Booked

Forget the Kindle or the iPad... I'll take a book that I can flip the pages of any day.

More manufactured sunshine

I have to admit to using the "I'm feeling lucky" function in Picasa on all of these pictures. That's what makes these really pop by bringing out the contrast and making the white really white (among other things). Perhaps some day I will figure out how to make such vibrant photos in-camera.

Manufactured sunshine

Last weekend was cloudy and snowy. I hadn't seen the sun for days. So I decided to buy some flowers and make my own sunshine.

bumpy

Sycamore seed pod, in the lightbox

Shadow and shape

I would like to say a big "Thank You" to Tricia at Bluff Area Daily for passing the Best Blog Award along to me. Please be sure to check out her blog of daily photos from "southeast Missourahh." Thanks again, Tricia!

Lightbox, part III

More seed head photos from my first day playing with the lightbox. These images were actually taken quite early in the day (before noon), and the light was bright and direct. I played with many variables here: shutter speed, white balance, aperture settings, etc. Here are some results based on those variables:






Personally, I like the degree of shadow that appears in these images. What do you think?

Also, I messed around in the GIMP a lot to come up with a triptych. I crashed and burned several times on this, but I finally ended up with something I like. All a part of the learning process!


P.S. These are garlic seed heads, in case you are wondering.

P.S.S. I didn't bother with giving camera settings for any of these images for fear of boring and/or overwhelming my dear readers, neither of which I want to do. BUT, if you are interested in that kind of information, let me know and I can provide it.

Lightbox, part II

My lightbox experiment continues. I had a theme going during my first day with the box: seed heads. The top 2 photos are of a plant that I am unable to identify at present Wingstem (thanks to Jim McCormac for help on the ID!).

The bottom 3 images are of one of my favorite autumn-blooming wildflowers : Tall Ironweed. All that remains of the vibrant purple flowers are these wild, tufty seeds.

More to come...

Experimenting with a lightbox

Today I FINALLY got around to making a piece of photo gear that I've been planning on making for months: a homemade lightbox. As soon as I finished making it I immediately set to work giving it a test run. I will share some images of my first tries with the box over the next few days. It's super-easy (and cheap) to make, and you can find out how to make your own at the Strobist blog.

Here's mine in action:


And a "finished" image.


So far I have only taken images using available, natural light (i.e. no flash, no lightbulbs). I look forward to playing with this lots more and seeing what new possibilities will open up as a result. Wish me luck!