Photo of the Week 2023-04-10

 

I haven't been out shooting much in the last couple of weeks. Photography activity has mostly consisted of preparing, printing and framing some images to refresh those at the cottage.

Though the other morning I looked outside and noticed the rising sun was spilling onto some of the crocus that had bloomed in our gardens. I reached for a camera and my 70mm macro to get down on my knees and do some close up work.

 

' morning crocus '

This particular flower had conveniently dropped a petal down such that I could get a view inside looking from the side.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-07-26

 

When I picked up a new camera body a few weeks ago, the 24-105 lens I ordered had not yet arrived, so I had to use the new mirrorless body with DSLR lenses via an adapter which was no biggie since I already had it and was good to go.

 

I chose to try out my Sigma 70mm Macro and Sigma 150mm Macro lenses first and have been enjoying my return to close up, shallow depth of field imagery. It should not then be a surprise that my post this week is again a macro / close up image(s).

 

While readying the BBQ for dinner grilling at the cottage, I noticed an interesting subject on the flower-head of the Curly Dock growing in our pollinator patch.

 

white webster

 

I'm always looking at what is growing and living in the patch and noticed this Goldenrod Crab Spider out at the end of the Curly Dock checking things out. At first it was quite still. I used my 150mm macro to capture this image from quite close, then later as it moved around, I re-positioned for a closer shot, near the minimum focus distance of the lens.

Four-Eyes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was interesting trying to get sharp images, not only because of the very shallow depth of field, but because the breeze was bouncing the plant around a fair bit. The movement actually caused the spider to fall off the plant ... 

hanging by a thread

 

... to be saved by a single thread of silk, hang there for a bit, then climb back up.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-07-19

 

It might be a bit surprising how new gear with new features can inject new energy into the photographic journey ...

Oh I love new gear just because it is new gear, but my recent return to using macro lenses and wide apertures with shallow depth of focus has been aided by the availability of an articulating LCD screen on the back of my new camera. Previously, I had been required to perform some interesting contortions in order to be able to see through the camera viewfinder or view the rear LCD to accomplish the precise focus I wanted. This resulted in some laughable scenarios where my forehead could be planted in the cedar duff covering the forest floor as I worked to get an upward angle on a wildflower, or where strange grunting and groaning noises could be heard in the vicinity of a low slung tripod set close to the ground for that bug's eye view.

Things are much easier now. Oh, I still need to get down on my knees for a lot of the wildflower images, but other than a bit of additional hunching over to shade the articulated LCD and zoom in for that perfect focus, it's a new day, a new way for my nature macro photography and here is another example of the results ...

colourful viper

Until you stop and take a close look, Viper's Bugloss appears to be just another roadside weed. Actually, it produces very intricate, colourful and interesting flowers that bud pink amongst a hairy green tuft before turning purple and stretching their pink stamens far out where the bees and other insects do their pollination routine.

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-07-01

There are a great many wildflowers to see and photograph on the Bruce Peninsula once spring arrives and although summer arrived over a week ago, the temperatures are still on the cool side with spring flowers still lingering, some even just blooming ...

Forget-me-not

Herb-Robert

These beauties bloom in patches scattered around the cottage property adding to it's serenity with their colour. I don't like when the vegetation grows to the extent that I need to trim it to keep mosquitoes away ... it means many of the Forget-me-not's will be taken out and some of the Herb-Robert as well.

Before firing up the weed trimmer, I fired up the macro lens and got down on my knees for some hand-held closeups.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2013-04-08

Last week I was digging through the 2009 archives looking for an image that a friend from work had given me to work on. The search provided an opportunity to relive some memories of locations, events and subjects that I had captured back then. During the process, I made note of number of images and outings that I need to revisit and work on or assemble into sets. I opened several images in Photoshop as I went along so I could look at them later.

I left the images open in Photoshop for quite a while and kept coming back to one from a trip to the Muskoka Wildlife Centre. There I had the opportunity to enter an enclosure and photograph a pair of wolves with nothing between us other than their domain. It was a close up shot that had my attention, head on as one wolf stared me down. I was close enough that the nose was mostly out of the shot and what was in the frame was out of focus. Still, there was something about the image that kept drawing me back to it. It may be that I wish I had been able to get the full face in frame and in sharp focus, but I think in the end it was the eyes, those wild eyes.

Wild Eyes

D