Spring Flora

Spring Flora
FLOW08D-39

August 19, 2008


A little bit of spring for the morning, these beautiful flowers in full bloom, taken at the University of Illinois Arboretum in Champaign-Urbana.  I love how the sharp flowers in the foreground fade to just a blur at the background, and the soft colors are punctuated by a single sliver of light.  A nice floral pattern to end the week with. Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: NIkon N80
Lens: Nikon 18-135 mm f/3.5-4.5

Focal length: 28 mm

Exposure: 1/80   f/8   ISO 400

Post-processing: Scanned on a Nikon Coolscan 5000; toning and curves adjustment in PS4

Taste of Spring

Taste of Spring

NCAR10D-172

March 27, 2010

With yesterday's image marking the final bit of winter here at Wandering Lens, today we usher spring in full force!  The blossoms are ripe among the trees all through North Carolina, fragrant and wonderful.  It is a delight to have warm(er) weather once more, and sunlight sticking around till the evening hours.  Welcome spring, and enjoy on this Friday.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 80-200 mm f/2.8

Focal length:  200 mm

Exposure: 1/4000 @ f/2.8   ISO 100

Post-processing: Minor tone adjusted with PS 4 and LR 1.4.

Emerging Texture

Emerging Texture

FLOW08D-12

August 19, 2008

This image comes from the University of Illinois Arboretum, a beautiful pink flower just budding out into the world.  I like the emergence of the image, though I decided to do some post-processing manipulation, playing around with textures from Flickr user Playingwithbrushes (many thanks to her for allowing me to use her backdrops).  I don't usually go for that kind of look, but the rough edge is something that is very nice, and can add the right kind of quality to the right photo.  Let me know what you think, and enjoy.
 

Technical notes:

Camera: NIkon D80

Lens: Nikon 105 mm f/2.8 macro

Focal length: 105 mm

Exposure: 1/200   f/4.5 

Post-processing: Texture,toning and curves adjustment in PS

Spring Blossoms

Spring Blossoms

NCAR10D-236

April 10, 2010

Today's image comes because I am impatient for spring.  The winter here has been nothing short of disappointing.  It has been cool, but not cold, with no snow to speak of.  It is just a succession of chilly days with brown, decrepit leafless trees.  It can be quite a bummer.  I am looking forward to spring, when some semblance of life takes shape again.  This was taken at the Sarah Duke Gardens on the Duke University campus.  The Asian section of the garden has a lovely arrangement of small shrines by the water's edge, and on the far side the flowers were blooming.  I loved this image, as simple as it was, using the flowers as a veil over the stone shrine to frame the image and add some addiitonal complexity and mystery to the image, as that better conveyed my feelings on how the shrine and garden should be portrayed.  Enjoy.
 

Technical notes:

Camera: NIkon D80

Lens:Nikon 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6

Focal length: 100 mm

Exposure: 1/200   f/4.5   ISO 400

Post-processing: Toning and curves adjustment in PS4 (the border edge is a bit much, but I couldn't find the original file in time to remove it, so you get a soft dropped shadow courtesy of late nights with PS4)

Valley of Daisies

Valley of Daisies

THOR09D-53

July 11, 2009

It is amazing how important foreground is to your images.  You hear about it from the professionals, the photographers that you admire, and all of their images have interest from front to back, little shapes, lines, textures that lead you through the image to the final destination.  And working on an image, it does make a huge difference.  This image, from North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt National Park, is honestly not my greatest example of foreground inclusion.  The flowers were there, and that was my intent, but upon reflection they were too far dispersed, and I could have placed them better within the frame.  But they do help hook your interest, and only after looking at the image do you consider the tall butte in the background, where some of the daisies seem to be pointing at.  And in that case, it is a success.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6

Focal length:  18 mm

Exposure: 1/80 @ f/16, ISO 100

Post-processing: Slight contrast and tone adjustment, sharpening in PS4 & LR1.4

Lillies 1

Lillies 1

BHUT10D-66

November 16, 2010

A brief paragraph today, after my ramblings the last few posts.  To set this Friday off, a lovely image from my time in Bhutan.  Still ranking as one of the most beautiful countries I've laid eyes on, these lillies come from Serbithang, the Royal Botanic Garden in Thimphu, Bhutan.   They are intertwined, beautiful and yet exotic, not like the day lillies that we get here in the states.  They are at once familiar and yet distinct, perhaps the whole reason people travel in the first place.  But they caught my eye, and I hope they do the same for you.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 105 f/2.8 micro

Focal length:  105 mm

Exposure: 1/1250 @ f/3.5 ISO 400

Post-processing: Minor tone adjusted with PS 4 and LR 1.4.

Flowers of Remembrance

Flowers of Remembrance

NOLA09D-118

April 21, 2009

A quite different panoramic composition today, found while wandering through the surreal and altogether serene graveyards of New Orleans.  These amazing vaults, built above ground to protect against floods and hurricanes, have withstood, in some cases, over a century of being in the hot, muggy south.  Lichen creeping up their facades, old stone tablets describing the inhabitants, and always flowers in front.  While a lot of folks in the south enjoy fake flowers on graves, these were actually real roses, left beside this solitary marker.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 50 f/1.4

Focal length:  50 mm

Exposure: 1/400 @ f/4.5, ISO 100

Post-processing: Minor contrast and tone adjustment, sharpening in PS4 & LR1.4

The Rain and the Sun

The Rain and the Sun

PLAN07D-37

April 7, 2007

Macro photography can be so challenging, and yet so seemingly simple, all at the same time.  We try to capture this tiny, magnified slice of life, usually a flower, insect, or texture, and it is really an endeavor to enlarge our own perspective.  We spend our time going by so quickly, not (to use the cliché) stopping to smell the roses, and sometimes the details can be lost.  I think that macro photography is about re-centering my vision, concentrating on something so small and seemingly insignificant, yet that is detailed and beautiful in its own right.  This flower, the color change, the detail of the stamens, the dew drops on the leaves; in an ordinary photograph this would pass as just a smear of color in a larger scene, barely worthy of note.  But here, letting it take center stage, highlights all of those aspects, and makes me more aware of what is around me as I hike, or walk through a city, or pick up a camera.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 105 f/2.8 micro

Focal length:  105 mm

Exposure: 1/250 sec @ f/16, ISO 400

Post-processing: Minor curves adjustment in PS4 & LR1.4