J. Pellow Photography

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jpellow > May 4, 2008
Take only photographs...

I went out hiking with my roommate at nearby Bald Pate Mountain, which has the rather dubious distinction of being the highest point in Mercer County, NJ (elevation somewhere between 480 and 500 feet). It's not exactly a wilderness area, as evidenced by the neatly mowed grass around this tree near the top, but still a nice place to get out in the woods for a bit.

jpellow > April 23, 2008
Wooded wetland.

I took this in the early evening at the edge of a bit of wetland along the D&R Canal. I sat for close to an hour on a fallen tree trunk, watching and listening to the small handful of animals that happened by. It was mostly squirrels and ducks, a few other birds (the most interesting was a woodpecker), and a couple of deer foraging on the drier ground. I might post a couple other shots in another gallery if I get to it - I'll add a note here if I do.

jpellow > April 13, 2008
Silhouette of dead leaves.

I really wanted to get an expansive sky shot, because the clouds were wonderful, but I didn't manage one that also had an interesting foreground. I had my tripod and took several sets of bracketed exposures, thinking to combine one exposure for the sky with another shot exposed for the foreground. The general idea worked, but I need to finesse my Photoshop skills more (or just spend more time on it) in order to get them stitched together to my satisfaction.

This silhouette is not as interesting, but it didn't need much post production work.

jpellow > April 12, 2008
Flowering tree.

I'm not sure what kind of tree this is, but there are several right outside my apartment. I shot this from my balcony.

jpellow > April 10, 2008
Forsythia blossoms.

My 93-year-old grandfather loves to see forsythia in bloom in the spring. It seems to be everywhere here, and at its peak for the last couple of days. I keep thinking of him when I see it.

I think a greater depth of field would help the foreground look crisper and sharper, but it really needs the separation it gets from having the background so out of focus.

jpellow > April 5, 2008
Budding tree branch.

I don't think this a great photo. Usually if I don't have something I like, I won't post a shot for the day, but I've been missing so many days lately that I felt I should put something up.

jpellow > February 20, 2008
Lunar eclipse.

I was at the theatre for a show last night (watching, not working for once), and I walked out of the building about ten minutes before the moon slipped completely into shadow. I had put my camera and tripod in the car hoping the clouds would clear before the end of the show (they did), so I drove to a dark field and started shooting--only to have my battery die after a dozen pictures! I think sitting in the cold car had done it in. My other battery was at home in the charger, which is actually fortunate since at least it was warm, so I packed up and went to get it. I got back to the field just at the end of the total phase, and stayed for about an hour as the moon came out of our shadow and the dark world around me got lighter and lighter. I finally got cold and impatient with about twenty minutes to go; I'm kicking myself now for not waiting it out and taking a shot of the full moon to complete this series.

These photos were taken between 22:16 (during the period of total eclipse) and 23:50 EST. My 75-300mm lens doesn't give me a very big image, and my 6.3 megapixels don't let me enlarge it enough to make a really nice, detailed portrait of the moon, but I'm quite pleased with this series of smaller images. The huge difference in brightness between the lit region and shadowed region makes it hard to capture both in one image. Early on, I was setting my exposure somewhere in between and the brighter region was consistently overexposed. The more I shot, the wider I started bracketing my exposure times, and I got some decent shots of the lit area.

jpellow > February 5, 2008
One of the two Nile Hippos at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ.

I visited this aquarium today with a few friends. The animals were fascinating to watch, but it proved to be a disappointing day for me photographically. Most of the animals are on the other side of a thick window and they really don't like to hold still! On top of that it was a dreary day outside, and either the light was not cooperative or I was just having an off day. This is one of my better shots, but I wish it were a little sharper. I have a cheap Canon 75-300mm lens, and while the long zoom is great, at f/5.6 it's hard to catch a moving target in mediocre light.

jpellow > May 12, 2009
Tree with evening sunlight and reflection.

I got out for a walk this evening with the new camera and lens. The 18-270 has its trade-offs - the cost of such a long zoom range - but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. Even with its shortcomings, it's still a step up in quality from the kit lenses I've been using. The only really worrisome issue is that I periodically get an error code and have to power the camera off and on to clear it. VERY bothersome. I cleaned the lens contacts and I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping it will solve the problem.

I really like this shot. When I took this, the last of the sunlight was filtering through the trees and highlighting little patches of the opposite bank. Metering for the brightly lit tree trunk gave the surrounding area a dark aspect, and I love the way the tree and its reflection pop out so strongly. The shot is very nearly SOOC -- the only PP was to tone down the spots of reflected sky near the bottom of the frame.

jpellow > Nature photo

jpellow > June 21, 2009
Unidentified moth/butterfly.

I went for a walk along the canal today. Didn't see the heron or anything else really interesting, but there were plenty of insects crawling around in the foliage. The Tamron 18-270 focuses closely enough that Tamron puts "macro" in its name. By any serious photographer's definition, I don't think it qualifies as a true macro; nevertheless, this is closer than I've ever been able to shoot small subjects before, so until I'm able to afford all the lenses I wish I could buy, this will have to do.

jpellow > Weathered rough cut wood.

jpellow > Leaves and things on the path along the D&R Canal. Fall is my favorite season, and crisp dry leaves under foot are an essential part of fall.

jpellow > A Great Blue Heron along the D&R Canal. I sat and watched this magnificent bird for 20 or 30 minutes. This was as close--and as sharp--as I could get from across the canal with my cheap 300mm lens and no tripod.

jpellow > Ice shards in the late afternoon sun.

jpellow > Nature photo

Camera: Canon (Canon Eos Digital Rebel Xsi) |

more details: exif |

original size: 4026px x 2848px |

Current: 600px x 425px |

Other sizes: S • Medium • L |

Keywords: leaf ant

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