Stonecrop Gardens

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:49:16 -0400

Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph at Stonecrop Gardens, in Cold Spring, New York. I discovered this garden many years ago from an article in the Washington Post by Adrian Higgins. This unique Alpine garden hewn out of stone on a rocky cliff above the Hudson River opened to the public in 1992. The garden is comprised of numerous water features both natural and manmade, but blended so well with the natural environment they are seamless. I arrived early to capture the garden in the best light, but to my surprise a thick fog had blanketed the garden and it was magical!

Click for Gallery

Photographing Tulips

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:46:50 -0400

Most tulips are now pass peak and beginning to look forlorn. But wait! They’re still beautiful and photogenic. Awhile back, I posted a blog entry on less than stellar subjects. I love to photograph tulips after they’ve passed their peak and petals have started to drop. So, grab a pair of kneepads, reflectors, close-up lens, and start photographing tulips below their tops. You’ll discover hidden beauty, creative picture possibilities, and beautiful designs and patterns. Also, put less than stellar tulips in the background of garden vista images.
Click for Gallery

Images are from the Franciscan Monastery (Washington, DC) and Brookside Gardens (Wheaton, MD).

Lancaster, PA

Thu, 5 Apr 2012 17:19:54 -0400

Last Saturday I was one of the featured speakers at the Lancaster County (PA) Master Gardeners Symposium in Lancaster, PA. I presented Beyond the Garden Gate, a program on photographing gardens and flowers. It was a tremendous group of participants and fellow speakers on garden design. I received a warm and friendly welcome from the event coordinators. Of course, I arrived on Friday afternoon and spent time in downtown Lancaster at Central Market and in the Amish community. The Amish are plain and simple people that lead an agrarian lifestyle. Most Amish shun being photographed, so this part of their culture is respected.

The blog images were converted to black and white using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 and optimized in Photoshop CS5.

Photographing Tulips

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:33:04 -0400

Spring in Washington, DC begins with the blooming of the cherry trees and tulips. One of the best places in the area to photograph tulips is the Franciscan Monastery. In order not to photograph the same types of images year after year at the Monastery, I look for different angles and perspectives and try to be creative in my approach. This is illustrated by the main blog image. The decorative railing was used as my foreground and the colorful potted tulips filled in the background. Once I decided on this composition, numerous images were taken with different apertures starting with f/16 through 5.6. Each subsequent aperture rendered the background less in focus. The above image was shot at f/16 and the image below at 5.6 —compare.

Aperture 5.6

Cherry Blossoms

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:09:48 -0400

The rite of spring in the Washington, DC area begins with the blooming of the cherry blossoms. This year marks the 100th Anniversary of Japan’s gift to America. Each year I make several pre-dawn pilgrimages to the Tidal Basin to photograph the blossoms during the peak period. Mother Nature dampened my first trip with an early morning thunderstorm. The storm quickly passed and the sky briefly cleared before becoming overcast and windy for the remainder of the day—not good conditions for photographing cherry blossoms. The blog image was taken just as the storm was clearing and is a composite of two exposures. One exposure was for the sky and the other exposure for the water and Jefferson Memorial. The two images were combined in Photoshop CS5 with a layer mask and optimized with Viveza 2.

An early morning fog made the second visit to the cherry blossoms special this year.

Orchids and Poppies

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:19:21 -0400

For the past two weekends, I have been immersed in orchid photography workshops at U.S. Botanic Garden and Longwood Gardens. Both workshops were fun and rewarding and had fantastic participants. This year the blue poppies bloomed early and were on display during Longwood Gardens’ Orchid Extravaganza. So my orchid workshop participants had a bonus photo op. The main blog orchid image was taken at Longwood Gardens. This is a composite of six images focus stacked and merged in Photoshop CS5.

Rawlings Conservatory

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:51:59 -0500

I spent Saturday at the Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens in Baltimore with a great group of photographers from the NIH Camera Club. The enthusiastic group made the day fun and productive. Towards the end of the workshop, I was able to get some images from inside the Palm House. The blog image is a composite of a single image flipped in Photoshop CS5 to create symmetry. The palm leaf is backlighted, and the shadow pattern is from an arched Palm House window. To give the image greater impact, the left side was added.

Original image post-processed in Lightroom 3

The original image opened in Photoshop CS5, copied, canvas size doubled, and flipped horizontally. The two images were aligned using “difference” layer blending mode and missing parts filled in using “content-aware”.

Technical information: Aperture f/16; Lens Canon 28-300mm at 190mm; Camera Canon 7D, and ISO 100

HDR Orchids

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:33:31 -0500

HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography is not only reserved for landscapes and dark interiors. It can also work quite well on flowers. I’ve used HDR with flowers for a number of years. The blog image illustrates the HDR technique. Three exposures (+2, 0, -2) were processed in Nik HDR Efex Pro and optimized in Photoshop CS5 with a LAB color overlay. This time I wanted a realistic look rather than artistic rendition of the orchids.

Technical information: Aperture f/18; Lens Canon 28-300mm at 90mm; Camera Canon 7D, and ISO 400.
Orchids photographed at the U. S. Botanic Garden, Washington, DC

Farrah

Sun, 5 Feb 2012 11:43:57 -0500

On Wednesday, February 1, my daughter-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. It was a joyous occasion to welcome our first grandchild into the world. Needless to say, I gathered up the photo gear and headed over to hospital. Farrah’s parents and grandparents are bursting with pride.

Orchid Time!

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:20:22 -0500

It’s that time again to photograph orchids at the U.S. Botanic Garden and Longwood Gardens. I have orchid photography workshops at both gardens in March. Orchid Mystique: Nature's Triumph at the U. S. Botanic Garden features orchids from around the world. USBG is offering a two-day workshop on Saturday and Sunday, March 3 and 4. Click here for complete details.

During Longwood’s Orchid Extravaganza, the Conservatory is filled with thousands of rare and beautiful orchids. In an all-day photography workshop on Friday, March 9, capture the natural beauty of Longwood’s impressive orchids. Click here for complete details.

In both workshops, participants will have the opportunity to photograph before the public enters and use tripods. Also, orchids will be available for participants to create photographic arrangements.

The blog orchid image has what I call the “classic” look. It is a straightforward image with no background enhancements or special lighting. The image was captured at Longwood Gardens in Camera RAW and post-processed in Lightroom 3.

Technical information: Aperture f/16; Lens Canon 28-300mm at 300mm; Camera Canon 7D, and ISO 400.

Ice Sculpture

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:07:45 -0500

This year winter weather was late arriving in Northern Virginia. Finally, Mother Nature produced a light snow with freezing rain. Trees and shrubs in my yard provided unlimited ice encrusted subjects. The circular shape and sculptural quality of this nandina leaf caught my eye. The colorful leaves on the shrub created a pleasing background to highlight the subject.

Technical information: Aperture f/22; Lens Canon 28-300mm at 300mm with a 500D close-up filter and 25mm extension tube; Camera Canon 7D, and ISO 800.

Less than Perfect Subjects

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:54:04 -0500

Now back to less the than stellar subjects. Last fall I spent the greater part of a day exploring the grounds of Longwood Gardens. Actually, I was looking for and wanted to photograph Longwood’s Champion Trees for an upcoming fall 2012 workshop. As luck would have it, the entire day was heavily overcast. Not a good day for photographing trees, but a good day for close-up photography. Beneath the champion ginkgo tree, these leaves caught my attention. The diagonal stems of the leaves created a good composition. The downside was flat lighting on the leaves, and the leaves were less than perfect with many blemishes. Nik Color Efex Pro 3 and Photoshop CS5 content–aware fill to the rescue! First, the bleach by-pass filer was applied, and then the detail stylizer (weird lines) filter was used to give a creative texture to less than perfect leaves. A mask was used to keep the stems of the leaves natural and to bring focus to the diagonal lines of the composition.

Technical information: Aperture f/18; Lens Canon 28-300mm at 300mm; Camera Canon 5D MII, and ISO 400.

Black and White Images

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:28:19 -0500

Some subjects scream, “Black and White” to me. This giant agave plant at the Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Garden in Baltimore is such an example. The black and white image is far stronger than the color image, but you can decide for yourself. Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 was used for the black and white conversion.

Technical information: Aperture f/18; Lens Canon 28-300mm at 60mm; Camera Canon 7D, and ISO 400.
Off-camera fill flash (-1) was used to light the shadow areas.

Less Than Stellar

Mon, 9 Jan 2012 16:50:47 -0500

Sometimes a less than stellar subject can be beautiful. Recently, while photographing at Longwood Gardens, I came across this unusual, less than perfect chrysanthemum. It screamed, “Photograph Me!” So, the flower was photographed from various angles with reflectors. Also, different apertures were used for background control from an f/22 through 5.6. The final image was optimized in Lightroom with Nik Viveza.

Technical information: Aperture f/20; Lens Canon 28-300mm at 190mm; Camera Canon 50D, and ISO 400

2012 Workshops/Classes

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 11:59:57 -0500

Lonaconing Silk Mill

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:27:00 -0500

Recently, I was invited to join a group of photographers at the Lonaconing Silk Mill in Lonaconing, Maryland near Frostburg. Most of the photographers had previously photographed at the mill, but this was my first time. I was truly awed by the exterior and interior of this industrial structure. The mill closed in 1957 and is waiting preservation.

Most of the gallery images are HDR (High Dynamic Range) or focus stacked composites. Black and white images were processed with Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 or Topaz B&W Effects. Focus stacking was achieved through Photoshop CS5 or Helicon Focus software.

Click Here for Gallery. Enjoy!

Inside and Outside

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:03:17 -0500

The blog images are from a recent trip to Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA. The main blog image was shot from inside the Conservatory. The graphic pattern of the doorframe directs the eye to the colorful tree and its planter in the courtyard. The chrysanthemums were shot from outside the Conservatory through a window with condensation and a screen. The condensation and screen softens the overall look of the image.

Graves Mountain

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:56:07 -0500

Recently, I visited Graves Mountain in Syria (Madison County), Virginia to shoot fall foliage. Graves Mountain, located at the foot of Shenandoah National Park, offers beautiful scenery, wildlife, and many roadside waterfalls, including the entrance to White Oak Canyon. The above blog image is a composite HDR.

Click here for gallery. Enjoy!

Close-up Workshop

Tue, 1 Nov 2011 12:24:49 -0400

In spite of the nor’easter passing through on Saturday, the close-up photography workshop at the Adkins Arboretum was rewarding and productive for everyone. It was a full house, and the group's enthusiasm stayed high throughout the morning. We could not shoot outdoor close-ups as planned due to the torrential rain, but plan #2 was put in place. Numerous close-up shooting opportunities were set up inside the building, and all of the planned outdoor techniques were covered in the comfort of a warm, dry environment with coffee and snacks. The indoor lighting was excellent too. Hats off to the Adkins Arboretum staff!

The blog images are from the workshop illustrating focus stacking. Each image is a composite of 5 or more images for optimum depth of field. The main blog image is #3 in the series.

Image #1

Image #2

Close-ups

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:48:31 -0400

Friday, I went to the Adkins Arboretum on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to scout for an upcoming close-up photography workshop. It was disgustingly windy— not a good time for close-up photography of standing subjects, such as flowers, leaves on trees, etc. When conditions exist like this, all is not lost. Just point the camera towards stationary subjects and objects on the ground and discover patterns and designs in nature.
Main blog image: A composite of two images (focus stacking) and Nik Color Efex 3 (Brilliance/Warmth Filter),
Canon 180mm Macro Lens

Sculpture Detail
Nik Color Efex 3 (Brilliance/Warmth Filter), Canon 28–300mm zoom lens at 300mm