February 27, 2010 at 11:09pm
February 27th and so warm it became the earliest date that our Mica has been able to be outside on the deck after a long winter inside the house. She doesn’t like to get her little “feets” wet so I grabbed a piece of cardboard for her to sit on, although she wandered off of it here and there. She ended the outdoor session after only 15 minutes but it was great to see her out in the fresh air at long last!
Only after seeing the pictures did I notice that her hackles are raised a bit, which likely means she was not totally comfortable out there – or I was getting on her last nerve with the camera!
p.s.: an interesting article here on piloerection, even at O-C and all that fur, it just might have been uncomfortably cold for Mica.
February 22, 2010 at 3:55pm
The business section of our main street is all of four blocks long, so it was a short cruise up the backlanes. Charming…
February 22, 2010 at 11:52am
This would not be an oddity were this photo taken in a cemetary or along the highway…. however, I came across this small marker sitting directly behind a church and on the edge of the backlane which runs behind it. Struck me as an odd place to be.
I used one of Nichole Van’s B&W Presets – “Vintage Worn” to change it up a bit.
February 14, 2010 at 10:44am
These are wooden finger puppets I’ve kept around because they are colourful and a little goofy… which makes me smile.
I like these old metal toys for some reason or other; not sure an Oreo Cookie with legs is the best example for scale but he’s kind of goofy as well!
February 11, 2010 at 10:45am
I was working with the last of the day’s light here and would normally neutralize the blue shadows by changing the white balance. However, I liked the icey-blue tones of some of these and decided to leave them alone for a change. These fit this month’s Photowalk theme “Alone” as well.
My prize for this day was happening on the Owl… he’s been on my list forever! He was high above the rest of the forest trees and looking so comfortable on his perch. I still have not learned to always bring my 400mm lens when venturing into the wilder areas, shot this with the 200mm. I plan a return with the bigger lens and more daylight to get the details of this wonderful large bird; chances are good that this is his usual hunting location. I’m pretty certain he’s the Great Grey Owl of North America, described here. I love these moments of sheer delight…
January 30, 2010 at 2:17pm
More things I found in the snow, a continuation of my post here.
I saved the best for last…. meet ” Sioux “ (prn. Sue) who is simply a delight!
Hors’n around… Someone’s watching me…
I tried out a cloudy white balance for the cabin shots in an attempt to counter a very grey, overcast day.
A big thank you to Val and Elso for allowing me the freedom to wander their property, one of my favourite places to be!
January 26, 2010 at 12:58pm
A simple example of unsightly merges in your photographs. Make a final visual sweep of the scene in your view-finder before you press the shutter button, to be sure you have separated all of the elements in your composition. Keep your eye on the bench in the background…
All it took was a little “side-step” to the left, to avoid having the bench appear to grow out of the tree trunk. In this instance the trees nicely frame the bench by the 2nd step and it becomes another subject in the composition. Merges are hard to avoid in bushy scenes and there are more I didn’t correct - take a closer look and see what you can find… ( 17-55mm lens @55mm, F/22 & 1/25s, +1EC, ISO 800 )
Click on the Photowalk icon above - it will take you to details of this first assignment and a further link to an excellent article on the rules of composition.
Some warmer composition tips and examples than I have shown, are explained in this article I came across as well.
This cheery little fellow waited patiently for me to finish up with the picture-taking and sweep out the bird feeder so he could eat – we’ve been hit with the freezing rain and blustering snow the last couple of days. I believe this pretty bird is the male Pine Grosbeak, he and his lady-friends are regulars at our feeder. More about them here.
( 100-400mm lens @ 330mm, F/5.6 & 1/1000s, +1 EC, ISO 800 – still had to be cropped a bit )
January 22, 2010 at 3:21am
January 13, 2010 at 10:49pm
With the cold temperatures last week I resorted to some macro work indoors for a few days. The florist introduced me to this Eggplant or Black Calla Lily. Quite an exotic colour and one I hadn’t seen before; from a short distance I did think it was black initially. The light brought out the reds and the texture, making it even more of an interesting subject.
However, it also proved quite challenging to photograph. The dark colour made it difficult to distinguish the details of the flower through the view finder, although that just might be these old eyes. I wondered about it being coated it was so reflective itself – do they wax these things? I used the natural light of a large north-facing window with a small diffuser.
I tried a variety of backgrounds but none did it for me. I would love to try the flower again, but outdoors in even summer light with natural greens behind it; I think the results would be more satisfying.
All but the last image were taken with a Macro lens 100mm at f/4 – f/22. I didn’t find that the unique blur of the Lensbaby lent itself well to this particular flower; the last image is with that lens, plus the macro accessory at f/4. This beautiful lily is just not a soft flower…
January 6, 2010 at 10:41am
Doorway into the old vault at our cemetary… once used to store the dead over the winter and the catalyst of many ghost stories over the years.
The thumbnails have been resurrected from the Fall of 2009. This could also be titled “A Study in Grey” as in grey days.
by PatB
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