Lungwort Oysterleaf? You've got to be Kidding

Have you had a chance to take some Spring photos yet this year?

We weren't planning to shoot this morning, but heavy humidity provided gorgeous filtered light... so we headed out to search for Wildflowers. These are Virginia Bluebells (mertensia virginica) - also called Virginia Cowslip, Roanoke Bells, or Lungwort Oysterleaf (I kid you not). They were blooming in abundance near the river at Bedford Reservation in the Cleveland Metroparks.

Jay's shot (below) was taken with a 17-40mm lens. The leaves are back-lit with soft, diffused lighting.

For this next shot, Jay used a wide aperture to produce a shallow depth-of-field. In doing so, he was able to single out the flowers in the foreground. The soft background gives a satisfying sense of place without too much clutter. The out-of-focus area provides very little detail, so the viewer's attention is automatically focused on the clean details that are in focus. You can use this technique to simplify a complicated scene.

I took some wide-angle photos too, but I spent a lot of time shooting with my 180mm macro lens. The tiny details were truly beautiful. This shot provides a bit more detail, so you can see what these pretty little flowers looked like up close. I always love soft colors and simple compositions - and I tend to like brighter images. Jay prefers slightly darker exposures - as you can see from him images above. In this case, I wanted a soft, bright, feel to the shot... but if you like brighter images, be careful to avoid blown highlights!

It rained during the night, and water droplets were still clinging to flowers and foliage. I had to take several shots to get a sharp image since it was a bit breezy out there. It's often difficult to get sharp macro images outdoors, but I think it's worth the effort. ;)

So - what do you think? Did we capture the essence of Spring with our impromptu photo-shoot? We met some other photographers on the trails - I guess we all had the same idea today!

Learning to See: Looking at the Details

Sometimes we are so captivated by the sweeping grandeur of grand vistas, that we fail to notice the beauty in the details. The breathtaking colors in the sky grab our attention - but what about that tiny seed pod that seems to glow from within as it it touched by those last fingers of light? Does it end up crushed under our feet as we rush to get the sunset shot? Are you guilty of the same crime?

When the light isn't perfect, Varina always pulls out her macro lens. At Banff National Park, we spent most of a bright, sunny morning exploring Sunshine Meadows. The mountainsides were covered with wildflowers – and thousands of wild Anemone's that had lost their petals were going to seed. Their wispy heads were beautiful against the green meadow grass, and it would have been easy to cast a shadow for a nicely lit, if somewhat standard shot. Instead, Varina went in search of something different. She found this anemone in a shady and cool alcove near the lake. It's downy head was a brighter white than many of the others, and the sun had not yet burned the dew away. She set up her 180mm macro lens and waited for the wind to die down before shooting. The lovely head of the anemone flower is beautiful on its own, but the minuscule water droplets take the shot beyond the ordinary.Although Varina has loved macro photography for years, Jay only ventured into the land of macro recently. He photographed this ghost crab with a 180mm Macro lens on island of Kauai in Hawaii. He sat in the sand for half an hour, and waited for the tiny, nearly-invisible creatures to venture out of their holes. The tiny grains of sand you see so clearly, here, are wonderfully smooth under your bare feet, and the crab measures only about an inch and a half in size... including it's legs. It takes real patience to photograph these skittish little crustaceans.

The macro lens is great - but what if you don't have one? Just look for larger details, and include background in your shots. Jay took this photograph of water droplets on a leaf last Fall with Canon's 17-40 F/4 lens.

And here's a shot from the Everglades in Florida, taken with a Canon 135mm f/2.0 prime. This is the lens we usually use for photos of our kids up on stage during a school performance. The lens you own may not be intended just for shooting details - but that doesn't mean you can't use it for that purpose!
During our workshops, we try to encourage student to venture into the world of detail photography when the weather is not particularly attractive for grand vistas. Here's a shot from our most recent on-location workshop in Death Valley. These crystals were only a few millimeters in diameter.So next time you are looking for inspiration under an uninspiring sky... stop and take some time to examine the details. Maybe there is a photograph right in front of you!

What lens do you use for detail shots? Do you have a true macro/micro lens - or are you making do with another lens? Do you have any tips for others who are trying to find beauty in the little things? Comments are welcome and appreciated... we know you have something to offer other photographers! We are all learning from each other!

The Devil is in the Details

Death Valley's salt pan is about 5 miles wide, and stretches for more than 40 miles across the valley floor. At it lowest point, the Badwater salt flats are 282 feet below sea level. It's a fantastic place - and I love the details.

These little crystals measure just a few millimeters each. I took the shot with a 180mm macro lens on a 1.6 crop factor camera. The sun was behind Telescope Peak, so the valley floor was in shade. Soft, even light lets the details stand out without heavy shadows and harsh, blown highlights.

A macro lens can be difficult to get used to. Depth of field is extremely narrow as you get close to your subject, so look for flat surfaces if you want your entire composition in focus. You can also use that narrow depth to blur our unwanted detail in the background.
This shot was taken with the same lens on the same camera. Notice the blurred background. The blurring removes distraction - the rocky background would do nothing for the image. I took the shot just a few minutes before sunset as the last light gave it a soft, golden glow.

I've been to Death Valley several times, and every time, I find something new to photograph.

Green and Blue - Banff

Since I've had very little time for processing, I have chosen to process a few quick and easy shots. This first shot is just a simple dandelion seed head. Jay pointed this one out near Bow Lake. I shot with my 180mm macro. Notice I'm shooting in the shade - soft, even lighting works well for this subject. You can see the detail in the seeds, but the contrast isn't too extreme... which means the flower keeps its delicate softness.

This is Herbert Lake. We'd been shooting elsewhere, but high winds forced us away. I took only a few shots under this sky - and I threw all but this one away. Wide angle lens, f/11, and a long shutter speed (3.2 sec). A simple composition, a bit of texture in the clouds, and a bit of drama just for the fun of it.

This is an early morning shot from a pond near Graveyard Flats. We'd had a rough night - nearby campers partied late into the night, and loud thunderstorms kept us awake after that. The moodiness of the heavy morning fog had me smiling, though. :) This was an incredibly easy shot to process... no broad range of light to deal with, very low contrast overall, and it wanted to go blue... so I let it have its way.

What do you think?

We have an iHDR seminar in Ohio this weekend. There are just a few seats left, so if you are interested, don't put off registering any longer.

Why I Love Dragon Flies...

This little guy was sitting on our house when I drove in this morning - and he flew over to the garden as I got out my camera. He waited patiently while I went inside to get a sheet of tissue paper to soften the harsh light. I was able to get nice and close and take my time with him. He didn't fly away until I'd spent a good ten minutes fine-tuning my shot.

Most tiny creatures aren't too interested in sitting still while you dig out your camera, make adjustments, and stick a fat macro lens into their living space. But dragon flies are fantastic. He's beautiful, isn't he?
So - what's your opinion? Do you prefer the color version or the black and white? Click on the photo for a larger view.

-Varina

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!

Canon 180mm macro - and on the road again...

I had a great time testing my new lens the other day - it's a fantastic piece of glass, and I'm absolutely thrilled to have an excellent macro lens at last. Now, all I have to do is learn how to take a good macro shot.

I took this shot in my garden - it's a 1-inch tall Grape Hyacinth flower (Muscari Armeniacum). I chose the black and white treatment because, for me at least, the image is more about texture and repetition of form than it is about color.

You can see the detail in the 100% crop below - unsharpened. (Click on the image to see it at full size.) Beautiful. I like my new lens. :)

Today, we drove South to Virginia - we're headed for the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. I'm looking forward to a few days in the mountains.

The Little Things

Most of my photographs are broad vista shots - I love the vastness of the land, and I try to show that in my photographs. But there's a world of miniature beauty that those shots invariably fail to capture. On our last trip to Utah, I crouched on the ground over a stream to shoot this aspen leaf against the fantastic patterned ice.