Archives For ohio

Clifton Gorge, Ohio

Jay Patel —  May 31, 2013

Clifton Gorege, Ohio (OH), USA

Map: Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve, Ohio

Clifton Gorge is located in Central Ohio and was formed after the last ice age when the glaciers receded from this area. The gorge was carved out by the scenic Little Miami river as it flows through dolomite and limestone formations. Every spring, the canyon walls and floor are covered with a spectacular display of wildflowers that includes Bluebells, Trillium, and Jack in the Pulpit. We photographed the gorge in late April when the flowers were in full bloom.

I used a narrow DOF so that the blue bells in the background would create in impressionistic image and allow the in-focus trillium to stand out.

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Goodbye to Winter

Varina Patel —  April 1, 2013

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I stood by the window a few weeks ago, watching new snow fall on the snowdrops by the door. The tiny, white flowers were tightly closed against the chill – waiting for a moment of warmth. They were a quiet promise that Spring will come. I couldn’t help myself. I grabbed my camera and tripod, and went outside to kneel in the snow. :)

Here are a few tips for getting a shot like this one.

1. When photographing white objects against a white background, overexpose slightly. All that bright white throws off your camera’s meter. Check your histogram to be sure your whites are bright enough – but don’t let the details blow out.

2. When photographing water droplets with a macro lens, look closely at the reflections. Change your position if necessary to make sure the reflection isn’t distracting. In one shot from this morning, I noticed that the water droplet reflected the pattern of siding on my house. No good. I changed my angle and captured this shot instead.

Do you see the distracting lines of the house in the droplet?

Do you see the distracting lines of the house in the droplet?

The reflection in this droplet is much less distracting.

The reflection in this droplet is much less distracting.

3. Pay close attention to your color balance. A slight shift towards blue will leave those greens looking dull and lifeless.

4. I chose an aperture of f/16 for this shot because I wanted to be sure that my droplets and the flower were in sharp focus. I was so close to the flower that a wider aperture would have left me with very little depth of field to work with. Because I was so close, f/16 let me keep the flower sharp while blurring out the snowy background for a very simple finished image.

To learn more about photography check out our eBooks below:
Workflow Series Collection
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Sunny Lake

Varina Patel —  November 27, 2012

We’ve explored so much of the area around our home, but we didn’t know this park existed!

We discovered this beautiful local park a few weekends ago, and spent the evening shooting as the sun set. I took this shot as the first hints of color appeared in the clouds.

My goal was to show the beautiful light reflecting off the smooth surface of the lake. I used two filters for this shot – a Graduated Neutral Density (GND or ND Grad) filter and a Neutral Density (ND) filter. The ND filter reduced the amount of light coming through the lens so that I could chose a long shutter speed (3.2 seconds) to soften the small ripples on the surface of the lake. I love this simple technique because it creates a smooth, pearlescent glow on the water. The long shutter speed also let me capture some motion in the foreground as the plants around the lake shifted in the breeze. I like the effect, and it adds to the peaceful feel of the image.

I used the GND filter to reduce the brightness of the sky even further so that I could take one shot and capture the entire dynamic range in-camera.

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Which photo do you prefer?

Varina Patel —  October 30, 2012

I took this shot of my youngest son, Damian, a few years ago in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Damian and I spent that morning traipsing through the woods, playing in the leaves, and enjoying the breathtaking beauty of autumn in Ohio. And of course, I took a few photos. :)

I rarely include man-made elements in my images – and my landscape photos almost never include people. But sometimes a photo just works better with someone in it. In this case, my little son made a perfect point of interest, and he loved being a part of the photograph.

So, what do you think? Maybe I just like the shot with my son in it because he’s my child, and the memories are good ones. Which photo do you prefer? And why?

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Featured Download: Frosted Maple

Varina Patel —  October 12, 2012

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Photographing autumn leaves is so much fun. The colors are incredible in Ohio at this time of year – and it’s so easy to find beautiful subjects. For this shot, I wanted  to show the beautiful patterns of ice on this pretty maple leaf from our back yard. I used a clothes pin to hold the leaf upright while I took the shot. I chose a brilliant background of golden leaves for a monochromatic color scheme.

As always, these images are provided for personal use as computer wallpaper or backgrounds ONLY. Copyright belongs to the photographer,and photographs cannot be used, redistributed, or recreated in print, on the web, or in any other medium without written permission from the photographer.

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The Fawn

Featured Download: The Fawn

Varina Patel —  August 24, 2012

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This beautiful baby spent much of the summer eating flowers and plants in our wooded back yard. She was born late this year, so she’s still small – but she’s full of life and so much fun to watch. She wanders the neighborhood with three pretty little cousins and her mother. They’ve eaten half my flowers. But who’s complaining! The kids love having her around, and I have plenty of flowers to share.

I waited to take this shot until the fawn was mostly in shade for even lighting. A fast shutter speed kept her nice as sharp as she moved. I also wanted to be sure the capture the catch-light in her eye, and to get her in a pleasant pose. I got a few shots of her looking right at me with her mouth open as she chews… but that’s not quite what I was going for! ;)

As always, these images are provided for personal use as computer wallpaper or backgrounds ONLY. Copyright belongs to the photographer,and photographs cannot be used, redistributed, or recreated in print, on the web, or in any other medium without written permission from the photographer.

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Aperture and Composition

Varina Patel —  May 9, 2012

I wanted a specific effect when I took this shot… here’s what I was thinking.

Late last Fall, I went out and took some photos of the frost and frozen droplets on autumn leaves in my back yard. I used a small clamp to hold the leaf off the ground in front of my camera. I wanted even lighting on the leaf, and a clean background of autumn color behind. I chose to shoot at f16 to get some extra depth of field on the leaf, and to keep some of the subtle bokeh on the leaves behind. A wider aperture would have resulted in the loss of the bokeh effect. (I can hear some of you saying it… “Bokeh at f/16?” Sure. If the leaves are far enough from my lens… and they were. I’d guess that they were about 20 meters away.)

As usual, I wanted an extremely simple composition – no distractions. But I also wanted to make sure the image showed the character of the leaf. I looked for a leaf with a nice shape, and a bit of uniqueness. The little twist at the lower left stood out to me – subtle, but beautiful – and I loved the small hole on the right as well… especially since it is ringed with frost.

Autumn in Ohio is incredibly beautiful! It is absolutely gorgeous out there when the sun creeps over the horizon!

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I will Fly Away

I Will Fly Away

Jay Patel —  April 25, 2012


Look closely at this photograph…Do you see the ghostly image of the geese as they fly through the photograph? I timed my shutter release so that I would catch the birds as they were flying overhead. The tall silo prevented me from the using a GND filter, so I used manual blending for proper exposure and colors. The composition showcases the spectacular sky.

This little farm is just a couple of miles from our house, and the barns you see here are schedule to be demolished to make way for a housing development. This photograph seems to be an appropriate goodbye to Corbett’s Farm – a place that meant a lot to the children in this area.

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Aperture and Composition

Varina Patel —  March 30, 2012

I wanted a specific effect when I took this shot… here’s what I was thinking.

On a bright Autumn morning, I went out and took some photos of the frost and frozen droplets on autumn leaves in my back yard. I used a small clamp to hold the leaf off the ground in front of my camera. I wanted even lighting on the leaf, and a clean background of autumn color behind. I chose to shoot at f16 to get some extra depth of field on the leaf, and to keep some of the subtle bokeh on the leaves behind. A wider aperture would have resulted in the loss of the bokeh effect. (I can hear some of you saying it… “Bokeh at f/16?” Sure. If the brightly lit leaves were far enough from my lens… and they were. I’d guess that they were about 20 meters away.)

As usual, I wanted an extremely simple composition – no distractions. But I also wanted to make sure the image showed the character of the leaf. I looked for a leaf with a nice shape, and a bit of uniqueness. The little twist at the lower left stood out to me – subtle, but beautiful – and I loved the small hole on the right as well… especially since it is ringed with frost.

Autumn in Ohio is incredibly beautiful! It is absolutely gorgeous out there when the sun creeps over the horizon!

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Looking Glass

What Sells: Local Images

Jay Patel —  February 20, 2012

Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio (OH), USA

Not too long ago, Jay sold this shot of Cedar Falls (titled The Looking Glass) as part of a collection of fine art images. He has many shots of waterfalls, and this is not one of his favorites. The image lacks the vibrant colors or grand vistas that you typically find in Jay’s more popular landscape photographs. When the client asked about waterfalls, his first instinct was to send them samples of the most popular waterfall images in his portfolio. One of the first shots he sent was Arizona Dreaming… the brilliantly colorful “icon shot” from Havasu Falls in Arizona.

Arizona Dreaming - Jay Patel

But, the client passed on all the iconic and popular shots from Jay’s gallery. Instead, she chose the quieter image… one that he had never sold before. He was curious about her choice, and he asked her about it. The answer was simple – she wanted images of local icons… no matter how ordinary they looked in comparison with those iconic locations.

Next time you attend a local art fair, make sure you have plenty of local images. Colorful photographs capture the eye of the viewer – but familiar places capture their hearts.

To learn more about photography check out our eBooks below:
Workflow Series Collection
Apprentice Series Collection

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