I can't resist to post another image from last weekend's shooting session in the front yard. I don't like it as much as the one from yesterday because of the background. It is busier and draws a little the attention away from the bird. I thought it was interesting how the Ruby-throated Hummingbird hangs on to the bloom and drinks the nectar through a gap from the side of the blossom.
One of the goals I had set for myself this summer was to create an image of a hummingbird feeding from a flower and not from a hummingbird feeder. To make it even more of a challenge I wanted a picture that I didn't have to crop. This is easier said than done. These tiny little birds buzz around very fast and don't hang on at a flower for very long. I used a stand for the speed light, a Nikon SB 600, and placed it slightly above a group of hosta blooms in the yard. I knew the hummingbirds like them. The question was only how frequently they would come near the camera and feed. I spent several hours patiently waiting. I had of course several misses but I finally got a few shots that I'm happy with. This is one of them, and yes, it is as I saw it in the viewfinder. No crop this time :-)
A busy week is behind me and I'm happy to be home and to enjoy the weekend. My job requires to travel quite a bit. It sounds like lots of photo opportunities but this is not always the case. I still like to post here every week and this is when pictures from my archive have a chance to see the light of the day.
Early in May this year I spent a few hours in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands at the Pacific coast in California again. I love this place because of its great opportunities for bird photography. There were not as many birds as in November last year, but still enough to fill all my memory cards within a few hours. I studied the images from last year carefully before I went to Bolsa Chica. This and all the practice in the Green Island Wetlands here in Eastern Iowa helped to bring home a much higher rate of keepers this time. I hope you enjoy.
My neighbor and friend Boris and I went on a short hike into Whitewater Canyon in the late afternoon today (Yes, there are canyons in Iowa!!!). Boris is not a photographer but enjoys being outdoors the same way I do. I didn't snap any pictures in the canyon today. There wasn't really any good light left because clouds had moved in and we even caught a few raindrops.
The showers were only short and I was hopeful that the sun would break through the clouds again on the way home. My hopes were not dashed. Clouds in front of the sun created wonderful crepuscular rays, better known under photographers as 'God Beams'. It doesn't get much better for landscape photography, especially here in Iowa. We are not spoiled with great vistas like so many places in the west of the country. Boris was very patient with me and didn't mind that I pulled off the main road several times for a good perspective. Thanks Boris!
The first image is an HDR made from four handhold pictures. I didn't go for the 'grungy' look and tried to keep it natural. NIK's HDR Efex Pro keeps it simple. Love this software! It is a really nice tool that helps me to develop my style of landscape photography in new directions.
The second pic is a single click that I underexposed by one stop. I went for the silhouette of the farm on the left hand side. The light was magical…
The parade was over. People were gathering in front of a stage in joyful anticipation of a local band, that later would play the music for dance and entertainment, and a man was sneaking around the blog hunting for the last light of the day. I found it reflected on the windows and walls of this tall grain elevator beside the railroad tracks. I dialed in 1/160s, f/8, -½ EV, ISO 100… click… Done deal! Liked it better than any of my images from the parade in the afternoon…
The image can be viewed in a larger version in my Photo-A-Week gallery "2011 - 52 Weeks".
I still don't really know. I have asked myself this question last weekend. Joan and I were in Marcus, a small town in Northwest Iowa, for a school reunion. Another reason to be there was the 75th annual Marcus Community Fair. The city had a lot going on last weekend and one of the events was of course a parade. Fire engines, old-timer cars, people on horses, tractors, and many more colorful things were moving through the streets of Marcus. I have been at heir parade before four years ago, took a lot of pictures and didn't really like any of them. Why? Busy backgrounds, harsh light with high contrast, and making too many mistakes were the main reasons. I wanted to do much better this time.
The parade started at 4 PM and there was still plenty of light available. First we chose a street with some big trees that covered the sky in the background and would minimize so the high contrast in the frame. I believe that worked well for most of the pictures.
How about the background? There were cars parked along the streets, people in lawn chairs had lined up along the route of the parade, with other words it was hard to find a spot without a busy background. I tried to solve the problem by zooming in and leave as much as possible of the distracting parts out of the frame. It didn't always work, but like in this image of happy girls on horses I was able to keep the "dudes with their beer coolers" out of the frame. A little crop was necessary in some instances.
I still don't feel comfortable about shooting an event like the Marcus parade, but this time I had some keepers that, I believe, reflect the spirit of the event and tell the story about the fun everybody had.
Here is another picture from last weekend's "driving-around-and-looking-for-clouds-tour". Landscape photography isn't always easy in Iowa, especially in the summer, but if the big clouds move in or out you have your chance for some drama, even if you just stand between corn and soybean fields… ;-)
This time it was not done with HDR processing and it is just a single image. I did my usual adjustments in Adobe Lightroom. I increased the highlights with the tone curve so that the white in the clouds showed its full potential. After the export to Photoshop, where I do usually the fine tuning and downsizing of the picture for the web, I realized that the image was still a little too hazy for my taste. Bringing up the contrast in the clouds with an adjustment layer and a layer mask took care of the problem. I think I still take too much time processing my images in post. I guess I still have to fix too many things that aren't done correctly while taking the image. But it's getting better. This one took less than five minutes to finish and to output three different copies (1x original full size, 1x jpeg 948 px long for my web gallery, and 1x jpeg 620 px long for this blog). It would be nice to know how long it takes you to process a RAW file and to create an image that you like. I'm just curious…
It looks like I take leave from wildlife photography. Not really. My eyes and ears are always open for any critter that crosses my way. But there is not so much going on in August and I like to try other things as well.
This door of an older house in Dubuque caught my attention today. I don't know how old it is, but its rotten charm pleased my eye. I grew up in Bautzen, an over 1000 years old city in the Southeast of Germany. It is known for its old buildings, towers, and churches. Some are way over 500 years old. Looking at old structures, living in them, and living around them was nothing unusual for us. Modern life and preservation seemed always be compatible. After living in Eastern Iowa for almost seven years now I think I appreciate these old things on a totally new level because they are not abundant here. This old door said something about craftsmanship and I think it was worth the click.
Nothing special today. I just enjoyed the wonderful day and evening in particular. Temperatures were much more moderate than during recent weeks. A good reason to go out shooting and having some fun. I stopped at the Mississippi River in Dubuque today when a towboat with barges was approaching the lock and dam. The last rays of the sun created great light on the vessel. Nothing special today? Ok, not really true, great light is always special… :-)
This would have been another candidate for B&W but I decided for the colors. The color contrast between the boat cover on the left and the sky give the picture the punch that I like. The clouds provide drama, no matter what. The image was created from four bracketed shots in NIK's HDR Efex Pro. I actually had five pictures but didn't use the one with the longest exposure. I may try a B/W version as well but for now I hope you enjoy the colors.
