Autumn, Black River, Hacklebarney State Park, NJ

It has been a while since I have contributed, and I’ve missed sharing my weekly photograph with everyone. The past few weeks have been very busy for me; some of you may know that I will be marrying on December 14th, so we have been busy taking care of all of the numerous details that go along with the wedding. Also, I have been getting everything ready, printed, mounted, matted and framed for my show on December 12th at McKay Imaging in Red Bank. So, I’ll get back to it with a photograph I took a short while ago.

Autumn is a time when most people think of vibrant colors, the yellows, reds and oranges of the changing leaf colors. I do enjoy the colors as well however, I envision the use of black and white to draw attention to the changes as well as a soft light enveloping the scene. So, while most people decide to retreat indoors when the skies turn overcast and rain begins to fall, I head out with my camera gear. The sky is usually even in luminance, and provides much better light, light that is even and soft, rather than the direct and sometimes harsh light from a clear sky day.

I didn’t even known about Hacklebarney State Park a few months ago, having only learned about it while looking for places to hike away from the immediate area. I had also looked for a place in or near northwest New Jersey to take advantage of the changing foliage colors since the NW area had more color than the local area. The park was nice, and a relatively short walk, however, it did not skimp on beauty. The majority of the parks trails are paved however, the section down by the river is rough, with exposed roots and rocks, so footwear with good footing is recommended

I had envisioned a soft forest scene when I made the exposure with the plan for the changing foliage to be of the brightest spot in the print. I made this photograph with a digital camera, so the typical contrast filters used with black and white film would not work, however, these filters can be added in post-production with photoshop. In photoshop, I applied the yellow filter, and decreased the colors that are opposite of yellow, (just the way a yellow filter would in traditional black and white film). Because of a slower shutter speed as a result of the overcast sky and a low chosen film speed, the motion of the water was not stopped, but rather looks more blurred as I had wanted. If this were a brighter scene, I would have used a neutral density filter to slow down the shutter speed.

I hope everyone is able to come by McKay Imaging in Red Bank, NJ for my show “The Beauty That Surrounds Us”. The opening is Friday, December 12th from 7-10pm and will offer complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres. There will be 21 prints of my work in the show, many of which never seen before, and there are more photographs of New Jersey than any other location which is pretty impressive considering the other locations that are hanging in the show also! Also, with the holidays coming up I would like to offer 10% off of all notecard purchases. To access this discount, use coupon code “HOLIDAYS” on my website, www.colinseitzphotography.com. This coupon is only good for notecards, as all of the calendars have sold out. Please note the shipping window when planning orders; I will be closing down shipping on all products in early December as I take a few weeks away to celebrate my marriage. Orders for prints, both canvas and traditional need to be placed by December 1st, 2014 and notecard orders must be received by December 5th for shipping in time for the holidays. All of the prints in the show will be for sale, and there will be some other prints of mine, not in the show that will also be for sale at the show. For more details on the show, or to place an order, please visit my website at www.colinseitzphotography.com.

I hope everyone has a great week,

Colin