I got a new Macro lens, and wanted to test it. So, I went over to the arboretum for a couple flower and insect shots.
Carleen Bright Arboretum
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Category Archives: Nature Photography
Blue Bonnets
Every Spring, there is a place on Highway 6 in Grimes Co. where there are always lots of cars parked because there are fields full of blue bonnets. This year,on the way home from Galveston, we pulled off the side of the road and got some good pictures.
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Derelict Farm, B&W Images
I have converted some of the pictures of the old farm to Black and White.
I really like the atmosphere of these.
Fine Art Prints
I have been intrigued by the idea of fine art prints. A CreativeLive seminar with Doug Landreth explored how he goes about making them. It was interesting, but there was not nearly enough explanation. In Photoshop, he overlays images with layers that he manipulates into patterns that add barely visible elements and textures to the image. The result is quite good.
As a first step in looking at that, I took some of the pictures I took last week on Highway 6, and transformed them into Black and White.
It turns out there are a variety of ways of producing Black and White images. One is simply to reduce the color saturation of the image. There are other “effects” in Aperture. They somehow use selective filters in the operation. For these, the one that I liked the most used a Red filter. I am not sure what that really means, but it had the effect of darkening areas of the sky until they were almost black.
It is almost like using a polarizing filter. The rest seemed to exaggerate the starkness of the image.
Looking at these calls to mind scenes from the old John Ford Westerns.
Derelict Farm
On my trip on Highway 6 to photograph trees, I happened to notice this old, derelict farm. There is something about the interaction of the decaying of the structures and the vegetation around them that make for an interesting combination.
Trees in Winter
Trees in winter display a delicacy that is not present when they have their leaves. Last week, I took a quick drive down Hwy 6 and photographed some of the trees. This one was south of Marlin, on the west side of the road.
This one was at the Falls County/Robinson County line on the east side of the highway.
This one was on the east side of the highway. You can really see the effects of the prevailing South winds with most of the branching being on the North side of the tree.
This one was also on the East side of the highway. The character in this tree is remarkable. It is obvious that this tree has been severaly damaged, but has survived the damage with new growth.
Vision
I just came back upon Don Giannatti’s “Project 52” web site. I had seen the site several months ago, but it slipped from my memory. I have been a member of the flickr group for a long time, but, I can’t remember the last time I actually visited the group page. On this site, there is a weekly photography assignment. The assignments for this year start on February 1. So, I looked at the 2012 assignments.
The first assignment is to create a Vision Statement. This is basically a statement describing why it is that I take pictures. As described on the web site, “Tell us with a single paragraph what you want to be able to do with your images. Tell us what you do without telling us you are a photographer. Accompany that message with a single image taken around your home.”
To me, the reason I enjoy photography is it differs from other modes of expression, and there is something that is transcendently stimulating when I see a really great image I have taken. In 2012, my Aperture Library has over 7700 images. Every once in a while, as the image would come up on the screen, there was a moment of awe. Kind of, “Oh boy. That is good!”
It is becoming easier to take technically perfect images – those with proper exposure, composition, lighting, whatever. I can look at those and think, “That’s a good image.” But there is the added, intangible element that is included in an image that is really great. I take photographs because I enjoy that feeling of producing a picture that is really great.
Now, what kind of image around the house can I make that illustrates that?
Serendipity
I frequently see Road Runners running along the street, and I have always wanted to get a good picture of one. This afternoon, I went through the Carleen Bright Arboretum because I wanted to see if it was decorated for Christmas. As I drove through the parking lot, a road runner ran in front of me. Normally, it would keep running into the woods, but this one stopped. I looked at it, knowing that as soon as I could get my camera, it would run away. I reached for my camera and it was still there. I lowered the passenger window, knowing that would frighten it off. It stayed in place. So, I took a couple pictures of it.
Dandelion
A few days ago, there was a dandelion in the front yard. I wanted to get a picture of it, but I saw it early in the morning, and by the time I got home from work, all the seeds had blown away. This morning, I was pulling leaves out of the pool, and I saw this dandelion along side the pool. I don’t use my Konica/Minolta 7D much any more, but I kind of do use it for macro photography. So, I put the Tamron 90mm macro on it and set up the tripod.
The first shots were pretty good, but I wanted more. So, I got the small LED light and used it to produce a little more light.
That produced a nice effect, reflecting off the filaments of the seeds. I then got my flash, and used it kind of hand held with radio triggers.
There was more depth of field because I had to stop the lens way down to get the correct exposure, but, again, the effect was pleasing. By holding the flash low, I put much less light on the surroundings, and got a really interesting effect.
Now, the background was essentially unexposed. But now you can see something else that I didn’t even notice. There were small bugs crawling on the stem. Finally, I wanted to add a little more. So, using a spray bottle, I created a little “Dew.”
