photoartflightMarsh Edge Trail Panoramas At Blackwater NWR
Posted on September 23, 2022
We have been to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge dozens of times but for some reason we never went and explored the Marsh Edge Trail section. You basically pass the Marsh Edge parking area as you enter the Wildlife Drive. It was a Great Area to wander through and photograph. In some seasons I guess it could be very buggy but on this trip there were no insects except Dragonflies. But the Dragonflies were constantly moving so I did not get any good dragonfly images here. All images here were taken with my iPhone 11 Pro and panoramas blended in Photoshop. The Featured Image was 28 images, 2 rows of 14 images taken with the 1.5mm lens (Full Frame Equivalent of 13mm).
Winter Sunrises & Sunsets At Blackwater NWR
Posted on April 14, 2022
The images here are from Winter visits to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge over a few years. The Featured colorful ice image was taken at sunrise with a Sigma 300-800mm lens @ 300mm on a Canon 20D .
Blackwater NWR Wildlife Drive Exit At Sunset
Posted on January 6, 2022
I was going through Backup Drives to cleanup duplicate files & unneeded images and I found a folder with sunset images from Blackwater NWR. The sunsets at Blackwater NWR can be very colorful and dramatic. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 15mm Fisheye lens on a Canon 1DmkIII and was taken a little closer to the exit than the image below. The images taken with the 15mm Fisheye were adjusted in Photoshop to remove the “Fisheye” Look & Effect but maintain the wide view.
Sunrise & Sunset At Blackwater NWR
Posted on November 23, 2021
A series of sunrise and sunset images from a previous trip to Blackwater NWR near Cambridge, Maryland. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 1.4X Teleconverter.
Blackwater NWR Clouds At Sunset
Posted on September 23, 2021
I was working on files from previous photo trips. Now that I am retired I can go through my backup drives to post images that I did not have time to post before. This is a Sunset taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland a few years ago. Dramatic or interesting sunsets are quite often seen at Blackwater NWR. Some have told me that dramatic sunsets at Blackwater are because it is somewhat close to the coast. I am not sure on that, but Blackwater NWR does deliver on interesting sunrises & sunsets! Image taken with a 14-140mm lens @ 48mm on an Olympus body. I was going retouch out the aircraft contrails, but decided to leave them in.
Blackwater NWR Sunrise Panoramas
Posted on February 20, 2021
These images are a series of multi-image panoramas of a Blackwater NWR Sunrise on a visit there in July 2018. Blackwater NWR is a great place to visit for sunrise & sunsets. We were trying to get there for the sunrise and we just made it before the sunrise started. Most images were taken with a Canon 1D mkIV with a 24-105mm lens at various focal lengths. The featured image is made from 12 horizontal images taken @ 85mm to show less foreground and more height to the distant tree line. The full final size pano is 118″ long x ~20″ high.
Early Morning Blackwater NWR Landscape
Posted on July 8, 2020
Many times when you visit the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, you can see Eagles early in the morning on snags or on tree branches as the sun is rising. It is fun to see how many you can find to photograph.
Blackwater NWR Sunrise
Posted on May 23, 2020
This image is from a previous trip to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland. We arrived as the sun was coming up, so I stopped near the entrance to take a few shots of the trees along the entrance with the warm glow of the rising sun behind the trees. This was my favorite of the series, shot with a Canon 17-40mm lens @ 17mm. This is a lens I hardly ever use and is not my favorite lens for landscapes, but it was in my bag so I gave it a try anyway. In the end I liked the image. I usually use a 24-105mm and shoot multiple images @24mm for a slight panorama view.
Blackwater NWR – Trees In Light Fog
Posted on December 22, 2019
On one of our trips to the Blackwater NWR, there was a light fog at the Refuge when we arrived. Along the Wildlife Drive in the wooded area, I thought the fog looked interesting. It seemed to make the trees near to us stand out more against the hazy softer trees in the distance. I was using a 24-105mm lens @ 90mm to concentrate on the closer trees near the Wildlife Drive, adding depth to the image.
Blackwater NWR Sunset
Posted on August 14, 2018
We got to where we wanted on the Wildlife Drive to photograph the setting sun, but it was not as dramatic as we had hoped for. It was still fun to photograph and got a few good images. Then we moved a little closer, around the bend towards the straightaway to the exit. These are combinations of exposure blends for darks & lights for shadow detail and bright detail along with multi-images for size. I was using 2 cameras, one with a 24-105mm, the other with a 12-24mm. The featured image is at 105mm (5 images, blended). If you see any specks in the sky, they are birds flying through. After the sun went below the horizon we then headed back to the motel to rest up for sunrise the next day.
Series of 5 images blended in Photoshop, 24mm
Three image blend @105mm
Four image blend @24mm
4 img blend @88mm
3 image blend – Sundown @24mm
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