Category: Nature

Day 47 – Milkweed Seeds

Milkweed

This is another one from my Sunday morning walk at North Mountain Park. Milkweed seeds are one of my favorite things to photograph this time of year. I think the Sweet 50 gave this just the right combination of sharpness and softness. Of course I did have to do a lot of work in the digital darkroom. the exposure was off quite a bit because of the mostly white subject. I added a high pass filter and also added detail in Color Efex Pro to bring out those fibers. I also added clarity and saturation using the Camera Raw Filter.

Day 46 – Morning Glory

1_MorningGlory

I’m finally getting over jet lag and had some time this morning to visit North Mountain Park with the Sweet 50. The Morning Glorys are always, well, glorious, this time of year. I added a high pass filter, darkened the center. Added a lightroom preset which basically increased contrast and finished it off with a texture which I masked out over the main flower.

Day 42 – Fading Hydrangea

Hydrangea

One of the realities of a 100 days project is that my motivation ebbs and flows. It’s pretty far on the ebb side right now. I decided to take a stab at photographing my fading hydrangea with the Velvet 85. That was all fine until I went out in my yard and realized that in two weeks the weeds have totally taken over again. I have volunteer chores coming at me from all directions, I have to go to the coast next week and check off September for the coast project and I just signed up for a new online color theory class. I just want to go back to France!

So, whine over, I processed this by adding a high pass filter though truth be told I don’t think the focus is quite in the right place. Should have taken out the tripod I guess. I then added a texture which really softened the image in a good way. I guess I would give this one a B. I’m not 100% happy with it but it’s not bad. Now off to pull weeds.

Day 18 – The Oak Tree

The-Oak-Tree

It took me all of two weeks to decide I needed to add another Lensbaby to my arsenal. I did not have an edge optic so I decided on the Edge 35 which works much like the Sweet 50 but instead of having a spot of sharp focus it has a line of sharp focus. At 12 oz it is a little more hefty than I had hoped and I’m still on the fence about taking it to France but I do think I could have some fun with it photographing old buildings.

In this case I was going for sharpness on the tree trunk. To add to the ephemeral look I processed it in Topaz studio adding a grungy but colorful textured look. This tree is a few blocks from my house along the Bear Creek Greenway but on private property. I never get tired of photographing it. I’ve been confronted  by the owners of the property once or twice when doing macro of puffballs and acorns but they seem to decide I’m harmless when I tell them how much I love their tree.

Day 15 – Acorn

Acorn

Oh, dear, is it only day 15. I was about to go fix dinner when I realized I hadn’t posted an image today. So I went back to Wednesdays walk with the Trio28 for this green acorn. Can’t remember where I had it set but my guess would be sweet. In post I just opened the shadows some and sharpened it and added a little vibrance and saturation. Then one texture and done.

Day 14 – Seashell

Seashell

I was feeling like I need to go farther afield this morning but not really into it. So, I decided to work in the studio instead. I started out with some slices of lime and lemon trying to capture the bubbles in a glass of carbonated water. But it just didn’t work out as I had envisioned so in frustration I turned to some sea shells I have sitting on the window sill. I might add that I had extension tubes on the Sweet 50 mounted on the Canon M3 camera. I liked the look of this one but it was a little on the cool side. So I added one texture which both warmed it up and added a frame. Suitable for hanging on a Hotel room wall at the coast I’m thinking.

Day 13 – Blackberries

Blackberries

On the way out the door for my morning walk I grabbed the M100 with the Trio28 lens on it and the new extension tubes for the M mount. I knew that the blackberries were getting ripe here in blackberry country so I had them in mind as a subject. I liked the mix of color from shooting ripe and unripe ones together. It took a lot of practicing to get the focus just right and arguably this one is not perfect as the ripe berry is not the sharpest thing in the frame, but it was my favorite of all the ones I took (between sampling the props, of course). At home on the computer I just brightened it up a little and added a couple of textures.

Day 12 – Sweet Pea

SweetPea

I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather today so decided to share another image from the trip to the rose garden yesterday. Again shot with the Velvet85 on the Canon 7D Mark II (aka, the big girl camera). I managed to get the focus right were I wanted it on this one, which is sometimes a challenge with Lensbaby lenses. In post processing I added a high pass filter to bring out the detail in the blossoms, then I used a Lightroom preset which served to lighten the background a little. And finally, I added ont texture to just give a touch more interest to the background.

Day 10 – Another Sunflower

Sunflower_081019

Different day, different camera, different lens. I had some business at the Talent Library this morning so I slung the M100 with Trio28 over my shoulder for the wolk over there. Just for fun I threw the new extension tubes I just bought for the M cameras into the bag. This was shot on the velvet setting at my favorite sunflower patch. I wasn’t too happy with the grey area in the lower right corner so I started throwing on textures. I got through about half my texture files before I found a combination I liked. But I am happy with what I can do with the Trio 28 and a small extension tube.

Day 9 – Sunflower

1_Sunflower

I decided to go for a camera walk this morning around downtown Talent. I know, not a long walk. I but the Burnside on the EOS R. Mostly I felt frustrated by how wide the lens is. But in this image I think I finally captured the spirit of the Burnside. You can see the soft and slightly swirly background but the flower is very very sharp. With a 6″ minimum focusing distance the Burnside definitely qualifies as a macro lens in my book. I also learned an important lesson today. the EOS R has a very sharp Electronic View Finder which is a much better choice for focusing than the screen on the back of the camera. This is why I do these projects. Not only do I keep my skills sharp, I get better acquainted with my gear.

In post processing I bumped up the exposure a little, added clarity and vibrance and a High Pass filter for even sharper detail in the flower. I did not have the built in vignette selected on the Burnside so I added a light one in Nik Color Efex Pro.

And for you critics out there, yes, I know, the tip of the leaf should not be so close to the edge of the frame.