Stormclouds

There is a really cool cornfield alongside Highway 49 in Peach County. Every time I pass it, I think about shooting some pictures.  Today as I came home, I noticed really neat storm clouds gathering in the east.  I found a spot to get corn and clouds. The top image is an HDR combo of three images, one overexposed, one correct exposure, and one underexposed.  They were combined in Machinery HDR. The second image is a straight exposure, done by the meter in the D90. By combining the three you see good detail in the highlights, mid tones and shadows. The second image is an average of the three, so you loose detail.

The bottom image is an HDR, swapped the fisheye for the 15mm.  I have some other images from the shoot I will share another day.

Yet More HDR Software

I found a new(to me) HDR program last week and downloaed a free trial. This sunflower photo from last Monday's playtime was toned in Photoshop, then ran it through Machinery HDR. I like it. The program has some presets, or you can do your own tuning. This is not a true HDR image, but a single frame(film flashback!) that got the HRD effect.  I have not tried to do ma multiple exposure HDR image with it yet.

For those of you who don't know HDR, it combines bracketed exposures so you get all the shadow detail and all the highlights in your image. When you take a picture, your camera averages the exposure, so you loose detail in both shadow and highlights. So you bracket, doing some underexposed, some overexposed and the combine them for the final image.  That is very simplified, but you get the idea.

Some HDR programs give very exaggerated tones and colors, I call them clown colors. This one does not, it is more normal.  Give it a try.

http://www.machineryhdr.com/ 

Good Will Cemetery

 I rode through Good Will Cemetery in Fort Valley today. It is surrounded by Bluebird, and I had never visited it before. I shot a few pictures, just things that caught my eye.The spinning pinwheel was a bit of a challenge. I wanted the blur, and I was shooting mid-day. Had to drop the ISO really low to slow the shutter.

 

 

 

 

Another Summer, And Gladly, Another Sunflower

Gary Harmon called last week to tell me about a field of sunflowers he had found. He shot some with his iphone and posted on Facebook.  Anyway, he invited me to come along and shoot some photos. We met at the field this morning and had some hot fun.

 

The second photo is Gary blazing away with his 17-55 Nikkor,  the third photo is me getting up close with a bee.  The top photo was done with my old D 70, using a flash. It was shot at 1/3200th second and f10 so I could get the sun without it being blown out. The flash was on a stand to camera right.

 

The bee was with my 50mm Nikkor and close-up lenses. The bottom photo is first unopened sunflower bud I have ever seen. Just too cool. It was a good morning.

Cicada on a Sunday Morning

 

I spotted this cicada while walking Gussie after church this morning. Usually just see their old shells,

not often you find one still live and moving. I had to get some photos. The top photo is with the 70-300 set on macro.

 To get closer I swapped for the 50mm and used a +2 close-up lens for the middle photo, then the 50mm with a +4 for the last one.  I was only inches away for the last ten minutes of shooting, and the cicada pretty much ignored me. I was afraid it would bug out on me, but crawled slowly along.

 

Be An American

  I passed through Reynolds yesterday going and coming from Columbus.  Each year Reynolds Methodist Church adorns their entire block alongside Georgia Highway 96 with American flags. I have stopped and shot a picture or two over the years, and yesterday it felt really important to stop and photograph these beautiful flags.

I love this flag, and I love my country. Granted, it gets crazier and crazier, but this is still the best place to live in this world, and I am an American. That is a blessing from God, not anything I have earned, or anything that is owed me.

Each of us in this country has a heritage, ethnic background, different religious upbringing and beliefs.  A lot of the problems we we have could be overcome by doing what Jesus told us to do, " Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[a] 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

So, be an American, be proud of who you are, and realize that it ain't all about ME.