As if to make a liar out of me the wind was dead calm this morning so I went out in the yard and photographed just about everything that was blooming. I especially liked the way the blue from the hydrangea provided a background for this cone flower that was just coming into bloom. A texture added a little visual interest to the background.
The problem with flower photography can be summed up in one word. Wind. In order to minimize the wind (which causes blur due to movement of the flowers) you need to get out there early in the morning before the winds pick up. But this time of year that means before 7am. So, long story short, I am running out of enthusiasm for getting out there that early and have started turning to the archives. I shot this blanket flower at North Mountain Park on Sunday and it was definitely a contender for that days pick. I also wanted to flex my post processing skills a little. My current photography guru is in to Lightroom presets (i.e. canned sets of adjustments to create a unique look) and textures. So I used one of her presets, which in this case was pretty subtle and just darkened the background a little and helped the main flower to come forward. Similarly with the texture, I masked it out over the main flower but it helps add to the overall blur in the background so that the star can shine forth.
One of the things I love about this project is that it opens my eyes and changes my focus. Yesterday I spotted these huge lavender bushes along Hwy 99 in Talent. I’ve probably driven by them 20 times and not really seen them. So I decided to change up my morning walk and head over there with the M3. When I got up close and personal I realized that most of the little flowers haven’t opened yet. So there’s one to go back for. I also saw some flowers in neighborhood gardens which were interesting but not quite in full bloom so there is hope that I won’t run out of material too soon. My walk took me through downtown Talent where there were plenty of shops and residences with beautiful flowers on display. Proving once again that it is good to get out of your rut once in awhile and it is good to have a project that inspires you to do so.
I stopped by North Mountain Park this morning after church with the Canon M3, my walking around camera. I experimented with all my lenses including the 28mm macro with a super macro feature, which is one of the more unique lenses available in the M mount. I still haven’t quite mastered the super macro feature. It seems like you have to be right on top of the subject to get it in focus.
But this was taken with the 50-200 zoom with a closeup lens. I was just blown away by how sharp it was in all the right places. And no, I did not add any saturation in post processing, it was just that fresh and bright. I did add a high pass filter to sharpen the details and a vignette to help make the flower the star of the show. But that’s all, really. If I were going to print it I would probably try to take out that stem on the right but all in all I would call this a pretty successful in camera capture. Good practice for my upcoming garden tour in B.C. where I will only have the small camera with me.
I’ve been meaning to get out to the rose garden at Harry and David for some time. It seems I almost left it too long as most of the roses were well past prime. there were a few nice specimens but the sunflowers were just coming on and this one had me at hello. In post processing I added a high pass filter along with a texture and a vignette and a little tweak to the vibrance. Don’t worry there will be plenty of opportunity for roses.
I had big plans to kick off the new 100 days project with a trip to a Lavender farm but my stomach wasn’t feeling up to the trip (something I ate?) so I headed to the backyard with a variety of lenses instead. I tested them out on my ever faithful Hydrangea bush. And the winner is…. as always, the 180mm macro lens. It is good to do these tests now and then because then when I go into the field I don’t have to haul every lens I own…just go with tried and true. I still love the Lensbaby Velvet 85 too and I’m always surprised at what I can do with a 50 mm lens and an extension tube. I still need to play with the new 70-200 zoom with extension tubes and/or a closeup filter. I also didn’t get out the 100mm macro this morning as the wind was getting too strong. But the beauty of a project like this is there is plenty of opportunity to do these kinds of tests.
And that brings me to why am I putting myself through this again? Because my photography was getting stagnant and I was sitting around playing computer games when I should have been out shooting. Now I have a commitment to shoot every day and that means I will be polishing my skills and looking for new places to capture great images, as well as finding the great images, literally, in my own backyard.
A word on post processing. This one was cropped, spot healing brush liberally used to get rid of flaws on the flowers. A vignette to darken the edges and a high pass filter to sharpen up the edges.
I knew this was going to be the image of the week after I took it a week ago but I never got around to publishing it. I seem to be very undisciplined about my photography lately so I’m thinking about taking myself in hand to do another 100 days project. The theme for this one will be 100 days of flowers. I have to get started right away as this will take me into October as it is. I should have started 15 or 20 days ago! But this is spontaneous so what the heck. I’ll just see where it leads me. The good news is I have a garden tour coming up at the end of July so that should play right into my theme. This Bumblebee, by the way, was captured at North Mountain Park in Ashland.
In spite of it being Nature Photography Day I have been playing in the tiny studio again. I was inspired by an online workshop in still life photography. The background is from a photograph I printed and put behind the scene. My Dad’s old Brownie Camera and a book my Mom gave me when I first started taking pictures at about age 12. Took it through a couple of Topaz programs to get the vintage look. I think I may have to print this one to hang on my wall.
I spent some time last weekend rearranging the furniture in my guest room in order to make the tiny studio more functional. At the same time my Hydrangea was bursting forth in full glory and I got a new 24-70mm zoom lens with macro capability so I took advantage of this cosmic alignment to create this still life. I added a couple of textures to give it a more arty look.
I spent last weekend with Art Wolfe in a photography workshop called “Abstract Astoria”. The idea was to make engaging abstract photographs from rusty junk and stained walls. In this case, the image was shot at a Logging Museum and this is actually a close up of an old Donkey Engine. But doesn’t it just look like the Milky Way or a Nebulae or something. Just did a little saturation and luminence adjustments to bring out the colors and added vignette and darkened the bottom a little.