Mini Mantis Everywhere

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Sam

Baby Mantis 1 - D700, 85mm PC

Every year now for the last four years we have had a preying mantis lay an egg sack in the scotch broom and in almost the same spot. This year my wife was checking the egg sack to see if they hatched yet and there they were streaming out of the egg sack. Pure luck, I grabbed the camera and started trying to get some shots…well they are REALLY small, see the next shot for some scale. Trying to find these guys in the broom now is quite a task. They come out of the egg sack a bright yellow and change to a light brown in about an hour or so. I saw one the other day and it was about an inch long and green so they must be eating well.

Baby Mantis 2 - D700, 85mm PC

Baby Mantis 2, 100% - D700, 85mm PC

Here’s an overall shot of the shrub with mini mantis everywhere, all the slightly yellow blotches are baby mantis…shot with my Lensbaby Composer because it’s what was on the camera when the hatch started, I changed lenses later but they had already dissipated in the scotch broom by then.

Click to view a little larger…

Baby Mantis 3 - Lensbaby Composer, Sweet 35

Mountain Ferns – Part 3

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Sam

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.

Click to view a little larger…

Mountain Ferns Topaz Simplify - D700, 24-70mm

Lily of the Valley – Part 3

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Sam

Lily of the Valley - D700, Lensbaby Composer Pro, fish-eye

OK this might be the last of the ‘lily of the valley’ fish-eye shots…not totally sure about that but pretty sure. The first image is shot in the shade on a tripod using ‘Live View” to get the focus right. Then you get out your led flashlight and paint a little sunshine into the scene. I highly recommend the Fenix LD10 led flashlight for macro work. You get four different intensity setting so you can dial in as much or little light you need. This image is a combination of two photos with a slightly different angle with the flashlight. Loaded both images in CS5 on different layers and painted in the light I wanted to use. Additional post production with Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0, Tonal Contrast and blended in some Topaz Simplify too.

Lily of the Valley - Nik Soft Focus Filter

Lily of the Valley - D700, Lensbaby Composer Pro, fish-eye

No flashlight on this one, just some Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 Classical Soft Focus filter.

Click on images to view a little larger…two sepia versions for you b+w fans.

Lily of Valley - sepia version

Lily of Valley - sepia version 2

Pink Dogwood

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Sam

Pink Dogwood - D700, Lensbaby Composer Pro, Soft Focus Optic

Every year I enjoy photographing the pink dogwood in our yard. The rain finally stopped and the light was wonderful. Right after it’s stops raining is one of my favorite times to photograph, just grab your camera and go outside. I put my Lensbaby Composer on with the soft focus optic and proceeded to shoot a few hundred images. The wind was starting to blow the flowers around quite a bit so there was a bit of a challenge. Should be a few more images worth posting later as I review and process the ones that speak to me…

Click to view larger…

Autumn Textures and Reflections

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Sam

Leaf on Metal - G10, Macro Mode

Took a walk with my G10 after our Friday tennis get together, yes it was a little chilly and windy for tennis but we are a hardy bunch. Found this leaf laying on an old rusted piece of metal and was drawn to the textures and colors. This next one was in the creek along the bank, a bunch of leaves and twigs were captured in nook in the bank. Again it was the texture that attracted me along with the color.

Autumn Twigs and Leaves - G10

Processed both of these using Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 with the Tonal Contrast filter and finished off in CS5 with a Selective Color adjustment layer. This last one is another creek-side reflection with some mirroring applied. Something about the color pallet that me smile…click on any of the images to view larger.

Mirrored Autumn Creekside - G10

Apples, Trains & Raindrops

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Sam

Red Trains - D700, 70-200mm

I know, the title says Apples, Trains & Raindrops and I start the post with a train photo…just wanted to see if you were paying attention. You will get your apples later, really. The first “Red Trains” image is a combination of four images, as the train was coming down the track I thought it would make a more interesting image if I showed a sequence as the train approached. Click on the “Continue Reading link to see the rest of the post and get your “Apples”…

Continue reading →

NH Fall Color

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Sam

NH Fall Color 1 - D700, 70-200

Today we are going back to some fall color from NH. First one is from along the road. Shot with a Tony Sweet Soft Ray filter and processed in Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 and Topaz Simplify. Next one was shot at the COG Railway at sunset, the color came and went pretty fast.

COG Railway Sunset - D700, 70-200mm

This last one is a 10 shot multiple in camera swirl of some of the leaves along the road as I was waiting to get back into the car and move to the next location. That’s all for now…should have some more later…Click on images to view a little larger.

Leaf Swirl - D700, 24-70mm

Sugar Hill Overlook, NH

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Sam

Sugar Hill Overlook - Mirrored

Well the new computer is starting to get fully setup…soooo I had a little time to play around with some images from NH. On Tuesday morning we shot at the Sugar Hill Overlook, I may have some more images from there later. This image, at least for me worked much better in black and white and I pushed it a little more with a mirroring effect. Works for me… Blended two exposures together in Photomatix using Fusion. Used Nik Silver Efex Pro to convert to B+W and some additional work in Nik Color Efex Pro, finished off in CS5 with the mirroring.

More images to come from NH later…still more to do with the new computer…64-bit and lots of RAM make for much less wait time :~)

Click image to view a little larger…

Floating in Pink

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Sam

Floating in Pink - D700, 70-200mm

We took a trip last week to visit my niece and see their new home. I always look forward to taking some photos of my great niece and nephew. While we were there we took a trip one afternoon to the local town beach. Hard to loose my great niece in the water with that pink float, guess what color her new room is…PINK is the word for everything. We had a great visit and got some good family shots. Here’s my great niece mugging for the camera…notice the pink polish on the nails.

Lilly Giggles - D700, 70-200

Sidewalk Leaf

Posted on June 12, 2010 by Sam

Sidewalk Leaf - D700, 24-70mm

Sometimes the simple things all around you everyday can become more interesting after a rain…this is just a wet leaf on the sidewalk outside the back door. Processed in CS5 using mostly Topaz Detail…as usual click to view larger.

Sam Gray Photo Blog

I'll be posting my recent images on this blog…

Category Archives: Topaz