This is an old house by the lake in Central Park, Schenectady. When I saw it on my “photowalk”, I immediately visualized it as a black and white sketch.
The straggly and weed-like flowers in the front together with the old fashioned look made me think of an abandoned house.
I think the image was enhanced with the point of view – the vegetation in the foreground framing the house. Taken with the Tamron 17-55 at 30mm.
I attended the World Wide Photo Walk today. Led by Sean, the event was staged at Schenectady’s Central Park. Some 29 people attended and took photos in an informal setting.
I met some interesting fellow photographers who enjoyed a dry and relatively cool morning. After the rain, it became beastly warm and humid. Fortunately, some of us made a beeline to a local pizza joint for lunch and conversation.
This image is of a stone bridge over a short creek. This area, including the nearby formal flower gardens, in often used by brides for their photos. The following photo is the group that attended. Can you find me? Hint: look for the fountain.
Tomorrow is World Wide Photo Walk Day. I will be participating in the one in Schenectady (the only walk nearby). Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
I will be posting any decent images as soon after the tomorrow as possible, but my daughter’s engagement party may get in the way of that.
Lilly Arrangement
So enough with the spiders for awhile! Here is an arrangement of lilies for a change of pace. The flowers are side lit for a dramatic flare.
The background has a beautiful, creamy bokeh (the photography lingo for “out of focus”). This is caused when the long focal length of the lens (300 mm) and the wide open aperture (f 4) separates the foreground (flowers) from the background (grass and other vegetation).
A subtle post-cropping vignette ads to the “mystery” of the image. Since this was a grouping in nature (not a formal arrangement), there are several not so attractive petals in the photo (can you spot them). I should have removed them before the shot or done a little “Photoshoping” to eliminate the detracting elements. I will do this for the final print.
Anterior View
Today, I came across another female garden spider (Araneus diadematus) with her prey and I watched carefully for about 40 minutes as the arachnid processed the food. These two images show the spider first looking head on (anterior view) and then from underneath to its “belly” (posterior view).
All images taken with the Canon 40D and the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens.
The anterior view (notice the six eyes or ocelli) shows the spider manipulating the bolus with the pedipalps (those are the two smaller appendages). As the pedipalps grasp the bolus, the chelicera (the two “jaws”) pull the mass in (and out) of the mouth. The chelicera have fangs with poison. The pedipalps have sensory cells that taste the food. Spiders do not chew their food. instead he pretty much sucks up what they eat.
Posterior View
In the second photo from underneath, you can clearly see all eight legs (if you look carefully, you can even make out the seven segments that make up each leg). The large dark oval to the rear of the spider is its abdomen (opisthosoma) which contains the intestinal system, heart and reproductive organs.
In the center of the spider’s body is the sternum (cephalothroax)from which the legs emanate.
The final two images are close-up of the rear end of the spider showing the spinnerets which produce the silk for the web.
Spider spinnerets
Spinnerets detail
Benches and Tiles
The campus of the Univ. of Mass, Amherst (the NECCC photo convention was held) is an interesting mixture of old-style Ivy-league buildings and glass and concrete modern architecture.
The modern styles offered the most interesting photo opportunities. It was amazing to me that with all the “advanced amateur” photographers, few had any interest in making these images. I watched as attendees passed by without a glance. It was only after several saw me focused on these subjects, that a few began to recognize the potential (rather than the expensive cameras and lens hung around their necks).
Steps
The first two images are outside and adjacent to the campus center – a tall concrete building with a bunker-like entrance. Who said that harsh light of midday was a poor time to take photos? I like the interesting play of light and dark on the stark lines of the outdoor benches and the steps leading up to second level of the campus center.
Glass and Shadows
The final image was taken in the morning as I entered the ISB, Integrated Science Building (where some of the class sessions were held). I was drawn to the play of lines, glass and shadow caused by the sunlight streaming through the windows.
All images lent themselves to presentation in black and white. Original color photos were converted to black and white in Lightroom 3. Images made with the Canon 40D+Tamron 17-55 f2.8 lens. Grain was deliberately emphasized for the illustrative and film-like style. Please click on the images for a larger view.
One of the long standing features of the New England Camera Club Council convention is the availability of models for picture taking.
Some models were outdoors and others were in studio set-ups. The outdoor models had no studio lighting – a problem in harsh light. But the models were placed in the shadow of buildings, so there was a soft light for the most part. It would have been nice if scrims or reflectors were available.
These two images were made outdoors at various parts of the UMass campus. I used natural lighting with a bit of fill flash and my Tamron 17-55 lens. One of the nice things about these models was their ability to strike interesting poses without much direction.
I have quite a few good shots of these two models. Two other models shoots were not particularly successful – not because of the models but because of the photographer!
I attended the New England Camera Club Council annual conference, 7-16 to 7-18, on the campus of the U of Mass, Amherst. The workshops were very good to excellent and the conference was quite worthwhile.
The conference staged a number of photo opportunities, including a group of skydivers who landed early this morning among a throng of eager photographers. Not nearly as spectacular as advertised or expected, but still a fine morning to be out in the fresh air!
This one was taken with my trusty 300 f4 L IS set on manual exposure (f11 at 1/800, iso 800). Minimal processing in Lightroom 3. Virtually no noise reduction needed. Click to enlarge.
Although I did not come to do much photography, I did get some interesting photos. This little skipper was having breakfast by the lake while we were waiting for the skydivers.
I will post other photos in the following days.
I have come across a most interesting photography content-based comic strip called “What the Duck” located on line at whattheduck.net. Many are funny; some just thoughtful (and others, well not so much). But always inventive. Above is one that I just thought was fabulous … just don’t tell my wife!
Strive for Perfection, Settle for Excellence
Recently, I heard a professional photographer of some fame and skill use the quote: “strive for perfection, settle for excellence” in regard to serious photography. I thought it was pretty good advice. You can’t expect to be perfect but you can sure try.
Many people use a variation of that phrase in motivational speeches. According to some accounts, Vince Lambardi is its originator since he is quoted widely as saying:
” Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. “
Variations of the same quote has been attributed to everyone from Walt Disney to Sir Lawrence Olivier (“Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is. You’ll be afraid you can’t achieve it. … It’s your excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead, strive for excellence, doing your best.“)
Me, I strive for any small measure of perfection, accept pretty good as a nice start, and one day, hope to achieve excellence. My belief as far as my photography goes: “keep at it all the time, refine your vision, enjoy yourself and when all else fails, take a nap.”