Autumn 2018 colors in our neighborhood have been notably subdued, more of a stumble than a Fall. We’re on the brink of perma-brown taking over as rain and winds wash away, during the next several days, what little color we had.  Today, however, Lori and I were able to enjoy a comfortable sunny walk in Sweedler Preserve, one of the many gems within easy reach of our place.

Yikes!  A vacation video: with a post title like that, I wouldn’t blame you if you ran in the opposite direction. If you suffer through it however, you’ll see my first attempt at video production using footage from the Sony DSC-RX10 iii camera. I’m impressed.  Some clips are shot at ISO 1600 and you can’t really tell easily from the results. I obviously have to work on technique and get a bit better at editing but not too bad.

There are three things in common with the group of images below:

1. All were shot in the Adirondacks of upstate New York State.
2. All were shot of or from Hornbeck ultralight New Tricks double-paddle canoes. (On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HornbeckBoats/.)
3. All are cropped frame grabs from video clips.

While on vacation we paddled a total of about 20 miles on 9 ponds and 2 rivers and thoroughly enjoyed our canoes.  They’re easy to manage, very maneuverable, a pleasure to portage, and just right for the mix of ponds, lakes, and waterways in the Adirondack mountain area.  We don’t miss our big heavy touring kayaks (although they handled camping and nasty weather beautifully).

I was a bit surprised how nicely the video frame grabs came out.  You wouldn’t print large from the size but it has plenty of resolution for Web use. Video clips were shot from a Sony RX 10 III working out of a Pelican case sitting in my canoe. It worked out rather well although there are tweaks I’ll be trying in later efforts.

Lori paddles the Osgood River

Canada Geese along the shore of the Osgood River

A woman at one with her Hornbeck canoe

Loon on Osgood Pond

Heading home after a day’s paddling

Heading into canal between Osgood and Little Osgood Ponds

Paddling the canals between Osgood and Church Ponds

Evening paddle

We portage between Copperas and Whey Ponds

Lori paddles on Black Pond

Outdoor photography on a cold winter day can be challenging trying to balance keeping hands warm but allowing the dexterity to work the seemingly-ever-shrinking controls on cameras and lenses. I picked up a couple rechargeable hand warmers to try and they’re working out great.  I keep a warmer in a coat pocket along with a spare camera battery.  Wearing light polypropylene glove liners, I can work the camera with little trouble and then just slip my hand in the coat pocket and grasp the warmer to get the fingers toasty in no time. Keeping the spare battery warm in the pocket keeps the camera battery viable when it needs to be switched into duty.

The MJ Gear warmers I picked up are rechargeable via USB.  They have some extra features that are handy as well.  You can use one as a source of power to recharge your cell phone or other USB-rechargeable device, it has two power settings for the warmer (I’ve found the low setting is all that’s needed most of the time), and it has a powerful little LED light that could come in handy.  This combination of features makes these hand warmers more appealing than the chemical pack or lighter-fluid powered alternatives.

Frostbite and photography don’t work well together–hand warmers keep things comfortable on those cold outings.

I joined the throngs shooting pictures of the weekend’s supermoon eclipse.  A so-called supermoon describes the full moon’s slightly larger appearance due to being at or near its perigee, the closest distance the moon reaches the earth in its elliptical orbit.  The combination of a supermoon and lunar eclipse is unusual:  the last one occurred in 1983 and the next will be in 2033.

The moonrise didn’t bode well with clouds on the horizon but the moon rose above it and stayed clear of clouds during the eclipse.  This is fortunate as I’m not sure I’ll be around in 2033 to catch the next event.

Moonlight reflects from clouds near the horizon, providing the only evidence of the full moon behind them

A supermoon is a full moon that appears a bit larger than normal because the moon is at or near a perigee, the closest the moon is to the earth in its orbit around it.

The Tetons in Wyoming are effortlessly photogenic and the close proximity of the mountains to roads make for easy intimacy.  I shot several panoramas, some hand-held, during our recent vacation trip.  All came out well and could withstand large printing if desired.  It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

These samples used anywhere from 4 to 12 images, shot vertically, and then stitched either with Adobe Lightroom or Kolor’s Autopano Pro.  (The latter is far superior, for more challenging stitches.)  Cylindrical projection suited my taste for these images.