Category Archives: Nature

A break in the clouds

During a recent afternoon thunderstorm, I was in my office editing, with the blinds closed to minimize stray light on my monitors, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a glow from outside. I heard it thundering and knew that it had been raining fairly hard for the past hour or so, so I was confused by the sudden brightness. I opened the blinds to see a golden glow of light from between the dark storm clouds.

I grabbed my camera and (not unlike a crazy person) ran outside to capture this odd event. There was a large break in the storm clouds that allowed the setting sun’s rays through.

Light From The Other Side
Light From The Other Side

Known amongst photographers as “godrays”, they are fitting in name. I snapped away for a minute or two, capturing a flock of birds on the left part of one frame.  As quickly as it arrived, the break closed up and disappeared. Moments later, it rained harder than I have seen in a very long time.

Storm Rays
Storm Rays

For The Birds!

I happened upon an odd scene while photographing the other day. Hundreds of seagulls decided to visit our fair city. I was walking around the Clemente bridge on Saturday the 15th, noticing all of the other photographers that were out and about. It was a beautiful afternoon. The temperatures were still pretty low, but the sun was shining, bathing the downtown side of the Allegheny in a wonderful light. I was walking past the steps near the center field entrance when a very excited gentleman asked, “You see all them birds!!!”. My response was, “Yeah.. there’s a lot of them”.

I chuckled to myself and kept on walking through the outer PNC Park area, looking at the light slowly creeping up the buildings on the other side of the river. It wasn’t until I got most of the way to the opposite gate that I saw a group of people huddled together with what looked like spotting scopes. I peered over the wall and saw the largest collection of seagulls that I’ve ever witnessed.

Seagull Holiday
Seagull Holiday

They were -literally- chilling on some large sheets of ice that were floating back upstream in the wind. I made my way down the steps and attempted to figure out the angle that all of the spotters were looking, as to not get in their way. I switched lenses to my 70-200 and started snapping shots.

An Ice Floe Of His Own
An Ice Floe Of His Own
One Cold Foot At A Time
One Cold Foot At A Time

I had seen a few seagulls on ice sheets a few weeks back, but the sheer number of birds was a bit overwhelming.  I got right to the edge of the sidewalk without scaring them away. The light and the reflection from the bridge was amazing. Most of the river was in a cool shadow of blue with the exception of the vibrant yellow reflections from the Clemente Bridge.

Resting Near Golden Waters
Resting Near Golden Waters

Another photographer wandered past and moved in for a shot. I took the opportunity to switch lenses and capture her in the shot.

Shooting Birds On The Banks Of The Allegheny
Shooting Birds On The Banks Of The Allegheny

As she moved closer, an entire group of birds abandoned their ice floe and took to the skies.  It was like a scene from a Hitchcockian masterpiece.

A Scene Alfred Would Love
A Scene Alfred Would Love

I’m not sure where they came from or how long they will stay, but, as a gracious host, I did suggest that they try a Primanti Brothers sandwich while in town.

Fall Foliage + Waterfalls = Awesome

Autumn At The FallsIt is that time of year again. Summer has waved goodbye until next year, families are lining up for portrait sessions, and the leaves are changing. One of my favorite combinations of nature’s events to capture is the Autumn waterfall, complete with orange, red, and yellow leaves. I accompanied two great photographer friends of mine to the waterfall at McConnell’s Mill for a half day of climbing and shooting. Being the ridiculous creature that I am, I took the steep and most direct way down to the falls. This was something that my companions just shook their heads at and headed off to the “long and safe” way around.

The day was a lWhere The Water Flowslittle too sunny for my taste, but it still yielded many, many great shots. There were a lot of green leaves still on trees, but more than enough on the rocks surrounding the waterfalls. It was the first time that I had been out on the rocks in nearly 6 months. There were a couple of slides and (somewhat) close calls that yielded scrapes and bruises on my knees and legs. I accepted these with a childlike joy, as if I was some rambunctious toddler without fear.  At one point I looked over at the other two to see that one had caught a salamander and was quickly running to show the other who had never seen one before. I laughed and shook my head, now realizing that we were all feeling like little kids at that moment. It was a departure from what this group usually does, trading abandoned buildings for the great outdoors. I mentioned that climbing on the slippery rocks, shimmying down fallen logs, and leaping from rock to rock over the drop of the falls was only slightly less dangerous as some of the things that we had done as UrbExers.Homage To The Fallen

I cannot wait to visit some of my other local spots for more water and leaves. Perhaps this afternoon, in the spirit of adventure, on a day that is set aside to honor a person who, at the very least, had a sense of adventure. There’s no need to talk about all of the “not-so-nice” things that Cristóbal did. I’ll leave it at that.

-Jason