Back in Massachusetts after a great Alaskan Photo Tour
What an absolutely awesome trip - the weather was not the best but then that is what one has to expect this time of year. The Costal Brown Bears, Grizzlies, Whales and Wild Flowers were phenomenal as were many species of sea birds and sea mammals. Just started looking through a few images.
ALASKA 2011 Photo Tour
Will be leaving for Alaska tomorrow June 23 for a 20 day photo tour to ALASKA. Keep your eye out for images and announcements for two Alaska workshops/tours in 2012.
Lupine Festival 2011
June 5, 2011 - Went north to Sugar Hill, New Hampshire for the opening week of a three week Lupine Festival. The Lupins were in bloom but the invasive weeds are still an issue. The density of the blooms are not what they used to be years ago.Here are two images - one a composite of a field of buttercups and the other a female red wing on a lupine.
Red Fox Kit
Red Fox KitCanon 7D, 500mm f4.oExposure Triad: f 6.3, 1/400 sec, ISO 400
This is one of a pair of female kits that were scurrying about on a very cold May afternoon. The litter was 8 as of last week there were supposed to be 7 but we saw just two - both females. The knew we were around but they did not care at all and just went about their business looking up at us every once in a while. The conditions were miserable and the light very poor in the foggy conditions. Did manage to capture some decent video of the two chasing each other.
Red Wing Blackbird - Great Meadows
With spring delayed the Red Wing Blackbirds are furiously building nests, chasing females and being chased by Marsh Wrens. This one spent a long time posing and calling perched on a cattail.
Red Wing BlackbirdCanon 7D 500 mm f4.0Exposure Triad: f 5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO 400
Great Meadows, MA
Marsh Wren building its nestCanon 7D,70-200mm F2.8Exposure Triad: f5.6, 1/800sec, ISO 400
The rains continue, week after week. This is the strangest spring that I can remember. A short break from the rains - we headed out to Great Meadows. The green marsh grasses are now reaching the tops of the cattails so in a few days the marsh wren will be a difficult subject to photograph here. The shot above is one of a marsh wren just having plucked at the cattail for some nesting material.
Here is another wren straddling cattails calling. The partial back lighting accentuated the beak.
Marsh Wren CallingCanon 7D 500mm f4Exposure Triad: f5.6, 1/500 sec, ISO 200
Steampunk Festival 2011
Steampunk Festival - Waltham, MA 2011Canon 7D 24-70 mm 2.8
The Steampunk festival is an interesting event held in Waltham Common. This event was a two day affair May 7th and 8th. We spent the early afternoon on Sunday and grabbed a few shots of the people all in their Steampunk clothes, hats, goggles and jewelry. The wind and the light were not the most conducive - fill flash helped a bit. A second light and some reflectors would have been handy. Will go better prepared next year. More images follow. All were shot with the 7D and the 24 - 70 2.8 lens and some with a fill flash.
This guy was crossing the street - the image has a background applied.
Felt this would be ideally suited for an antique plate treatment.
He had such a cool expression - I loved his costume - hand stitched leather vest and belt.
Steampunk Sunday Best
A leather craftsman
This young lad was with his parents all dressed up too
And finally this young lady was all dressed up - definitely not a Steampunk - everybody's out for fun.
Till next year..........................
A Violet - so simple
Violet
A weed so simple yet in its own way so captivating. A stacked macro image with three texture layers and a single edge treatment.
Canon releases firmware update for the 7D
Canon has just released a firmware update Version 1.2.5 for the 7D.Click here for the link and download
Maple Leaf Emerging (Macro)
Unfurling Maple LeavesCanon 7d - 24 to 70 f2.8 26 image focus stackExposure triad: ISO 100 f5.6 1/25 sec
Spring seems to be in the air. The azaleas are blooming and the maple leaves are emerging. With the slight rain last night the ornamental maple looked gorgeous this morning. This is a stacked macro of a set of leaves unfurling.
Nikon releases a firmware update for the D7000
Nikon has released a firmware update for the D7000 that fixes a noise reduction issue and other known bugs.Click here for the link
Maximize Photoshop CS5 Performance
Here is a white paper published by Adobe on optimizing and enhancing Photoshop CS5 performancePhotoshopCS5_performance
Anther and Filament of a Maple Flower
Anther & Filament of a Maple FlowerCanon 7D, 100 mm Macro with a 1.4x teleconverter and two full sets of extension tubes for a total of 136mm extension.
This is an image of one of the anthers of the maple flower from the image posted yesterday. Macro done well can be so much fun. Mirror lock up and twenty five images at f2.8 stacked using Helicon Focus.
Macro - Maple Flower Stack
- Maple Flower Macro
Canon 7D, 100mm Macro lensExposure triad: ISO 100, f5.6. 1/3 sec.
Macro experiments - this is a 20 image stack of this maple flower. Used Helicon Focus to do the stack. The depth (front to back of the image) is 7/16 inch while the flower is about 1/4 inch. The magnification is approximately 1.6X. The image has absolutely no post processing or sharpening applied.
Beech Tree - Textured
Beech Tree - Backlit Leaves
While walking through the woods in my back yard I spotted this beech tree with just a few leaves that had not shed last fall. (We have a number of beech trees that did not shed.) Noticing the backlit leaves I captured this and then in post added texture and edge treatment using layers and blends. I found the simplicity captivating.
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Canon 7D, 70 - 200 f2.8 ISExposure triad: ISO 3200, F8, 1/640 sec.
Walked out this dull overcast dreary morning on my deck to see this nuthatch. Liked the pose and the slightly open beak. This is the first year we are getting the Red Breasted Nuthatch in our back yard. Having shot this at ISO 3200 I used Nik Define 2.0 to clean up the background.
NECCC Conference
The New England Camera Club Council will be holding its annual conference this July from Friday the 15 through the 17th. It is one of the finest photography events with a typical attendance of nearly 1,500 photographers from all over the world. From photo opportunities, to showcase presentations and a whole slew of educational programs. An event worth every penny.I will be doing a portfolio review on Friday morning and then two programs during the conference. One on macro photography and one on flower photography. I look forward to seeing you all there.
Click here for more details and to register.
2 Workshops at the Cape Cod Art Association
July 23 and July 24 - I will be doing two all day workshops for the the Cape Cod Art Association.The first on July 23rd is "Stacking for Incredible Depth of Field"The second on July 24 is "Macro Photography"More via my Workshop page or on the Cape Cod Art Association Web at:Cape Cod Art Association - 2011 Classes and Workshops
Activated this blog as my main Photography Blog.
Effective today I will be using this as my main blog for all photography related postings. Hope you enjoy and follow me here.