Morning adventures - Weeks 3 and 4

[FlyingSquirrel]

Hi all, I’m happy to report that the “early bird” schedule is my new pattern. Before moving on to the weeks photos, I’d like to list out a few of the benefits that I have found as part of this new schedule:

- During the work week, I get in to the office before anyone each day. The 1.5 hours of quiet and concentration is very enjoyable
- The work day seems to go by faster
- I then leave each day before anyone. Getting out “earlier” feels great and I feel like I have more time to do things for myself
- The work week seems to go by faster
- The weekend seems to last longer, and I get significantly more accomplished and feel more fulfilled
- On the weekends, I am able to go to parks and take pictures before most folks get out of bed. The fog, mist, and dew are some of the perks there.
- I get the satisfaction of knowing I made a simple, committed decision to change something in my life that has been bugging me, and I made it happen. Again, I was able to do this because I had enough “gut level leverage” on myself, enough emotional motivation. You might say, I simply “had it” with getting up late. I immediately cut myself off from any other options, and made the change in an instant. When you make that kind of decision with intense emotion, it is actually pretty easy to make it happen.
- On a related note, one night recently, I had a "nightmare" in which I awoke 4 hours later than my new schedule. In that dream, I was extremely upset, and fearful that I might go back to my late schedule. Upon awaking in reality, I was quite relieved to realize it was just a nightmare, and that everything was just fine

Some exciting news: From my new found momentum of making this change, which I'd struggled with in the past, I was able to go directly into another important change: Healthy eating. Two weeks ago, while I was drifting off to sleep, my subconscious suddenly spoke to me out of nowhere. In an instant, I realized I need to immediately improve the quality of what I'm eating. The next day, I began that change, and without any struggle whatsoever, I have completely altered my eating habits. I can't say exactly what has happened to me internally lately, but I'm taking advantage of the personal strength that I am experiencing. I have actually listed out several more changes or goals which I am going to work on in the near future, continuing my path of constant and never ending improvement in life.

Having gone over the information above a number of times, I will avoid repeating it in the future weeks’ installments of the series. I simply wanted to get out how I was feeling, and perhaps initiate some kind of motivation or certainty in someone else who may be wanting to make a change in their life. To them, I say, get some gut level, emotional leverage on yourself until you can see that the change will equal pleasure, and not changing will equal pain. In that moment, you can then decide to make the change, and it will not be a struggle.

On to the series...I have combined two weeks into one installment, for two reasons: 1. To keep up with the series installments, since I’m behind on posting, and 2. Week 4 yielded no results.

Week 3, I had decided to shoot macro, since recently I have been frustrated with wildlife photography. Macro is something I know I will enjoy, and am relatively confident that I can create some decent images. The summary of week 3’s shoot is that I went to a local park shortly after sunrise. I decided that I’d like to get some shots of dewy spider webs, and I had a very specific previsualization in mind. I spent at least 30 minutes, maybe closer to an hour, perusing the park. I examined hundreds of spider webs, looking for one with the proper combination of features and conditions: A good, consistent coating of dew. A position that was high enough and the correct angle that I could shoot it while paralleling my camera sensor to the main plane of the web. No vegetation in my path, so as to avoid bumping it and destroying or moving the web during approach and setup. A background that was far away with no distracting elements so even at a smaller aperture, I would get a soft background. A sheltered location so as not to be battling the breeze. To find all of these conditions and attributes in a single web is not an easy task, and success is certainly not guaranteed.

While I did NOT find exactly what I was looking for, I did pick the best webs I could find. After some challenging shooting, I came up with the following images. A summary of the setup to obtain these photos: Tripod, ballhead, macro focusing rail, 7D camera, Sigma 150mm macro lens, wireless remote trigger, mirror lockup, extreme patience

C&C welcome and appreciated. For best quality, view full size:







Week 4, I was unable to shoot early. Saturday I had some other things I had to do, and Sunday was rainy all day. Therefore, here I share with you an image which I captured on week 1 of this series. I did not share this photo previously because I felt it was too weak of an image. This image is actually a different type for me, something I typically do not create, not only in subject matter, but in processing. Instead of trying to match the photo to exactly what I saw, I did a little creative processing to give a different mood. Please let me know what you think:



Thanks for viewing, and I hope you enjoyed.

[ShaneS]

Matt, first of all let me say congratulations on your commitment to your new-found healthy habits. It is great to hear that you are so happy with the changes and they are bringing such positivity to your life!

On a personal note, I can relate as I lost 30 extra pounds following a similar path to yours and have kept it off for over a year now. Once the habit of exercising kicked in, the healthy eating just followed naturally and while I still love stuff that is 'bad' for me I have much less of a desire to eat it and it I don't enjoy it quite as much. My motivation was not so much vanity but more along the lines of being healthy and was much like what you describe as " gut level, emotional leverage".

But on to your images...

I really like the delicate structure of the webs that you captured in the first two shots and also think that the PP is very nice. The background in the second is more pleasing to me as there is a less of a variation in tones than in the first. I'm not a huge fan of spiders but I can appreciate the quality of that image as well even though it isn't a favorite more because of the subject matter than anything else.

I also enjoyed viewing the last image and like the ethereal feel of it. PP isn't my strong suit so I will try to put my thoughts into words rather than technical terms. I really like the misty mood in the image but feel it lack a bit of pop so I wonder if it is possible to keep the mist and add just a touch more contrast? Maybe darken the blacks just a tad?

Keep up the early morning shoots and your venture into macro - looks like you are off to a good start on both

[jprzybyla]

Well done Matt, I like the images a lot. Welcome to the world of morning people, I love early mornings watching the day come to life.

[Mike Buckley]

Ditto to every detail in Shane's post except that I could easily argue with her thinking that post-processing isn't her strong suit.

In 2000 I also changed my lifestyle. Started exercising and eating healthily. Lost about 90 pounds over a few years. Though I have put some of the weight back on in the nearly 15 years since then, it's well within control. I am one of only three people I know that have lost that much weight and have kept most of it off over ten years or more. Though I have never had a nightmare about reverting to my terribly unhealthy habits, I will never return to that lifestyle. That's because it's not nearly so enjoyable.

[Nancy Moran G]

Hi Matt,
Congrats! Thank you for the 'personal ' side of the story. I liked the part that you said you made a decision and followed through. I like knowing I can count on myself too. It is making the decision that is the hardest.
I made a change 2 yrs ago, Nov 15 my 55 birthday. I am happy and see benefits.
Nice photos of the web, DOF, clarity.
Look forward to more.
Nancy

[Brownbear]

Hi Matt,

Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on making those lifestyle changes. I have no doubt that you will inspire others to make similar positive changes.

All lovely images, but for me #1 and #2, are exquisite. I think you have captured the beauty and the intricacy of a dew laden spider web beautifully.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Matt, first of all let me say congratulations on your commitment to your new-found healthy habits. It is great to hear that you are so happy with the changes and they are bringing such positivity to your life!

On a personal note, I can relate as I lost 30 extra pounds following a similar path to yours and have kept it off for over a year now. Once the habit of exercising kicked in, the healthy eating just followed naturally and while I still love stuff that is 'bad' for me I have much less of a desire to eat it and it I don't enjoy it quite as much. My motivation was not so much vanity but more along the lines of being healthy and was much like what you describe as " gut level, emotional leverage".

But on to your images...

I really like the delicate structure of the webs that you captured in the first two shots and also think that the PP is very nice. The background in the second is more pleasing to me as there is a less of a variation in tones than in the first. I'm not a huge fan of spiders but I can appreciate the quality of that image as well even though it isn't a favorite more because of the subject matter than anything else.

I also enjoyed viewing the last image and like the ethereal feel of it. PP isn't my strong suit so I will try to put my thoughts into words rather than technical terms. I really like the misty mood in the image but feel it lack a bit of pop so I wonder if it is possible to keep the mist and add just a touch more contrast? Maybe darken the blacks just a tad?

Keep up the early morning shoots and your venture into macro - looks like you are off to a good start on both

Shane, thank you for your comments. Congrats on the life changes that you described. Regarding the processing of the fog image, I did try various things, but whenever contrast is increased (darkening the darks/shadows/blacks) it tends to remove the appearance of fog and mist. At least, that has been my experience in every fog shot I've ever edited. That is why I left it flat looking, because it maintained the misty like that I wanted. Thank you again

[FlyingSquirrel]

Well done Matt, I like the images a lot. Welcome to the world of morning people, I love early mornings watching the day come to life.

Joe, thank you for looking and commenting. Now that I'm getting up early, I am 1/1,000th of the way toward getting lovely bird photos like you

[FlyingSquirrel]

Ditto to every detail in Shane's post except that I could easily argue with her thinking that post-processing isn't her strong suit.

In 2000 I also changed my lifestyle. Started exercising and eating healthily. Lost about 90 pounds over a few years. Though I have put some of the weight back on in the nearly 15 years since then, it's well within control. I am one of only three people I know that have lost that much weight and have kept most of it off over ten years or more. Though I have never had a nightmare about reverting to my terribly unhealthy habits, I will never return to that lifestyle. That's because it's not nearly so enjoyable.

Mike, thanks for posting, I always appreciate your comments. Congrats on the self improvements that you described. That is an amazing story!

[FlyingSquirrel]

Hi Matt,
Congrats! Thank you for the 'personal ' side of the story. I liked the part that you said you made a decision and followed through. I like knowing I can count on myself too. It is making the decision that is the hardest.
I made a change 2 yrs ago, Nov 15 my 55 birthday. I am happy and see benefits.
Nice photos of the web, DOF, clarity.
Look forward to more.
Nancy

Thanks Nancy, I appreciate your comments. Glad you also have made a change which improved your life

[FlyingSquirrel]

Hi Matt,

Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on making those lifestyle changes. I have no doubt that you will inspire others to make similar positive changes.

All lovely images, but for me #1 and #2, are exquisite. I think you have captured the beauty and the intricacy of a dew laden spider web beautifully.

Christina, thank you as always for your thoughtful comments. Glad you enjoyed the post

[FlyingSquirrel]

One thing I forgot to add in my reply... the second web photo had variations in tone in the bg similar to the first one, but I spent a bunch of time to make it flatter. It was a lot of work, and I decided I didn't want to do all that work for the other shot (shot 1) so I left it how it is.