Sunday, October 26, 2008

Men's Retreat: Second Day

I woke up the first morning rather early. Well, 6:30am is early for me. I took a shower and went straight to the dining hall for a cup of coffee. Surprisingly, I didn't manage to take any pictures. I took the following picture between breakfast and the devotional/worship time.

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


This photo required a little running around to get into position. The guys on the canoes probably wouldn't have stopped for a picture, so I didn't bother asking. I figured it would be easier to run.

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


Surprisingly, I haven't touched my camera since I came back. It's been sitting in the camera bag, next to my bed. Granted, I still have quite a bit of work left finishing up the photos from the trip, but this is the longest my camera has gone untouched. Perhaps I'll find some time this week to get out and take some close ups of leaves or something else.

Speaking of time, I know some of my readers are Christians. I have a prayer request. If you could take a few moments and pray for me and my family, I would certainly appreciate it. If you see me in Church, feel free to ask about it or e-mail me. I'll be more than willing to share.

God Bless!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Men's Retreat: After Dark

Normally I get very bored when I'm taking pictures after dark as I can stand there for as long as 10 minutes, sometimes more, waiting for the exposure to finish. When I'm with a group of 40 or so men, I can take night scenes all night, or until the battery dies. These are some of the night shots I managed to capture while at Huntington Camp last weekend.


Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


You can see on this last one that the boats and the dock were moving with the water. An interesting effect, but I think I'd prefer it if the boats were more clear.

God Bless!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Men's Retreat: Two Truths and a Lie

The first evening we were there, the sun was perfect and the sky had a nice texture. I managed to get a few photos in after getting settled into the bunk house and before the dinner bell rang.

After dinner, we all met in the building they used for a classroom. In order to break the ice, we played this game called "Two Truths and a Lie". The rules were you came up with two truths and a lie and shared them with the others in your group. It was a great time. My two truths and lie are below. I hope you'll take the time to figure out which is the lie and leave a comment!

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)


  1. I rescued my wife from the fashion industry.
  2. I took first place in a photography contest this summer.
  3. I dropped out of college my second year and moved to North Carolina to start my career in computer programming.
Leave your guess in the comments.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Men's Retreat: Huntington Memorial Camp

Our Church, Grace Christian Fellowship, organized a weekend at Huntington Memorial Camp on Raquette Lake. It was a great time. Brian Newman shared from God's Word on the relationships in men's lives and what it is we live for and what we're supposed to live for. He did an excellent job of helping to open my eyes to the fact that I need to be there for my family more and spend less time playing. I went to my first Bible Study in a long time as a result of this weekend.

There was plenty of free time available to do as we pleased, so, naturally, I took pictures. Sunday morning, as I was about to take a photo inside the lodge, I looked at my camera and saw that the ISO was set to 800. I only adjusted the ISO once this weekend and that as Friday evening to meter for some night shots. I set the ISO to 800 to get my light meter to give me a usable reading. The whole day I was fairly bummed about having lost a whole weekend's worth of photos as photos taken at ISO 800 on my camera get pretty noisy. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but I may never see Raquette Lake again! Oddly, though, it didn't bother me much at all. I knew that there was a much better purpose to being there and it certainly wasn't to take pictures. That was an added bonus.

Here are the first couple of photos of what will be several posts over the next week from the trip.

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

Men's Retreat (by John Brainard)

This was a great weekend and I certainly won't hesitate to do it again. I'm extremely thankful to the guys that organized this weekend! It was a blast. I met a lot of guys from Church that I might not have met otherwise.

Enjoy!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Hope Lake After Dark

When I went through these photos to process them, I wasn't sure I was going to post them. I didn't like the way they turned out, mostly and became discouraged. Looking back through them again, I found a few that I liked.

I reprocessed this one as the noise-reduction routine removed a lot of detail and sharpness. I just didn't like the way it turned out. So, I processed the photo without noise reduction. I think it looks better, though I have no idea how it would look printed as it's a bit noisy.

Hope Lake (by john_brainard)

Hope Lake (by john_brainard)

I took this photo earlier the same evening I took the above photos. This is a campsite in Heiberg Memorial Forest owned by one of the SUNY schools. I liked the light trails from this set of photos so much, I decided to do it again. I set the aperture so I could get a two minute exposure, which gave me enough time to get in my car and drive around the loop a few times.

Heiberg Memorial Forest (by john_brainard)

These photos were taken on September 19th. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Rays of Sun

This is the last of the photos from my trip to Calico Pond at Gee Brook State Forest on Saturday. I've been impressed with the photos I took there. Many of them turned out to be much different than what I normally get on my trips out.

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)


Calico Pond (by john_brainard)


This photo was taken at a park in Homer. I'm not sure what the name of the park is, but I'll probably go back to get some more photos. I was about a half hour early for worship practice, so I stopped to check this place out. I had only a few moments to capture this one before the sun disappeared below the horizon.

Park in Homer, NY (by john_brainard)


This photo I took on Saturday. After my trip to Gee Brook State Forest, I went driving around the town I spent the better part of my childhood years in. This is a bridge I used to ride my bike over a lot. I even played down in the river a few times. I've thought about doing a photo journal of where I grew up and played when I was a kid. It could be fun.

Bridge in Cincinnatus, NY (by john_brainard)


Enjoy!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Frost on Calico Pond

I hoped to have had more shots of plants and foliage covered in frost, but that didn't happen. I have a couple that I liked from this Saturday's trip. I'll have to go out and look for frost covered foliage to shoot.


Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

The leaves below are from the same tree. It's amazing how turning just a little bit away from or toward the sun can have a huge impact on how the photos turn out.

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)


Enjoy! I hope to have a couple more tomorrow to wrap up my trip to Calico Pond in Gee Brook State Forest.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sunrise on Calico Pond

The scenery first thing in the morning on Calico Pond in Gee Brook State Forest is unbelievable. During the day, it's just a small body of water set in the woods with a nice stream that passes it by. During the dramatic hours of the day, however, it's hard not to see the artist in God shine through.


Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)

Calico Pond (by john_brainard)


I have some frost covered foliage to upload soon, so check back!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Nifty Fifty: Foliage

It has been way too long since I made an entry for my "NiftyFifty" project. It's also been too long since I updated my blog with any landscape/outdoor photos which I enjoy making the most.

I spent the last two weeks anxious to get out on a nice day for pictures. This morning finally provided an opportunity to get out that I was able to take. These photos are the first of a set I took at Gee Brook State Forest. Keep an eye out for more entries to come over the next few days.


NiftyFifty: Foliage (by john_brainard)

NiftyFifty: Foliage (by john_brainard)

NiftyFifty: Foliage (by john_brainard)


It's fun to get down close to the ground, even while standing in a stream to do it! I came home with soaked shoes and partly soaked pants this morning. It was well worth the trouble. I read early on about photography that you should never be afraid to come home dirty to get the shot you want. I think I get dirtier taking pictures than I do working in the yard! I love it!