Never Give Up!

I did something unusual today.  I purposely awoke before the sun even came up to go take some sunrise shots.  The weather has been cooler than normal, and it was very cloudy yesterday, so I hoped there would at least be some residual clouds for reflection and maybe some mist on the water in the pond.

I also wanted the boardwalk in this pond in the foreground, but found out when I got there that they had changed the boardwalk and I could not get the effect I was envisioning.  That, plus the clouds were non-existent and there was no mist.  Sounds like a disappointing morning, right?

Not really.  I did stay and get some less-than-exciting shots from the boardwalk, but I spied a couple other vantage points that I thought held promise, so just as the sun was about to peek over the trees I picked up my gear and went elsewhere.

I ended up getting several shots that I think have potential, including this one here.  This is three bracketed shots merged in HDR and converted to black-and-white.  I rarely do B&W, but this one worked.  I may post the color version, also.  Not sure yet.  I have to say that I think the flare adds to this a bit.

This was taken at a county park, Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center, near Palo, Iowa.

Lessons I Have Learned, Pt 1: Turn Around

That's right. I said "turn around". Why? Because sometimes that's where the good shots are.

I have several examples where I went out to shoot something specific and also found a great shot simply by turning around and looking the other direction. The shot you see here is my latest example.

Now, in this case, the shot I went for was good as well, and you will see it soon enough, but there have been times when my intended shot was utter garbage, and the day was saved by just... turning around.

I decided to post the black and white version, though the color version is interesting in its own right... in a hazy sort of way.