f/5 @ 1/200s, ISO 320
f/3.2 @ 1/250s, ISO 200
f/5 @ 1/200s, ISO 320
Hope y'all are keeping cool, it is too hot for my taste today :/
Friday, July 17, 2009
White echinacea
I love nice, soft, morning light. The background on these is a very large, textured pot (which is home to a lovely, large Japanese Maple).
f/5 @ 1/200s, ISO 320
f/3.2 @ 1/250s, ISO 200
f/5 @ 1/200s, ISO 320
Hope y'all are keeping cool, it is too hot for my taste today :/
f/5 @ 1/200s, ISO 320
f/3.2 @ 1/250s, ISO 200
f/5 @ 1/200s, ISO 320
Hope y'all are keeping cool, it is too hot for my taste today :/
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Too many lavender pictures
You had to know it was coming after hearing we went to the lavender farms, right? Apparently I was on a "camera tilting" phase late last week! ;)
1.
f/3.2 @ 1/250s, ISO 400
2.
f/4 @ 1/320s, ISO 400
3.
f/4.5 @ 1/160s, ISO 400
4.
f/5 @ 1/320s, ISO 400
Oh look, a straight one!
5.
f/4.5 @ 1/500s, ISO 400
6.
taken with my 28-70 at 70mm f/2.8 @ 1/2500s, ISO 250 (yes, I should have lowered it)
Gotta love the gorgeous blue summer skies in the Pacific Northwest!
7.
taken with the 28-70 at 35mm, f/16 @ 1/200s, ISO 250
1.
f/3.2 @ 1/250s, ISO 400
2.
f/4 @ 1/320s, ISO 400
3.
f/4.5 @ 1/160s, ISO 400
4.
f/5 @ 1/320s, ISO 400
Oh look, a straight one!
5.
f/4.5 @ 1/500s, ISO 400
6.
taken with my 28-70 at 70mm f/2.8 @ 1/2500s, ISO 250 (yes, I should have lowered it)
Gotta love the gorgeous blue summer skies in the Pacific Northwest!
7.
taken with the 28-70 at 35mm, f/16 @ 1/200s, ISO 250
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
When it's windy out, and you're at the beach:
You gotta go through a whole lot of this:
and hope you get something worth saving like this:
It shocked me that I was able to get anything at ALL in focus and my shutter speed was 1/4000s! These were whipping around like mad!
I'm really starting to like using texture - and yes, I know I'm so far behind the times! I need to have some of these printed out and see if I like them on paper or not.
In answer to Heather's questions:
First of all... how do you determine what aperture to use? you always seem to be spot-on with your choices and I am in awe of you for that. Also, do you study your surroundings for a while before setting up a shot? I love how your backgrounds are always appropriate and not cluttered.
As far as selecting aperture goes, it depends on how far away I am from the subject, how much of it I want in focus, and probably most importantly what the background looks like. Outdoors, I usually shoot fairly wide opened simply because I can't control the background as much, and I usually want it out of focus. Ok, I could control it if I wanted to by staking things out of the way, but typically I don't. When I'm indoors, and especially when I'm using my tripod, I love to play with the lens stopped down, and see just how much of the flower I can get into acceptable focus.
Probably the best thing that has helped me determine aperture is just trial and error. When I first started out I used my tripod religiously (ok, not THAT much, but often), and I would shoot things at various apertures, just to experiment and see how I liked them, and IF I preferred them one way or another. I'd be in the kitchen for an hour and a half shooting ONE subject, moving the flower around, shooting from various angles, different lighting, and at 6-8 different apertures. I still do it from time to time, when I'm motivated by something I either really like and/or haven't shot before (it has an odd shape or something). Holy smokes, I typed a lot....sorry!!!
The second part of the question. Yes, I do look at the background to determine from where, and how close (and what aperture) I want to shoot at. I've decided NOT to photography many things simply because I couldn't get the background uncluttered, or couldn't get to the subject and still have good light AND be steady enough to shoot it. That said, I have been known to occasionally push a branch out of the way, or even {gasp} pinch off a leaf to get what I want. There are many times I've wished I had a wooden skewer with me to prop up a bloom so the sunlight hits the inside of it better. I need to just toss one or two in my camera bag, we have plenty of them!
If anyone else has questions, just let me know. Hope this helped a little bit!
and hope you get something worth saving like this:
It shocked me that I was able to get anything at ALL in focus and my shutter speed was 1/4000s! These were whipping around like mad!
I'm really starting to like using texture - and yes, I know I'm so far behind the times! I need to have some of these printed out and see if I like them on paper or not.
In answer to Heather's questions:
First of all... how do you determine what aperture to use? you always seem to be spot-on with your choices and I am in awe of you for that. Also, do you study your surroundings for a while before setting up a shot? I love how your backgrounds are always appropriate and not cluttered.
As far as selecting aperture goes, it depends on how far away I am from the subject, how much of it I want in focus, and probably most importantly what the background looks like. Outdoors, I usually shoot fairly wide opened simply because I can't control the background as much, and I usually want it out of focus. Ok, I could control it if I wanted to by staking things out of the way, but typically I don't. When I'm indoors, and especially when I'm using my tripod, I love to play with the lens stopped down, and see just how much of the flower I can get into acceptable focus.
Probably the best thing that has helped me determine aperture is just trial and error. When I first started out I used my tripod religiously (ok, not THAT much, but often), and I would shoot things at various apertures, just to experiment and see how I liked them, and IF I preferred them one way or another. I'd be in the kitchen for an hour and a half shooting ONE subject, moving the flower around, shooting from various angles, different lighting, and at 6-8 different apertures. I still do it from time to time, when I'm motivated by something I either really like and/or haven't shot before (it has an odd shape or something). Holy smokes, I typed a lot....sorry!!!
The second part of the question. Yes, I do look at the background to determine from where, and how close (and what aperture) I want to shoot at. I've decided NOT to photography many things simply because I couldn't get the background uncluttered, or couldn't get to the subject and still have good light AND be steady enough to shoot it. That said, I have been known to occasionally push a branch out of the way, or even {gasp} pinch off a leaf to get what I want. There are many times I've wished I had a wooden skewer with me to prop up a bloom so the sunlight hits the inside of it better. I need to just toss one or two in my camera bag, we have plenty of them!
If anyone else has questions, just let me know. Hope this helped a little bit!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Answering questions
Well, I feel like a slacker. A couple of weeks ago I offered to answer questions, and then never got back to them. And there were a lot less than I thought there would be, so I have no excuse. Anyhow, here we go :)
Michele asked:
1) What was the best resource for you in really learning/improving with your macro photography?
Probably the best resource that truly got me interested in macro photography is a woman named Anna Diederich. She took me under her wing and answered all the mudane questions I had when first staring out. She is an enormously talented photographer, and I'll always be grateful to her for her help and mentorship.
The other thing that helped me a lot was a macro class I took at Betterphoto.com
2) What tripod do you have, would you recommend it?
I use a Bogen tripod that I've had for probably 8 years or so. I have no idea what the model is, and it's probably discontinued now anyhow. But this thing is a workhorse, and I would highly recommend Bogen/Manfrotto tripods and heads.
That said, I hardly use my tripod. The Nikon 105mm macro lens has vibration reduction, which is a lifesaver for me. I enjoy the freedom of shooting without a tripod much more than shooting with one. However, if I was shooting super-duper macros like so many people do, I definitely would use it!
3) What or who inspires you?
That's a tough one to get specific on. I look at other people's work and it inspires me, plain and simple. Also, I put on my glasses (getting older stinks) and really look at the details closely, and that inspires me to try and capture what I see.
4) Where do you find all the unique amazing flowers you shoot?
In our garden, in our neighborhood, in the parks and botanical gardens, in a planter next to a business, in a vacant lot. The thing with macro is, you can isolate and find little bits of beauty to photograph everywhere you look! Also, I buy flowers frequently, and while I enjoy having them in the house, more often than not when I'm selecting them, I'm thinking about how they might photograph!
I am the slowest typist in the world, so tomorrow I'll answer Heather's questions :)
Also, Pat, you asked me yesterday if we went to the Lavender farms while out in Sequim. Of course we did! However, it was very breezy, so I hardly did any macro shooting :( Maybe next year...
Here's one I managed to get in focus:
Purple Haze farm (isn't that a great name for a Lavender Farm) rents out the 3 bedroom house on their property (the picture I posted yesterday that B took). I would love to get a few photographers together and rent it out for a couple of nights and be able to shoot at sunrise and sunset to one's heart's content! Or, drag my extended family out there for some R&R next summer.....hmmm, I wonder if I could talk my mom, and my sister and her family to get away ;) It really is idyllic!
Michele asked:
1) What was the best resource for you in really learning/improving with your macro photography?
Probably the best resource that truly got me interested in macro photography is a woman named Anna Diederich. She took me under her wing and answered all the mudane questions I had when first staring out. She is an enormously talented photographer, and I'll always be grateful to her for her help and mentorship.
The other thing that helped me a lot was a macro class I took at Betterphoto.com
2) What tripod do you have, would you recommend it?
I use a Bogen tripod that I've had for probably 8 years or so. I have no idea what the model is, and it's probably discontinued now anyhow. But this thing is a workhorse, and I would highly recommend Bogen/Manfrotto tripods and heads.
That said, I hardly use my tripod. The Nikon 105mm macro lens has vibration reduction, which is a lifesaver for me. I enjoy the freedom of shooting without a tripod much more than shooting with one. However, if I was shooting super-duper macros like so many people do, I definitely would use it!
3) What or who inspires you?
That's a tough one to get specific on. I look at other people's work and it inspires me, plain and simple. Also, I put on my glasses (getting older stinks) and really look at the details closely, and that inspires me to try and capture what I see.
4) Where do you find all the unique amazing flowers you shoot?
In our garden, in our neighborhood, in the parks and botanical gardens, in a planter next to a business, in a vacant lot. The thing with macro is, you can isolate and find little bits of beauty to photograph everywhere you look! Also, I buy flowers frequently, and while I enjoy having them in the house, more often than not when I'm selecting them, I'm thinking about how they might photograph!
I am the slowest typist in the world, so tomorrow I'll answer Heather's questions :)
Also, Pat, you asked me yesterday if we went to the Lavender farms while out in Sequim. Of course we did! However, it was very breezy, so I hardly did any macro shooting :( Maybe next year...
Here's one I managed to get in focus:
Purple Haze farm (isn't that a great name for a Lavender Farm) rents out the 3 bedroom house on their property (the picture I posted yesterday that B took). I would love to get a few photographers together and rent it out for a couple of nights and be able to shoot at sunrise and sunset to one's heart's content! Or, drag my extended family out there for some R&R next summer.....hmmm, I wonder if I could talk my mom, and my sister and her family to get away ;) It really is idyllic!
Monday, July 13, 2009
If you give a man a camera....
....you may end up with a photo like this :)
B hardly ever uses a camera, like maybe once a year. While we were away the last few days, he took my old D50 with my new 18-200, and I gave him a very abbreviated lesson on using aperture priority mode. I think he did pretty darned well, don't you?!?
B hardly ever uses a camera, like maybe once a year. While we were away the last few days, he took my old D50 with my new 18-200, and I gave him a very abbreviated lesson on using aperture priority mode. I think he did pretty darned well, don't you?!?
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Wait for it, wait for it....
Patience is not my strongest suit, but this time I exercised it for sure.
B and I took off for a few days on the road, and the other night sat at Lake Crescent (on the Olympic Peninsula) and watched the sunset. Yes, I wished there were clouds to make it more colorful, and yes, I wish I had a neutral density filter so I could have slowed the shutter enough to make the water more smooth. But, that said, my patience was rewarded with some beautiful sun flare. Doesn't it look like I used a star filter? I didn't.
B and I took off for a few days on the road, and the other night sat at Lake Crescent (on the Olympic Peninsula) and watched the sunset. Yes, I wished there were clouds to make it more colorful, and yes, I wish I had a neutral density filter so I could have slowed the shutter enough to make the water more smooth. But, that said, my patience was rewarded with some beautiful sun flare. Doesn't it look like I used a star filter? I didn't.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
How did I not know this place existed?
We go to the zoo at least a couple of times a year, and have since C was little. I never knew this little building existed. It's tucked away, and is very small....maybe it's new-ish, I don't know?!? Anyhow, you can buy seed sticks for $1 each, and feed the birds. It was really cool, though their little claws feel kind of strange! You've got to watch where you're walking as well....there were lots of birds on the ground eating the fallen seed. We saw a little girl come {this} close to stepping on one! Poor B got nailed on the back of his neck too, EWWW!
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