Impression of a Wedding

Posted on August 4, 2010 by admin

Impression of a Wedding

I made this image just prior to the wedding party coming out for photos before the big event. The photo in color is pedestrian, but I envisioned this in dramatic black and white infrared. The stark white chairs against the dark grass. (Infrared turns green into black).

Taken at 17 mm to emphasize the chair setup, the building and the clouds. I used the walkway to lead the eye from the table to the clouds. Is this allegorical, symbolic or just a lucky happenstance? However, it is all “fake” infrared. All post-processing done with some fancy-footwork in LR3 + conversion to B&W and an infrared preset.

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Murray On His Leaf

Posted on August 4, 2010 by admin

Monarch Caterpillar

Murray is home! Today, I transfered him from a little jar and some ratty milkweed to a much bigger jar which will be his home until he emerges as an adult. I removed him from his leaf and placed him on some fresh milkweed.

He easts voraciously – within a few minutes on his new home, the leaf was shredded on one edge. I took him outside to photograph in natural light + a bit of fill flash using the Canon 100 mm macro. He has three pairs of thoracic legs and five pairs of prolegs (which you can see in this photo).

Murray also has 2 pairs of sensory tentacles, one pair on the head and another pair near the end of the abdomen. You can see both head tentacles and abdominal tentacles in this photo. Click on the image to see a larger version.

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Murray the Monarch

Posted on August 3, 2010 by admin

WooHoo, I am now in posession of a monarch butterfly caterpillar. Thanks to my colleague, Linda, I have a cute little guy whose name is Murray. Linda gave me enough milkweed plants and several jars + instructions to raise the critter. I have to keep the milkweed damp and cool (in the frig- wait ’till Helene hears about this.)

Pupa and Adult

I will attempt to raise Murray and photograph the process. He will go from caterpillar (larva) to crysalis (pupa) to adult. Once Murray becomes a pupa he will take 10-14 days to emerge as an adult.

There are several stages for the larva -> pupa -> adult and a number are very short. It may well be a matter of luck to see each stage. Also, individual larva may not survive (but Murray is strong, I can tell).

After a day, I will let Murray out into the garden to feast on the nectar of flowers before he flies off to Mexico (where he and his friends spend the winter). Eastern Monarchs are snow-birds who travel to the Sierra Madre Mountains. I already feel a kinship to Murray – do you think they have early-bird specials in Mexico? (oops, I probably should not have mentioned birds to Murray). BTW, Monarchs from Western North America overwinter in California.

Image of the pupa and adult came from the US Fish and Wildlife Service web site.

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Romantic Sunset

Posted on August 2, 2010 by admin

Romantic Sunset

OK, so I could not resist the “iconic image” (otherwise known as a photo cliche) of a couple in the sunset. BTW, the wedding photographer missed this opportunity!

I was watching the sun set from the reception room windows and it was unremarkable. But then for a few moments the clouds and the sun seemed to come together.

So out came the camera with the focal length set at 75mm to frame the scene. At first, the couple refused to stand close together (the nerve – you would think at a wedding they would at least hold hands).

This image was the best of the bunch; they finally came close enough to be called a couple. The sun set just barely cooperated, too. P-P in LR3.

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Surprise Swallowtail

Posted on August 2, 2010 by admin

Tiger Swallowtail

Back from the wedding and was it great – not the wedding (it was OK). We arrived early and so with camera in hand I explored the area. Mostly uninteresting with a few shots of the lake.

With a bit more exploration, I came across a good sized section of wildflowers and a host of butterflies – swallowtails and skippers. With the wrong lens on the camera, I ran back to the car for the 24-135 macro to take these darlings (and others) having lunch.

Swallowtail Feeding

They are Tiger Swallowtails. The first one is a nice anterior view with all but the far wing tip in focus. The second is from the side to show the feeding behavior. The final image is a close-up showing feeding.

A little off-camera flash would have enhanced the colors and opened up a few of the shadows but of course, I did not think to take it with me. All images post-processed in LR3.

Swallowtail Feeding close-up

BTW, tomorrow I get my just hatched Monarch caterpillar to raise to adulthood (and take photos)!

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Old Barn

Posted on July 31, 2010 by admin

Old Barn

The Berkshire Botanical Gardens is located near Stockbridge. We stopped there briefly on our way home from the Red Lion Inn.

This old barn was on the property, used as a utility shed with a hot house extension. This image was converted to black and white using LR3. Looks good printed on Red River Aurora Natural paper.

I just bought Martin Evening’s LR3 book and am anxious to try his b&w conversion techniques.

We will be away over the weekend attending a family wedding (not the whole family is getting married-just the happy couple, TG). Thus, I will not post again until I get back.

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Flowers with Border

Posted on July 30, 2010 by admin

Close-up

These images were taken at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens outside of Stockbridge, MA.  For the first photo, I moved in at 50 mm and cropped the center of the flower.

I am now experimenting with the LR post-processing plug-in called Mogrify. It allows me to add borders of various demensions and colors.

The first image was created using a white outer border of 2 pixels followed by another outer border in black of 10 pixels. A black copyright notice was added in the lower right hand corner.

The second image is another from the group shot from directly above. Also, at 50mm, it captures the beautiful delicate nature of the entire flower. The copyright notice is larger and in white.

Flower from Above

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Something Old and Something New

Posted on July 29, 2010 by admin

Window and Arch

Back to Stockbridge yesterday for a nice lunch with friends at the Red Lion Inn. The camera comes with me even though I have seen this town many times over the years (including one visit earlier this summer).

It seems I can always find some new and interesting subject with which to make an image despite being here so often. It never fails to amaze that photographers don’t take their cameras with them or don’t use it if they have one hanging around their neck.

As the great pro, Chase Jarvis has said, “The best camera is the one that’s with you. Every day”. He was talking about the iPhone camera he carries with him (and the amazing photos has has taken with that device). Check out his “best camera” web site for more on his iPhone app. He also has an interesting video podcast – see iTunes.

I think his comment applies to any camera you happen to have. As they say, “don’t leave home without it” :}

This image is of a window and archway caught in sun and shadow near the Red Lion. Taken with the trusty Tamron at 17mm and converted to black and white in Lightroom 3. The black and white conversion takes a bit of time but produces decent results.   Should I have enough money one day I will get the Nik Silver Effects filter.

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Lilly in the Extreme

Posted on July 27, 2010 by admin

I came across this floral grouping on the Photo Walk. OK, so the original was pretty … but it needed some umph. The photo was taken at 50mm to emphasize the foreground.

To give the image a bit of a lift, I edited in Topaz Adjust. This filter takes the original in Lightroom 3 and converts to a .tif as a copy.

I used the “mild details” filter to increase contrast and definition. The final version was cropped 1:1. (square). A strong vignette put the focus on the flowers.

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Would you take this photo?

Posted on July 26, 2010 by admin

Should a photographer pass the most commonplace element in the “landscape” and not find something with which to make an image? Here is a bit of graffiti on a brick wall that I found on my recent photowalk. In the bucolic atmosphere of Central Park, this opportunity could easily have been passed by.

Is this image worthy of my time? It is out of place and discordant and it mares the scenery. I wonder if anyone else in our group thought it worthy of their time. It could be a tag or just a local artist expressing himself. I like the question mark – an existential gang member perhaps questioning his existance. So what do you think?

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