Lake Metroparks
I recently took at hike at Hell Hollow Wilderness Area, one of the many Lake Metroparks. It was surprisingly green compared to other parks. I took some pictures out there, and the Lake Metroparks liked one photo enough to make it the feature photo on the top of the website. Also have the photo featured on Gully Brook Park.
HELL HOLLOW
SKOK MEADOW
INDIAN POINT
The sunsets on the south shore of Lake Erie are not quite as brilliant in the winter, due to the position of the sun in the sky. The sun sets south of the lake and doesn't usually light up the clouds. Tonight was just pretty, because the water was so calm in the harbor. The puffy clouds in the sky picked up a little color, but were mostly muted.
The still water made for nice reflections of the light house. And the moon made an early appearance.
I finally put my new tripod and Platypod to use. A couple behind the scenes shot highlight the gear. Both are fantastic.
A beautiful morning at Canine Meadow.
I took Lacey for a walk past the beach and noticed the cloud layer behind the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse. I went back home to get my camera and telephoto lens.
Lacey had fun running, splashing and making new friends at the dog park today. Canine Meadow is a fantastic park run by the Lake Metroparks. There is a small dog section, a large dog section, and a communal pond. The park also has drinking fountains, and hoses to clean the dogs.
Mother Nature decided to put on a colorful show the two nights prior to Independence Day (fireworks night for those of us in Fairport).
This was my third year entering photos in the Lake Metroparks (Ohio) Photo Contest. There were 6 categories in the contest, I chose three photos to enter - one each in Lake Erie, Black & White, and Landscape/Floral. I was honored to receive First Place ribbons for all three photos.
The Birds is one of my favorite photos and has been quite popular on social media. I went to Headlands Beach State Park to photograph a sunset. I was sitting on the beach about 15 feet from the water's edge. Gulls were hanging out on the beach behind me. The ranger came by in a four-wheeler startling the birds who took off in flight. I continued taking pictures, thinking these would likely be throw away shots - I normally don't like birds in my photos. When I opened the photos in Lightroom, I was pleasantly surprised with the composition. After some post processing for color and exposure, I came up with the shot.
Available for purchase: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-birds-adam-kilbourne.html
Category: Lake Erie
Category: Black & White
The White Lighthouse. Fairport Harbor has two lighthouses, a historic one up on the hill and an active one at the junction of Lake Erie and the Grand River. The day I shot this image, the sky was overcast and the water was fairly calm, but not smooth as glass. At the horizon, the sky almost faded into the water. With some creative post processing, I made the horizon disappear and completed some other cleanup to produce the final image.
Available for purchase: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/white-lighthouse-adam-kilbourne.html
Category: Landscape/Floral
The Magical Garden. Every summer the Holden Arboretum hosts a summer concert series. This particular evening, the temperature dropped about 15 degrees during the 90 minute concert. The sky had potential for a nice sunset, so I grabbed my camera from the car. As I walked back to the butterfly garden, the mist was rising from the drop in temperature. I was able to setup and take multiple photos to create a panoramic image.
Available for purchase: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/garden-in-the-mist-adam-kilbourne.html
Abstract sunset
A couple weeks ago a photographer friend was in town from Central Pennsylvania. We visited several photographic hot spots in the area. The sky looked promising for a nice sunset, so we went to Lake Erie Bluffs. When we got there, the horizon was covered with clouds, limiting the color in the sky. I was able to get a shot with a deep red sky and lots of contrast.
A week later the sky was like a painting.
Tried to catch a sunset at Lake Erie Bluffs. The sunset was average, but the beach was covered in large chunks of ice, for added interest.
Yesterday I made my first trip to Chapin Forest. The leaves are about at their Autumn peak. There is a really nice lookout up on the ledges that provides a view of Downtown Cleveland, 18 miles away.
