27. February 2010 by David.

I recently bought a Canon 55-250mm lens and was just shooting around the house trying it out. My intention was to delete all the photographs but this one caught my eye.

There is actually an optical illusion here. The center panel just behind the knob is actually raised. Since the main light source is coming from the bottom the shadow is on the top of the panel and the highlight from the bottom. Even though I know this it takes me a while to see it correctly.

Hope you enjoy. F8@1/25sec, 135mm, ISO 200, converted to black and white.

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Dave

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27. February 2010 by David.

When you first view this photograph you think, well it’s an out of focus shot of the sea. Then your eye catches that little flower in the lower right and jumps around a little bit. I thought about adding a cloud or two to add some tension but decided to keep the photograph as is. I used a slow shutter speed and larger f-stop to keep the foreground in focus and the background recognizable. This was actually the only flower I could see in the area.

F22 @1/20sec, 30mm, ISO 200

Posted in California Coast, Landscape, Flowers | Print | No Comments »

26. February 2010 by Friedhelm.

Rahilly Park in Merced, CA is my favorite photographic subject. I love this little park where I do my almost daily exercise walk. Since I am the kind of photographer that always looks out for beauty and interesting subjects I closed my eyes on the garbage that unfortunately is all over this park. This month I finally decided to photograph and to document it. I am happy to report that I met one retired gentlemen who walks the park every morning with an empty trash bag and picks up a lot of garbage.

I did not like the first round of images. I had to rethink and made some adjustments in my photographic vision. Finally I came up with images that speak to me and I will consider myself a happy man if I could make just one person stop throwing garbage into our beautiful parks!

Camera setting: 15mm focal length, f20, 1/160sec., ISO 400

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25. February 2010 by Friedhelm.

After the fog burnt off this morning beautiful late winter or early spring clouds appeared. This created the opportunity for some awesome images. For this image I used a 15mm lens on a full frame camera. The camera was tripod mounted and pretty much down on the ground. There was no way looking through the viewfinder or even to use live view. I had just a vague estimate what kind of image I would get. I know I had to block the sun out as much as possible and I had to avoid the roof of the house. I set the camera on a 10 sec. timer and then I had to get out of the way as quickly as possible. Camera setting: 15mm, f18, 1/50sec., ISO 100

Enjoy and happy photographing!

Posted in Trees | Print | No Comments »

24. February 2010 by Friedhelm.

The difference between a portrait and a fashion shot is that in a portrait you want to show the person. In fashion shot like in any other product shot you want to show the product. This is more a fashion shot than a portrait. The jeans are really popping out. The message is: you can do anything with these jeans!. Watch also the position of the feet. They are in an almost 90 degree angle. The arms are almost in a 45 degree angle. Al this supports the overall structure of the image.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

Posted in Fun-stuff, Portraits | Print | No Comments »

23. February 2010 by Friedhelm.

I photographed these blossoms after sunset. The red sky provided an excellent background. Sometimes I forget that I live in such a beautiful state. I used an old Minolta MD Rokkor lens with extension tubes that I connected to my Canon DSLR. Camera setting: F16, 4sec., ISO 100. I was lucky that there was no wind blowing.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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22. February 2010 by Friedhelm.

This is an other image of my “throw away” mail. To me it almost looks like a flower (with some imagination). Camera setting: f8, 1/20sec., ISO 100.

Enjoy and have a great photographic day!

Posted in Compositions | Print | No Comments »

21. February 2010 by Friedhelm.

Today was not a great day to go out and photograph. It was wet and yucky therefore I decided to look for a subject in my room. When I looked at my paper shredder I saw a bunch of old mail and envelopes that needed to be destroyed. I decided to photograph them. I used several arrangement until I achieved the composition I liked. The red dot is the focal point and the lines that are created by the white paper support the overall structure of the image. I used mostly side and back lightning to create the shadows that I wanted. The shallow depth of field is another tool to draw attention to the main focal point. I used my 85mm portrait lens with a 12mm extender. Camera setting: f2.8, 1/50.sec., ISO 100.

Enjoy and be creative with your photography. You find a subject anywhere!

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20. February 2010 by David.

This is one of the most beautiful times of the year in the valley. The wildflowers are starting to bloom and the almond trees are in full swing.

The bees were in full swing when I got to this orchard. This is one of the flowers that  hadn’t been visited yet. I also learned that I am not allergic to bee stings. Many years ago I was stung by a wasp and as the doctor said I had a ‘beautiful reaction’.

f11 @1/20sec, 75mm with extension tubes, ISO 200

Keep clicking

Dave

Posted in Trees, Flowers | Print | No Comments »

19. February 2010 by David.

Point Lobos is a wonderful State Park for photography, hiking and enjoying the ocean. Earlier in the day the waves were very high and the beach/ocean access was restricted. I was lucky enough to be able to set up my tripod right at the point where access was stopped. With the grey foggy sky I wasn’t sure what the sunset would be like. After about a 40 minute wait ………..

1/8sec at 56mm, f16, ISO200, tripod mounted, graduated neutral density filter, remote trigger, polarizing filter and I think the kitchen sink.

Keep Clicking

Dave

Posted in California Coast, Landscape | Print | No Comments »