Have a Ball

This time of year is always filled with family get-togethers and lots of decorating. No holiday season is more full of lights and graphic ornamentation. Therefore, it becomes a fun time to make some images of a different sort. I love color and strong design, Christmas offers both. When visiting friends and family, I bring a camera and one lens – a 50mm f1.4. This lens keeps things simple and allows me to work in low light, perfect for little still lives and ambient light portraits. I can set my Canon digital XTi to 400 or 800 ISO and hand hold the camera.

At a friends home I made this image of their stockings, definitely hung with care. They have a big family when you count the cats and dog, so lots of stockings were placed over the fire place. Ambient lighting was all I needed. A shallow depth of field conveys all I wanted to tell and adds a dreamy feeling to the piece. It also allows any lights in the distance to becomes balls of color.

Speaking of balls of color, Christmas ornaments are great subjects too. This basket of glass balls is not only bright, but reflective. It was a table setting at my inlaws. A bit of a self portrait really, but it’s the color and graphics that excited me. Again, a shallow depth of focus allows for a strong festive feeling.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!

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Close to Home

Yesterday I shoveled our corner property of a good deal of slush. We had a continual mixed precipitation event of sleet, snow, and freezing rain. My daughter got out of school early and I watched for a break in the wintry mix to get out and photograph. It didn’t happen. The freezing stuff kept falling.

This morning was a different matter. I knew it was going to warm up and that time was not on my side. I got out before my wife scrapped the car to get to work (the frost on her car window was interesting) and then again after taking my daughter to school. The ice that was still clinging to everything was beginning to melt. I knew my only opportunity to make any images was to walk around the neighborhood. The only place where it was raining was under the trees I was working. I walked around for about an hour and a half until the warming began to cause too much dripping to work with. Just as I was ready to quit, a woman walking her dog saw me with my camera and started giving me pointers on composing an image of our pine tree. She pointed out where the light was hitting it and exactly which angle I should approach it from. She seemed a bit frustrated that I wasn’t catching on to what she was saying. Oh well, at least I got out today.

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Feeding Frenzy

This time of year I will spend time near food. Not just for the holiday feasts that I attend but outdoors as well. The remaining berries and other fruits still on trees become a hot-spot for bird activity. Visually, I enjoy the combination of birds and the colors that the fruit provides for an image. This past Saturday morning I spent hours working near a crab-apple tree that was still heavy with fruit. The exciting part was that a flock of American Robins and Cedar Waxwings had discovered this tree and were emptying it of its stores. The activity was fast paced and the light was rather low, but through anticipation and steadiness (tripod, image stabilization, and 400 ISO), I was able to make some images I’m pleased with.

I’ve often thought the American Robin an under appreciated bird because of it’s commonness. The birds I saw this past Saturday varied in color from quite light to still vibrant. There were dozens of them and they devoured the fruit, picking it from the stems with all sorts of physical contortions. At least half of the images I made were blurred, but where I was able to anticipate a peak moment, or the bird actually paused, I was successful in making images with sufficient detail.

It was a rush to watch the activity and in some sense to be a part of it. The few hours that I was working went quickly (as they always seem to do). Then, for reasons I can’t explain (because there was still fruit left), the birds just left and did not return. I suspect that when I return soon again, there will be nothing left on the tree. There is rarely a time that I am in the field though that some exciting natural process isn’t taking place. At least if your like me and just about any natural process is exciting.

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Nuthatch Part II

This is another image from my last Sunday morning outing. Same tree as for the image below of the White-breasted Nuthatch, this time it was a Red-breasted variety. Since Mark Graf mentioned it in his comment I thought I’d bring this image to show. Their both attractive birds with great character. The tree was a great setting for both of them and the little bit of snow falling only adds to the feeling.

I’m working with a Canon EF 500mm f4.0 lens with a Canon TC1.4 for a total optical array of 700mm wide open at f5.6. The camera mounted was a Canon 1D Mark II set at ISO 800. I’m still working at only 1/50th of a second so image stabilization was a needed assist. Of course a tripod with Wimberly Side-Kick were in use as well.

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Hey Kutztown

I had the opportunity to speak to a group at Kutztown University today. A few members of the Reading-Berks (R-B) Chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen visited the University and spoke with students interested in selling their work at juried shows. The R-B Chapter will be including student artists/crafters in their spring 2008 show held at Kutztown University.

When I was a senior in college, selling my work at shows wasn’t even on my radar. I was on a different track at that point even though I was still working to learn and progress as a photographer. I built a darkroom in the closet of my first apartment and photographed around the grounds. Anything to keep the creative juices going.

If I spoke with you today and you want to comment on anything or ask a question, please feel free to do so.

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Here’s Looking at You

I saw the forecast for snow and ice for this past Sunday as an opportunity to get out and……..freeze my toes off! Actually, I like to work at making  images of birds when the weather gets wintry. I think the birds are more forgiving of my approach and too intent on what their doing to bother about me. A good overcast day keeps the lighting even as well. That and a long bit of glass and I can concentrate on the kind of photography I enjoy.

I discovered this nuthatch working it’s way down the trunk and composed a section where he would be in clear view and that would contain nice color. My eyepiece was freezing up, but I managed enough of a view to focus and make the image. I like how this guy chose to look at me.

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