Planting Photos

By now many of you have been busy planting in your yards for the spring and summer. Spending time at the local nursery or home/hardware store you can find many beautiful additions to your landscape.  As you are planning, keep in mind plants that attract birds, butterflies, insects, and such to your yard.  Many places that sell plants will have information about the best to choose to attract wildlife to your yard.  Also think about the plants themselves.  All of these things -- plants, birds, insects, etc. can be your subject matter for the next 5 months or so.  

I still have a little taming of my outdoor area to do -- but I am busy thinking of where I need to add a little color.  Also, I need to toss out some parsley seed. Parsley plants are the food for the black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. Parsley is also a biennial -- blooming and going to seed in its second year.  I think the is the first year in quite a while that I do not have any parsley coming up in any of the beds in the backyard.  

Along the back of the house, inside the courtyard area, I have three old iron urns that I like to put coleus plants in for good color against the house.  The urns are old, black, and rusty.  The bright colors of the coleus are a nice contrast to the container.  I bought some red coleus and the pink and green variety to mix in the pots.  The coleus colors I bought were the Rustic Red and Watermelon.  Coleus plants grow fast.  Pinch the buds or tops of a tall, leggy plants and they will become fuller.

For the front porch I chose deep, dark, scarlet geraniums.  In the pot with the geraniums I added a white verbena plant and a couple of the Rustic Red coleus plants.  The leaves of the geranium plants are just as interesting to photograph as the blooms are.  Also for the front porch I bought some portulaca plants for hanging pots.  These are excellent in a spot with hot summer sun -- not like we have seen much sun lately!  

For the deck I bought yellow grape and Mr. Stripey tomato plants.  These sounded good to eat in salads this summer and good to take photos of as well.  I like to take photos of the tomato plants as they bloom and as the tomatoes grow and ripen.  I hope the tomato worms don't find them -- I hate the tomato worms -- they are very creepy and gross.  (But if they show up I will take photos before I "remove" them -- once I removed them into a plastic zip bag, forgot the bag on the porch until the next day -- went to get the bag and found a big hole and no worms!)

The backyard is already filled with butterfly bushes and many types of daylilies getting ready to bloom.  I like daylilies -- they are easy to care for and come back year after year.  Last year I also added some canna lilies, lizard's tail, and other plants around the pond.  Already this year I have seen two white water lilies and one pink bloom.  The white ones usually bloom a lot -- but the pink one is not as prolific.  The lamb's ear is almost ready to bloom too -- that means bumble bees are coming soon.  There are a few cosmos and zinnia plants that continue to return thanks the the previous year's seed.  Or should I say -- the seed that the goldfinches missed!  Those little yellow birds love to hang on the old stems to get seeds, and drop a few.  Look closely at the plants to spot the crab spiders whose color will match the plant so they are not easily seen.  Toads, tadpoles, skinks, dragonflies and more will be all around the pond.  

Plant!  Then charge up your batteries and get outside with your camera.

Vanishing Point

One more of the peach orchard -- I just can't seem to get out of these rows and rows of peach trees!

The photo on the blog today is another of the orchard -- showing the trees -- but also showing something that many photographers seek -- a vanishing point.  The term 'vanishing point' is the visual phenomenon that tricks your eye to think that two parallel lines will meet far off in the distance.  

Looking at this photo you would think that the trees (or the rows of trees) at some point come together.  They don't.  We know they don't -- what farmer would angle rows to meet?

Many photos that show a vanishing point involve railroad tracks -- another one that anyone who knows anything realizes the rails are always the same distance apart even if they look as though they meet (and maybe cross) at some point far away from the extreme point that we can see.

Since I am such a macro person -- preferring to work more on close subjects -- I don't have a lot of vanishing point photos.  Some people 'collect' these (I guess like anything -- you gravitate to what you like).  Now that I have this shot -- I really like it -- I may search out more opportunities.

My biggest obstacle of these photos -- the other opportunities -- is that I have seen so many of the railroad tracks and highways.  I have an obsession to be different.  If I have seen photos of certain subjects -- I will almost obsess about staying away from any photo that would look anything like the ones I have seen.  I strive to have my own vision.  I don't want to do something that someone else has already done.  Repeating something you have seen has its place -- to learn a little -- but I would never repeat someone else's work to keep and show.  

So back to my orchard photo on the blog.  I am sure I am not the only person who has ever taken a photo similar or even just like this -- but I haven't seen it.  I took this because I was standing there -- in that spot and liked the view.  

Great points of the orchard -- it was a different subject for me -- it was a stretch.  I got out of my usual box and really like a lot of the photos I got that day.  Getting out of your usual box will always be a good exercise. 

 

Minimum Focus Distance

Since I am such a macro photography freak, minimum focus distance is a very important for me to know.  I will admit -- sometimes I know how close I can get and other times I find out by pushing it -- getting so close that I can't focus -- so I do have to back off a little.  

If you know your minimum focus distance you have a good idea of how close you can get.  But -- do you know -- visually -- what 17 inches looks like?  I don't.

The photo on the blog today is another from last Wednesday.  This is a close up of one of the peach blossoms.  This was also taken with my Tamron 14mm lens.  The photo from the blog entry last Thursday was a wide landscape shot taken with that same lens.  You can see by comparing these two photos -- the close up and the landscape just how versatile such an ultra wide angle lens can be.

Usually I don't use this lens much.  Like many other photographers, I feel I stereotype this lens as being good for great wide open landscapes and not much else.  I purposely used it in the orchard and also, purposely got super close with it to see what it would do.  The minimum focus distance for this lens is 8 inches.  Who carries a ruler in their camera bag?  Not me.  So I got close -- really close -- and some times too close.  When I knew I was too close -- I backed up a little.  Just a little -- just enough to allow the lens to focus.

 The aperture for this shot was f/2.8 and the shutter speed was 1/4000.  Pretty darn fast shutter, huh?  Well, just think -- when the aperture is open that much -- as far as that lens would allow -- more light comes in so the shutter can work faster.  A super fast shutter was becoming important to me as a breeze was picking up.  The blossoms were not blowing much -- but the petals were.  Just a little breeze when you are working that close can ruin a photo.

I really like the shallow depth of field.  Also -- as with the other photo -- I love the spring colors presented to me that day.  This photo was taken in bright sunlight at almost high noon.

Photo Wednesday

Last spring (and fall) I would head out on Wednesday mornings to take photos.  Most of the time my Wednesday is a free day.  A friend of mine and I went out a lot last year.  Over the past weekend we were talking about how we need to do that again.  Yesterday was the first "Photo Wednesday" of 2009.

When we would do this before, we usually had a specific location in mind.  Some of the places we visited last year -- when it was much warmer -- we decided it would be best to come back during cooler weather.  Another spot was so overgrown -- we decided winter and less weeds would be better.  During our conversation last weekend -- we concluded that we had not been back to any of those places.  The weather is warming and weeds are starting to grow.

Our main goal destination yesterday was the place that was overgrown last year.  It was OK -- and I took a bunch of photos.  But, I think my photos do not live up to my expectations.  This happens a lot when I remember a place from months ago and build up this excitement that I am going there -- and the photos are going to be wonderful.  I need to remember to build low expectations and then sit back and allow the place to wow me when I get there.

While we were near the main destination we found a couple other spots of promise.  I am sort of happy with some of the images.  One grand find was a nice stand of bamboo that had a great greenish yellow color.  I have not processed any of those photos yet -- but I plan to spend some time with them.

Another spot was an old church.  I am thinking of going back at a different time of day to take more photos of this place.  It is very interesting -- a lot of angles, windows, adornaments.

Then I had an idea -- I thought I remembered something.  As we were approaching what I thought I remembered -- well -- it was not what I remembered.  It must have been some other two-lane country road.  Who knows.  But, by the time we drove that far -- we were close to another spot I knew and had planned to return to in the spring.  We decided to go a bit further to check it out and perhaps make a plan to return soon.  

Why had I wanted to return?  For one thing the place was very interesting to me.  I posted a photo of this little roadside cemetery back in September, 2008: Zebulon.  The cemetery is interesting and I remembered seeing through the trees behind it was a peach orchard.  You can see the peach tree when you are standing in the cemetery.  I had thought a great photo would be the blooming trees in the distance with the tombstones as the main subject.  So yeah, I took that photo -- it is fine -- it is wonderful.  But the peach orchard all alone was prime photo opportunity!

Yes the peaches were blooming already!  I had not expected that.  In fact, I told my friend -- "I want to see how close the trees are to blooming so I can come back in a week or so."  As we neared the spot you could see the pink peach blooms and we thought wow!  We also thought -- lunch will be late today!

The sky yesterday was gloomy -- fog and overcastness (is that a word?) did not burn off untl I had already taken quite a few photos of the trees.  I have some from the overcast time that I like -- but when the sun began to break through -- it was wonderful.  Those huge white puffy clouds, blue sky, hot pink blooms, and the green grass made a beautiful 'Welcome Spring' photo!

Since I wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity, I used the Lensbaby 3G, my Tamron 18-250 zoom, and the Tamron 14mm in the field.  I was so glad I had the 14mm with me.  Not only did I take the opportunity to play with a variety of lenses, I played with a bunch of different aperture settings.  The photo on the blog today was taken with the 14mm.  My shutter speed was 1/320 and the aperture was f/9.  The photo was taken right at about noon.  I would love to get back to take more -- at a better time of day for lighting.  But really, with these, the sky was excellent.

All in all I uploaded 348 photos yesterday -- I have not even started looking over most of them.  I was most excited about many in the orchard -- they get priority.  I took more than 348 photos.  Some of them were deleted in camera before I ever uploaded any.  I love digital.

Sometimes You Gotta Zoom

I love working with a prime lens.  That 50mm is not called a "nifty fifty" for nothing.  It is great and fun to use -- plus it is not a heavy lens!  But sometimes you need that zoom to help zero in on the interesting part of a not-so-great scene.  In the past I have used an example to illustrate to a class about photography.  As a painter -- when I work with a blank canvas -- I am filling it with something.  As a photographer you start with a big, full scene and try to narrow it to a certain part -- hopefully the most interesting part.   The best of both worlds is to take a photo of the interesting part and fill a canvas with a painting of it.

The photo on the blog today is a great example of seeing a piece of what is in front of me.  As I stepped out onto my front porch last Wednesday morning I noticed the fog through the trees.  I could see the sun becoming brighter and starting to burn it off.  Within an hour or two it would all be gone -- and in a few minutes the scene would have changed completely.  

The entire scene before me was not as pretty, or let's just say the aesthetics left something to be desired.  If I took the photo that portrayed all that I saw -- you would see the morning sun through fog and trees.  You would also see a regular suburban subdivision, a couple houses, the street, mailboxes, cars in the driveway, the works.  Not that there is anything wrong with that -- but it is very ordinary and the part with the sun, fog, and trees was a small part of it.  As the photo stands now -- who knows where that is?  It could be any place, any time and it fills the frame.

Many times I will tell people to find their subject and fill the frame with it.  Too much clutter or unnecessary elements confuse the viewer and detract from the subject.  There are two main ways to fill a frame -- both involve zooming.  You can move yourself closer to the subject -- or zoom with your feet.  If this is not possible or you would rather not -- use a zoom lens.  For my photo, I used my zoom lens.  I did not feel like putting on shoes (yep, barefoot again) to walk across my yard, the street, and into a couple neighbors' yards so early in the day.  This photo was taken from my front porch.  It captured the look of the part of the scene that I was interested in just as I saw it when I stepped out the door.

Also, I wonder if I had moved too close -- would the light and look remained the same.  I doubt it.

I Have Regrets and Memories

Earlier today I was out running some errands.  Usually my route will take me by farms.  Most of the time I choose to take the more "rural" route if possible.  I prefer to be out where there are cows and land rather than parking lots and traffic.  Today I saw something that caused me to be very sorry I did not have a camera with me.

Many people carry a camera at all times.  They like to have it handy in the event they see something that they are compelled to photograph.  I saw something today that I am compelled to photograph -- but I had no camera in the car.

What did I see?  A newly plowed field.  A lot of people won't even notice a plowed field.  Some see it and see nothing but dirt.  I see one and I think about my childhood.

When I saw that field I could actually smell the fresh dirt and feel my feet in it.  I spent many days following my grandfathers in their gardens.  Of course, I was barefoot.  I love(d) the feel of fresh, new dirt beneath my feet.  The cool ground is soothing.  The worms and other bugs scurry for cover.  Every now and then my granddaddy would spot an arrowhead in the dirt.  I can remember this like it was yesterday -- and believe me it was not yesterday.  I remember one time in particular he had found one, picked it up, and rubbed the dirt from it with his thumb.  I asked him for it and he gave it to me.  I have others that he had collected in my home.  They are very special to me.

Seeing that field today brought me back to picking a cherry tomato from the plant and eating it right there on the spot -- back to looking down the rows of corn at the silk hanging from the ripening ears.  It reminded me of pulling turnips from the ground.  And it brought back the memory of walking from the garden to the old well, dropping the bucket down the deep, dark hole, and reeling it in so I could dip into the bucket for what seemed like an ice-cold drink on a hot day in the garden.

At my other granddaddy's garden there was a big patch of honeysuckle at one side along the road.  I could stand at the edge of the garden, in the cool, loose soil and pick blooms from that honeysuckle to "get the honey out of it" until I got tired -- or until I found a spider hiding in a bloom and was too scared to pick another one.

The photo on the blog today is one of the last photos I have taken at my grandparents' property. I hope to take many more later this year when I get home for a visit.

I regret not having my camera with me today.  But more than that I regret not having more photos of the land that means so much to me.  One granddaddy's old place is forever changed.  It is only in my memory at this point.  The other land is still there, still in the family, and that makes me very happy.  If I could -- I would have bought it myself to just keep as it is.  I spent a lot of time wandering around there.  Days like this make me think of that line from Gone With The Wind.  When Gerald O'Hara tells Scarlett:  "Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O'Hara, that Tara, that land doesn't mean anything to you?  Why land is the only thing in the world worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying for because it's the only thing that lasts." (And boy isn't that the truth considering the economy of today!)

Many times you will see things to jog your memory.  You will want to have a photo of it.  Not really because of what the place literally is -- but what the place reminds you of.  I want a photo of that plowed field.  I will probably go back to see about it tomorrow.  When I get the photo I want to have, I will be able to hear my grandfather's voice and feel my feet in the dirt when ever I look at the photo of a stranger's field.

Stormy Weather

I had the plan to do a post on the storms that went through here last week and I completely forgot.  Oh well -- things have been a little busy lately and will get busier next month -- which is in just a couple days!  I don't know what I was doing -- but I realized that March is Sunday!

As of this week, I am one third of the way through with my first photography class through the leisure classes at Clayton State University.  This is fun and a little different -- a larger group than I am used to -- but a great group of people.  Beginning on Sunday I have a small, intimate class starting at Dogwood Gallery in Tyrone.  I haven't had a class at Dogwood before either -- so again -- a new place.  Then on March 6, I have a Photoshop Elements for Beginners class at the Fayette Senior Center.   

Of course, I am also busy working on Nature Undisturbed.  Some big announcements will be coming soon about the events -- there will be something fun and informative each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Remember the dates for this show are April 24 through May 3.  Mark your calendars -- you won't want to miss an event if you are a photographer or just like to look at photos.

OK -- back to the storm -- February 18 some serious thunderstorms were rolling through Atlanta.  We were keeping a close eye on them by watching TV and checking the Internet.  We had to shut down all the electronic equipment in the house twice (I have had lightning hit a house once -- I unplug everything!).  It seems that the worst of the storm went a bit south of us and some other parts of the storm line were just north of us.  We had no serious winds or hail at our house -- not even that much lightning.  

The clouds were really swirling and moving fast.  Of course, I grabbed the camera.  My husband and I stepped out on the front porch and heard a sound.  He asked, "What is that?"  To which I replied, "gee, I think it is the tornado siren -- look at that cloud."  So, with camera in hand I stepped out into the yard and then moved to the back of the house and onto the deck.  It was standing on the deck that I took the photo on the blog today.  I thought the clouds looked so tall and fluffy -- kind of that wispy thing going on.  

Since the storms came through near sunset the lighting on the clouds was dramatic in some places and more subtle in others.  I like this photo with the bits of light picking up certain spots along the wall of clouds.  Another part of this photo that I really like is the bare tree sort of near the center looking as if it is reaching up to the clouds as they dip down.  I had the 50mm lens on the camera and my settings were aperture f/2.8 and shutter speed 1/125.  Of course with a landscape-type photo like this I would have preferred having a smaller aperture -- but I opened up the aperture to give me a faster shutter since I was handholding.  I chose to convert this photo to black and white to highlight the little bright spots of the cloud and the silhouette of the trees.

Time for the disclaimer -- I do not advocate going outdoors during storms and certainly not during tornado watches and warnings.  

Long Exposures

It is kind of interesting that when people first come to a photography class they are interested in getting super sharp photos.  They will ask, "what can I do to have the photo sharp all over?"  And yes -- that is a good thing for some photos.  But just as having your subject in the middle of every frame -- having a super sharp photo, throughout, can get pretty boring.  

I think this is why I love the Lensbaby -- I can get blur (usually where I want it) without having to use a long exposure and hunt down some movement.  Like in a recent blog -- the blur from that one tree, in the bare trees photo, makes me feel there is movement and the tree is moving away.  It isn't -- but to me, the first thing I think of when I see blur like that in a photo is movement.

My favorite photos are the ones with some blur in them.  It does show movement, an event, a happening.  I have an old family photo of my great grandparents standing in front of their home.  It was taken in the early 1900's.  In the photo, from the elbows down, my great grandfather's arms are quite the blur.  Photography at that time needed time to create the image.  The subjects needed to be still for a certain number of seconds in order to create the image.  Obviously in this image, my great grandfather moved his arms -- either swinging them down to his side or up from his side during the time the photo was being made.  I like this little bit of movement.  For me -- it shows life.

Again this year I took some photos of a play that my daughter's school group recently performed.  I was allowed to go up above the crowd to the location of the 'light guy.'  This is a great spot to photograph the action.  Since I had to have my daughter there early.  I did not have a lot to do -- but I went up to find my spot.  Here I could look down onto the audience and the stage.  What a great time to play around with some long exposures!

I selected shutter priority and played with a couple different shutter speeds; about two seconds was giving me the look I really wanted.  Here I had movement -- and some people were moving so quickly that they barely appeared!  The chairs -- of course, being completely still -- help set the movement off with their stillness -- sharpness.  

I believe in any good "movement" photo you need some nonmovement to really have a balance.  You see many photos with water as a blur -- showing the movement of the water.  What really sets it apart is that in the same photo you will have rocks or trees in sharp focus.  I have seen some very beautiful photos of a beach scene with the water/waves in complete blur and the shore/rocks are very sharp.  

Just think -- years and years and years ago (long time ago) it was considered a major accomplishment to have people show up in a street scene.  When the exposures had to be so long -- people walking on the streets would not show up.  It was a huge development when the exposure time was short enough to show someone actually walking in a street scene.   When you have the opportunity to play with the shutter speed and see how a long exposure will not capture all of the movement -- you can see how needing that length of time would effect what you could photograph.

When we are making photos we are playing with light and playing with time.  

A Find

The other day I was poking around through some old photos from almost a year ago.  Let's just say right now my organizational skills for photos are not that great.  I think I have a good system to remember and find certain photos -- but really -- I don't.  When I do find something that is a little old and good -- it is a nice surprise.

The photo on the blog today is one of those nice surprises.  I like the simplicity of it.  It seems that lately I am liking more and more just a nice, simple image.  This image is from my "learning to use the Lensbaby" period of late winter 2008.   I was pretty sure it was a Lensbaby photo -- but then I checked my EXIF data.  Sure enough I saw an f/0.0 -- bingo -- Lensbaby!

When you want to play and practice with your camera, a lens, or any other piece of equipment it is always nice to have some subject matter you like.  I have always liked flowers.  When I am teaching a class I like to tell people -- "I love taking photos of flowers, they don't move or talk back."  (OK, that is stealing a little from Georgia O'Keeffe -- but hey -- it is true!)  This delicious yellow tulip was picked from the bin at Publix and rushed home for a photo session.  

What I like about this photo is the color -- the green and yellow -- it is very fresh.  The color and softness are very nice.  I like that the tulip is upside down.  This is the way the photo was taken.  Sometimes I flip things -- but not this time. 

So -- yeah -- I go on about winter not being such a bad time for photos -- and it is not.  But if you are not into bare trees or skeleton yarrow blooms (that should have been removed from the yard last October), stop in a local grocery for some great blooms.  Today being Valentine's Day -- they can do double duty -- a nice gift and a nice subject -- all week long!

Bare Trees

This week I have been looking at bare trees -- a lot.  This is a good time to get out and get those shots before spring arrives.  Just about an hour ago I noticed buds on the tips of some limbs as I drove by a favorite swampy spot.  Redbud trees are blooming -- as well as a couple other trees that I have no clue what they are -- but they are sporting some blooms.  

A couple days ago I was out in the back yard -- again -- playing with the Composer -- again.  I looked up at the trees at the edge of the woods.  The photo is interesting to me.  I like the bits of sharpness, blur, and almost the smudge of the tree on the right.  Since the tree on the right is so blurred -- it gives me the sense of movement -- like that tree is running away from the other one.  The sky was mostly overcast but bright.  I blew out the light enough to hide shapes of clouds.   The look I wanted was just the bare tree against the background of a blah sky.  The tree is the focus not the sky -- and I did not want even a cloud to detract from the tree.

When the end of a season is looming I feel all this pressure to get out and get my photos of the "look" before it is gone.  In fall I hustle for the color before the leaves drop.  Even after they start to drop -- I hustle for the bits of color left on a tree.  In summer you are hunting the least bit of full green foliage or flowers.  In the spring you are competing with the time and the life of a bloom.  Those cherry trees have a "shelf life."  Now I am feeling it (the hurry up thing) for the bare tree photos or photos of the woods without leaves getting in the way.  Just the other day I noticed the leaf buds on my clemantis vine.  

Spring is coming -- get in those winter photos now -- next thing you know leaves and blooms will be all around you.

Babies

Friends of ours have become parents!  Great news!  I love babies.  Last week I took photos of the little one sleeping and awake.  It has been a long time since I had a baby around the house. They sure do sleep through just about anything.  One whole photo session -- he was asleep! That's OK -- we got some cute sleeping shots.  But still -- we wanted those eyes open!

The second session -- he was awake.  He is not yet a month old.  He is almost to the point where he has a little bit of personality showing through.  The awake session did not last as long as the "sleeping" one. Funny thing about babies -- they are much more patient asleep than awake...

The first session I had my 50mm lens and used natural light from a southwest facing window.  It was mid afternoon and the light from the window was perfect.  Mom turned his face toward the window for me.  By the time we really got going with the photos, the sky was clouding up.  But there was plenty of light and the 50mm was great to get a nice, natural glow.  I did not have to do much of anything with Photoshop or the Nik plugins to get a nice look for the photo.  He has great skintone!  I did use the Silver Efex to create black and white versions of the color photos.

The second session, I decided to use the Tamron zoom (18-250mm) and I had my flash with me. Wouldn't you know it the batteries died in the flash before I could do much of anything with it. Oh well -- I usually hate a flash anyway.  Again to the window!  He was in a good mood -- which helps a lot with babies. He had just eaten -- so I knew he would be taking a nap -- soon.  So we worked quickly to get a few good shots with his eyes open.  One of them I really like a lot -- I love it in black and white -- it is the one on this post.

The next time I go -- I plan to take along the Composer and hope I have time to play a little with it for some portraits. 

Finding a Photo Where You Least Expect It

Many believe that in winter you will be limited for photo opportunities outdoors.  A couple weeks ago someone mentioned to me about the photo show -- and the site specific category -- that they felt they were incredibly limited to get out and get a great shot at this time of year.  They said that there was no color -- no interest.  I pointed them to my photos taken January 15 and 16 at Sam's Lake.  I love those photos.  The early morning color on the water is great.  And remember -- it was pretty darn cold when I took those photos!  Even in February you can find interest outdoors.  I am thinking about heading down through the woods behind the house tomorrow.  

On Groundhog Day I stepped just outside my back door (I did not see my shadow -- yay early spring) -- into the 'courtyard' area of the yard.  OK -- I admit it right here and now that I am a neglectful gardener.  There are old stems of flowers in the beds -- they should have been removed months ago.  But they weren't -- and now I am glad.  I went out with the Composer to see what could be found.  I found a couple clumps of volunteer broomsedge -- it will be removed within the next couple weeks -- promise.  But in the mean time -- it makes for an interesting subject -- especially with the Lensbaby.

There were quite a few old dead butterfly bush blooms.  These are great for a macro.  Then I spotted a few yarrow stems with remnants of the bloom that was last year so brilliant red.  Now it is skeletal and an excellent subject.  This is the photo on the blog.  Another one of the yarrow I like fills the frame with the skeleton bloom.  The toughest part was the slight breeze that would jostle around my subject -- this is not a good thing -- especially for macro and double especially for the Lensbaby.

I am still playing with the Composer and in the next few days I will blog about it and the contrast to the 3G.  I can say that I like them both and that they are so different I don't feel that one would replace the other.  Yesterday I bought some beautiful tulips to use as subjects for some play.

The Canvas

Remember last week when I told of ordering a gallery wrap?  I ordered that date (Jan. 14) I posted about it.  The photo I chose was one of the Lensbaby daisy photos.

It arrived yesterday morning!  That is quick service.  It did come from North Carolina -- which is pretty darn close.  

Besides being pleased with the rapid service -- I am pleased with the print.  I have seen some canvas gallery wrap photos before and not really liked the look.  I don't know the process of those other prints.  

This is a 16x20 1.5" thick gallery wrap of that black and white image.  It looks terrific!  I love it so much -- I am hunting wall space for it.  You know I like something when I am figuring out what can move or come down to make space for the new piece!  The vendor I used is Canvas on Demand.  I am now looking at giving Mpix a try -- just to see how they do and there turnaround time.

Also, a big reason I want to give Mpix a try -- they have agreed to help sponsor the Nature, Undisturbed photo exhibit!   Way to go Mpix!

Don't forget -- Nature, Undisturbed is open for entries now.  The deadline is Jan 31 -- postmarked no later than this date.  A link to the call for entries, including entry form, is found in the upper left of this blog.

Greg Newington

When you walk into Greg Newington's place in Serenbe you are greeted by some awesome photography.  It takes a few minutes to take it in.  There are so many wonderful black and white and color images.  

One of the photos I really loved was of an old pink auto out in the middle of nothing, in Australia.  The car and the landscape are wonderful together.  The composition is spot on.  The colors in the photo are very striking and work well -- pink car, blue sky (and not a typical blue sky that you think of when someone says 'blue sky'), and a pale, barren landscape.  I love that photo so much I wish I had taken it.

I am glad I visited the studio to see his work -- but I am very glad to have visited to meet Greg.  This is someone I could sit and listen to for hours.  He has some amazing stories.  All of the photos in the gallery come with a story.  The photo I mentioned -- the pink car -- it has a story.  I love when a photographer will tell you about what was happening when they took a certain photo.  You get to understand what they had to work with to get that image -- the events leading up to it and right after.  A picture is worth a thousand words -- you should get these stories with every photo you see.  It really adds to the experience.

Greg Newington has a lot of great stories.  It is easy to pass the time as he tells of the shoots he has been on over the years.  Stories of good times, funny times, and sad times.  The way he tells it you feel like you could have been in the room when he had a portrait session with Nelson Mandela.  You also get the feeling of what it was like visiting a burnt village in Somalia.

One of the best stories I heard from him was of shoving a cow into place for a shot in the dark.  (That sure sounds intriguing doesn't it?) And that photo session with Nelson Mandela -- he got the assignment truly by the luck of the draw -- his name being picked from a hat.  Not only does Greg Newington have a talent as a photographer -- he is a great speaker.

I am very pleased that he will be a part of the Nature, Undisturbed photography exhibit.  

In Search of Ice

All I have heard on the news for the past few days is continuing talk about the low temperatures.  Since I am one to try to see the glass half full -- I thought this would be a great time to get some photos of ice.  It doesn't get below freezing often where I live -- soooo...this morning I went in search of ice.

I had to go out early anyway to take my daughter to a class.  After I dropped her off and on the way home I stopped by a local spot to take some photos.  By then I knew I would not find much ice -- if any.  The temps were not a low as first predicted.  But the weather man says -- wait until tomorrow (don't they always say that?)

There was a little ice -- but nothing I thought would make a good shot.  There could have been -- but after I saw the early morning light on the water -- I stopped looking for any kind of ice photo and went for the morning light reflections.  Who says fall is a time of color.  Here I am in the middle of January and the colors on the water are wonderful.  

I got a few photos I am pleased with -- both the color and the black and white versions.  Thank goodness for the Nik software -- the Color Efex and the Silver Efex were used to enhance the photos.

Even though it was not super cold this morning -- I realized I had under dressed for the weather.  No gloves and a not so heavy jacket over my sweater was not keeping me warm.  It did not matter -- I was not there long anyway -- the light was changing quickly and soon I had lost the beautiful colors on the water.  

After telling my husband about how cold my hands were -- he had an idea.  He plays golf -- a lot -- in the rain and in cold weather.  He has cold-weather golf gloves.  They keep your hands pretty darn warm -- plus they have a good grip to hold a club -- or to work a camera!  Guess who made a special trip to the golf store today -- me!  I now have a nice pair of Kodiak Ultimate Winter Gloves -- and a bargain too.  At least I think it is a bargain -- under $20!  I opted to not get the hand-warmer thing you put in your pocket.  He already has one of those -- so I figured I could borrow his if I wanted one.

Here are a couple photos from this morning -- not too bad for winter shots and frozen fingers!

The Lensbaby Drop

No -- I did not drop my Lensbaby.  I have been looking to take a nice photo with the Lensbaby where the sharp focus was on a drop of water and the rest of the photo was slightly out of focus.

I chose one of the smaller aperture disks (actually not a smaller disk -- all of the disks are the same size -- the hole in the center is smaller).  

I wanted the bare branches in the background -- out of focus but still where you could make out what it is.

This photo was taken the foggy day I was disappointed in cows.  When I walked home from the edge of the pasture I noticed something.  As I walked up the sidewalk to the front porch the Japanese Maple had many little drops of water on the branches.

I had that old Nikon lens on the camera -- so I had to get into the house and swap lenses (and add one of the macro diopter filters to the lens -- and head back out.

I like this photo -- I like the little highlight that is just below the drop -- I like the way the branches are in this photo.  The composition works for me.  The drop is placed at a good point in the photo.  Of course I converted the original color image to black and white.

This works for now -- next time it is foggy -- I will be at it again.

Resolutions!

Photojojo has a great list of resolutions for the new year. If you don't get the Photojojo newsletter, you should sign up with them. Here is the newsletter I received this morning .....

New Year’s Just Ain’t New Year’s Without Photo Resolutions. Happy 2009!
We didn’t do any of our resolutions from last year, did you?

The problem is, we always pick stuff we ought to do, not stuff we want to do.
Here’s the thing- if it’s not fun, you won’t stick with it. Our advice is, pick ONE resolution that really sounds awesome, and do that one. Why commit to a whole bunch of things that you don’t want to do?

Need help picking that single resolution? Have a look through our humungous list of 22 photo possibilities* for the upcoming year.

(Although one resolution is the strict limit, we invite you to dabble frivolously, irresponsibly and noncommittally with anything else on this list.)

22 Photo New Year’s Resolutions for 2009
*Three more than last year! Holy mackerel!

Get Organized
The great thing about digital photography is you can shoot as much as you want. The downside is that you end up with way more pictures than you need. Clean out what you don’t want and organize what you have.
1. Weed out the chaff. Go through your photos and get rid of the ones you don’t need: the blurry ones, the multiples, and the ones you just plain don’t like. You know how nice it feels when you get rid of clutter around your house? Same deal.
2. Clean up your act. While you’re messing around in your library, put photos into albums, sets, or files. Then give them names and/or tags so you can find them again. Dates, events, and subject matter are all great ways to organize your photos.
3. Back up! Yeah, we know we’re always saying this, but we really really mean it. Back up your photos often, and back up the back-ups. Use Time Machine if you have a Mac, or add a monthly appointment to your calendar so you don’t forget. We’d be so sad if you lost your photos!

Show Off
You know you’ve got a ton of amazing photos hanging around your hard drive. Get ‘em out of there and show them off properly!
4. Put more photos up. Make it easy to display your photos so you can put different ones up every month. Build yourself a photo wall or put up a couple of magnetic photo ropes.
5. Make a book. Making books online is crazy easy because of DIY publishers like Blurb, Lulu, or MyPublisher. Make a book of your favorite recipes with pictures to match, or document your road trip to Kalamazoo.
6. Enter some contests. We know you’re great. It’s about time everybody else did too. Check Photocompete to see what contests are running at any given time.
7. Share your pictures online. Get those photos out where everybody can see them. Save time by sending everything at once to all of your photosharing sites.

Try Something New
Ruts: they ain’t no good for nobody. If you’ve gotten into one, here’s how to get out of it.
8. Use a new technique. Experiment with something you’ve never done, whether it’s pinhole photography or shooting with a plastic camera. Or try some post-processing effects like cross-processing or tilt-shift.
9. Switch teams. If you’ve been shooting only in digital, play with film for a while (and vice versa).
10. Borrow some new gear. Rent that fancy lens you’ve had your eye on, or borrow a friend’s camera and try it out. Changing your equipment can shake up your routine.
11. Get a different perspective. Shoot from up high, down low, or from the hip (without peeking at the viewfinder!)

Do Some Good
Say you suddenly got superhero powers: you’d use them for good, right?
Well, you sort of already have them. You know your way around a camera, so why not use your talent to help somebody out?
12. Donate your old gear. If you’re not using it anymore, give your old camera to somebody who needs it, like kids, conservationists, or folks on Skid Row.
13. Volunteer your talents. Follow in Traer Scott’s footsteps by taking portraits of shelter dogs that need help finding homes, or volunteer to document an event for your favorite local charity.
14. Teach somebody what you know. If you’re good at photography (and we know you are), pass on your knowledge. Go speak at a local school, or teach a friend’s kid how to use a camera.

Challenge Yourself
“In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.” -Yogi Berra
If you want to get better at photography, you have to keep practicing and pushing yourself. Just like everything else in life.
15. Go on assignment. Assign yourself photography tasks to complete. Important: make ‘em fun. Here are a couple to get you started:
Photograph five different birds on the same day.
Take a picture of the back of your head.
Take a photo lit only by flashlight.
Take a walk until you see your favorite color, then take a picture of it.
16. Do something difficult. Practice photographing subjects that don’t come easily to you, like animals, tiny objects, or people you don’t know. It gets easier, we promise.
17. Brush up on your history. Every time we unearth a stack of old photography books, we fall in love all over again. Read up on Julia Margaret Cameron, or Mary Ellen Mark, or dive into The World History of Photography. No room on the bookshelves? Check out this handy timeline instead.

Start a Project
The shiny new year just begs for a new photo project. Start something up, be it year-long, month-long, or just for a day.
18. Start a year-long project. Project 365 has a brand-new Flickr pool starting January 1st. Or give 52 Blessings a shot (hee hee) if you want to build a picture (ho ho) of the things you’re grateful for.
19. Pick a new project every month. Not up for a year-long commitment? Try something different every month. Play Mission 24 or Guess Where? for a month, or make up your own themes for each month. (January is National Soup Month!)
20. Start a new tradition. Do something new this year, like going to a photobooth every Friday or taking the same portrait once a year.
21. Make a time capsule. Leave a message for your future self with a disposable camera, or by hiding photos somewhere where you won’t find them for a long time.

Take Your Camera Everywhere
We just know you’re wondering what Photojojo’s resolution for the year is going to be. And we like your looks, so we’re gonna tell you what it is:
22. Bring your camera everywhere you go. Even if it’s just a cameraphone, make sure you’ve got a camera at all times.

Print this out and tack it up some place. (I plan to.) Like they say, try to keep at least one for the year. But -- when you feel yourself falling into a rut or running out of ideas -- take this out and try something.

Happy New Year, everybody! Happy photos!

Orbs

Orbs -- I see this effect every now and then. Sometimes the it is really interesting. I never took the time to learn how to do it.


After looking at some awesome orb photos on Flickr -- I decided I would take a stab at it. OK -- so I have a lot of books on Elements (my choice of photo-editing software). I am sure in the books are instructions on how to do the orbs. But, since I am sitting at the computer -- I Googled.



I did not look far or long and found a quickie way to do them:

Square photos work best -- so choose something and crop it to a square. Then Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates>choose Polar to Rectangle, Image>Rotate>Flip Horizontal, Image>Rotate>Flip Vertical, Filters>Distort>Polar Coordinates>choose Rectangle to Polar -- and voila!

To give one a really interesting look -- then apply the Orton Effect. Way back in the blog I wrote about this -- you can search for the directions -- but hey -- I will put them here again.

Orton Effect:

Make a duplicate copy, make a second duplicate copy. One the second copy pull down the blending mode menu and choose 'screen.' Make a duplicate copy. Go to Filters>Blur>Gaussian Blur and choose a level that blurs but still shows shapes in the photo. (this is a very subject choice) Now go to the blending mode menu for this layer and choose 'mulitply.' You can choose the level of this effect for this layer by using the opacity slider. You can always use the opacity slider to manage the level of an effect.


The photo on this post was created from a square photo of pines. The photo was manipulated to keep the sky blue and the trees were in black and white. I created the orb and then applied the Orton Effect.

Time to Play

These few days while things are kind of quiet -- not a lot going on -- no phone calls, emails, etc. that demand attention. I have been spending a little time playing around with the plug ins that I bought from Nik -- the Color Efex has quite a collection of effects -- I still don't know all that is available.

I have been into the "popart" selection under the 'Detail Stylizer' filter.

Also -- I finally learned how to use my remote control for the camera. I have only had this handy little device for about 18 months! It is not hard to use -- and it took a few minutes to look up in my manual what I needed to do.

Yes -- I read the manual (occasionally). Always keep your manual handy and don't feel like you should just know something and not need to look it up.

The photos above show some I took over the past couple days and the manipulations of them. The close crop of the eyes came from the portrait that is a little off center. I like a horizontal portrait with the subject to one side.

Making an Image You are Happy With

The photo of the kids at Christmas got me thinking. I have read and heard from photographers that it is easier to have a mediocre image of a spectacular subject than it is to have a spectacular image of a mediocre subject.

Not that the kids or my photos are mediocre -- but it is not very spectacular.

How do you turn the usual into the unusual? That is a difficult task.

Think about those who shoot nature and landscapes. How many shots of a beach can you see, really? Or mountains? Or butterflies? What can really make something stand out -- have that extra that makes you stop and say -- Wow, look at this!

That is the task of most photographers -- not to settle for just doing what they have seen others do so much of -- but to go beyond it to have the unique take on something.

This time of year I usually start thinking of "New Year's Resolutions." Where can I improve? How can I do better? What can I do differently?

Besides the normal list of: #1 get more organized, #2 stay more organized, #3 clean up my desk -- I think I will add in #4, take unusual photos of the usual.