2018 Project 52 - 2nd QTR - Sandy(Skitterbug)

[skitterbug]

Second quarter already - Week 14. The calendar says spring. Easter was yesterday (April 1) but somehow the weather always has a mind of its own. The following scenes greeted me this morning. It wasn't bitterly cold for a change so I grabbed the camera and decided to see what I could do. By the time I'd walked the yard, the snow was already melting so I'm glad I was up earlier than usual or I would have missed it.

I decided to try B/W with this first photo. It is an indent of a bird that apparently wanted to create a "snow angel" as I used to do when I was a child. Actually, I am not sure what the bird was really doing but the results seemed interesting to me. I added a border for practice.

#1 ISO200 - f/11.0 - 1/160ss



This next photo doesn't really have a definite focus point but I was struck by the sky against the white of the snow on the trees.

#2 ISO200 - f/11.0 - 1/640ss



This one is our home. Plenty of snow makes it look very pleasant to me.

#3 ISO200 - f/11.0 - 1/640ss



This last one is our koi pond. We recently opened the waterfall but we still have plenty of work to do in restoring order around the edges. I'm looking forward to pond foliage but it is too soon to see any now. I liked the reflections in the water and decided to see if I could capture it.

#4 ISO200 - f/11.0 - 1/250ss

[Shadowman]

Nice series and they do serve to document this years weather so well. We only had mild flurries Sunday so I didn't bother shooting them, I prefer capturing the flurries at night with flash.

[skitterbug]

Nice series and they do serve to document this years weather so well. We only had mild flurries Sunday so I didn't bother shooting them, I prefer capturing the flurries at night with flash.

Hi John - I've never had any good results trying to capture snow flakes. The photo always ends up with these funny looking blobs. <sigh>

I've tried to document events, projects, weather, etc. around our home since it is fun to go back through and see the changes. Interestingly, the photos are improving because of a bit more know-how and better gear - IMO. I have plenty to learn yet about the hows and whys of photo skills but the journey is fun....most of the time!

Thanks for the encouragement!

[rudi]

Very nice 'spring' images Sandy. Like the last one best !
Right now we have 'only' 15°C and plenty off sunshine , a 'warm' change after a wet, drooly winter....

[skitterbug]

Very nice 'spring' images Sandy. Like the last one best !
Right now we have 'only' 15°C and plenty off sunshine , a 'warm' change after a wet, drooly winter....

Hi Rudi - I'd take 15°C happily. I'm ready for the weather to change to warmer!
Thanks for looking at the images and commenting! I appreciate it!

[skitterbug]

I have been slow to post for week 15 because I've been undecided whether this is worthy. I used the white balance card when I took the photo(s) but once again, I think maybe the blossom should be a bit more blue than what I captured. I focused on the front flower and now wish I'd have had a bit more DOF regarding the blossoms. I also don't like the light green behind and at the bottom but after adjusting, that's what I ended up with. I would like to go out for more tries but now we've experienced winds gusting to 50 MPH, rain continually and now have the threat of snow again! Weird weather going on in my part of the world.

So with those excuses made, here's my attempt. Comments welcome of course!

Spring flower! f/7.1 - ISO200 - 1/20ss

[Geoff F]

I have said it before, Sandy. 'Formal flower portraits are as difficult to photograph as portraits of people' and when shooting outdoors under real life conditions flowers are doubly difficult.

You have managed everything except for the focus depth. As you mentioned, more focus depth is required. Either a single flower or more than one bloom carefully arranged to keep within the available focus range.

Sometimes, windbreaks and natural light control are essential.

Maybe you could tone down the lighter green area a fraction but I don't see this as being a major issue here.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff ~ I wanted to go back out and try again but we've had nothing but rain, cold, lots of heavy wind and now for goodness sake, it is snowing again! I'm hoping the flowers survive. As you mentioned, I need to work on DOF, etc. and it is only by practicing that I will eventually figure out settings and obtain the results that I want!

Thanks for commenting!

[rudi]

Hi Sandy,

to add to Geoff's comments:
a faster shutter speed (iff possible off course) would also help reducing motion blur.

[skitterbug]

Thanks for commenting Rudi! I agree with your suggestion. For some reason I thought I had it set for faster speed, but when I looked over my pics, I found I hadn't.

Have I complained enough about the weather in my area??? It is snowing - again! It is supposed to be spring around here! One of these days, I'll be able to get out and try again! I hope! And I'll remember to double check my camera settings!

[skitterbug]

Week 16 - The rain paused a bit, the wind lessened so I headed out to see what I could get. Signs of spring that, so far, have survived the freezing temperatures we've had during the nighttime. Makes me smile.

For these, I did increase the speed - using the camera's manual settings. Had to have a bit higher ISO because of the gloomy weather but I think the noise in the pics is minimal. I was also more pleased about the DOF in these.

Opinions are always appreciated!

#1 - Beauty Pops Out of the Rubble - f/7.1 - 1/500ss - 1/800



#2 - Cheery Daffodils - f/11 - 1/640ss - ISO400

[Shadowman]

Nice set.

[skitterbug]

Thank you John!

[FootLoose]

Good work on the daffodils, Sandy. Good sharp image of the main subject and a pleasing complementary background.

[skitterbug]

Good work on the daffodils, Sandy. Good sharp image of the main subject and a pleasing complementary background.

Hi Greg! Thanks for the encouraging words! There was snow on top of them this morning. It would have been a "cool" pic but I was on my way out for an appointment and didn't get the chance to capture it. Fortunately the snow melted by the time I returned home again!

[Geoff F]

A lot better, Sandy.

Just a couple of slight thoughts though. Next time spend a bit of time clearing up the background before shooting flower scenes. With the first scene there are some small twigs among the leaves and a larger stick going off to the right side which becomes a distraction.

But I do know how difficult it can be to arrange a perfect background. Too often I carefully clean up everything before shooting then when I review my first shots I find something obviously out of place; and when I 'correct' one piece I find another!

However, spending a bit of time getting everything perfect is worth the effort in the end. Just think of it as a portrait or a 'still life' image. Would you leave untidy bits in the background with those cases?

Your daffodils seem a fraction on the dark side. But be careful with any over enthusiastic 'improvements'. They are a very tricky subject and frequently get over exposed/saturated. Good detail in the flower heads.

[skitterbug]

Hi Geoff - I looked at all the rough material around the Hyacinth and decided that I wanted to show it in its natural state - what it had to get through to bloom. Life is tough for flowers in my garden beds. LOL But I do understand where you are headed with the idea of being as neat as possible. I don't like dead foliage, etc and will avoid it if I can.

For the daffodils, I'd darkened the shadows a bit so that the flower would stand out but perhaps became a little heavy handed in my endeavors. Something else I often forget to check is what level I have the brightness set on my computer screen. Often I am on the computer during the darker hours and the brightness bothers my eyes so I tone it down. Now you would think that would cause me to brighten too much but often, it is the reverse. Dark begets dark apparently.

Anyway that's part of why these are the way they are. I'll keep trying since spring and onward is the perfect time for beautiful flowers.

Thanks for your suggestions! They are definitely appreciated!

[skitterbug]

Week 17 - We are finally getting a break from winter weather. Still the wind is cold because it comes from the east. I am waiting for it to shift and come the south and then it will warm up nicely. In the meantime, if I find a spot out of the wind, but with the sun shining, it is a good place to sit! It is very nice to be out of the house.

So my project this week was trying to capture some backyard birds. A brown thrasher popped out from under the evergreen trees and gave me the chance to photograph him. What a treat! I hope I did him justice!

I mounted my 7D Mark II with the 100-400mm lens on a tripod that I've had from the start of my journey in this new adventure of photography. It isn't much but it does give me a bit of stability and it is teaching me what I may want when I finally do make a decision about what to replace it with. It is hard to make a decision about something that I have very little knowledge about......

The following had a constant setting of f/5.6 since it was my lens fully extended to 400mm and the light was somewhat diminished. I was trying for as little ISO as possible and for as much speed as I could use and still have everything in focus, etc.
The first two, I used 1/400ss - ISO200. And the last three I used 1/800ss - ISO500.

Comments and suggestions are always appreciated!

#1



#2



For some reason, this fellow decided that he just had to scratch an itch. Not sure what opening his beak does to help, but each time he scratched, he did this. The speck on his beak was a particle of food he picked up while sorting through the earth for beetles, etc.

#3



Still scratching......

#4



#5

[Geoff F]

Very good, Sandy.

I wonder if you could get away with just a fraction more highlight brightness on the last three images? But you would have to carefully mask out any overly bright areas from the ground. Curves adjustment layer with a mask gently brushed over in problem areas to reduce any hot spots.

[skitterbug]

Very good, Sandy.

I wonder if you could get away with just a fraction more highlight brightness on the last three images? But you would have to carefully mask out any overly bright areas from the ground. Curves adjustment layer with a mask gently brushed over in problem areas to reduce any hot spots.

Had a try at this in Affinity Photo. Not sure if you can tell a difference or even if I am headed in the right direction. There doesn't seem to be a straightforward way to do what I know you would like to see done. I just tried one to see if it works okay.