National Parks Magazine

I got a nice little package in the mail today. It contained three copies of this month's National Parks Magazine. And on page 25 - my Into the Unknown image from Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's always fun to see one of my own images in print. :) Interestingly, this image sat on my computer for almost a year before I finally decided to process it.

Nichole, from NP Mag, contacted us a few months ago asking for a list of the National Parks we have represented in our portfolios. Although we had been to Great Smokey Mountain National Park, we weren't thrilled with the collection of images we came away with - and none of mine ever made it to the processing stage. She was disappointed to see that GSMNP wasn't on our list. So, we dug up a few of our shots and sent them over to her just in case. And sure enough, she asked for this one. Imagine my surprise! I'm glad I kept the shot, and believe it or not... today, I sold a 20x30 inch print of the same image. Someone saw it in... you guessed it... National Park Magazine, and wanted it hanging in their home. Go figure. :)

Wildflowers

I spent more time shooting with my new 180mm macro than with my wide angle lens on this trip. The Smoky Mountains are beautiful, and we did get some nice evening and morning shots - but we spent some time during the day searching out wildflowers for macro photography. We were there at exactly the right time. Trillium grows everywhere at the lower altitudes - white, pink, and yellow varieties. We also found Columbine, Buttercups, Irises, and a thousand flowers I can't name. That's Wild Columbine (aquilegia canadensis) on the right and Yellow Trillium (trillium luyeum) below.
I could have been perfectly happy to spend another week wandering through the woods. :)

The trick with shooting flowers is to find an angle that allows you to capture the flower with green leaves in the background. Most of the time, the flowers are pretty close to the ground, so unless you are shooting from above, you need to get very close to the ground. Use a tripod that can go as low as possible, and lie down if you need to. Don't mind the bugs - as my mother always said... "They're more afraid of you than you are of them." (Of course, all bets are off if the bug has eight legs.)

A shallow depth of field blurs the background, and lets the flower stand out. The center of the flower should be in perfect focus - that's not as easy as you think. :) Shoot on a windless day if possible - or wait for a calm moment. You'll likely need to increase your ISO to reduce your shutter speed as much as possible... but remember that with a high ISO, you'll get more noise, so try not to go too high. Use a translucent filter (or a sheet) to soften direct light - or shoot in the shade for soft, even lighting. Overcast days are perfect for flower photography.

Try to keep distracting elements out of the frame - the eye goes to the brightest spot in an image, so make sure the brightest spot is your flower.

Jay and I will be presenting at the Akron Camera Club on Wednesday this week. We are putting the finishing touches on the presentation today. It should be fun!

Time for Bed...

We were up at 4:30 this morning, and we did a bit of hiking today - about 6 or 7 miles in all, I think. Nothing too strenuous - but I'm tired. It's nearly 11pm - and we'll be up at 4:15 tomorrow morning to catch the sunrise in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

I'll add more detail another time - tonight, I want to sleep. :)