Nice Day, Randy will Play

[rtbaum]

After a week of rain, I completed my chores (assigned by the significant other). Off I went to Crocus Hill with my full complement of photographic paraphernalia, waddling down the path like an overloaded beast of burden in search of Pasqueflowers. Pasqueflower is one of the first flowers to brave the early Spring conditions that are so prevalent in Minnesota. Just for the entertainment value, I shot the flowers with my full complement of lenses; passersby were very impressed with my very professional tactics, little did they know.....I was just screwing around


Pasqueflower 17mm


Pasqueflower 90mm Macro (6 image stack)


Pasqueflower 90mm Macro (16 image stack)


Pasqueflower 400mm telephoto

[Stagecoach]

Nice set Randy, I especially like No 1.

Grahame

[FootLoose]

'screwing around' lol , nice pun, Randy. I like the 2nd and 4th. The whites a little blown in #2 but the composition is good.

[ST1]

Good set Randy, well done for getting out there with your kit. Number 2 gets my vote though I think it needs/could be improved with a little bit more canvas on the top edge.

[IzzieK]

I like #1 and #2 very much. The composition of this one is really great for someone just "screwing around"... You even got the silky hairs to a 'T'. There must be a lot of frogs in this area...I am not much into your close up shot at all but #4 is a little bit too busy for me. Need some work without getting it too soft? Good and nice job Randy... 'wonder what those people think you are doing? Have you been doing your contortion exercise in public again?

[Shadowman]

Nice.

[rtbaum]

Izzie- You are correct, some contortion was involved. Crocus Hill has a steep incline and these flowers are only about 2-3 inches tall. I spent the entire time on my stomach, luckily it was dry....and the ticks aren't out yet. The 16 image stack did not turn out as well as I would have liked, I had to crop quite a bit around the edges. The black background was an inspiration, it is my lens bag for the 400mm lens, I also used a reflector to cut shadows caused by the intense sun.

The most rewarding events involved interacting with some of the passersby, a couple were celebrating their daughter's first birthday with a do-it-yourself photoshoot. They were very appreciative when I meandered over and lifted shadows with the reflector. CiC, with its "learning community" type of mantra must be becoming ingrained in my endeavors.



This gentleman was walking his dog on a near path and was very considerate about not crossing my shot (shooting macro, it really was not a problem), I coerced him to act as my model. The dog is a very rare breed of which only 300 exist, the name escapes me, apparently the breed was designed as bear hunting specialists.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Randy, I like #1 and #2 more

[IzzieK]

Oooooooh I like this last shot. It give us (me) an idea how big (or short) that bunch of flowers really are....

[rtbaum]

I looked up the breed on this dog, it is a Karelian Bear Dog. The description fits to 'T". "Fearless, steady, but reserved", this dog not aggressive toward me, but not particularly friendly either. Not a dog that I would want to make angry!

In regards to the perspective of the last shot, I shot at 17mm, the flowers are actually smaller than they appear....and of course the dog is bigger.

I have been trying to learn how to use this Tamron 17-50 mm 2.8 lens. I have enjoyed using it, it seems quite sharp....But it is a very different beast than my macro and telephoto lenses. Composition is much more difficult for me, there just so much of the scene to consider. I will eventually grasp it, but it is much easier to for me to see things in an isolated point of view. Sort of not seeing the forest, just the tree. As I peck this out, looking out at a woods beginning to green up, I see the Sharp-shinned Hawk hunting.