shadows.  However, I had bright sunny days with only some clouds.  But I survived and had a great time.  I created images with the water smooth and milky by utilizing my polarizing filter or a neutral density filter to give me slow shutter speeds.  I also used by lowest ISO in my cameras.  I also took some pictures with a high shutter speed to freeze the action of the water.  I experimented with sun flares, and zoom blurs.  With the zoom blurs, I utilize two seconds or greater shutter speed and either zoomed from the widest to the narrowest setting of vice versa.  Equipment included both a Nikon D7100 and D800, lenses, ranging from 17 mm to 75 mm, shutter releases, polarizing and neutral density filters, and of course, a tripod.  It was a fun time, and the waterfalls for the next few weeks still should be great to photograph.

Two locations that are easy to photograph and give you great action, plus a right along the road and do not require a lot of hiking are The Rocky Gorge Scenic Area (9.0/21.0 miles, easy) and the Lower Falls (6.8/23.2 miles, easy).  Mileage is from Conway at the Sacco Ranger Station stop sign or from Lincoln at the entrance to Lincoln Woods.

Lower Falls

Lower Falls

Lower Falls with sun flare

Lower Falls

Saco River

Zoom Blur

Freezing the action

Zoom Blur

Saco River

Water Patterns and Icicles

This morning I went to check out the herring runs in Middleborough, Massachusetts, since yesterday.  My son was there and saw a number of the herring, plus a few gulls that were eating them.  However, today only 2 gulls were present, and only a rare fish.  Because of all the recent snow and rain that we had the river was running extremely fast and was creating some interesting patterns.  I utilized my 70-200 mm lens with a polarizing filter on it, and captured some of the patterns.  At the second run, tree branches were hanging over the rushing water and because of the cold night.  They were icicles formed on the branches and twigs.  Ha ha more pictures.

All the pictures were post processed only utilizing Lightroom 4.

Beautiful Day after a Night's Snow

Lake Rico

Sunday, weather-wise was miserable with intermittent heavy rain, in fact, we got up too close to an inch of rain and if it was snow we would had probably close to a foot.  Around suppertime the rain changed to snow, which lasted until around midnight.  Looking out in the morning, everything had a beautiful coating of snow, and the skies were clearing.  I make coffee, filled my travel coffee cup and out I went to take pictures.  Here is a sample of some of the images that I obtained.

Lake Rico

Great Quittacus Pond

Snow-covered trees lining the road

The marsh at the Bedford Conservation Area in Lakeville

Snow, Ice and Water

Water, Snow and Ice

Tuesday, after I left Plymouth on the way home I stopped at Oliver Mills Park in Middleborough Massachusetts to observe how the area was looking after the snow and freeze that we have had. One of the nicest things of the day, was that the sky was brightly overcast and I did not have to worry about harsh shadows since I was arriving close to midday. There was ice where the waters of the Nemasket River were flowing over the dams, which lent those areas to various photographic interpretations. Here are mine.

Close-up of water drops as the water rushes through a narrow opening. This photograph was obtained by leaning over the railing and utilizing my 70 to 200 lens for the close-up

Black and White processed photograph of water flowing over the dam with snow and ice

Water rushing through ice and snow

Panoramic View

 Video showing the force of the water

A Post-Processed Picture from the Oregon Coast

Original Photograph

As I continue to read and watch video webinars, I find that my post-processing is continuing to improve. Today I'm going to show a series of post-processing work performed on a single image, photographed on the Oregon coast on a cloudy day,utilizing various methodologies, which evokes a different feeling in each of the photographs.

Processed in Lightroom basic panel only

Adjusted in Lightroom, utilizing adjustment brushes and gradient tool along with the basic panel

Original photograph adjusted with NIK HDR Pro 2

Opened in Photoshop, adjusted utilizing NIK's Vivaza and Color Pro Efex 2

Opened in Photoshop, adjusted utilizing Topaz Define 3

Open in Photoshop, adjusted utilizing NIK Silver EFEX 2

Oliver Mills Park - Middleborough Massachusetts

Oliver Mills Park in Middleborough Massachusetts, is a beautiful area to visit in any season both for its historical value and natural beauty. I have included information about the Park that is included in the kiosk located on the site.
"Oliver Mill Park" "The Muttock area has a history of occupation and use that dates to the early Archaic Period, attracting Native Americans who came to fish in the Nemasket River and who probably established a small village nearby. In 1734 a dam was built across the Nemasket River here, replacing an old native fish weir. "Between 1744 and 1776, Peter Oliver, an important provincial Tory official and judge, as well as an industrial entrepreneur, operated an ironworks that included one of the earliest rolling and splitting mills in New England. Oliver's works dominated Middleborough's early economy and were significant for the degree to which they exploited the power of the Nemasket River, using as many as eight water wheels to run an integrated cluster of iron works, grist, saw, and other water powered mills. "After 1800 the site was converted into a shovel shop under the ownership of General Abel Washburn and operated into the 1840s." "Following the abandonment of the site in the 1870s the area was largely ignored until the 1960s and 1970s when it was partially restored for recreational purposes. Oliver Mill Park survives as one of the most significant industrial archaeological sites in Middleborough and in the southeastern Massachusetts region." The park is located just past the intersection of Plymouth Street and US 44 on Nemasket Street.
After parking and reading the sign, walk along the paths to the stone mills ruins, literally a building shell with partial walls and no roof. There are several channels to look at, including one that allows herring to swim upstream to Assawomset pond. I have previously written about the Herring run on my blog http://photobee1.blogspot.com/2011/03/river-herring-run-in-costal.html
There is also an ample picnic area with picnic tables provided so you could have a meal or a snack in comfort.
I have observed various species of ducks and geese including common mergansers and a barnacle goose plus the usual more common species such as Canada geese and mallards. Various songbirds are present depending on the season. In the spring at the time of the Herring run great blue herons and gulls feeding on the Heron. Reptiles that have been observed in the area have included musk and painted turtles and common water snakes.


The morning that I was there, which is just after a rain, the webs of the funnel weaving spiders were present. Some other insects that were present were a least skipper and an Ebony Jewelwing.

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The amount of water running in the Nemasket River of course is dependent on the rainfall. The recent year when we had the spring floods almost the whole area of the mills park was covered under water. So when you are looking for a new place to visit think of Oliver Mills Park. Of course, bring you binocular's and cameras and let me know what you find.

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