Walden Pond
I went back to Walden Pond to capture some images of early spring for the year long project I am doing on Thoreau and Walden. Unfortunately, I was too early for the spring flowering. There were only a few early buds around. I did, however, manage to pick up some shots of other life at the pond.
Thoreau was interested in detailed observations of life in the woods and pond and examined nature up close. I used a macro lens quite a bit to explore the close-up nature he would have seen and to capture some scenes he described in his journals.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvaM85fUygIc3OYcWVJDhOdAeLIdoYlK61MF60OuxGveoon4ImCiSUHmmH7quHDtyh0LgkvBmVUdFCnMcQTQ19Efy_pDVdOs3ailZi3VgvkS8jBfUFn-hYT8C62XWiXXsgme5ioU9ZljA/s1600/ti01632047bl.jpg) |
Just as I was leaving the pond these mallards obliged my by swimming out towards the middle. Their wake formed a composition echoing the shape of the reflection from the background shore in the pond. |
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I was shooting directly into a very hot sun for this photo. The pine cones in the foreground were in deep shadow. So I took 6 exposures at one stop intervals, and fused them later in post-processing. This resulted in full detail for the sun and the deep foreground shadows of the pine cones. Taken with a Nikon D800 and 18-35mm lens at f/22. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiucLmHukeVDDvTxvGDzZo5V-lce0A5qxJdzUTjXvmbC4nOO2S28sVJuD0bs8sSFxpghfGP3cd94tKk47k2BVMn3YpMPV25xgwBAi4o3XaVljVI8Wwu0rd08y30esO2vepmV25UsXR5vs0/s1600/ti01632060bl.jpg) |
Thoreau specifically described looking through the clear water of the pond at life on the bottom, which is why I took this photo. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpLmHGin9w3Ig9o4BvSIGGMB7gb6cFbZDoYdYlyyvDeSyPBcYOoRC61nwvT1pZ6D1lM8DlM1muvG3bUmsB4T8T-xuGShdoEgFf3gXkfcbDHT0iRcNrmEqIL5NJ7-9Ljc8YTDirCHeG7M/s640/ti01632062bl.jpg) |
For this photo, I held a pine cone in my hand directly in front of the late afternoon sun and pond, and opened the aperture for shallow depth of field. I also over exposed the shot to enhance the flare, open the shadows, and emphasize the pastel colors. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KN_qXoESyb5PepbniBO0lS7tRzoEu9vl95HNWTYw1eJFJtHmXCsKNF8Vx3qrXgksn3Ame-j8VaWiw6BmFKfQ_z34VU7wc00rZb6ANyEv_hwfCJ3_RBkR2On2AYtboJV6cWrlAwfPMo8/s1600/ti01632080bl.jpg) |
This photo and the one below were of the few instances of new spring life I found in the woods. I put the camera directly on the ground and composed the scene using live view. This allowed me to position the leaf against the bright out of focus background. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipJT8WNXaoRvgOsRg2uzOxPOh1hw-0ljCoILg0XMSJHr_2B7shvYbrKl6UR-WxGxBsjEYs9M3gMucuyF7Vu-jcmXeqIv3lyPlkIrge1cgQCjPCK-eE2PlwPgsQJzxvk8OuzY9MWP2fRg/s1600/ti01632083bl.jpg) |
I brought along this early edition of Thoreau's Walden book to photograph on the forest floor. |
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