Nature
Here's one I took a few years ago and which I found yesterday in a quest to find a photo to "operate" on. By operate I mean "to rescue from relative mediocrity by using cool software." (Try finding that alternate definition in your dictionary!)The software is onOne's new Perfect Photo Suite 7 and the subject is a mossy branch I discovered deep in the shadowy woods along Iron Creek a few miles away from our cabin in the Black Hills.
My friend Jack H. asked me yesterday if teaching photography has helped make me a better photographer and he had barely finished the sentence when I said, "Yes." I then went on to say that in finding words to describe thought and physical processes that are the result of 10 years of fairly random reading/looking and endless practice based mainly on intuition has made me more aware of the complexities of finding, framing and capturing my subjects.Beyond that, I am much more sophisticated in how I use software. And this photo is an example. Frankly, I have posted a nearly identical shot of this place in this blog already. The difference is that I was "playing" with software that I didn't have a few years ago and with processes like sharpening, white balance, saturation and contrast that I didn't have as of understanding as I do now.Is this a better photo? Maybe not. In fact, the casual observer may not even see what is "right" about this photo. I would like to think that my second year photo students would because I see clear evidence that they "get it": that they see and understand the 10,000 minute differences between the simple and the sublime.Here's the previous version:
Canon 5DIII 1/160s f/2.8 ISO320 200mm
Well, how about another golden aspen tree? This photo was taken a few years ago near Center Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
It was on this day in 2009 that my mother died. And it was on the same date years before that that her mother and my grandmother died. So these roses are for Bernice and Ida. The "roses" are really the same rose with 4 different HDR treatments.
A victim of frost and cold, this hosta leaf, once green and white, is still beautiful in fall tones.Canon 5DIII 1/50s f/7.1 ISO640 100mm
In an attempt to balance the rather dark and mysterious tree photo posted yesterday, I offer this flamboyant flower. If my mission were to photograph "happy," this is what I'd offer.Canon 5DII 1/320s f/7.1 ISO400 105mm
By the end of the day yesterday, our driveway was covered in leaves from the two ash trees in our front yard. I had run some errands around town last evening and returned just as the sun was going out of view between our neighbors' houses across the street. I turned back to look at the non-descript jumble of leaves on the driveway and noticed a patch of sunshine lighting up a very small area.I got my camera, which still had the 50mm 1.2 lens attached from yesterday's table shoot, and looked for a suitable subject for the ray of light. Knowing that I had only a minute or two, I quickly found a single, yellow maple leaf. I knew that if I arranged it just right, the gentle backlighting of the setting sun might bring it to life.And it did. You might think that I did something in software to enhance this photo. But aside from a few minor tweaks, the color and contrast you see here are what the camera recorded. Critics might suggest that the leaf is not properly focused, and I guess I would agree. But I think that the shallow depth of field and soft, unfocused parts of the yellow leaf lend to a feeling of decadence.This photo is yet another example of the importance of being in the right place at the right instant. But it is also an example of what it means to be a photographer: seeing things that others might not otherwise see. A child might lie prone to study a single leaf. And so would some photographers.
I took 83 photos to get this. The creative process was fairly typical for me. First, the photo wasn't premeditated.I was walking by this table outside our front door with a handful of stuff I was taking into the house when I saw leaves on it. Then I took a photo of a little stone bird my wife had placed on the table. Then I put more leaves on the table and took more bird photos. Then I got the ladder and shot from above. Then I saw the three distinct planes of focus in the aerial shot. Then I set the lens to f1.2. Then I got rid of the bird. Then I got the hose and sprayed everything with water ("Rain"). Then I edited this photo in Aperture and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Then I had my photo.Canon 5DIII 1/400s f/1.2 ISO100 50mm
It looks like I'm going to be a "fall color" theme for a few days. I've been to Sica Hollow State Park near Sisseton, SD, two days in a row and there is plenty of color there.Want to see more? Click here.