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

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

Dead Man's Tree

Dead Man's Tree

ILLN08D-372

November 3, 2008

First, my apologies.  The vagaries of grad school and life caught up with me, and I was unable to hook up five images to post last week.  So I lost some time.  However, now we're back, with all new images.  With Halloween quickly approaching, I was flipping back through the archive to see what there was from years past.  And this image, with the ghosts hanging from the tree, seemed to fit perfectly.  I love the slight hint of motion in this image, a whispy notion for the ghosts fluttering there in the tree.  And it works well in black and white.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 50 f/1.4

Focal length:  50 mm

Exposure: 20 sec @ f/8 ISO 100

Post-processing: Desaturated, minor tone adjusted with PS 4 and LR 1.4.

Silhouette of Golden Fall

Silhouette of Golden Fall

ILLN08D-364

November 4, 2008

I am becoming very impatient for fall.  Today actually dawned gray, cloudy, rainy, and a bit foggy, which made a nice walk to work, and reminded me of fall and winter in the bay area.  However, one of the great things about living in NC is the opportunity to see some actual color changes when fall finally does rear its head.  And so I've been patiently waiting, counting down the days and checking trees whenever I go running.  But in my thirst for golden-hued leaves, I went digging for this image from when autumn was in full swing in Illinois, the trees illuminated at night from the lamppost.  Enjoy.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 50 f/1.4

Focal length:  50 mm

Exposure: 3 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 100

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

Flying to the Summer Sky

Flying to the Summer Sky

ILLN07D-45

August 12, 2007

Following up the post from last week of the Santa Monica Ferris wheel, today's image comes from the Illinois State Fair a few years back.  I was attracted to this scene because of its levity.  the kids, spinning around and around in the chain-linked chairs, give off that vibe of youthful energy and possibility.  Adding in the lone clouds makes it seem even more like they're flying, escaping the summer and taking to the air.  And the monochrome just fit perfectly, with good contrast in the scene.  It was not my favorite image when I first was cataloging everything, but as I look at it more and more, I like the imagery and the feeling that it invokes.

Technical notes:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: Nikon 18-135 f/3.5-5.6

Focal length:  28 mm

Exposure: 1/200 sec @ f/8, ISO 100

Post-processing: Desaturation, minor curves adjustment in PS4 & LR1.4