Water – Page 16 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Sunrise Texture Series 1

A constant is change.

February 29, 2020February 18, 2020 MichaelStephenWills1 Comment

Heraclitus, sometime between his beginning and end, 535 – 475 B.C., wrote “No man steps into the same river twice.” The flow of these images is more changeable, ebbing and flowing with each wave.

My habit is to time early morning walks by sunrise, stepping onto the beach well before dawn to enjoy the encounter. First days of January 2020 were notably clear and warm. Then over several days the wind rose, on the 9th were these clouds,

High tide passed a few minutes before, for whatever reason there were hollows filled with the stronger waves, the water pooling to flow back as is seen here. The pattern of sand hollows across the beach was lost across the hours and tides, not to return during our time at the beach.

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Exposure: 1/250 sec at f / 4.0, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125

A sand boss held water briefly each cycle to form a mirror.

A sand boss held water briefly each cycle to form a mirror. In the small ripples in the return stream rising against the waves of the return flow can be seen the strong, steady southeast wind of that day.

Exposure: 1/10 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125

A slide show of these images. Use is to compare the effect of longer vs shorter exposure time and f-stop.

Want to see more? Visit this series on Getty IStock.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Torr Head from Greenhill

Exploring the view

February 23, 2020February 19, 2020 MichaelStephenWills1 Comment

Twenty five minutes before the photos of Pam on Torr Head we enjoyed this view from high above. The placard, below and the header image of this post, captures and explains it all.

The view of the placard, to the north, starting left, Greenanmore is a height on Ireland, the site of a prehistoric passage tomb. Rathlin Island (with the East Light) is Ireland as well. Mull of Oa is on the Scottish island of Islay. A “mull” in Scotland is the same as a “head” or “point”. It turns out, the closest point of Scotland is the Mull of Kintyre, 12.4 miles across North Channel, is to the east. Islay is 27.4 miles north.

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Pam was standing on the edge of the head, short for headland (“point” is another name for it). The Paps of Jura are part of the Isle of Jura, 40.7 miles distant.

Later, in March, I will share more of the wonder of Torr Head. In the meantime, here is a post published last year from nearby.

Here is a gallery for easier flipping between photographs. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Sunrise Series to come

….anatomy of coming light.

February 16, 2020February 10, 2020 MichaelStephenWills16 Comments

Sunrise for Florida, January, is roughly a quarter past 7 am. Most mornings this year I was on the beach for a morning, pre-dawn, walk camera in hand. This day, the 9th, the clouds were promising, no to heavy on the horizon and scattered, cumulus clouds otherwise. For the promise I brought the full frame Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon lens 24 mm f/1.4L II USM fitted with a graduated .6 ND filter sitting on top of a Manfrotto BeFree Carbon fiber tripod.

A graduated neutral density filter has a portion shaded with gray to produce a “2 stop” difference in exposure between the darkest shade and clear glass with, between, a gradual feathered reduction in shade. In this way, the dark foreground and bright sky are balanced.

A carbon fiber tripod folds into a compact shape. At about 2.5 pounds it fits into a suitcase with the least weight possible for a reasonably stable platform. Using it, I am able to take a sequence of frames of the identical scene, changing camera settings as I go along.

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Exposure: 1/6 sec at f / 22, Focal Length: 24 mm, ISO 125

Sunlight, low in the western sky, was perfect for mirror-like reflections in the retreating surf.

In a few weeks, after the “Slievenaglogh View” series now underway, I will present a week of these images moving from pre-dawn to sunrise.

A slide show of these images. Use is to compare the effect of longer vs shorter exposure time and f-stop.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Icicle Macro

from the moss

February 10, 2020December 3, 2019 MichaelStephenWills22 Comments

The entire wall above the Cliff Stair is a ground water seep caught here by a sudden April frost.

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When the icicles melt, the moss is there relishing the moisture. Here is a link to some fascinating information from an earlier post, “Finger Lakes Water Chemistry.”

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Seep

Visible Groundwater

February 7, 2020November 30, 2019 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

The fascinating walls above the 224 steps of the Cliff Stairs are a constant wonder in all seasons.

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These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Gathered Light

Each wall is support for the next flight of stairs

February 6, 2020November 30, 2019 MichaelStephenWills11 Comments

I walked the Rim Trail after a sudden April frost.

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These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Exotic Life

graceful elegance

February 1, 2020January 25, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Pam and I were transfixed by the aquarium at Epcot, raptly amazed with the variety and profusion of life. Here are two videos of a Ray approaching the wall with graceful elegance.

Click video to start. For a better experience from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open the page on my site.

Mickey Mouse is represented in one of these post images. Can you spot him? Please use a comment to make your identification.

Fronds with Icicle

Fern Generations

January 29, 2020November 28, 2019 MichaelStephenWills10 Comments

Spent and green fern frond with moss and icicles formed during an early April frost.

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Fern generations are here with the spent fronds from earlier years, pale green survivors of this season.

These shots were hand held. I used a Sony Alpha 700 dslr with a variable “zoom” lens, great for framing compositions.

Robert H. Treman New York State Park.

Click for macro slideshow.

Rim Trail icicles with lichen, moss and fern. — Fresh Icicle with Fern

Instant Sunrise

The instant of sunrise

January 26, 2020January 19, 2020 MichaelStephenWills21 Comments

The sun disk broaches the Atlantic Ocean horizon on a clear January morning.

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Great results from the IPhone 8

January 19, 2020January 14, 2020 MichaelStephenWills13 Comments

There are limitations, certainly, to photographs from that tiny lens on the IPhone 10 (or IPhone X). It captured the moments in this series. I take mine along even with the professional camera bodies, lenses and tripod, for this reason. These images are the unprocessed files.