Copyright Nathan Montgomery, 2008
We didn't do a lot of shooting on the last day of the workshop, but the two spots we did go were productive. At the first, I took the picture of the stream at Bridal Veil Falls. At the second, I took this shot. The flower here is a wild tiger lily, presumably the wild source of the popular domesticated varieties.
Taking this shot was challenging. It was a windy morning, so we actually clamped the flower to a second tripod to keep it steady. In retrospect, it probably would've made more sense to clamp it onto my $30 tripod, while putting the camera on the $850 Gitzo, but hey, hindsight is 20/20.
I took several pictures of this flower, and although on balance this version is my favorite, I'll eventually post some of the others, which despite their flaws are interesting shots also.
To take this particular picture, I focused on the water droplets on he front petals. I set the aperture to F5.6, and the ISO speed to 800 (since the plant was moving, despite being clamped to the tripod). Together, that gave me a shutter speed of 1/100 of a second, fast enough to deal with at least a little movement. I must have metered off of the green background (I don't actually remember), and then, I underexposed by 2/3 of a stop
7 comments:
These are cool. I am partial towards the flower shots. I love the waterfalls and panoramas, but the flowers are unreal.
I tend to agree. I don't know if I'm just not as good with the waterfalls and the panoramas or if it's just a subject bias.
However, from a photography point of view, the thing I love about shooting flowers is this: when you shoot a landscape, the best you can hope to do is capture what one sees at that spot. When you shoot a smaller subject, you really can take a picture that is actually prettier than the subject was in real life.
Waterfalls are probably in between. The long exposures let you enhance streams and falls, I guess, but not to the same extent that you can do it with a flower.
If I imagined that my camera could talk, I think it would scream and cry next time it feels my hands on it and realizes that it has been banished back to Iowa. Your pictures are the best.
Dave, I've been thinking that there have to be some great sunrises and sunsets on those Mississippi River bluffs. I can't wait to see the pictures you take when you have time to take some after you get your camera back.
Dave, I should add that I'm really impressed with the pictures that your camera can take at high ISO settings. The instructor had a high end Nikon, and he says that he never goes higher than 400 and usually not higher than 200, because his images become grainy. Your camera did a great job under those conditions.
I'm digging the tiger lily. Good job.
It's actually the last shot I took in the workshop. A great subject to finish up on.
Post a Comment