After completing my long theater photography project today, I needed a bit of air. I set outside in the backyard, and I noticed that my cucumber plants started developing baby cucumbers! I grabbed my camera with the Lensbaby Velvet 56 and the +10 macro filter, and took these few images to share you with.
And I found a tiny garden helper on the dill as well:
I was supposed to post this yesterday (to keep up with my daily posts), but it was a very busy day for me. I’ll tell you about that in a different post later.
I chose this project for three different reasons. One is that I have been learning a tiny bit about food photography, and I wanted to try out some of what I had learned. Secondly, I haven’t done a comparison between lenses experiment for a while, and I want to find the best lens(es) for what I want to start now – which would be the third reason for the project. But I’d like to share that with you at another time.
This is what I tried yesterday:
I set up a plate of yummy strawberries on my dining room table, since I get the most natural light there. I used two white reflectors to bounce some of the light back on the fruit. I then used the following lenses with or without macro attachments and at various apertures: Nikon 50mm, Lensbaby Velvet 56, Single Glass, Double Glass, Twist 60 and Sol 45. I am going to show you the images that I liked the most – for different reasons. Some, because they somewhat resembled an image I would see in a magazine (with more props or better composition perhaps), others because of their very unusual looks and feelings. I’d be happy to know which images you appreciate the most.
I found these images in a folder from the end of last year. I took a walk in a nearby park with my Lensbaby Burnside 35 and on the way back with the Velvet 56. The first image above was taken with the Velvet, the other two with the Burnside. I used Topaz Impression to create the painterly effect.
Towards the end of March my friend and I took a train trip into Los Angeles, and enjoyed a nice, slowly paced walk in the city for a few hours. Since we were not in a hurry whatsoever, using Lensbaby lenses was a good option. Let me share with you a few pictures of the areas we visited, which included Union Station, the City Hall (great view from the 27th floor!), the Bradbury Building, the Grand Central Market (I only ate there, no pictures), and the Disney Concert Hall. The lenses I used were: Twist 60, Sol 45 and Velvet 56.
Enjoy the brief tour of Los Angeles.
Our family moved to Southern California in June of 2012. Since that time we only experienced the wilderness in shades of green decorated with blooming wildflowers once, two years ago. The only time this happens in the spring is when we get enough rain during the winter months. To my delight, it is happening again this spring, after a very wet winter.
I discovered a nearby area two years ago with beautiful California Poppies; last Sunday I visited the same area hoping to find similar poppy fields. I headed to the park early, I was there not long after sunrise; the park was pretty empty, I only saw one person in the parking area. I started hiking, but after a few short minutes I noticed something from the corner of my eyes. I stopped and turned my head to discover that a coyote was standing about 50-60 yards away from me.
After staring at each other for a few seconds I started walking on the path, but kept my eyes on her. She then moved, and I noticed that poor animal was limping. I really felt sorry for her and I knew that she wouldn’t be able to hurt me. She hopped away and I continued my hike to the poppy field.
