Lady of the Morning

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Tamron SP90 Macro
f/11 at 1/125
ISO 100
SB600 Speedlight (off camera)

Sometimes you don’t have to look far to find something worth taking a picture of. I woke up one morning last spring and walked out into the front yard with my coffee. I noticed there were several ladybugs hanging out on some ferns in the garden.

Of course, I immediately went and got my camera, tripod, and flash unit. I chose to use my Tamron macro lens which allowed me to get very close to the subject. However, it also meant that I almost scared the ladybug off several times because I kept disturbing the leaves on the plant.

I definitely needed to use flash in order to freeze the subject that was moving ever so slightly in the morning air currents. Changing to a higher ISO is not an option with this camera. Generally I don’t like the quality of anything shot at an ISO higher than 200.

I think I managed to capture a decent composition. I love the contrast in colour between the ladybug and the fern. I also like the way several lines in the leaves lead your eye to the subject. I will undoubtedly look for them again this spring.

Afternoon Stroll

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28-105
f/14 at 1/250
ISO 100

After taking the shot of the tree pictured in the previous post, I turned my eyes away from the sun and noticed this scene. There were lots of people out for a walk along the spit that day and when I positioned myself appropriately the warm golden sun reflected off of this Plexiglas structure.

If I walked just a few feet closer, the reflection disappeared. Without the reflection, the surface of the structure just appeared old, scratched up, and foggy. It was not striking in any way. But, with the reflection I felt I had something of interest.

If I remember correctly, I metered off the blue sky and chose to underexpose it by one stop to make it a nice rich blue. Then I waited for someone to walk by.

Skeletal Remains

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28-105
f/10 at 1/8000
ISO 100

A few weeks ago on nice sunny winter afternoon, my wife and I went down to Iona Beach Regional Park and went for a walk along the spit. As you can see by the picture I spent some time looking directly at the sun and then waiting for the spots in my eyes to clear. I’m starting to think that I should get a pair of welding safety glasses for moments like this.

As we walked we came upon this tree. I think it was alive but being winter and having no leaves it had the appearance of being dead, thus the name I gave to the photo. I underexposed the shot by at least 2 stops to try to get the sun to appear as something more than just a blown out blob.

I don’t think it’s my imagination, but I believe my digital camera is much poorer at photographing the sun than my 35mm film equivalent was. Is this a characteristic of digital imaging in general or is simply a characteristic my specific camera? Although I like this picture, I feel there must be a way to get more detail in the sun and it’s reflection on the water.

I will present another picture from this walk in tomorrows post.

The Ubiquitous Mallard

Camera: D200
Lens: 70 – 300 Nikon VR
f/5.3 at 1/160
ISO 200
Hand held
Vibration reduction on

This shot was taken on the same day at the same location as the Sandpipers in my “Forever Foraging” post. Over the years I have taken hundreds of photographs of ducks. Vancouver has no shortage of them. However, few have turned out to be something I would be proud to show people.

The one I presented here is one of the better ones I have taken. What I like about it is the colourful reflections of the sky and trees in the water. It adds an abstract quality to the photo. Although we know ducks swim in water, the water in this photo is unfamiliar.

When I look at the photo my eyes travel around the image from the Mallard to the reflections and back again. If the water simply looked like water, I don’t think my attention would be drawn away from the female bird. I do feel she could have been positioned a little more towards the camera but birds are not like models, they don’t follow instructions well.

Mister Moth

Camera: D200
Lens: Tamron SP90 Macro
f/32 at 1/125
ISO 100
SB600 Speedlight (off camera)

One day when I returned home from an errand I noticed this moth hanging out by my front door. I quickly grabbed my gear hoping it would still be there when I returned. Luckily, it was. I set my camera on a tripod and turned on my flash. I snapped off a bunch of shots real fast expecting it to fly away at any moment.

It didn’t. It turned out be quite tolerant of me and my camera and flash poking around no more than six inches from it. This was when I slowed down and started to really think about what I was doing. I took several more shots adjusting the aperture each time so as to vary the depth-of-field.

Next, I tried putting the flash at different distances and at different angles to the subject. The moth was resting on the door frame made of wood and stained a shade of honey-brown (yes, like beer). I did not like the look of the wood so I positioned the flash to throw lots of light on the moth but not the wood. In post processing I desaturated the image to rid it of any of the natural wood colour that could still be seen.

Smilin' Electro Boy

Camera: D200
Lens: Tamron SP90 Macro
f/11 at 1/60
ISO 100
SB600 Speedlight (off camera)

Someone else’s garbage… Yes, this is a motherboard from a computer that was thrown out. When I saw it, I immediately thought about using it for a stock image. All the major components that plug into the board were removed so I couldn’t take a shot of the whole unit. Instead I chose to use a macro lens and focus in on a very small portion showing some of the circuitry.

A lesson my wife has taught me is to use my imagination to see things that represent something else. A simple example would be to look at the sky and not just see clouds but look for shapes within the clouds that look like other familiar objects or creatures.

That lesson came into play with this shot. As I looked through my viewfinder and scanned the circuitry for something that made a strong visual impression, I noticed the white circle. My mind immediately recognized that it could be seen as face. The solder spots look like eyes and the two curved lines look like a mouth.

The circle stands out from the rest of the markings that are generally made up of straight lines. That contrast in shape makes the viewer easily focus in on and recognize the circle as the main subject of the photo.

Back To School

Camera: D200
Lens: Nikon 28-105
f/5.6 at 1/60
ISO 100

Today I was hoping to present something from my studio but the shoot was cancelled due to a family emergency. Without a model, I was at a loss as to what to do. I returned home with only a couple of experiments I may present tomorrow.

When I returned home I thought I would try to shoot something for stock. As a certified language teacher I had several Scrabble games lying around. I thought I would use one to present the theme of Education that I would like to start working on.

I placed the board on the floor and my camera on a tripod. I used my SB 600 as the main light source. I shot it through a piece of white fabric at a very low angle to create some shadows and not reflect light off the shiny wooden letters.

I decided on the expression “Back To School” and I chose to angle my point of view because I felt it created a little tension. Some students love going back to school but for others it is a very stressful time. After I shot it and put the game away I thought maybe I should have misspelled something as well to express a need for education.

Into The Void

Camera: D200
Lens: Nikon 28-105
f/9 at 2s
ISO 100

Today I went for a drive with a friend. We were in a mountainous area North of Hope BC. We were looking to create some landscape nature shots. It was another beautiful day. However, we spent most of the time driving. We only stopped a few times and only for a few minutes each time. As a result, I took very few pictures. The one shown above I think is the most interesting I took today.

What do you think the shot above is showing you?

As we were driving I snapped a few shots using slow shutter speeds not really trying to produce anything in specific. At one point we went through a tunnel and as we did I shot a two second exposure producing the image above. At home I set the white balance to tungsten and boosted the contrast.

The resulting image is quite abstract. I find it interesting. There’s no in depth thought behind it nor does it tell a story. Most will probably look at and wonder what it is they are looking at. Did you guess correctly? I’m not sure an image has to be recognizable to be effective at capturing someone’s attention. But, what captures my attention may not interest you in the slightest.

Power Supply

Camera: D200
Lens: Nikon 28-105
f/4.5 at 1/250
ISO 100

Frequently, the sky looks quite interesting in the morning on my way to work when I can’t stop and take pictures. Then on my day off I get up early and try to catch a similar scene to what I saw earlier in the week and most of the time I strike out. Last weekend was no exception. I got up early and took the same route I do for work only find too much cloud cover to see the sunrise.

Eventually the sun did peak out from behind the clouds. Initially I was facing the sun and then remembered I should look behind me as well. This scene presented itself to me and I thought it would work well for the same theme as the image from my previous post.

Hydro poles and towers are everywhere and generally they are thought of as not a pleasing sight. I have noticed many houses situated facing a wonderful natural scene but with poles and wires cluttering up and partially blocking the view. Maybe someday we'll learn to bury them out of sight.

Smokin'

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18-70
f/4.5 at 1/200
ISO 100

One morning last year I got up, grabbed my gear, and headed out to capture the sunrise. I drove to an industrial area in Richmond and waited for the sun. I snapped some pictures as it came up but I wasn’t totally happy with what I got. I seem to spend a lot of time looking directly into the sun. It is probably not very good for my eyes. On this day when I finally looked the other direction I learned that I should do it more often.

The light falling on the area was quite warm. The sky was clear but on my drive towards home I came across this smoke stack coughing and choking out enough smoke to block out the sky. I thought this would be a great place to start shooting a theme that I have been thinking about recently: Obstructions. That is, Man made things that block our view of the environment. Obviously I stopped and snapped a couple shots before continuing my journey home.

Technically, this was not a difficult shot. I was in manual mode and I chose to overexpose by one stop in order to render at least some of the smoke as white. On its own this is probably not a shot that someone would look twice at. However, when it is by side with some other photos that fit the same theme it may have more of an impact. I will find out in the future.

Self-Portrait 1

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: 28 – 105 Nikon
f/8 at 1/250
ISO 100
Opus OPL 500 Strobe with a snoot
Opus OPL 250 Strobe with a 43” umbrella
Vivitar 285HV Flash
Nikon SB-24 Flash

For the past few months I have rented a small studio. I have been trying to put to use the knowledge I gained from taking a couple of studio lighting classes at Langara College in Vancouver. For this shot I simply wanted something that portrayed me as a photographer.

I decided to give one of the strobes a double purpose by having it both in the shot as well as function as a hair light. After some trial and error I managed to position the light so there was only a small amount of lens flare. I used the Vivitar and Nikon flash units each with a different coloured gel to light the background.

The main light was a shoot through umbrella. I am not happy with the look that light gave me since it was quite flat. I think the problem was the studio itself, it is small and everything is painted white. Also, the studio is not equipped with any flags therefore too much light reflected off the walls and back on to me.

One thing I do like that I think helps to balance the photograph is the main light’s reflection off the lens of my camera. It was difficult to achieve since I was both the subject and the photographer. In most of the pictures there was no reflection. This one and one other shot without a lighted background were the best of the bunch.

Forever Foraging

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: 70 – 300 Nikon VR
f/9 at 1/350
ISO 100
Hand held
Vibration reduction on

The day I took this picture, my wife I had driven down to Jericho Beach in Vancouver to go for a walk. It was a beautiful sunny, winter day and we brought our cameras along simply as an afterthought. As we walked along the beach we came across a group of about eight Sandpipers foraging for food along the shore.

I love birds but I am not a good bird photographer. Most of my pictures are disappointing especially when I compare them to photos by photographers like Tim Fitzharris. I think good nature photography takes planning and patience that I apparently don’t have.

I decided to try to get a shot anyway. I approached them slowly taking shots as I went. They turned out to be quite tolerant of me. I was able to get about six feet away as they were feeding on something at the edge of an old boat launch.

I didn’t like the texture of the concrete they were standing on so I timed my shots for when the gentle waves washed in hiding the concrete. Overall, I am happy with the image. I don’t think it is an award winner but it is one of my better shots of Sandpipers.

The lesson I learned from this was to try to take my camera with me more often even if I have no real plans to use it. You never know when you make come across a good photo opportunity.

The Human Machine

Camera: Nikon D200

Lens: Nikon 70-300mm VR

ISO 200

f/8 at 1/125

SB600 off camera

I went to the Richmond Olympic Oval last weekend because I heard there were going to be some ice sculptures. There were in fact two quite large sculptures one of a dragon and one of some salmon. There were also three smaller ones. However, all were quite challenging to take any pictures of. One reason was poor light and the other was the amount of clutter around every sculpture including ladders, tools, garbage cans, and electrical cables.

Luckily the building was unlocked so I went inside to look around. I found this metal sculpture of a speed skater near the entrance to the oval. It was difficult to shoot as well because of the busy background. It was useless to try to get the whole sculpture in my field of view. Instead I chose to select only part of it and I positioned myself so as to eliminate the distracting background.

Then, in manual mode I set an exposure that would underexpose the scene by a stop and a half. I added some flash from my SB600 held in my hand off to one side. After loading it on my computer I made small adjustments to the exposure and boosted the contrast. Although it was almost a natural monochrome image, something blue was reflecting off the highlights and there was a small amount of rust on the neck area. As a result I decided to finish by de-saturating the image.

Overall I like the image and feel that this made the trip worthwhile. The steel in human form coupled with the low-key nature of the shot makes me think of the movie Terminator.

About This Blog

In order to become a good photographer it is important to take lots of photographs. However, sometimes I find myself going for long periods without practicing the craft. I think the reason is that generally non-professionals like myself don't have assignments or deadlines. Without them it is easy to let life get in the way.

This blog for me is going to function as a self-assignment that I hope will get me out of the house a little more often looking at the world and creating new impressions. I will present one new image everyday. I will ramble a little about camera settings, what I think of the photograph, and where there is room for improvement. Feel free to post constructive comments or answers to any questions or problems that may come to light.

Thanks for visiting!