Gardens Revisited
Posted on | August 17, 2010 | No Comments
The need to complete the image list on a new book offered Linda and I the opportunity to shoot in two gardens that for one reason or another we had not visited in recent years.
Owned and cared for by Cyrus and Louise Hyde, the Wellsweep Herb Farm is located near Hackettstown in Northwestern NJ. Both the business and the gardens have changed dramatically while still managing to keep all the elements that made it special in the first place.There are display gardens designed and labeled with the appropriate use of each plant, as well as a nursery and retail store (still charmingly housed in the old barn). In addition, there are activities and offerings for the whole family. What used to be mostly herbs has expanded into herbs, perennials and many hard to find plants. The display gardens have more than doubled in size. We met Cyrus in the garden and as always,he was happy to share his knowledge and spend time talking plants. We truly enjoyed our visit and will not to let so much time pass before returning. This is an image of a section of one of the herb and perennial borders. Information about the plants and the activities can be found on the Wellsweep Herb Farm website: www.wellsweep.com.
In search of a few more images for the book, I returned to Wave Hill Gardens in the Bronx, NY. While I did a book signing there last May, this was the first time I was able to spend time with my camera. What a treat. Poised on the New York side of the Palisades, this garden is a true hidden jewel. In addition to the beautifully designed gardens, the scenic views, and the greenhouse collection, there is also quite a bit of history in the buildings located on the grounds. There is always something exciting to photograph. This vignette of catmint falling over a rock wall is just one example. The Wave Hill web site is www.wavehill.org.
Herb aficionado or garden enthusiast, if you are ever in the area of either of these two gardens, it is definitely worth while to make time for a visit.
News – Time is running out for those of you who are intetested in submitting a portfolio for the Oct 1-3 Master Workshop at Chanticleer Gardens this fall. Go to www.chanticleergarden.org for details.
Also, the director at Maine Media tells me that sign up for the week long Macro workshop is doing very well. A week in October (the 17th -23rd) on the Maine coast doing Macro – something to consider. www.mainemedia.edu.
Lighting Surprises
Posted on | July 5, 2010 | No Comments
How many times have you heard that the photographer’s ‘golden hours’ for shooting are the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset? No matter where you are or what you are shooting, this light presents more opportunities than any other time of the day for those ‘AHHHHH’ images. Am I saying that there are only two hours in every day where good garden and nature photography images can be captured? Absolutly not.
If you can’t shoot early in the morning or later in the day, follow the shade and look for acceptable lighting in the areas that are at the edge of shade but not in the bright sunlight. Another option, especially for macro images, is to look for translucent subjects. In this instance, capturing the light coming through the subject can produce a very effective photograph.
Lately, I’ve extended my shooting times even further by looking for and being aware of subjects in filtered light. I do not mean cases where I do the filtering but filtering by Mother Nature.
Wooded areas where sunlight shines through the trees and brushes the ground or plants present an opportunity to extend our shooting hours. There are also instances as the sun rises or sets behind tall trees, small patches of sunlight peak through the leaves and move across the surrounding area. The image here was taken in the Tennis Court Garden at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne Pa. The nearest trees are over one hundred feet away. As I was waiting for the ‘golden hour’ to light the garden, I noticed the sunlight coming through the leaves of the distant trees and hitting these three alliums. It only lasted a few minutes before the light changed. It lasted long enough, however, to capture these blossoms as if they were the main actors standing in the spotlight on stage.
A quick reminder: Portfolios are now being accepted for the October 1-3 Master Fall Workshop at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA. Go to www.chanticleergarden.org. Also, there are still openings for the October 17-23 Macro photography workshop at Maine Media in Rockport, ME. Go to www.theworkshops.com
Macro Lens selection
Posted on | April 29, 2010 | 2 Comments
I followed an internet discussion recently on suggested Canon macro lenses. While the talk was about the Canon line up, it applies to all macro/close up lenses.
In the conversation, the lenses most often suggested were the 50mm or the new Canon 60mm macro. The fact that the 50mm/60mm are lightweight – so you can hand hold the camera and lens without needing a tripod was discussed. Also, the participants felt the ability to get in very close to the subject and shoot life size without added extension was an advantage. Last, the lenses have quality optics and are reasonable in price. One or two people mentioned the Canon 100mm macro and the Canon 180 mm macro lens.
I cannot tell you how troubling I find this advice. I realize that lens selection can be very personal but let’s take a look at the practical use of the short macro lenses in the field.
The 50mm/60mm, the 100mm and the 180mm macro lenses all focus to life size without added extension. The 50mm/60mm is about 3.5″ away from the subject at life size, 6″ for the 100mm and 9+ inches for the 180mm. Now pretend you are out in the field trying to shoot insects with the short macro lens. Are you having a good time trying to get 3″ away from a spider? How about finding any insect that will stay still while you get that close? The reality is that the short macros are not suitable for insect photography in the field. While insect photography is not easily accomplished, you might feel that you can still do flower photography with the shorter macro lens. This, too, presents some problems.
One of the advantages of macro is the ability to modify the light while working within a small area. When you are 3″ away from your subject you may be blocking the light or casting shadows. You also will have little room to place a reflector or diffuser. Like shooting insects, the short macro, because it is so close to your subjects, is a disadvantage not an advantage. Next, the short macros have the largest field of view. That means there is going to be more background to consider. Last, most nature photographers use a tripod for macro work because the exposure times are typically longer and hand holding results in blurry images.
My advice for anyone wanting to do macro photography is to look at the medium (100mm) or longer (180mm -200mm) teles designed for macro work. I have the 100 and 180 Canons and use both in the field. The 180mm is my favorite. It reaches out, gives me room to modify the light, has a narrower field of view to eliminate unwanted background clutter and a tripod collar that enables it to go from horizontal to vertical wthout moving the tripod or camera position. If price is a major concern and the Canons and Nikons are out of reach, look at third party lens manufacturers like Sigma.
It’s spring in full swing. Get out and have fun. BTW, the Macro workshop at NYBG sold out over two weeks ago. Think about Maine Media in October!
Late Winter Early Spring
Posted on | April 15, 2010 | No Comments
When the plants are great, the lighting conditions perfect and everything falls in place, all else gets pushed back – including blog posts!
In spite of the recent unpredictible weather changes, I was able to get outside and do some shooting. This is the time of year where there are opportunities for late winter images as well as early spring captures. While you may not find a large number of subjects to shoot, there may be opportunities to concentrate on different views of a single subject.
At the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in NJ the snowdrops, heaths, and winter jasmine were in bloom and offered a great afternoon of early April shooting. On my way back to the car at the end of the day, this witch hazel that looked ordinary when I arrived, now sparkled in the late afternoon sun. Setting my tripod very low, I was able to eliminate the driveway that crossed in back of the tree. The dark background set off the late winter bloom. I moved in a few yards at a time, discovering a new image at each step. As soon as I was in close, I switched from the 70-200mm zoom lens to my 180mm macro lens. My last shot of the day yielded this macro image of a few beautiful blossoms highlighted by the out of focus orange of the other flowers. I shot this witch hazel for about forty minutes and ended up with eight totally different images ranging in style from a realistic representation to a more abstract interpretation.
The opportunity to shoot both late winter and early spring images made this day successful. Hopefully, adding new witch hazel, heath, winter jasmine, and snowdrops to our image library will make it profitable!
NEWS ALERT: The April 30th Macro workshop at The New York Botanical Garden is sold out. Thanks for all the interest! If you are looking for a macro workshop and have a little more free time, you might consider the weeklong workshop I am presenting at Maine Media in Rockport, ME in October. The weather on the coast of Maine at this time of year is special. There is good morning and evening light without the five am wake up call. Six days of macro!!! Details are available at http://www.mainemedia.edu.
April 28, 2010: lecture and multimedia presentation at Backyard Living, Ridgewood, NJ Details: http://www.backyardlivingnj.com
July 10, 2010: lecture and multimedia presentation at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum.
October 1,2,3, 2010: Chanticleer Garden, Wayne PA: master photography weekend with Alan L. Detrick and Roger Foley Details http://www.chanticleergarden.org.
Looking For Images
Posted on | March 12, 2010 | No Comments
This post was delayed due to a fierce nor’easter that left us without any power for five nights and six days!
On a sunny afternoon a few days after the last snowstorm (I hope), I packed a few lenses in my backpack, picked up the tripod and went for a walk through our local nature preserve. I didn’t have any subject in mind but with warmer weather just around the corner, I wanted to get back outside looking for images.
The path in the preserve is a 2 1/2 mile loop. Within a few hundred yards of the car, I found a clump of moss snuggled up against a tree with its setae glowing in the sunlight. Since the setae are only 1/4″ to 3/8″ tall, the challenge was to get the camera low enough to capture the appearance of the backlit forest of golden spikes without getting lens flare. After adjusting the tripod and camera to ground level (wet knees and elbows were just expected), I had my first image of the day. The size of the entire subject in the image is only 3″x2″.
A hundred feet further along, I was captivated by the warm reflections of trees in the stream contrasting with the snow covered banks. I exchanged the 180mm macro lens for the 70-200mm zoom and looked for a composition where the reflections weren’t blocked by brush and twigs in the water. Clean snow not marred by footprints and gentle curves in the stream completed the scene. This location worked, and I had the second image of the day.
I continued my walk stopping here and there to try to find additional pictures. There were not an overabundance of photographic opportunities. I worked on one wide angle shot for quite awhile but never pressed the shutter. Don’t get discouraged when this happens. It is always a good exercise to try to find images, work on them and more importantly – try to understand why they don’t work. This day, I passed on more images than I captured.
However, in my mind, the day was a complete success. I was outside with camera in hand, added some images to our photo library – and even got some exercise!
For those of you in the Northern NJ area, we are doing an evening multimedia presentation/lecture at 7:30 PM on Wednesday April 28 at Backyard Living in Ridgewood, NJ
Two days later, on April 30th I am doing a macro workshop 9AM-4:30PM at New York Botanical Garden in NY. The course number is GWP 934.
Naples Sunset
Posted on | February 26, 2010 | No Comments
Every town on the water with a long pier or good viewing area facing West seems to have a ‘happening’ – crowds that gather every night to see beautiful sunsets. Naples, Florida is no exception. In fact, at the Saturday art show in town, every photographer had at least one print of the Naples Pier at sunset. So, one afternoon we joined the crowd.
We walked to the end of the pier to get a good spot but then I decided to go back to the beach and for my sunset shot. At first, I shot the pier with the sun glancing off the structures on the left side. Next, a group of shorebirds in the setting sun filled the viewfinder. Then I ran to the other side of the pier to shoot the setting sun behind the pier. In the first shots, the sun was placed behind the two sheds located halfway down the pier. Then I noticed a bank of clouds on the horizon that would prevent a view of the sun slipping down into the ocean – the shot I originally envisioned. Instead, I moved along the waterline to try to show more of the length of the pier in the frame. The shutter was pressed each time the two surfers by the pier disappeared behind a wave. In the end, the cloud bank helped add interest to the image. After editing the images, I narrowed it down to twelve captures, each composed a little differently. Some images had the horizon high in the frame and some low. The last one, my favorite, is the image in the post.
First a note of caution – be very careful when shooting sunsets. Looking through the viewfinder can be harmful if the sun hits your eye. Make sure you do not look directly at the sun. For those interested in the technical side, I shot this image at f8 @ 1/160 of a second with a 24-70 zoom at the 70mm setting and used a polarizer. I metered well away from the sun to get a slight overexposure. In Lightroom, I lowered the final exposure two stops. The horizon was adjusted slightly to get everything level. Some saturation and adjustment of color temperature completed the image.
As a side note, the difference between the captures during editing came down to the placement of the waves. In some frames, the waves were too strong and eliminated much of the color reflection. In others, the waves hurt the composition.
This image resembles many of the prints I saw in the Naples art show. But that wasn’t my aim. The real fun was being there and working the light, the composition, the details and looking through the viewfinder to reach that magic moment when it all comes together.
Right Time, Right Place + Luck
Posted on | February 18, 2010 | 1 Comment
In early February, Linda and I escaped to Naples, Florida to visit my sister and brother-in-law. Our plan was to spend a week visitng family in the area and do some exploring. A few days before departing, my sister called and asked if we would like to visit Corkscrew Swamp. Yes, yes, yes, yes ,yes! My original intention to only bring the G9 for snapshots went out the window. Instead I packed one DSLR Canon body, a 28-70 2.8 zoom , a 70-200 2.8 IS zoom, spare batteries, a polarizing filter and a few flash cards in a backpack along with the G9. The tripod, extra camera body, wide angle lens, macro lens, and telephotos lenses stayed home.
We arrived about 3PM at the Corkscrew Swamp entrance gate. I hadn’t been to Corkscrew in over thirty years. The parking lot was now paved with a nice reception building and display area. The 2.5 mile boardwalk that makes a loop through the swamp was the same as I remembered. It was a busy afternoon with plenty of company on the boardwalk as we meandered along. A little more than half way around, a photographer with a long lens (I guess about 500mm) was photographing a Little Blue Heron. He had the motor drive going like a machine gun. I moved on a bit and found a nice spot for a few captures. Not special lighting but still great fun. From here on, it seemed that I would do the bunny hop with the other shooter. At one point I was taking a picture of a nursery log and he continued on ahead. The next time I saw him he was set up to shoot a hawk eating an apple snail. The hawk had its back to us, so I moved on. Most of the crowd stayed to watch the hawk feeding. As I came around a bend, I saw the Great Egret sitting on the boardwalk railing basking in the late afternoon sun. I found a clear shot through two tree trunks and managed twelve captures before the light and the egret disappeared.
I could have spent a week shooting at the Corkscrew Swamp. It reminded me of the photography I did when just starting out. Even though I only had a couple of hours, I came away with twelve or so images I really liked and the thrill of the egret in the setting sunlight. The right time, the right place and plenty of luck. What a day!
For those interested in the technical details, the image was shot at f 5.6 @ 160 of a second at the 200mm setting with image stabilizing on and the polarizer filter attached. I chose to meter on the light shadow area of the bird’s head. I still did some bracketing but selected this capture with no exposure compensation. My histogram showed some highlight clipping in the white breast feathers. In Lightroom, I lowered the exposure on the raw file one half stop and added some highlight recovery. Then I selectively lightened the light shadow on the bird’s head area and slightly darkened the bright area on the bird’s chest. The highlight clipping indications on the histogram disappeared.
By the Way – Timber Press has put up part one of six parts of my podcast on macro photography. Go to www.timberpress.com to listen.
Next week I talk about photographing the Naples Pier at sunset.
Next week I’ll tell you about shooting the setting sun at the Naples Pier.
Picture This Contest and Editing Images
Posted on | January 27, 2010 | No Comments
In January, I was the guest judge for the Gardening Gone Wild blog “Picture This” photo contest. I chose ‘Winter Beauty’ as the theme and watched as the entries were posted. The deadline was midnight, the 21st. About seventy photographers sent in their selection.
I rated each image on a 1-5 scale. Fourteen entries earned a rating of 3, 3+, 4-, 4, and 4+. In order to view them all together, I imported the pictures into Adobe Lightroom as a collection.
I reviewed the collection many times to find the strongest images. Seven pictures rose to the top with one a clear winner. Interestingly, some initially highly rated images did not survive and some of the lower scored pictures were better over time when viewed against the other fourteen. I reviewed all the entries one more time to confirm the choices. The results are now posted – www.gardeninggonewild.com.
As a photographer, one of the most difficult challenges is the editing of your own images. There are emotional attachments to each image, otherwise you wouldn’t press the shutter. Viewers, however, will miss the emotion unless it is obvious in the image. If you are going to be presenting or showing your images to someone else to view, you must edit as if you are the judge in a contest. First, make sure of the technical requirements. Close or good enough doesn’t count. Then look for feeling, lighting, gesture or something that is unique in the image. Don’t rush. If you are not sure, walk away and come back with a fresh eye.
The bottom line is this. As a photographer, every time you show your images to people other than your family and friends, they are going to be judged. One weak image in a group will cloud the rest. If you are a critical editor, you can relax when you send your treasures out into the world.
Lecture/Workshop updates -
The lecture ‘The Photographer’s Eye’ is scheduled at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, NJ, July 10, 2010. Also, keep in mind the macro workshop at the New York Botanical Garden, April 30th, the Master Photography workshop at Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pa, Oct 1 – 3 and the macro workshop at the Maine Media Workshop in Rockport, Maine, Oct 17-23rd.
Color to Match
Posted on | January 11, 2010 | No Comments
Linda placed some poinsettias around the house for the holidays. One sunny but cold day, I decided to shoot some of the plants in order to keep cabin fever at bay. Three of the best plants were in the sunroom backlit with the early morning light. I set up the 70-200 zoom and clicked off a few exposures. I was not happy with the images on the camera’s LCD screen. I downloaded the images to the computer (a great advantage in shooting at home) to inspect the first images. My initial impressions were correct. The captures were not good enough to add to the image library.
The backlighting worked against me. The reds were so strong they overpowered the images. I added a diffuser to soften the light and decrease some of the contrast. Still not good enough. I decided to wait a few hours for the sun to move to see if sidelighting was better. In addition, a reflector placed opposite the diffuser further reduced the contrast. Changing the lens to a 180mm macro completed the afternoon set up.
The image in the viewfinder for the afternoon shoot looked much better. I downloaded and selected a number of the horizontal and vertical images. These images were more in line with what I hoped to capture. When I increased the images on the monitor to 100% however, detail in the red bracts was missing. The new plants are so color saturated that it caused clipping in the red channel. I lowered the saturation in the red channel (Lightroom 2 develop module) until detail showed. It didn’t take much, maybe -15 red, for the detail to show. One of the finished images from the series starts this post.
Some plants, especially the newer introductions, have such intense coloration that it may be impossible for the current monitors and printers to accurately match it. Make sure your monitor is calibrated and optimize your images for the best combination of saturation, exposure, detail etc. If you are shooting RAW, be patient. New monitors, printers ink or software may make it possible for us to go back to an old RAW file and reprocess it for a better match.
Updates & News
Posted on | December 24, 2009 | 1 Comment
It is close to the end of the year and we have made some changes to the blog.
We replaced the ink spots in the banner at the top with some of our images. If you still see ink spots, go to your web browser and under the drop down menu, either select refresh or empty the cache. Close the browser and reopen. You should see the new banner.
In the right hand column we’ve added a new catagory titled Photography Handouts. Starting with ‘Digital Basics 101′, this section will contain quick notes about the subjects we cover in more detail in our workshops. You are welcome to download them. This is the first of a few we will be adding.
If you have suggestions, let us know. We want to offer information that is useful to you.
On the news front, I am judging a photo contest for the Gardening Gone Wild blog in January. If you are not familiar with it, take a look at the web site – www.gardeninggonewild.com. The contest is open to anyone, so you might want to submit an image. This is your chance to have some “cabin fever’ fun with photography. The subject for January and my tips for the contest will be posted on their blog in the next week or so.
Adobe Lightroom is in the beta 3 stage. This is a pre-production release for Lightroom users to try and offer comments. While I check out a beta release, I do not switch my workflow over because there might be bugs in the software to correct. In the next few weeks, I’ll post some comments on the new features.
Regarding workshops, I will doing a Friday macro workshop at New York Botanical Garden in the spring. Details to come!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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