Life: Through the Lens

Ready to Shoot We had a lovely day in Holland this week...Holland, MI.  Every year there is a huge Tulip Festival, a week-long event.  You would think that the festival activity would mostly be on a weekend.  Well, not so.  We were there on Wednesday, and as we pulled in to the first tulip gardens we counted approximately 12 buses, from all over the country, and Canada!  Who knew?!  However, we counted ourselves lucky to have  a perfect spring day, where the sun was bright, the air was warm and our spirits were full of joy.  A day to photograph and experiment and create...so rewarding. I spent the day testing equipment.  What photographs could I get using my new point-and-shoot, the Canon G15, as well as my Lensbaby gear.  The Lensbaby is a selective focus lens I received a few years ago, but never got the hang of using.  In April I took an Online class through the Picture Perfect School of Photography whic...

Vibrant Setting on the Canon G15 I can NOT believe I haven't posted since February!  This has been a very uninspiring winter, with long, cold days and a very busy work schedule.  But one exciting thing to look forward to is our wonderful adventure this summer!   We are taking my Bucket List trip to England - a trip I have wanted to take since I was a little girl.  You know, back in the day when I knew I would be strolling along the banks of a scenic river in rural England and happen upon Prince Charles, who was quite appealing in those days:).  He would be fly fishing of course, and we would strike up a conversation, have a picnic lunch which I would have brought with me, of course.  And that, as they say, would be that. Fish Eye View,  Shot in My Office Now, however, I may still want to stroll through the picturesque countryside, but this time I want to capture images, not a prince.  My real-life prince will also be on this adventur...

Ah, the adjustment to the cold and snowy wonderland of Michigan following the heat and sun of Ghana. When we got back we were right into the swing of things...family, holidays, new semester. This weekend we decided we needed an outing, and time for photography, so off to the International Dog Sled races in Kalkaska. The weather was not cooperating. Wind chills close to zero degrees, and blowing snow, kept everyone bundled from head to foot, with heads ducked down to protect faces from the elements. But the dogs didn't seem to mind at all. They were so excited to run...straining at their leads...howling for attention. And the racers seems just as intense about their race. The children didn't seem to mind, either. The youngsters above were very busy devising their own races. We managed to stay outside most of the time, retreating to the car on two occasions to warm our hands. Our cameras held up well, though battery life is a huge issue in cold weather. We manged to capture some...

Travels near and far takes us to the zoo this week. The last day of summer vacation before school started, we took two of our grandchildren to the zoo and had an excellent adventure. The weather was nice and cool, perfect for the animals to come out and play. Okay, so maybe not ALL the animals wanted to play. The picnic lunch was perfect, too, and there's always ice cream for desert at the concession stand. The challenge with zoo photography is trying to get a shot of an animal without showing glass, or caging. One trick is getting in close so you can chase out that reflection, or shoot through the wires. And sometimes there's not much you can do. It depends on your equipment, to some extent. In this case, I just didn't have either enough lens to allow me to zoom in through the bars, or a way to get so close I could actually put the face of my camera between the wires. This was definitely not one of those kinds of photo opportunities, as you can see by the expression on h...

Sometimes all you need is a good book, or a good program, to take you away from your present location. For a while you can be lost in an adventure in a far away place. This is what Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge does. Image by Art Wolfe Wolfe is a fabulous photographer, who can actually make a good living as an artist:). One of his many venues is public broadcasting, usually on Sunday night at 6:30 here. If you can't watch his program, all episodes are highlighted on his companion web site. He has 2 seasons of programs on places far and near, with information on how he got the shots, and what equipment he used to capture those magnificent photographs. There is also an episode about the making of his series. Image by Art Wolfe Of course, Wolfe has a crew to carry equipment and guides to get him into places most of us will never see. The people he meets and locations he visits are not only photographed, the cultures and ways of life are honored. So when you are looking for a g...

Tomorrow is our Independence Day, and in the news last night there was a story about one of the original Declaration of Independence documents being found in an old storage area in Great Britain! They actually think it might be the one originally sent to the King from the colonists, stating their intention to be independent. History is so very interesting, though the United States is very young compared with most of the world. Fireworks are one of the ways we celebrate, and other parts of the world also use this method to sing out. But they are very difficult to capture, aren't they? I have looked back in my archives but don't find any digital images I can quickly draw on from past Independence Day celebrations, though I did find a couple which might cause you to chuckle. Fireworks aren't only for Independence Day celebrations! When the last Harry Potter book was released, I was writing for a regional publication. I was happy to be covering the Harry Potter party at our loc...

Thank you for playing along with yesterday's Pop Quiz. And just so you know I'm not an "expert," I did have to look this up as well. My bottom line is simply that whatever you use to take the photograph you want to capture is fine...no matter what the correct term for the technique. That being said, a close-up photograph is one in which the subject fills the frame. All macro photography is close-up photography , though not all close-up is macro. A close-up photo can be taken with any lens. These three photos from yesterday's collage are all close-up photographs, taken with my standard lens, which is a Canon 17-85mm. This is not my favorite lens, but it allows me a range of distance and has an image stabilization feature which allows me to hand-hold it instead of using a tripod, for most photographs. I can get in fairly close with the built-in "macro" setting, but because it's not a dedicated macro lens, the photos aren't considered "mac...

You probably hear these terms all the time, and don't really know what the difference is between a macro image, a micro image and a close-up image . I have all three "types" represented above and wonder what you know, or what you can find out:). So, when you post your response today, let me know what you know about each term, and if you think you take, macro , micro and/or close-up photographs. And then take a stab at which photos in the collage above belong in which of those categories. Not to worry - no grades. And...it's possible that a photograph fits more than one label. You are also missing an important piece of information, which you'll discover later:). Welcome to the Pop Quiz! Starting at the bottom left and working clockwise, here are my images: Milkweed flower, Goat's Beard puff ball, Monarch caterpillar, cactus, Monarch caterpillar, dutch shoes, Goat's Beard flower, tulip. Have Fun!

I would like to credit Georgia , who also wants to credit anyone else who thought of "Macro Monday," for my inspiration as I further develop this blog. Doesn't it make sense - a photographer covering various aspects of photography? Macro Monday has a nice ring to it, and it also encompasses one of my favorite passions as a photographer. Shooting macro subjects. Today I'll highlight the dandelion...though this is the "on steroids" version, called Goat's Beard. It's beautiful, and a lot easier to photograph than it's cousin, the common dandelion. It's yellow flower is also prettier, more like a star. You see it commonly along roadsides and in meadows. Macro photography involves shooting close-up, and small. It's great fun to tromp through the yard, meadow, woods, beach, anywhere... looking for small and seemingly insignificant aspects of nature. I'll show you my set-up, and results, as I photographed the "blow balls" one late ...

It's Day 3 of the "write everyday" challenge, and I'm still here:). With the theme of the month being "sweet," I thought this a good time to review a photography treat I introduced a couple of months ago. In February I took an online photography course on using the Lensbaby, a lens which is similar in use to a tilt and shift lens. You rotate the outer part until you find the "sweet spot" of focus. It's possible to place the spot of focus anywhere in the frame, which is very fun. There are also screw-on close-up and wide-angle attachments. Enjoy this selection of some of the photos I took during the course.

One of the requirements for the Lensbaby class was to take lots of photos of BOTs - a new term to me. "Bots" are botanicals - flower photograhy:). I love new terms so will add this to my list. Of course, February and March in Michigan are not generally conducive to flower photography. I ended up purchasing a potted plant, plantS actually. There were three different types of bulbs planted in the pot, so I shot as they bloomed. By shooting by a well-lit window, to use the natural light, I could pretend it was Spring for a bit! Enjoy.

The online course I'm taking, through the Picture Perfect School of Photography , is very interesting and forces me to get out and take photos, experimenting with new equipment and techniques. We had a lovely break in the winter weather the first week of my class, which really helped. I was quite pleased with some of the images and thought I'd share. The Lensbaby Composer, which is the new lens I am shooting with, has a sweet spot of focus, as it's called, and everything else goes soft. It's a bit tricky, but once I get the hang of it I do think I'll use the lens quite frequently. The look is different, allowing creativity without being tied to Photoshop or another image editing program. What do you think? If you're interested in more information about the Picture Perfect School of Photography , check out http://www.ppsop.com/ . Information on the Lensbaby line is available at http://www.lensbaby.com/ .

It's so much fun to face a new challenge in photography. For Christmas I received a Lensbaby, a special effects lens which gives a soft-focus look to your photograph. I'm taking a class to help be better understand how it works, and the weather has actually cooperated the last couple of days. Finally, a warm-up which is giving us hope that spring is actually coming. So we hit the road and I looked for subjects to practice using the lens. Here are a couple of shots which give you an idea how nifty this lens is, and the possibilities for creative photography.