20. March 2009 by David.

I’m taking an art class at Merced College, I’m a left brained kind of guy, so this is a real challenge for me. Anyway, each week I’ve passed these flowers and finally got around to photographing them. I’m not sure of the name but I bet ‘Bell’ is in there somewhere. If you know please leave a comment.

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20. March 2009 by Friedhelm.

I was hiking in a remote location west of Palo Alto when I saw these beautiful blossoms. The wind was blowing. Normally I shoot flowers at f22, iso 100. In order to get the shutter speed fast enough to “freeze the action” I had to use iso 400 and f 5.6 ro so. Keep in mind: Shutter speed, aperture and iso setting determine the quality of your image. A fast shutter speed freezes the action, a wide open aperture gives you a great depth of field and a low iso avoids a grainy image.

Happy shooting

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19. March 2009 by Friedhelm.

I can only repeat David’s recommendation. Go out and shoot windflowers right now. They are on their peak in the Valley and they are unbelievable pretty.

Enjoy and happy shooting!

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18. March 2009 by Friedhelm.

Reflecting objects require a little bit of preparation. First, you want to eliminate the reflection by building a tent around the object. Second, you want to set up the strobe lights to create the pattern of white and dark stripes on the metal surface. The second image is a good illustration.

Enjoy and happy shooting!

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17. March 2009 by Friedhelm.

I love to photograph at lake Yosemite just outside Merced, CA. After a while I got to know many of the men and women that are always ready to go out and catch a fish. One day I asked this gentleman if he would give me permission to photograph him and he said yes. I treasure this portrait until today. It never hurts to ask someone: Can I photograph you, please? You might get a wonderful image.

Happy shooting!

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16. March 2009 by Friedhelm.

A garage sale is a wonderful opportunity for photographers. There are so many different subjects. Sometimes you even find something that is real valuable and it is an opportunity to give out your business card.

Enjoy and happy shooting

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14. March 2009 by David.

Not exactly the kind of wildflower you want. This is a extreme close-up of a dandelion achieved through the use of an extention tube added to my lens. Extension tubes are a relatively inexpensive way to get very close to your subject, i.e. macro photography. My lense was less than 1/2 inch away from the flower that was smaller than a quarter. Note the tiny ant and if you look closely, just above the ant is a small drop of water.

Keep clicking.

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14. March 2009 by David.

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, It’s wild flower season. Take ‘em while they’re hot.

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13. March 2009 by Friedhelm.

The idea for this composition came from the Chowchilla photo club (www.passionforphotos.com).  The theme for the month of March was “Green.” I started out writing down everything that came to my mind that I associated with the word “green” and out of this small exercise that I learned in a Photoshop class at Merced college came the idea for this composition.

Happy shooting!

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12. March 2009 by Friedhelm.

For studio portraits we are using large soft-boxes. They create a very soft light that is pleasing to the eye. The soft-box you see in the picture is called the main or key light. The second soft-box we use is called the fill light. The purpose of the main light is to lighten the subject. The purpose of the fill light is to soften the shadows created by the main light without creating new shadows on the subjects face. Therefor the main light has to be more powerful than the fill light. A good portrait ratio is that the main light is about three times as powerful as the key light.

Happy shooting

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