I love to get up early on a summer morning and explore the garden looking for new images. In my previous blog I captured images involving the garden sprinklers. This time I put on the macro lens (Nikon 105mm) and started exploring. Given the sprinklers had run earlier there were a lot of water droplets hanging on the flowers and foliage so I decided to focus on those.

In the 1st image I saw a row of water droplets hanging along the edge of a gladiola. To get in close, I added a Canon 5T close-up lens and a 36mm extender.  I traded depth of field for some background detail. On a shot like this all the droplets have to be very sharp or else they distract from the rest. Set your camera up as parallel to the droplets as you can.

If you want to get a sunburst like the above you need to go with a small aperture (f51 in this case). The tradeoff is, of course, depth of field so you need to make sure the background material is far away and not too cluttered or else it distracts from the image. Also, note that changing your angle of view relative to the sun and water droplet can greatly impact the level of sunburst. Move you head up and down watching the water drop. Find the point where the sun seems brightest (you will see the difference once you hit that magic angle).

Finding nice background color when you can is always a great way to add pop. In the image above the background was all green which was nice, but I wanted a little more pop. I grabbed another red flower from the garden (I don’t recommend this unless it is your own garden) and held it at arms’ length (while I looked through the viewfinder) and moved it behind the area I wanted to emphasize. It took a few tries to get it, but I am happy with this one.

In this final image, I couldn’t get the sunburst without an aperture that resulted in a messy  background.  So I actually shot one with the background bokeh I wanted  (large aperture) and combined it with the small aperture shot using Photoshop. The result is the sunburst plus the nice background. It always pays to think outside the box you think you are in.

I thought I would share one of my latest “Floral Fusions” for the holiday. These blue star thistle blooms seemed appropriate for the 4th. This floral fusion is created using moving textured glass. One image was shot without the glass and the second was shot through the moving glass (0.4sec at f22). The images were captured in the garden, early in the morning, before the breezes started. To add a little punch behind the blue flowers I took an orange plastic bag that was handy and wrapped it around the base of the plant.  The two images were blended together in Photoshop using a layer mask and a brush. Contrast and local adjustments were done using Lightroom.

Have a happy fourth everyone!

I am continuing to work on new floral fusion images; adding little differences from my original collection. I will be sharing some of those down the road. This image is just one small variant – flowers with water on them. This Iris was captured in my yard a couple weeks ago – early in the morning before the morning breezes kicked in. Other variations I am working on are white backgrounds with the image pushed to a hi-key look (somewhat over exposed and overall very bright – most pixels in the upper half of the histogram). More images will be done with only black background. Each of these variants will likely be group into small collections of their own.

I went on a little tour last Sunday with a few local camera club members. We were primarily scouting/reviewing areas for future shooting. Along the way, we did get to grab some images. Given it was bright midday light I decided I would use my IR camera. This particular scene struck me as a good use of IR. IR adds mystery to an already mysterious place. Who lived here? Why did they leave? When did they go? What was their life like? This was out in the middle of no where. The large sky and the house dwarfed by the large tree add to this feel of remoteness and insignificance.

Blog Image: Shot with a modified Infrared Nikon D70. Converted to B&W using Nik Software’s Silver Efx Pro during the post processing. The glow was added using Nik’s Glamour Glow filter found in Color Efx Pro.

There is nothing quite like a quiet morning watching the light as the sun comes up. The soft shades of blue and magenta are quite pleasant and calming. In this particular case I was on top of The Dalles Mountain watching the light as it hit Mt. Hood and Mt Adams. This was a location I learned about the night before by talking to a local photographer, John Davis. I ran into him on the Rowena Plateau – known for its spring wildflower display. While the wildflowers on the plateau were spent as I expected, I did get to see some nice pre-reticular clouds and learn about other good locations from John.

It is hard to get up early enough for sunrise this time of year (sunrise 5:15am in the NW), but if you do, the rewards can be worth it. I am not talking about capturing a great image, that may or may not be the case, but about experiencing the beauty and wonder of morning light.

Blog Images: Mt. Hood at sunrise. For me this image was all about capturing the subtle hues from that morning. No dramatic clouds, just simply beautiful soft light. I pushed the mountain low in the frame to force the viewer’s eyes up through the transition from blue to magenta to blue.

I thought I would share this series of images I shot a while back. It provides just another example of what you can do with one subject. In this case it is a red poppy plant. As I have mention now and then I enjoy working in the garden. Sometimes before I place a new plant in the garden I will bring it inside to my make shift studio.

Don’t forget to explore all sides of your subject. Even if it isn’t the one you see – maybe I should say especially if it isn’t the normal side. The first image is one example.

This is a three multiple exposure shot against a black background. Shot using the multiple exposure mode in my Nikon.

A white poppy was most in front of the red poppy in this shot. It has been processed to be hi-key.

Another back view of the poppy but giving it more context. This is a bit of a before and after shot. Notice the diagonal composition. The background was switched to a light green.

More of a classical poppy close up. Ideally the poppy details would be more symmetric but that was not the case. I still like it though.

As you can see, a lot can be done with one subject in just a single session.

It is finally here after nearly 9 months – my first formal exhibit. My wife and I spent many hours printing, matting and framing prints and are glad to have that part completed. Tonight is opening night and I am sure I will be excited and perhaps a bit nervous.

Last Saturday I did get a preview of the exhibit as you can see in the pictures here. It is very satisfying and fun to see your images all hung together and lit with those gallery spots. Those lights can make your images really pop – like the “Windblown Poppy” below.

And here is one thing you will rarely (close to never) see in my blog – a picture of me, but here I am with one group of prints.

If you are in the area, I would enjoy meeting you tonight. There will be music and food to enjoy along with artwork from several artists.

The exhibit will be open from June 7th-June29th.  Hours are 9AM to 9PM M-Thu, 9AM to 6PM Fri and 10AM to 4PM on Sat. The Glenn and Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center is located at 527 E Main St., Hillsboro, OR 97123. For more information call (503) 615-3494 or visit www.ci.hillsboro.or.us/wcac.