My photo
... is a freelance photographer working in Middle Georgia

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Cats-I'm So Cute, You Gotta Love Me...


We have a Manx  cat, or should I say  there is a Manx cat that lives in our house. Seems like we are hers. Dogs are great, wonderful pets. So great to be loved by your dog, but they love everybody. Anyone who will scratch their head gets slobbery kisses. Cats, not so. Some cats are really loving and love to cuddle.  Not Lola.

She is like your worst girlfriend. Shows you just enough attention to keep you hooked, but mostly stays just out of reach. And has an attitude. But, she is a beauty, and knows how to play up the cute.
Today Deborah found her in the bassinet in our front bedroom.  Anywhere that is soft and warm
is a great place to crash. She does know that's  some place she's not supposed to be, so she plays the cute card, trying to get her way. "Lets see, if I move over just a little bit and get under these little bears, bet I can have my way." 

Didn't work, the thoughts of cat hair in the bassinet overcame cuteness in Mama's mind, and Lola
was back on the floor.


Monday, November 17, 2014

As Amazing as Beautiful



The Ginkgo trees shown here are in our neighbor, The Colonel's yard.
The trees are quite beautiful, and I have photographed them often. I have been waiting for a week for them to ready this year. With today's stormy weather, I decided I should do my photos before the leaves were knocked off the trees. 

I did a bit of research this morning and learned some very interesting facts about this species. Did you know they are living fossils? The species is over 270 million years old, according to fossil records. They were 
originally all across North America, but were heavily impacted by the Ice Age and "space impact",
(the asteroid that took out the dinosaurs.)


They were pretty much limited to Eastern China. Buddhist monks cultivated the trees and grew them for their temples. Around 800 AD, the monks brought the trees to Japan. In the 1600's a German named Englebert Kaempfer saw the trees in Japan, and brought them to Europe.

We have a female Ginkgo in our garden. It is not my favorite tree. The females produce seeds that are inside soft pods. They are coated with butyric acid, and really stink.
Anyhow, a bit of tree history for you. Really quite special trees.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Just a Leaf and Some Raindrops....


I have been shooting with an old Nikkor 50mm lens the last few weeks.  This lens has been the most neglected glass I have ever owned.  Didn't buy it, but got it in a swap years ago.  It has lived in my equipment locker unused.  My 35-70 Nikkor is a real waste, and decided to dig out the 50 and play with it.

I had it on the D90 several weeks ago when I left home for Columbus. It was a rainy day, and THis leaf was stuck behind the windshield wipers.  It was the perfect lens for this shot. the 50 was always a wasted focal length to me with film cameras, but with the extra magnification with the DX format gives it a boost. The fact that its an f1.8 is not bad either.

The sharpness of the lens and the short depth of field brought out the textures and made the rain on the windshield really pop.  But do not drive down the street in the rain shooting pictures with the wipers off. Could cause major difficulties. I am a trained professional, you know.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Boosting the light



The plants have begun to come back inside at our house. The orchid that our friend Bruce Tamker gave Deborah sits in front of a window surrounded by greenery. This morning I noticed the light hitting it and its buddies, and had to shoot.

The light was really nice hitting the background plants and lighting the bloom from behind, but I was loosing detail in the center of the bloom. Wanted to lighten it just a bit, but not use flash. The top image was done using a small piece of white foamcore to the left side of the frame. When you are using a reflector like this, you can see the light and adjust the reflector as needed. The problem here was my fish eye was picking up the edge of the foamcore, but left it in so it was visible for the blog.  You can use anything that reflects light in a situation like this.  Just remember that whatever color your reflector is will show up on your subject.
White is great, no color problems. A gold reflector will add a warm tone to your image. Silver will cool the tones in your picture.


Just for the heck of it, I used a Mini Mag flashlight on the center of the bloom in the bottom image. As expected the flashlight caused a bit of color shift, but made an interesting image. 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Just Caught My Eye


 As I pulled into the driveway this morning I saw the light coming through these leaves, and had to check them out. When I got closer, I saw the shadows of the outside leaves showing through the closer and thought it was really cool. Really eye-catching patterns.

I love light, the way it plays with every day things to make them a bit special.  For each one I see, have to wonder how many I miss.


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