Our second Port was St. Kitts. The capital of the Island is Basseterre. This is the city from the ship.
We took a tour that took us first to Romney Plantation. This is a Pendulous Crab Claw plant growing there.
This is a small ruins on the plantation.
From there we went to Brimstone Hill Fortress. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site that was a fortress not he top of the highest hill on the island.
A week ago, while mowing the lawn, I noticed a peony blooming. I thought it would make a nice picture. So, the next day, I took my camera out and started taking pictures. While I was doing that, the mailman came. So, after I thought I had enough images, I took my camera up to the porch and walked out to the mailbox. Sometimes, things just are aligned in a unique way. Debbie has a rose bush next to the mailbox and some of the roses were blooming. It just so happened that the sun coming through the leaves of the trees created a kind of spotlight on one of the roses.
I took a few more than did an HDR bracket. I had watched a video on using some additional software to create a detailed look in the petals. So, I played around with that and came up with this one.
The August Guild Image Competition included a “Challenge” Competition. The Challenge was a Black and White natural light photograph. One day last week when I went to get the mail, I noticed cobwebs forming on the remnants of the roses by the mailbox. So, I used those as my subject. I took a series of images, that were pretty good, but when I sent one to Pounds to have it printed, it came back and the focus was not sharp enough. I still had time. So, I took some more images and found one with really sharp focus. I quickly sent it to Pounds. That was last Friday. They did not process it until Monday and shipped it for Tuesday. The competition was Tuesday evening. So, things were tight. At about 5:45, it had not come yet. So, I decided to go without it. I got down to Franklin and New Road, and Debbie called that it had just been delivered. So, I raced back home to get it. The competition was supposed to start at 6:30. So, I had a little time. I drove down to Coach’s and got there in plenty of time. They set up the prints, and all went well. That is, until the prints were revealed. I was amazed at the extraordinary quality of the prints for this competition. Let’s face it, the prints are always strong, but these images were beyond that. Turns out, I didn’t place. But, I am not disappointed The images that won were really better than mine.
While looking out the window, I noticed how the sun was shining on an oak leaf and thought it might make an interesting picture.
I used an 85mm f/1.4 lens to control depth of field so I could throw everything but the leaf out of focus.
We had some substantial rains last Thursday and Friday. As a result, Monday, there was a patch of rain lilies in the yard.
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.
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?
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.”
