Magnolias ~ Floral Friday!

"In A World of Her Own"

(1/400 sec.@ F/9, 50mm prime, fish eye effx in Corel, ISO 160)

Since I was away from the blog yesterday, I thought I'd combine florals and experimenting today. Ever look into a tiny raindrop and a whole new world or scene seems to be contained within? Well, I have and it's usually while I'm out in the garden after it's rained. It's right around that time that I begin wishing for a macro lens or fish eye lens to magically appear on my camera so that I can try valiantly to reproduce that.

So far the lens fairy's been a no show.

So what to do, it takes a week for a rented lens to arrive in my area, and sometimes I just want to get the overall effect without the cost that goes along with renting or buying... in steps PaintShopPro x3 to the rescue. I get to take an image like the one below, a fine image in it's own right, and pop it into the distortion lens effects menu option after I've done any editing to it I wish. I rotate the image's distortion in the fish eye selection vertically and horizontally till the composition is pleasantly filling the sphere. And then I save it. Magnolias in a rain drop. This is why the digital darkroom can be so delightful. You can create art that mimics photography without loosing a sense of what was so magical about the image in the first place.

"Magnolias in Sweet Sunshine"

As it is, this image was primed with a conversion into Corel's Cross Processing filter and then a Colored Edges Outline option, so as to give them some bright definition, emphasizing the full sun. All in all, it gave me bolder color, something I feel works for this shot... remembering that every once in a while, it's great to play in the darkroom! And that flowers still rock as a photography subject! I love Floral Fridays, how 'bout you?

Have an awesome long weekend Canada! And thanks for the ramble everyone!

Featured Guest ~ Exploration Thursday!

"Feathery Sunrise" by Christine Kapler

(1/1250 sec.@ F/3.8, ISO 400, 105mm fl, macro, Nikon D300)

Today's blog is with a special guest. Last week I mentioned macro photography. Well today's guest has continuously mesmerized me with her magical macro images of feathers, rain drops, and flower petals, as well as her bird photography. And I knew I had to share her photographs with all of you and her evident passion for what she does. Her name is Christine Kapler, and here she is to explain a bit about the type of photography she loves; 

"Macros or close-ups come to me quite naturally. I don't really take landscape or people photographs at all. With the exception of birds in the wild, macro is what I love to do.

Rain and sunshine are my friends. Once I see something what looks unreal at the other end of my lens I'm thrilled and I can't keep from photographing it. Anything can be turned into some kind of abstract when photographed with a macro lens. I use a Nikkor 105mmf/2.8 VR lens. This lens is my work horse."

"There is another side of me, that gets excited as well. When I see a bird in action, I get the same thrill and I can't help but photograph them. I'm not a morning person, I like to stay up late. But when I'm on holidays I get up as soon as I see the sun coming out and I'm out too with my camera waiting for some action. However, if there was any rain during the night, I will be out with my macro lens taking pictures between petals, grass and leaves."

"The important part of my photography is post processing. I shoot only in RAW format; it gives me flexibility to work on my pictures later in Lightroom. All my pictures are processed only in Lightroom, they are not photo shopped. I play with light and white balance. I move sliders until I get the look I have seen through my lens when shooting."

"The picture "Feathery Sunrise" was taken a while ago; I didn't like it at the beginning, as I wasn't able to pull the right colour. Then I went back and did it two months later. A tip from photo pro Bryan Peterson's book helped me get the desired color.The feather I used in this picture is a natural bird feather I found outside when photographing birds. I sprayed it with water to make the overall image more interesting and to have something to focus on."

"Hanging There in the Wind"

(1/200 sec.@ F/4.2, 105mm fl, Nikon D300, macro lens, -1/3EV, ISO 200)

"The other picture "Hanging there in the wind" was taken in Mexico in the morning after night rain. It is an edge of secretia leaf covered with raindrops.

I cropped it a little to make a nice composition and the rest is basic adjustment in Lightroom from raw to jpeg."

.... Macro photography. Like stepping into another world. Be sure to see Christine Kapler's photostream here. Look for her incredible bird images on her flicker page as well. And you can catch her profile here for more info. You can also contact her through flicker if you wish to purchase a print!

Huge thanks to Christine for allowing me to feature her work here, I am constantly impressed with her eye for creative possibilities. I find her images very inspiring, and it's my hope that you will too.

Thanks for tuning in today for our guest post! Have a great day folks!

Drizzly Days ~ Floral Friday

"New Peonies, New Rain"

(1/800 sec.@ F/2.5, 50mm fl, ISO 100, 50mm prime, rainy overcast light)

Today's image was inspired by the rain. I use the word inspired loosely. This is because for the last number of days, and a great deal of the last two weeks even, we've had wet, soggy weather. If it's not snowing, it's freezing rain. If it's not freezing rain, it's fog and sleet. Fine mists, and steady sheets of the wet stuff. It keeps coming. Even my brain is water logged. No comments from the peanut gallery.

So I thought why not post an image to acknowledge that even the rain can be beautiful. When it dots the tender buds of new plants, when it puddles in the fresh new grass, or when it washes away the grit of winter. I get especially excited when I spot new shoots popping up out of the soil for the first time. Before my garden has a chance to turn into a wilderness out of control. Usually around July I'm rendered useless against the wildflowers and weeds, and I start spending more time keeping them watered then keeping them orderly. But from April into June, everything looks great. And it's usually got nothing to do with me and everything to do with the spring rain.

So, next time you feel compelled to be frustrated with the weather, remember the flowers are coming! And then remember your umbrella. And your galoshes. And your rain coat. And your need to fore go all the gear and just stay indoors with a good book.

Did I mention the flowers are coming!

Thanks for the ramble folks! Happy Friday!