Falls Leaves in Water

Patterns in nature come in many different shapes and colors. This group of leaves in the still waters of a mountain stream caught my eye. They were so different in size, color, and shape yet they belonged together. One thing that brings the composition together is the presence of the sky reflecting in the water. Also there are colors that balance well together revealing a wide spectrum of hues that go unnoticed by the causal viewer in autumn. LynnFreeny.com

Swimmer at Mid Stroke

It has been so hot and dry I could not help myself. It seems the only way to cope with the high temperatures is to submerge most of your body in water.
Swimming is one of my favorite sports to shoot. I have noticed that I can capture a moment that is normally lost when observing the event live or recorded on video.
In this image I got at a low angle close to the surface of the water. This insured that my background would be water without any distracting elements. Also by getting low it helps the viewer to feel close to the action. A long lens (200mm) was used to bring the action close enough to fill the frame. A shutter speed of 1/500 helped freeze the action. One more thing, this is one of The Flying Dolphins looking very mosquito like . LynnFreeny.com

Interesting River Rock

I always have a camera with me. I love to find things when I am not out just to take pictures. In this case I was at a birthday party that just happened to be in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park( my favorite place for photography) . The party was alongside a gentle flowing stream with rocks that almost looked streamlined from the wear of the constant flow of the water. My wife saw it first. A rock within a rock as if one rock cradled the smaller one. My first thought was to fill the frame with the unusual site. As I thought more about the composition the more I realized in order to tell the story of these very worn rocks the river must be included. Positioning the rock to the left helps give a directional flow for the water in the image. LynnFreeny.com

Swimmer's Stroke

We are still having some really hot weather so here is another swimming image to help cool things down. Catching any interesting movements in swimming takes timing and fast reaction. Do not be afraid to take lots of exposures when doing action sports. The more you shoot of any subject gives you better odds of success. In the case with this image the evening light helped by adding rim lighting on the swimmers arm and a warm color temperature. The composition helps give room for the swimmer as she heads forward. Having the composition run off the page at the top adds some tension. It was shot at a f-stop of 2.8 which produced a very shallow depth of field causing the arm to be the most prominent element in the photograph. Do not forget this is one of the Flying Dolphins. LynnFreeny.com

Submerged Swimmer

As you see I am keeping the theme swimming because of the heat. This swimmer seems to be imitating an alligator during warm up before a swim meet for the famous Flying Dolphins. Well in my home town they are famous. Using a long lens on your camera helps you to focus on the small details of an event no manner how chaotic. This team has about 200 swimmers and they have meets with other teams that have about the same number of swimmers. This many swimmers plus coaches, parents, and fans adds up to a beehive of activity that can seem chaotic to outsiders or even photographers. The best way for me to find peace and tranquility is to look at this world through my telephoto lens that seems to pluck small but important parts from this complicated scene. LynnFreeny.com

Roaring Mountain Stream

When I go to the mountains I always try to visit where water flows. As a kid growing up in the Southern Appalachians summer always meant spending time playing in mountain streams that could chill you to the bone, a wonderful feeling during the dog days of August. To get the right angle for this image a had to jam a tripod against the guard rail of a bridge and hope a car didn't come along. I had to move off this narrow one lane bridge twice because of cars before I was able to capture this 15 second exposure. Notice in order to capture the movement of the water an exposure of 1/15 of a second or slower works well. The slower the shutter speed the smoother the moving water becomes. A very long exposure can cause the moving water to start looking like fog. Weird! lynnfreeny.com

Fishing Bird

My family and I like to make evening trips to Greenbelt Park close to home. The park is in the middle of town yet wildlife is abundant. This evening I was able to capture this little guy doing some fishing in the small creek running through the park. Reflections of the sky in the water and a bird that seemed to care less about a photographer helped. As I looked through my lens I was looking at background as well as the bird. I moved around until I could see nice colors reflecting back at me from the water. Then composing the image so the bird would have more space in front helps the flow of the image. By having the extra room in front of the bird helps your mind to imagine the bird will be moving forward. A repeated space of the bird, the bird and his reflection, gives a peaceful balance to the composition. lynnfreeny.com