Hunting Nemo

The Seas with Nemo & Friends is one of my favorite EpCoT attractions. Little did I know then that I would walk away with photos perfect for Karen’s October Photo Hunt, which is all about idioms.

We begin with two shots taken outside the pavilion:
 
“Birds of a Feather Flock Together”

"Birds of a Feather" (Animatronic Seagulls, The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion, EpCoT) Nikon Coolpix P7100, 16.3mm, F/4, 1/1000s, -1.7EV, ISO 400, Built-in Rear Curtain Flash

 
and:
 
“Swimming with Sharks”

"Swimming with Sharks" (The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion, EpCoT) Nikon Coolpix P7100, 6mm, F/2.8, 1/80s, ISO 400, Nik Silver Effex Pro 'Strong IR HC' Filter

 
For the third entry we head on into the ride itself. When I find myself on certain dark and rather slow-moving attractions, I like to play with slow-shutter speeds allowing colors and forms to bleed into interesting compositions. So, from inside my ‘clamobile’, I clicked the shutter release and held the camera as steady as I could:
 

“Blur the Lines”

"Blur the Lines" (The Seas with Nemo & Friends Ride, EpCoT) Nikon Coolpix P7100, 6mm, F/2.8, 2s, ISO 1600

Visions of coral reefs, sunken vessels and sea life are instantly transformed into a land of pink and apricot clouds along with a lime green sun (or, is it an alien ship??)  

 
For the bonus Halloween shot, we head on over to the Magic Kingdom. I simply couldn’t resist this little guy dangling from one of the scarecrows that decorate the common at the very start of Main Street, USA: 

 
“Hung Out to Dry” 

"Hung Out to Dry" (Pumpkin Mickey Doll, Magic Kingdom, Main Street USA) Canon Powershot SX40 HS, 20.3mm, F/4.5, 1/800s, ISO 100

So, there you have it… THREE days early and complete with idiom bonus!

30 days and counting

Yep, that’s right folks! Only 30 days left in this Project 365 of mine! Woo-hoo!  

I really can’t believe I’ve almost made it! How will it end? Weeelllll, you’ll just have to stick around and find out, now won’t you?   

Living in a sea-side town, it is very common to see lobster buoys strung out on fences and on the sides of ramshackle buildings. Where do all these buoys come from? One will never know but they do make for colorful decorations!  

"Lobstah Buoys" (Lobster Trap Buoys) Nikon D300, 50mm, F/8, 1/60s, -0.3EV, ISO 400, Color Efex Pro 'Cross Processing C04' Filter

I realized I’ve never stopped to photograph them, so this time I did. Once home, I cross-processed the image in Color Efex Pro to yield a Jaws sort of treatment.  

Budump…

Sunshine on my shoulders

We may have started out with snow this morning, but boy-oh-boy when the clouds lifted, what a day!   

"Crash Point" (Waves Crashing Against Rocks with Hospital Point Lighthouse) Nikon D300, 32mm, F/16, 1/400s, ISO 400

The Nor’easter may be gone, but we are still feeling the effects! Our churned up seas continue to pound the rocky shoreline of Beverly Harbor, with Hospital Point Lighthouse standing proudly by, as it has since 1872.   

I could have watched this all day long…

In like a lion

Another spectactular show at high tide today.

"The Beach is Closed" (High Tide Waves Crashing Over Sea Wall, Lynch Park) Nikon D300, 18mm, F/14, 1/250s, +0.7EV, ISO 500, Silver Efex Pro 'Dark Sepia' Filter, Selective Toning

I was so hoping to have this image in raging color but a blah, overcast sky refused to cooperate!

C’est la vie.

The girl is loco

"After the Nor'easter" (High Tide Waves Crashing Against Lynch Park Seawall) Nikon D300, 50mm, F/16, 1/320s, +0.3EV, ISO 640

What the hell is WRONG with me?

That is the question I should have been asking when I jumped off the sea wall, at high tide after a Nor’easter, to get this shot!

Fact of the matter is, I tried all conceivable angles from atop the wall and nothing was properly capturing the power of the incoming tide. The sight was amazing; the sound, deafening.

So there I was, faced with (really) the only choice. All I had to do was jump. 

Yes, I got completely soaked.

Yes, the water was freezing.

And, YES, it was TOTALLY worth it!

Serendipity

"Scout" (Seagull) Nikon D300, 550mm (200-400mm w/1.4x teleconverter), F/10, 1/320s, -0.7EV, ISO 640

As I was leaving the beach on that bitter day last week, I stopped to snap a few shots of a seagull who was very intently watching the water. It was so cold that my fingers could barely work the shutter and I figured the images would be useless.  

Believe or not, I shot this in color, vivid color, but since the sun had tucked behind a cloud, all the tones were instantly muted. And if I had thought anything about it at the time (and I wasn’t so damn cold), I certainly would have made certain my horizontals were indeed horizontal! 

But seeing how the angles play off each other, now I’m glad I didn’t!

No pain, no gain

"Reflection in Blue" (Seagull & Reflection) Nikon D300, 550mm (200-400mm w/1.4x teleconverter) F/14, 1/400s, -0.3EV, ISO 500

Today’s focus was about reflections and nothin’ better than low-tide in mid-afternoon light to find some nice ones. 

And, yes, I nearly froze my fingers off to get this shot… 

Man, what I suffer for art’s sake!  

(By the by, dontcha just love the pink legs??)