Pic of the Day

     Thunderstorm from Grand Manan; New Brunswick, Canada:  I must confess that I have not obtained the number of quality images that I had hoped over the summer.  I added many adequate bird photos and even new species, but unique images seemed to escape me.

     On my last evening at Grand Manan, I found myself on the northwest corner of the island.  Looking west across the Gulf of Maine the setting sun was shinning through a major thunderstorm. 

The light was beautiful and the scene memorable.  As I looked west the landmass to the north was Campobello Island, New Brunswick, the vacation destination of U. S. President, Franklin Roosevelt almost three quarters of a century ago; to the south, the Maine Coastline.  The golds and blues of sky and water were harmonious and exquisite. 

     Beginning my photography career at 15 years old, I shot black and white film and made my own prints from the first time I picked-up a camera.  I grew-up seeing the world in color and in my mind visualizing those color images in tonalities of black and white, a necessity for creating dynamic black and white images.  So, when I saw this scene I not only saw a beautiful color image, but a stunning black and white photograph as well. 

     In this post I am showing both the color image and the black and white conversion.  I do some manipulation on all my photos.  I have never seen a digital image that did not need some curves (contrast) and color correction manipulation, and the black and white conversion requires much more.  I also do    manipulation when printing from black and white film as well.  The idea with both mediums is to utilize the full potential of either medium to create a full tonal range image. 

     As the thunderstorm moved from Campobello Island into Maine, I continued to shoot many images as the sun set.  The scene that evening provided what I felt I had missed over my summer travels.   


Nikon D7000, Nikkor 24-85mm set to 24mm, 1/50sec @ f8