Welcome to My View

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer.

Over on The Mindful Eye Photography School, we’ve posted our 2011 Workshop Schedule. I invite you all to view the workshops and join us in 2011.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited Perry’s Water Garden in Franklin, NC with the Focal Point Meetup Group that meets in my area. Several of us drove up from Atlanta early on Saturday morning, August 7. As we drove up into the higher elevations, the oppressing heat of summer in the city began to dissipate. We even found ourselves turning off the air conditioners in our cars and opening the windows to the 65-degree temperatures that greeted us when we arrived. As we got out of our cars, all we wanted to do for a few minutes was to stand and enjoy the cooler temperatures.

Soon, the beauty of the water gardens called to us and we grabbed our gear and spread out over the acres of water lillies, lotus blossoms, water irises, cattails and many other water or near water plants. We shot for several hours before the heat of the day began to creep in on us. Then, many of us retreated to picnic tables under tall shade trees and brought out the lunches and cool drinks we had packed before leaving home. After lunch, we shot for a little while longer before packing up and heading back to the city. It was a great way to spend a summer Saturday.

This image is a triptych of the same lotus blossom at different distances from the blossom. It was made with the Lensbaby Composer and the Lensbaby Fisheye optic.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

Lotus Triptych

Perry’s Water Garden
Franklin, NC
August, 2010

Canon 5D Mark II, Lensbaby Composer with Fisheye Optic, ISO 200, 1/500 second shutter speed, hand held.

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I hope you all had a wonderful July 4th Weekend.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend the long holiday weekend in Colorado, visiting a good friend. It was a relaxing, not doing too much of anything requiring heavy lifting and enjoyable kind of weekend. I did manage to get a few photographs, some of which I will process and post here soon.

I returned home to Atlanta just in time for SUMMER to make it’s full appearance. We’ve had some hot temperatures already, but being away in a cooler environment for a few days spoiled me. I came home to temperatures reaching into the high 90s this week. Along with our infamous humidity, these temperatures cause one to slow down, sit under tall shade trees, drink lemonade, chat with the neighbors and try to breathe.

In my mind, summertime and magnolias go hand in hand. Once those large creamy blossoms begin to form on those giant trees with large, dark green waxy leaves, we know that hot humid days, damp blouses and pitchers of cold lemonade are not far away. And, now those days are here with us for the next few months.

I managed to get myself so busy in June that I did not get out and photograph those lovely, giant, creamy flowers hanging low on the spreading branches of the magnolia trees before they faded away until early next summer. But, I did find one that I photographed a few years back.

Wishing you cool breezes, tall shade trees and cold glasses of lemonade for the rest of the summer.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

Heart of the Magnolia

Roswell, GA
June, 2004

Canon 10D, Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/350 second shutter speed, mounted on Bogen tripod, with Bogen 2047 head.

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Peering past shield-shaped petals and though veils of soft pink to the inner most parts of the tulip, those that are responsible for the very survival of the species.

This is the 6th image in my portfolio of the Holland, MI tulips from the Tulip Festival earlier this year. After today, I will put the tulips away for a while, perhaps to bring them as a surprise at some moment in the future, and move on to other images.

Thank you for being here with me as I attempted to showcase the lovely tulips from this delightful little town in Michigan during the Tulip Festival in May of this year.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

Holland Tulips #6 – Into the Heart

Holland, Michigan
May, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens, ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/1500 second shutter speed, mounted on Bogen Neotec Tripod

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Good Evening,

This is the 5th image in my portfolio of the Holland, MI tulips from the Tulip Festival earlier this year.

This image is one of the larger, and more open, tulips that I saw in the fields in Holland, MI in May. The softness of it’s color grabbed my attention, causing me want to shoot it in a way that emphasized the softness I felt when gazing on this lovely flower.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

Holland Tulips #5 – A Softer Side

Holland, Michigan
May, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens, f/4.0, 1/1000 sec, ISO 100, handheld

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Good morning!

This is the 4th image in my portfolio of the Holland, MI tulips.

Of course, I had to put in an abstract, made by moving the camera while the shutter was opened, into my collection of the tulip shots. This image was made by moving the camera upward in a very quick, but small, motion, during the 1/6 second that the shutter was open. As Iwas not concerned with defraction in a this motion blur, stopping down to f/22, and using my lowest ISO, was a way to achieve the shutter speed I needed.

I will post one or two more of the tulip images from this year’s Tulip Festival in Holland, MI, before moving on to other subjects.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

Holland Tulips #4 – Flaming Tulips

Holland, Michigan
May, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens, f/22, 1/6 sec, ISO 100, handheld

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Good morning!

This is the third image in my portfolio of the Holland, MI tulips this year. This image is a horizontal flip of the original shot. Even though the flow of energy in this shot starts on the lower left and rises toward the upper right (instead of flowing down from the upper left to the lower right, as we see things in the west), I liked it better. The link to the original version is below. I would love to hear your view on the way you see the energy flowing for this red and white tulip.

I hope you are enjoying the images of the beautiful tulips in Holland.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

Holland Tulips ##

Holland, Michigan
May, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, f/3.5, 1/1500 sec, ISO 100, handheld

To see the original version (not flipped), please click here.

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I’m posting to My View a couple of days early this week so that I can enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend with family over at Lake Logan Martin in Alabama.

This second image in my portfolio of the Holland, MI tulips this year is a different shot of the same soft pink tulips. This was taken from a lower angle (flat on my back in the dirt directly under the tulips) and includes more of the tulips in focus. It is a combination of two images, using a split focus technique. I focused on the front tulip first and took that shot. Then, trying not to move the camera, I focused on the back tulip. In this way, I got the specific tulips that I wanted to emphasize in acceptable sharpness, but still allowed all of the surroundings to quickly fall out of focus.

I hope you enjoy the images of the beautiful tulips in Holland.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and please remember those who fought and died on battlefields throughout our history, as well as those still in harm’s way this weekend.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

UPDATE:

Based on some of your most appreciated feedback, I went back to this image and tried to do two things. First, I brightened it a bit with a curves layer. Next, I tried to clean up the muddy color using a selective color adjustment layer. Please let me know what you think.

Second Post Holland Tulips #2:

First Post Holland Tulips #2:

Holland Tulips #2

Holland, Michigan
May, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, f/3.5, 1/1500 sec, ISO 100, handheld
Combination of Two Images

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In mid-May, I had the pleasure of visiting Holland, Michigan with my sister during the 2010 Tulip Festival. This small town is known for the beautiful tulips it produces.

Over the next few weeks, I will offer a portfolio of the images that I took during the two days that I was in Holland. Some of these are macro, some abstracts and a few “straight shots”. Yes, I am capable of producing “straight shots” on occasion.

This first one is a macro of a lovely soft pink tulip, whose name I did not get.

I hope you enjoy the images of the beautiful tulips in Holland.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

Holland Tulips #1

Holland, Michigan
May, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, f/2.8, 1/750 sec, ISO 100, handheld

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After being absent from My View of a few weeks, I hope that I’m back on a regular weekly basis. It has been an extremely busy winter and spring with Inspirational Weekend and regular workshop schedules of The Mindful Eye.

During the last couple of days that I was in Savannah, after our Composition Intensive Workshop, I met a young man at B&B Ale House. His amazing smile and presence, as well as the light in which he was sitting, attracted me. I talked to him for a few seconds and asked if I could photograph him. He was gracious enough to sit for me for a few minutes. His name is Matt and he is stationed at Hunter Army Airfield, located on Ft. Stewart, just outside Savannah.

I always worry about the young soldiers that I meet or see coming and going in airports. No matter what our individual political beliefs, I know we all are concerned about the soldiers. I always send a little prayer for their safety when I see them. Matt, where ever you are and wherever you go, stay safe out there. And, thank you for being so gracious.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

A Young Soldier

Click here for larger image.

Savannah, GA
B&B Ale House
May 2, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 50 mm 1.4 lens, f/1.8, 1/90 sec, ISO 5000, handheld

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While I was in Nashville on the weekend of April 17-18 for our Inspirational Photography weekend, I got the chance to hear one of the most amazing guitarists I’ve ever heard. He is a young man by the name of J.D. Simo. He plays, among others, with the Don Kelly Band at Robert’s Western World on Broadway in downtown Nashville. It’s well worth a trip to Robert’s just to hear J.D. play. He’s 25 years old, cut his first CD at age 16 and is blowing everyone away with the way he plays, from blues to country. Just google him and see.

This is a shot that I got when JD was doing his solo for Ghost Riders last Saturday night.

As always, your comments and critiques are most welcome. They make me a better photographer, aid my growth as a person and offer me new experiences.

JD Simo and Don Kelly

Nashville, TN
Robert’s Western World
April 17,2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon 16-35mm L lens at 35mm, f/2.8, 1/350 sec, ISO 5000, handheld

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