Still working on our latest assignment. Stop motion for me. Trying to perfect (if that’s possible) a still life photograph stopping water in motion. The intent is to insure that the photograph conveys water movement and still be tack sharp. Carson City was my location. More specifically my hotel room. Thank goodness I have a suite with a sink that has a high rise faucet. I used 2 flashes off camera using an SU-200 to fire the flashes. The vegetable was hung on the faucet by running dental floss through the pepper. The top tied to the faucet and the bottom anchored with the dental floss tied to a life saver (to keep the floss from pulling back up through the pepper). The flash to the right has two white sheets reflecting onto the pepper. There is a white piece of paper on the left side only 2 inches from the pepper reflecting light from the right flash back to the pepper. The flash on the left is shooting through a sheet of white paper. The flash on the right is turned down by 2 full stops. Another few minutes of fun and learning tonight.
When in Arizona photograph the most prevalent item in the area. CACTUS!!!
Time has been limited. My stupidity is not. How many times have I blogged about my up close and personal experiences with Cactus? You would think one “painful” experience would be enough. I vaguely remember a story about children burning our hands on the stove. I have no excuse. I am down right, genuine, first class stupid. It happened again today. Some of the cactus look really attractive this time of year (attractive being the key word). I had to drive from Prescott back to phoenix to catch a plane. Time was on my side. Brilliance was not. While shooting the cactus I would bend over to get close to some of them. At one point a cluster of needles attached to my camera strap. Ok lets talk. Cactus needles are on my camera strap-right? I had to get them off the strap -right? With as much delicacy as possible I attempted to pull one cluster from the strap. Not enough delicacy. The needles stuck me in two fingers. This is where the story gets weird. At the base of the cluster is where all the needles connect. Not a place where you would imagine microscopic needles. In one hand was my camera the other hand had two fingers with cactus needles. No one around to help. I could not set the camera down because it would collect more needles.
Very carefully I bit the one cluster with my teeth. Do I need to go on? Microscopic needles are now in my toung and on the inside of my lip. I know what your thinking. I have to be exaggerating or lying. No. Why would I humiliate myself with a made up story? Not likely. It has been 8 hours since my last cactus stupid test. My toungue has a few red raised spots and my lip feels like I have been chewing on light bulbs.
I think I have learned my lesson. From now on when out with my nasty needle throwing “friends” I will carry tweezers and small pliers. Most importantly I will have my camera strap around my neck, a face guard for protection and some common sense. Do they have classes in common sense?
Within 30 minutes of Killing a black bear and her cubs………..
This guy had the fight of his life with a female black bear raising 2 cubs. After a soak in a pond he ended up at this salt lick. D200, 600mm f/4 lens, 1/1000 @f/4, ISO 500, no exposure compensation.
This time of year I hear gunshots. Tons of shooting. West of our home is the bird refuge and gun clubs. Being that I am a photographer don’t expect me to go off on hunters. They have every right to their hobby as I do mine. I only hope that they are all trustworthy to limits, species and season. I have seen photographs of trophy elk, deer and other mammals killed by hunters that have created some anxiety for me. Those trophy animals will never be seen in the wild again. The thrill for a photographer to search for and find a trophy animal is the same as that of the hunter. The difference is that when the photographer is finished “shooting” the beautiful trophy is there for others to enjoy in the wild. Tonight I went out to the refuge to enjoy the “birds”. I was entering as the hunters were leaving. Thank goodness for posted areas “Wildlife resting area – No Hunting or trespassing”. Gave me a place to sit back and watch the birds – Alive an Well!
Nikon D3, 200-400mm lens, 1.7 teleconverter, ISO 3200, f/6.7 @ 1/3200, EV Comp -1.67 Topaz Filter in “Post”
This weeks assignments is our choice. But it must be something that we want to learn more about. I have been wanting to spend more time shooting stop action photo’s. My preference would be hummingbirds or some wildlife subject. But they have all flown south or underground.
Tonight in the hotel I set my two flashes and bought a some cherry tomatoes. After about 400 attempts ( no trigger just hand fired) here a few of my first attempts. Shot with my 105 f/2.8 macro lens.
The challenge was to get the tomato to fall in just the right place. Had to do a little clean up………
I couldn’t resist this shot. Not long ago I was in a pretty heavy discussion about metering and exposure. A yellow rope on a black background. A big test! Spot metering? Aperture priority? Color balance?
For the last several weeks I have really missed my fall excursions in Yellowstone. One reason is the early mornings. There literally is an endless number of opportunities to photograph in the early AM! Boy do I miss it. Maybe, just maybe I can get back up to that area ( my second home) in the next few weeks…….:-)
Great article to read. A discussion that plays out everyday with photographers: http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles1109/dw1109-1.html
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