Macro look at a poppy

shallow focus on a delicate yellow poppy

yellow poppy Macro

Poppies are the free spirit of the garden. They’re very delicate to behold and their petals resemble tissue paper. As with all flowers when they are just buds, what you see is not what you get. A poppy starts as a green fuzzy ball on a narrow stem only to explode forth with a dazzling array of colors.

Camera details:

Canon camera, Sigma 70 mm macro lens, ISO 100, aperture F2.8 (very shallow DOF) and handheld at 1/250 Sec

Jeff Folger
View this stock photo image at Photoshelter

Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial – Man At The Wheel

Man At The Wheel Statue

The Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial – also known as the “Man at the Wheel” statue – is located on the Stacy Boulevard Esplanade in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

This historic bronze statue stands 8-feet tall, was commissioned in 1923, and later unveiled in 1925. Designed by English sculptor Leonard Craske, the Man at the Wheel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Standing proudly as a lasting tribute to the thousands of fishermen lost at sea, the Man at the Wheel reminds us of the ultimate sacrifice made by so many over the years. Most of us don’t stop and think of the dangers inherent to fishing as an occupation. We simply live our lives and enjoy the benefit of the catch.

On this day, I found the Man at the Wheel particularly striking in the golden light of the setting sun. It was a beautiful moment. One I feel honored to have captured and dedicate to all of those lost at sea.

Technical Info:

Camera:  Nikon D300
Lens:  Nikkor 70-200 mm
Exif Data:  ISO 200, 125 mm, f/2.8, 1/2500 sec., -0.7 EV

For Licensing Information or to Purchase A Print:  Email Me!

To See More of My Images:  Visit My Website!

Come back every Monday to see my latest “Single Shot Showcase”!

 ~ Liz Mackney
New England Photography Guild 

 

 

The New Kids On The Pond

Male and female swans with their five cygnets.

Despite a mild winter, spring fever has definitely come to New England. Nature didn’t waste any time kicking the lawn and gardens into gear. Even the wildlife has been making an early appearance — much to my delight.

When I heard that two of our local swans were now caring for five brand new cygnets, I was thrilled. This was a wonderful surprise, as these adorable little babies were 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule compared to previous years.

While I had certainly seen swans before, I had never seen cygnets, much less photographed them. To have an entire family so close to home was a dream come true.

I made my way over to the pond several times in the last few days to visit the swans and their babies. Knowing how protective swans can be of their young, I was certain to maintain a safe and respectful distance.

The swans in turn appreciated my sensitivity to their youngsters and gracefully presented me with this perfect family portrait composition.

Naturally, that was just the beginning of my camera’s love affair with them.

Click here to see what I mean.

Technical Info:

Camera:  Nikon D300
Lens:  Nikkor 18-200 mm
Exif Data:  ISO 200, 120 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec.

For Licensing Information or to Purchase A Print:  Email Me!

To See More of My Images:  Visit My Website!

Come back every Monday to see my latest “Single Shot Showcase”!

 ~ Liz Mackney
New England Photography Guild 

 

Super Moon arriving tomorrow night!

A “super” moon will arrive tomorrow night and the weather seems perfect for it on the North Shore. Saturday is supposed to turn sunny with partly cloudy conditions. This mean you can have a great sunset with red and pink clouds and the large red moon rising in the other direction.
In Feb I went to Crocker park in Marblehead and shot the moon rising from the other side of Marblehead’s lighthouse.

Bright red Moon rise at Marblehead light with clouds making it interesting

Moon rise at Marblehead light

You might be wondering how I got the moon so large? Well Crocker Park is about a half mile away and I used my 100-400 tele-zoom and zoomed in. This will compress the distance between your strong foreground object and the moon, giving you a very large moon right above or next to your foreground.

This works well with mountains or buildings. But you spend the day scoping out a location. You can also use  ”The Photographer’s Ephemeris” which will allow you to plot where the moon rise will come up and set along with the sunrise and set. So pick your strong foreground object and then look that point up in the TPE (it’s free for the computer but costs a few $$ if you want it on your smart phone.

Next plan to catch it early and once again the moon rise is at 1937hrs (military time, 7:37PM for you civies) :-) and the sun sets at 1948hrs. So the sun will still be illuminating the landscape so the moon won’t be so bright that you get a white blob  in order to get some detail in the landscape.

It happens all to fast that the landscape darkens and you either get nothing but a moon or the landscape. Of course if you are into Photoshop and layers you can blend a photo that is metered for the moon (about 1/320th of a second) with a image that is metered for the landscape and then you blend the two together. But we won’t go into that here. Here are a few links to other blogs that talk about photographing the full moon.

http://www.vistaphotos.net/2012/02/how-to-get-a-really-big-moon-shot/
http://jeffnewcomerphotography.blogspot.com/2011/03/shooting-biggest-moon.html

Jeff Folger

April’s “Pink Moon” Rising!

April's Pink Moon rises over Thacher Island in Rockport, Massachusetts

Despite its color, April’s full moon is known as the “Pink Moon.” I was determined to capture this celestial gift, for the full moon had been on my photographic To Do List for the last couple of months. The weather, however, apparently had its own agenda and continually thwarted my plans. Some things are simply beyond a photographer’s control. But when it comes to New England, the one thing that’s bound to change for certain is the weather!

April was my lucky month. Mother Nature was finally going to cooperate. My foe was once again my friend. Better yet, a quick check of  The Photographer’s Ephemeris  showed me the moon was going to rise over one of my favorite places — Thacher Island. And best of all, the moon was scheduled to rise shortly after sunset. A photographer’s dream come true!

One thing to note is that the moon rises quickly. This means exposure changes quickly as well. To get all of the elements in the image properly exposed — including the detail in the moon — takes some planning and a bit of finesse. But I’m willing to share my steps.

Click here to learn more about how I created this final image.

Technical Info:

Camera:  Nikon D300
Lens:  Nikkor 70-200 mm
Exif Data:  ISO 200, 200 mm, f/2.8, 1/8 sec., EV -1.7

For Licensing Information or to Purchase A Print:  Email Me!

To See More of My Images:  Visit My Website!

Come back every Monday to see my latest “Single Shot Showcase”!

 ~ Liz Mackney
New England Photography Guild 

 

Infrared take on history

One thing infrared loves is blue skies and billowy white clouds. Another is old buildings.

Earlier this week I saw some dramatic clouds move in, so I ran downtown to see what the sky would look like over the Pedrick house and other historical buildings in Salem. One of the volunteers at the Salem Essex National Heritage park, was working on this dinghy (scraping paint) so I chatted with him about his job and infrared (he wanted one to photograph ghosts… I didn’t know it was good for that.. maybe another use!) :-)

Pedrick house in Salem MA with dinghy in foreground

dinghy and Pedrick House

I framed the Pedrick house with that dinghy being worked on and I thought it worked well with the soon to be completed Pedrick house (late of Marblehead).

Shot with infrared converted 1D MK II, 1/125sec at F22 (to keep both rather sharp) ISO320. More can be seen on my Vistaphotography group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vistaphotography/

 

Jeff Folger
Vistaphotography Art and Stock Photography

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