Seashell Series

In January or February of 2008 the BAPC assignment was "Still life". I had never attempted to shoot a still life before and tried several different subjects, including pears and flowers but finally found some seashells and decided I really wanted to explore their shape and texture. I tried various backgrounds like sand and a bamboo placemat and when I found a piece of very dark driftwood I knew I had something I would like. I used my macro lens and ambient light from a window and no reflector to fill the left side because I wanted shadows to show the form and texture of the shells. Whenever possible, I tried to place each seashell on the part of the driftwood that echoed the shape or lines in the shell. I could not decide between several of the images and then thought a triptych would help convey what I was exploring and since all of the shells were not the exact same color I first converted each image to black and white and then added a sepia tone.

Nikon D200, 60mm macro lens at f9 and 1/15th, -.67 exposure compensation, ISO 100, cloudy whitebalance

The Mushroom Family

All the rain we have had lately has caused a crop of mushrooms to pop up in our yard. Of course, I had to photograph them. This grouping makes me laugh --- it looks exactly like a family to me, with Mom, Dad and little sister huddled together and big brother (the teenager) hanging out on his own and not wanting to be part of the group...I don't know if all of that comes across in the image, maybe you just had to be there.

Nikon D200, Lensbaby Composer with f4 ring and +10 close-up filter

Post processing: increased exposure and blacks in ACR, in CS3 a levels adjustment layer for global brightness, Punch Drunk by Kubota but masked off selective areas, sharpened with the highpass filter

The Fascinating World of Macro

I think this is another Zinnia although I could not find any on the flower sites that looked exactly like this one. I find macro and close-up images of flowers so amazing --- the symmetry, the miniature flowers inside a flower, the HAIRS on the edges of petals, the vibrant colors, the texture that does not appear to the naked eye. I am also usually surprised that I think I am photographing a flawless flower and when I look at my images on the computer I find spots or tiny bugs or dog fur that I did not know was there (yes, I have had my annual eye exam). So, this flower was cleaned up just a little bit, not much. And I combined two images taken with slightly different focusing to get as much sharp as I could. The flower is actually about 2 inches in diameter.

Nikon D200, 60mm macro lens with +2 close-up filter at f5 and 1/50th, ISO 100, cloudy whitebalance
Post processing: Increased exposure and blacks and the recovery slider in ACR, in CS3 I cloned out some spots, layered another image with a slightly sharper portion of the center, levels layer for global brightening, Punch Drunk action by Kubota masked to show in the center only, sharpened with the highpass filter in Softlight

Black and white

Although I like the earth tones of yesterday's succulent, I also like the way a monotone version emphasizes the form and shape of the leaves.
Post processing: Increased exposure and blacks in ACR, in Photoshop cloned out spots, levels for global brightness, ran Kubota's Black and White Full Moon and finally Kubota Ancient but lowered the opacity to 2o%.

Time to get back to the Lensbaby

I still struggle with that lens, to get something sharply in focus but enough distortion and blur around the edges to make it interesting. It helps when the subject doesn't move around a lot. This succulent was shot with the latest Composer Lensbaby but I am not sure it is any easier than my older 3G. I think I used a +4 macro attachment.... I was switching back and forth between my Lensbaby with and without macro filters, and my 60mm macro lens with and without close-up filters and didn't take notes.

Nikon D200, Lensbaby Composer with f4 aperture ring and +4 macro filter, at 1/640th, ISO 100, cloudy whitebalance

Post processing: increased exposure and blacks in ACR, in Photoshop cloned away spots, ran Punch Drunk action from Kubota, the high pass filter in Overlay mode.

Kuchengarten, Amsterdam

A short while after we got off the plane in Amsterdam, our friend Scott took us to the world-famous Kuchengarten to see the incredible flower displays. It was truly a sight to behold, especially in the spring. What is so amazing about these images is that the place was crawling with hundreds of tourists yet I was able to compose quite a few shots without any people present, and no, I did not Photoshop them out. Once again, the jpg quality that I used does not show a lot of the detail in the images, but I think the vibrant colors do come across as true to life. It was almost too much after even a short time there!

A Road to the Alps

This is another of my favorite images from our 2007 trip to Germany. Unfortunately it was taken in the middle of the day but I was just glad to be out shooting. This was such a beautiful field with fences criss-crossing it and a few trees scattered around. As I was composing my shots a person came riding down the road on a bicycle toward us from around the curve. I wish now that I had not waited for her to pass but had included her in some frames...I don't know what I was thinking! I guess she surprised me and I was not quick enough to get her in a good area of the composition. We felt like we were in The Sound of Music and Julie Andrews would appear singing at any moment, just not on a bike.

Nikon D70, 18 -70mm 3.5 - 4.5 lens at f22, and 1/125th, ISO 200, auto whitebalance, jpg