Hark's 2015 and 2016
- Thread starter hark
- Start date
How come no one is swimming...Here is another shot of the algae in the Delaware Canal (along with quite a bit of trash).
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Whiskeyman
Senior Member
After seeing a pano shot this morning that @Blacktop took, I noticed the sky here was pretty ominous...so I just had to get out there and take it in response to his photo.
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And since someone was getting a boat ready to go fishing, I waited a little bit. The sun became a little brighter, too.
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Brave souls fishing from an inflatable boat...
WM
Brave souls fishing from an inflatable boat...
WM
Well...I didn't stick around to find out if they caught a fishing hook on it! Lol!
How come no one is swimming...
They were swimming, but now they sleep with the fishes.:encouragement:
How come no one is swimming...
Lol! They don't allow swimming. This lake used to be a quarry so it is man-made. We are located just above sea level so after some digging for rocks, they hit water which filled in the quarry. I've heard it is around six feet deep near the edges of the lake but that it drops off very deep immediately beyond the edges. They are supposed to build a fishing pier within the next couple of years--I imagine that will entice people to want to swim. Not so sure the pier will be a good idea; however, they must stock the lake as people do go out fishing.
After the weekly challenge for Street Art & Graffiti, I decided to see what was going on with this painted wall that I photographed back in 2013. Last year a local news outlet reported it would be repainted.
The last time I was there, the wall had been stripped of the painting and was repainted a brick color. After asking on Facebook, someone mentioned it was recently painted. So this afternoon, I took a drive to Bristol, PA to check it out. Instead of painting it directly onto the bricks, they mounted something onto the wall which allowed the artist to paint onto a flat surface. Below is the new painted mural. Personally I prefer the first version over the replaced one, but at least this new one looks very neat compared with the peeling paint of the first Coke mural.
The last time I was there, the wall had been stripped of the painting and was repainted a brick color. After asking on Facebook, someone mentioned it was recently painted. So this afternoon, I took a drive to Bristol, PA to check it out. Instead of painting it directly onto the bricks, they mounted something onto the wall which allowed the artist to paint onto a flat surface. Below is the new painted mural. Personally I prefer the first version over the replaced one, but at least this new one looks very neat compared with the peeling paint of the first Coke mural.
While I was there in Bristol, PA, I decided to head to the waterfront. The town has a nice area with benches overlooking the Delaware River. I couldn't believe the high number of both adults and kids milling about. There is even a path through the woods which many were using. In fact I've never seen so many people there at one time. Of course, the majority of them had cell phones in their hands searching for Pokemon.
Oops...somehow I skipped uploading photos from 10 days ago.
All of these were taken at a local park.
The park offers memorials that can be put in the ground or attached to park benches.
It was immensely hot this day. In the background below, that isn't haze. There is a quarry where they dig for stones (possibly quartz although I'm not entirely sure). It does kick up a lot of dust when they work.
All of these were taken at a local park.
The park offers memorials that can be put in the ground or attached to park benches.
It was immensely hot this day. In the background below, that isn't haze. There is a quarry where they dig for stones (possibly quartz although I'm not entirely sure). It does kick up a lot of dust when they work.
And these were taken this afternoon also at the same park.
I was photographing the kayaks when the boat pulled in. They no sooner touched ground when the park employees immediately went over asking if they were fishing (and I have no idea where the park employees came from because they hadn't been there moments before). Then they asked to see the required permits. Fortunately the boaters seemed to have everything in order and an amiable discussion ensued.
The park offers kayak rentals.
This guy was fishing across the lake. At one point, I noticed he was watching the park employees, but because I didn't want to appear to be eavesdropping, I walked to a more secluded area. Turns out so did the fisherman. We wound up having a nice chat.
Despite the weather being pretty nice, the park wasn't busy at all. On the weekends, it can be difficult to find a decent parking spot. Today there were more empty parking spots than there were cars. And almost all of the benches were empty, too.
I was photographing the kayaks when the boat pulled in. They no sooner touched ground when the park employees immediately went over asking if they were fishing (and I have no idea where the park employees came from because they hadn't been there moments before). Then they asked to see the required permits. Fortunately the boaters seemed to have everything in order and an amiable discussion ensued.
The park offers kayak rentals.
This guy was fishing across the lake. At one point, I noticed he was watching the park employees, but because I didn't want to appear to be eavesdropping, I walked to a more secluded area. Turns out so did the fisherman. We wound up having a nice chat.
Despite the weather being pretty nice, the park wasn't busy at all. On the weekends, it can be difficult to find a decent parking spot. Today there were more empty parking spots than there were cars. And almost all of the benches were empty, too.
One more from yesterday afternoon. I am assuming this is some type of moth as it was quite small and flitted about very quickly. It was difficult to get a good shot because by the time my lens focused, it would move to a new location. That did leave me with a couple of nice flower shots though. :beguiled: Heavily cropped--after cropping I used On1 Resize to enlarge it a little and Nik Dfine for noise reduction.
Whiskeyman
Senior Member
hark,
Even with the peeling paint, I prefer the original because, well, it's the original. It's the same if they tear down an old historic building when it could have been restored, I'm not going to like the old one being gone. But it's not mine, so I have no say in it.
WM
I've been busy working on a 2017 calendar for my church, but I finally had time to shoot over the past couple of days.
During the last few weeks, I've driven past this section of the Delaware Canal State Park (odd name for something that is in Pennsylvania, isn't it?) Anyway, this section isn't maintained which shows the canal bed completely dry and cracked. I went here with the intention of getting this photo then possibly going to the Community Park when I finished.
I pulled into the shopping center so I could turn around and head back to the Community Park, but when I saw some type of event set up, I decided to take a quick look. Since I wasn't expecting to photograph this, I didn't take my 18-35mm zoom. :hurt: I only had my 24-70mm and 70-300mm. Oh well. I did the best I could with what I had.
This next image is what I REALLY would have liked to shoot at 18mm.
Once I finished there, I headed to the Community Park. The township has money earmarked for a fishing pier. Until then, it's not hard to find fishermen casting their lines from the sandy shores. Just a note...this is a man-made lake. We are very close to sea level here, and when digging for quartz, they hit an underground stream which filled with water.
There are a few of these huge boulders around the perimeter of the lake so you might see them from time to time in my photos.
This guy was 'talking' to the guy in the next photo.
I wanted something with symmetry.
During the last few weeks, I've driven past this section of the Delaware Canal State Park (odd name for something that is in Pennsylvania, isn't it?) Anyway, this section isn't maintained which shows the canal bed completely dry and cracked. I went here with the intention of getting this photo then possibly going to the Community Park when I finished.
I pulled into the shopping center so I could turn around and head back to the Community Park, but when I saw some type of event set up, I decided to take a quick look. Since I wasn't expecting to photograph this, I didn't take my 18-35mm zoom. :hurt: I only had my 24-70mm and 70-300mm. Oh well. I did the best I could with what I had.
This next image is what I REALLY would have liked to shoot at 18mm.
Once I finished there, I headed to the Community Park. The township has money earmarked for a fishing pier. Until then, it's not hard to find fishermen casting their lines from the sandy shores. Just a note...this is a man-made lake. We are very close to sea level here, and when digging for quartz, they hit an underground stream which filled with water.
There are a few of these huge boulders around the perimeter of the lake so you might see them from time to time in my photos.
This guy was 'talking' to the guy in the next photo.
I wanted something with symmetry.
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Yesterday I once again had the time to return to the Community Park. Normally I shoot with either my D750 or D610, but since I really wanted a little more reach, I opted to try out my D7100 with my 70-300mm lens. Up until yesterday, I've only mounted my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens on this body so it was the first (and only) time my D7100 had the 70-300mm lens attached. What a way to find out your lens back focuses! :shame:
This little duck was one of a few that stayed around long enough to be photographed before swimming away to join the others.
While walking along the sandy edge of the lake, I came across this etched into the sand.
About 3 feet away was this other heart.
Bugs don't interest me at all...especially stinging ones. But when the opportunity presents itself, shouldn't we at least give it a go? :cheerful: Neither of the next two photos are good, but there are 2 reasons why I am posting them. First, I always say how much I dislike looking at forum members' posts with insects and creepy crawly things so this shows I took a few moments to photograph them. :cower: And I thought of @Blacktop because he seems to enjoy this type of subject. Secondly, I rarely shoot DX because I have chronic tendonitis in both forearms and have trouble getting sharp enough images. Although I will always have limitations with my forearms, they have healed enough that I was able to shoot with VR and get photos that were reasonably sharp (except for the back focus issue). When I first switch to a DSLR, I rarely was able to get decent photos with this lens on my D90...even when using VR.
This photo (along with the first heart photo posted above) were the two that let me realize the back focus issue. In this photo, I focused on the stingy thingie, not the moth. And in the heart photo, I tried to sharpen the foreground a little as that also let me know about the focusing issue. Most likely I won't be going out with this combo again. I really do prefer my FX bodies.
This little duck was one of a few that stayed around long enough to be photographed before swimming away to join the others.
While walking along the sandy edge of the lake, I came across this etched into the sand.
About 3 feet away was this other heart.
Bugs don't interest me at all...especially stinging ones. But when the opportunity presents itself, shouldn't we at least give it a go? :cheerful: Neither of the next two photos are good, but there are 2 reasons why I am posting them. First, I always say how much I dislike looking at forum members' posts with insects and creepy crawly things so this shows I took a few moments to photograph them. :cower: And I thought of @Blacktop because he seems to enjoy this type of subject.
Secondly, I rarely shoot DX because I have chronic tendonitis in both forearms and have trouble getting sharp enough images. Although I will always have limitations with my forearms, they have healed enough that I was able to shoot with VR and get photos that were reasonably sharp (except for the back focus issue). When I first switch to a DSLR, I rarely was able to get decent photos with this lens on my D90...even when using VR.This photo (along with the first heart photo posted above) were the two that let me realize the back focus issue. In this photo, I focused on the stingy thingie, not the moth. And in the heart photo, I tried to sharpen the foreground a little as that also let me know about the focusing issue. Most likely I won't be going out with this combo again. I really do prefer my FX bodies.
Need to catch up on my thread. These were taken at a local park.
Walking/biking path over a creek:
Was intentionally aiming for a shallow depth of field, but I should have opened up more to get a shallower DOF.
This red tree below really was noticeable without there being much of other red colors surrounding it.
This is the second time I've come across a seagull that is all by itself while a flock was across the lake. I find it unusual for them to be alone--at least I don't normally find one by itself when there is a flock far enough away.
Walking/biking path over a creek:
Was intentionally aiming for a shallow depth of field, but I should have opened up more to get a shallower DOF.
This red tree below really was noticeable without there being much of other red colors surrounding it.
This is the second time I've come across a seagull that is all by itself while a flock was across the lake. I find it unusual for them to be alone--at least I don't normally find one by itself when there is a flock far enough away.
When one of my classmates was alive, he would ask to see fall photos from Bowman's Hill Tower. So every October I made the trip...and still do in his memory.
This is the view from the top of the tower. I did insert my lens between the bars for other photos but wanted to show the real view with this image. These bars surround the entire rooftop.
Moving away from the river view, the colors were still spectacular although some of the trees were missing their leaves.
This is the river from the other side of the tower.
Still more colors in this image below. I tried to use the Dehaze tool more extensively on the top area, but it just didn't look good. I decided it would be better to not mess with that section too much.
After I left the tower, I stopped about 1 mile away. This guy was keeping watch over the road.
The scarecrow above was right near the Van Sandt Covered Bridge. This bridge offers a picturesque scene especially when the leaves are changing.
Then I went to the picnic grounds of Washington Crossing Historic Park. Bowman's Hill Tower (that was shown above) is also considered to be part of the park although it requires a drive to get from one spot to the other.
Another shot from the picnic grounds of the park.
When I left, I drove south on River Road. There is a retaining wall built in Morrisville, PA that has a tow path on its top. This is a view of Trenton, NJ from the tow path.
And this was taken with my iPhone SE. I really wanted to capture this image with my D750 but couldn't. Those bars at the top of the tower only allow a lens to be put straight through. For this image, I had to put my entire hand through then angle my hand to get part of the tower in the composition.
This is the view from the top of the tower. I did insert my lens between the bars for other photos but wanted to show the real view with this image. These bars surround the entire rooftop.
Moving away from the river view, the colors were still spectacular although some of the trees were missing their leaves.
This is the river from the other side of the tower.
Still more colors in this image below. I tried to use the Dehaze tool more extensively on the top area, but it just didn't look good. I decided it would be better to not mess with that section too much.
After I left the tower, I stopped about 1 mile away. This guy was keeping watch over the road.
The scarecrow above was right near the Van Sandt Covered Bridge. This bridge offers a picturesque scene especially when the leaves are changing.
Then I went to the picnic grounds of Washington Crossing Historic Park. Bowman's Hill Tower (that was shown above) is also considered to be part of the park although it requires a drive to get from one spot to the other.
Another shot from the picnic grounds of the park.
When I left, I drove south on River Road. There is a retaining wall built in Morrisville, PA that has a tow path on its top. This is a view of Trenton, NJ from the tow path.
And this was taken with my iPhone SE. I really wanted to capture this image with my D750 but couldn't. Those bars at the top of the tower only allow a lens to be put straight through. For this image, I had to put my entire hand through then angle my hand to get part of the tower in the composition.
