LAZY LADYBUG

You know that annoying sound you hear when a fly buzzes directly past your ear?  That is exactly what I heard yesterday while photography a tree near my house.  Only it wasn’t a fly.  It was a little ladybug.

So why is the above picture titled “LAZY LADYBUG”?  Well, once the ladybug landed on that branch.  It didnt move the entire time I was photography it.  It must have sat there for a solid 15 minutes.

Luckily, I was shooting with my newly acquired 35mm f/1.8 lens.  So I was able to get a couple of shots with that amazing shallow depth of field.  The shot above took place just as the ladybug was about to move on and crawl up the branch, behind the leaf.

Ah the life of a ladybug, there are no Mondays in its world

TRAFFIC LIGHT (LONG EXPOSURE)

A fun experiment to try is long exposure photography.  In the picture above I had set the camera up on my tripod.  I set the aperture to f/16.  With an aperture this small, the shutter speed would have to be longer to capture enough light.

During long exposure shots fun things can happen.  I had taken this shot with the hope that the light would change and I would capture the red, yellow, and green lights all in one exposure.  Unfortunately that did not happen.  However, by pure coincidence, 2 cars happened to drive by in opposite directions at the same time.  So the camera captured the headlights from one car while capturing the taillights from the other.  This is some of the fun that can happen while experimenting with long exposures!

FUN WITH DEPTH OF FIELD

I received my new Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AF-S lens on Friday.  I am in love with it.  You hear from people that have them, how incredible the shallow depth of field is of the 1.8 aperture.  I have to tell you that you have no idea how awesome it is until you take that first shot.

The shot above was taken at a Minor League baseball game.  Walking the halls I saw this wall of baseballs.  Scattered through-out were random blue balls.  They made for an easy subject.  I absolutely love how shallow the depth of field is.  When your eye gets to the back of the picture you can barely tell that your looking at baseballs.

DEER FIELD SUNSET

This is another one of those “right place at the right time” situations.  I went out to shoot the gardens at my local park.  After walking through and taking some pictures, I decided to call it a wrap.  While driving home I took notice of the sun setting and thought it might look nice setting behind a field nearby.  So I made the detour and sure enough the view was amazing.

I get out to take the pictures and that was when three deer ran across the street and out onto the field.  I wasn’t so much surprised by that as I was with the fact that once on the field, they just stayed there and hung out.  Usually they would get spooked and run away as I got closer.  For some reason, this time they decided to stay.  If you look close at the right side of the photo you can see on of the deer.  Lucky me.

OLD GUY

This is the second entry into my Bench Stories series.  This shot was taken a few years ago at a park near my office.  There were these old benches that overlooked a lake.  This one stood out for some reason.  He has character.  Not sure why I call it a HE.  Possibly due to its old, run down, weathered appearance.  Despite his appearance, he stands strong and will probably outlast all of us.

You can view all entries of the Bench Stories series here.

GEESE FEEDING (VIDEO)

I have been making an effort to work more with the video features on my D5000.  In case you were wondering, it’s hard work.  Manual Focus, Manual Zoom, and the slightest movement causes shake. It may be hard work, but it’s fun work also.

The above video was shot at my local park.  It was shot in 1280x720HD at 24fps.  720p is the highest resolution video that the Nikon D5000 can capture.  I arrived there in the afternoon and there were a lot of geese out feeding.  I setup the tripod and went to work.  Overall I’m happy with the results.  Yet, there is more work needed.

View the full 720p version here.

SCOTLAND SKY #4

Well here is the final installment of my Scotland Sky week.  Although it looks like and HDR photo, it isn’t.  I did apply a little Topaz Adjust filter and some minor tweeking in Aperture.  This was taken across the street from the entrance to the Dalmahoy Marriott.  I felt like Frogger trying to cross the street, but it was worth it.  This, and many other, fields in Scotland are just beautiful.

Enjoy

SCOTLAND SKY #3

Next month professional golfers from all over the world will gather to play the British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews.  Chances are some of them will be hitting there approach shot to the 18th green from this very spot!

SCOTLAND SKY #2

Here is the second installment of my Scotland Sky feature this week.  It was taken from the car while driving.  Unfortunately I do not remember exactly where.  I do know that it was somewhere in route from St. Andrews to Pitlochry.

SCOTLAND SKY #1

During my recent trip to Scotland I took many pictures of the beautiful skies.  They were always filled with beautiful clouds.  Combine those clouds with the wonderful fields and you’ve got yourself some amazing pictures.  I will be sharing them with you everyday this week.

Enjoy