Quote of the Day

"Both the grand and the intimate aspects of nature can be revealed in the expressive photograph.  Both can stir enduring affirmations and discoveries, and can surely help the spectator in his search for identification with the vast world of natural beauty and wonder surrounding him." - Ansel Adams

SOMETIMES YOU JUST GET LUCKY!

Luck plays a big part in photography.  Take the above photo for example.  That was the only shot I got off on the gull.  I was lucky to capture the crawfish in midair a milisecond before he gobbled it up!   The only skill involved was pressing the shutter release button, everything else was pure luck.  I didn't know exactly what the gull was about to do.  I thought he was going to bathe himself.  So I focused,took the shot and lo and behold, he came up with dinner!   Sometimes you just get lucky.  Any photographer that tells you it's all skill,  isn't telling you the truth!!

Don't Lose Your Treasured Photos!

You go to look at all those great photos you took of your sister's wedding last week.  You turn the computer on and all you get is blackness.  Your computer has crashed - your wedding photos are no more, never to be seen again!  Don't let this happen to you.  You need to backup all your treasured photo files now!  Luckily, there are several relativelty inexpensive ways to do so. 
A hard drive crash, virus or even an accident can wipe out your photo files in seconds.  One way you can backup your photos is with an external hard drive.  You can get external hard drives with 1TB of storage space for less than $200.  Another way is with Archival Gold CD-R's.  These have been thoroughly tested and shown to safely store data (photos) for more than 300 yrs!  You can get 25 CD's for only $67.75.  A cheap price to pay to save all your priceless photos.  Finally, you can use an online backup service such as Carbonite (which I use and highly recommend).  Carbonite automatically backs up your files whenever you're connected to the Internet.  Backup space is unlimited.  Your cost - just $59 a year!
If you use one, two or all three of these methods to backup your valuable photo files, you'll never have to worry about losing them to the inevitable computer crash again!! 

I Need A Name!

Abstract 84 that's all I can come up with.  I'm usually pretty good at coming up with  titles for my images, but I've come up with the dreaded "title block" on this one.  I took this photo a couple of days ago.  I really like the way it turned out, but  I can't quite seem to get a title down.  So, I'm going to have a "Give This Picture A Name Contest."  You can enter by first becoming a follower of my blog and then give the picture a name.  If I choose your name/title I'll send you a matted print of this image ready for your 8 X 10 frame absolutely FREE!  The contest ends on the 4th of July.  Good Luck!!

You Can Take A Flower Photo Like This -Here's How

WELCOME EVERYONE to my brand new blog!  This is the first ever blog post for me. Being of the "baby boomer" generation, it's taken me quite a while to play catch up with all this new technology.  I hope to provide some insight into why and how I take the photographs I do and to discuss other topics as well.

Here are 6 tips on how easy it is to take beautiful flower photos like this without any expensive equipment!

1.  Whatever flower you choose to photograph, it is most important to get as pristine and fresh a flower as possible.  You don't want any dirt, brown spots, or blemishes of any kind on the bloom.  Then get a relatively short narrow vase, fill it with fresh water and cut the stem at a 45 degree angle.
2.  Now it's time to find some light.  No need for any expensive lighting setups or flash here.  Mother Nature provides all the light you need.  I took the image above on my kithchen counter adjacent to my sink! All you need is to find a window that's not getting any direct sunlight.  Preferably a north facing window, but any window that's not getting direct sunlight will do.
3.  Get something black for the background.  Black makes your flowers POP! I used a leftover secton of black matboard for this photo.  If you don't have matboard, any sturdy black material will do.  You could even spray some cardboard black if you had to.
4.  Because the difference between the highlight side( the side that's getting the window light) and the shadow side(the opposite side) is so great, you need to bring some light into the shadow side.  You do this by reflecting the window light back into the shadow side by using a white reflector.  I used a leftover piece of white foamcore.  Any white board or material will do.
5.  Mount your camera on a sturdy tripod.  I can't emphasize this enough. Even with today's image stabilization lenses and cameras, you'll get the best image possible if you mount  your camera on a tripod. (Don't forget to turn IS off when on the tripod!)
6.  Finally, set your camera's aperture to the smallest available(i.e. F22,F32 on most DSLR's- F8.0 on most point and shoots)  This aperture along with a tripod will give you a tack sharp image.

Follow these 6 simple steps and you'll be well on your way to taking great flower photos, too!

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