Jérôme Aoustin Photography

September 28, 2009

“A Clay Statuette”

One of my talented wife’s first sculpture, and a perfect subject to play with lights and shadows. I set it up in less than five minutes in my homemade lightbox. Two work lights were used on both sides, at different angles. It’s amazing to see how the slightest change in lighting affects the overall look of a photo. It was even more blatant on such a small subject. I usually blow out the background but I thought it complimented well the subject here, with a subtle gradient of gray.

September 27, 2009

“An Old Abandoned Barn Door”

On our way back from the Adirondacks, we came across this old abandoned barn. The vegetation was clearly starting to take over, with branches forcing their way out from the inside. Since it had just rained, the colors were very vivid, contrasting with the weathered wood of the overall structure. The rusted lock and hinges were a nice little touch which completed the shot. I thought it was interesting to see some dead vegetation laying in front of the door, as if the barn attempted to contaminate it as some sort of eerie retaliation.

September 26, 2009

“Auger Falls”

It was such a great location with so much potential. Too bad a sunset doesn’t last longer! Getting this shot wasn’t that easy though. You had to climb down slanted rocks and any mistake in foot placement would have been dearly payed. My faithful 50mm would not allow me much fudge room either, so I had no choice but to position myself accordingly. I was very happy to reach this vantage point and be able to compose my photo the way I wanted. The one second exposure helped capture the essence and power of the waterfall.

What I didn’t expect was the shot to be so sharp, a very pleasant surprise. Given that it’s one of my favorite photos of the trip, I will be printing it… big. Being very critique of my work, there are very few photos that I am ever fully satisfied with; this is definitely one of them.

Further reading:
A Week-End In The Adirondacks

September 25, 2009

“On The Road To The Adirondacks”

This shot was a bit of a hit or miss… and I kind of missed the focus on the back of the school bus. I’m still selecting it as photo of the day for the subject. We were heading to the Adirondacks on an unusually smooth portion of the highway. It was raining, naturally saturating the colors and turning the road into a reflective surface. I tried some panning shots prior to that one but it was just not going to happen. I stuck to high ISO and faster shutter speeds.

Since Ben launched the “New School Of Photography” forum in 2007, numerous meets were organized between its members, whether in Texas or New England. Eric generously proposed to gather at his place in the Adirondacks for the week-end. In total, we were a group of 9 adults and 4 toddlers around Jasmine’s age. Needless to say, everybody had a lot of fun. Also, with the foliage turning, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

We got up early Saturday morning to catch the sunrise on Lake Pleasant while the wives and children were still asleep. There was a great atmospheric fog which unfortunately hid the sun a bit too well at times. Nothing to be disappointed about though, quite the opposite. It was a beautiful scenery. We were lucky enough to even witness a brief courtship of two blue herons right in front of us.

After breakfast, we all packed up and got ready to go hike Panther Mountain. An hour walk which led us to a magnificent panorama of the surrounding mountains and lake. Jasmine did really well, both on foot and on my shoulders. Our little daredevil was not afraid of running up and down the rocks, something we obviously had to refrain on a constant basis. Once we got back to the cars, Elias – Ben and Nikki’s son – was already sleeping. Jasmine followed suit right after we started driving. So did Sarah and Samantha, Jeremy and Jennifer’s daughters. A much needed time off for us all.

In the late afternoon, we – the guys – went to take photos of Auger Falls at sunset. The weather was way too overcast for the sun to pierce through but we still got decent shots. Jeremy and I climbed down to the bottom of the falls, something I wouldn’t have done by myself. It was way too easy to slip and fall, which apparently happens to visitors from time to time. That’s probably a reason why there’s a register you need to sign at the entrance. Or black bears. I did slip, so did Jeremy, but tree roots were there to stop our falls. The tricky part was to set our tripods right. Maybe it was a little dangerous, but it was all worth it. What a great feeling to come back to a nice dinner afterwards.

It was supposed to rain on Sunday, so we decided not to shoot another sunrise. We simply enjoyed each others’ company before parting our own ways: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. It was a really great week-end and I couldn’t thank Eric enough for his invitation. Till next time!

Further reading:
“NSOP weekends!” & “Adirondack shots!” , by Ben