Soft Mantis - Female - D700
Experimented with some diffusers and reflectors yesterday to get a softer looking image…I kind of like this look. Could be the last of the mantis images…REALLY…time to move on to something else.
Here’s two more shots using the diffuser and reflectors again…click to view a little larger.
Soft Mantis 2 - Female - D700
Soft Mantis - Male - D700
Female Mantis - D700, 85mm PC, f/6 @ 1/320
I was experimenting with some off camera flash today and this female mantis was very, very patient…here’s the setup:
D700, 85mm PC with polarizing filter (on a tripod), PocketWizard MiniTT1 with SU800 (on camera). SB900 (on light-stand) with LumiQuest Softbox and a piece of polarizing film over the flash-head, triggered with PocketWizard FlexTT5. So what’s extra piece of polarizing film over the flash head for? It allows me to dial out any glare on the subject caused by the flash by adjusting the polarizing filter on the camera. Trust me…IT WORKS. You may need to do some test shots adjusting the filter on the camera an 1/8 of a turn each time and checking the results on the LCD to get rid of all the glare or just a little.
Here’s a 100% view of the mantis head in the first image:
Female Mantis - 100% View
Here’s another shot of the same very, very patient female mantis using the same flash setup:
Female Mantis 2 - D700, 85mm PC, f/11 @ 1/40
Female Mantis 2 - 100% View
Mirroring Image 1 - D200, IR
Sometimes I find a scene where I like the light but don’t find a composition that works for me. I have found that you should just take an image of what attracted you in the first place and review the images later. Playing around with the images in CS5 can be lots of fun or really frustrating depends on your frame of mind at the time. Here are some of the scenes where I liked the light but not the original composition…so I played in CS5 with mirroring, and a few other things to come up with these. A touch of surrealism can be just what is needed sometimes…the architectural images make me think of something out of an old Buck Rogers movie.
Click on images to view larger…
Mirroring Image 2 - D200, IR
Mirroring Image 3 - D200, IR
Mirroring Image 4 - D200, IR
Mirroring Image 5 - D200, IR
RGB Flower Impressions - D700
Flower impressions from some flowers we had sitting on the kitchen counter. I was attracted to the color combinations of RGB. Single shot done with a slow shutter speed and some motion blur moving the camera during exposure. Just having some visual fun…
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Silver Leaves - D700, 85mm PC
After a rain storm these leaves were laying on a paver in the garden, I was intrigued by the pattern of the leaves and the textures. When it came to processing this image I went for just what attracted me, no color, just shape and texture. A bunch of steps in CS5 were done to get this look, don’t even begin to remember what all I did.
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IR Rocker Porch Pano - D200, 18-35mm
Two IR images of a rocker with a view. The first one is a 5 shot pano and the second just a single shot image. You could spend some time here just relaxing…
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IR Rocker on Porch - D200, 18-35mm
Back-lit Kousa - D700, 70-200mm
Two images from the garden with an impressionistic interpretation…the kousa dogwood is covered in flowers this year so I wondered around the tree looking for a image. Shot a bunch of multiple exposure images spinning and zooming between each exposure. When I walked around the back of the tree the sun was back lighting everything with a glow. I think this one illustrates the feeling I was getting.
The next one is a some poppies we had until the hail storm the other day pounded them to the ground. Good thing I got a few shots while I could…this is a multiple exposure (2 shots) done in camera, one focused on the front poppy and one focused on the back poppy. A fair amount of post processing was done to this image.
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Pink Poppies - D700, Lensbaby Composer Pro
Foggy Fork in the Road - D700, 24-70mm
Every so often there seems to be a fork in the road, sometimes the road ahead is not very clear…this image just jumped out of my head as I was doing some editing of recent photos. Must be my subconscious talking to me…
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Cathedral in the Pines - D700, 24-70mm
Just like a ‘Cathedral in the Pines’ the ferns carpeted the aisle. Having some fun with mirroring but this is just what it felt like. Below is the original per-mirrored version processed with Topaz Simplify.
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Mountain Ferns Topaz Simplify - D700, 24-70mm
Raindrops and Tree - D700, 85mm PC
It’s been raining sooooo much this Spring that sometimes it’s difficult to get outside and take some photographs. I shot this image from the dry comfort of the living room. Two exposures blended in CS5. One of the tree through the window focusing on the tree and one of the tree focusing on the raindrops on the window. A little blending in CS5 and some curves and color adjustments and you have what kind of day it was…moist.
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