If you’ve come via the home page or wandered through the galleries, you may have seen these images before even though they are barely 24 hours old. I took some time yesterday and worked on making images of the Gerbera that were different from what I often see and interesting to me from a compositional [...]]]>

If you’ve come via the home page or wandered through the galleries, you may have seen these images before even though they are barely 24 hours old. I took some time yesterday and worked on making images of the Gerbera that were different from what I often see and interesting to me from a compositional perspective.

This first image is a single image zoom blur made with my Canon 50D and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens w/ a 500D close-up filter/lens; tripod mounted. I set up for a long exposure (2.0 sec @ f/20; ISO 100; -2/3 EV), started with the lens at 70mm and a brief pause before zooming to 200mm where I ended on a brief pause before the shutter closed. The result can be seen above.

The second image here is a 10-image zoom multiple exposure. I focused in on the flower at 70mm and following each exposure, I zoomed in a little more ending at 200mm. As I zoomed in shutter speed varied from 3.2 sec at 70mm to 1.6 sec at 200mm @ f/20; ISO 100; -1 EV. The images were combined in Photoshop using a script written/designed by Uwe Steinmueller & Tony Sweet. The result can be seen below.

The third image is a 4-image zoom multiple exposure created the same way as described above. The four images were shot at 70mm, 100mm, 135mm, and 200mm. You can see the resultant image below.

(1/100 sec @ f/11; ISO 200; 0 EV; Focal Length 135mm; natural light)

… from our Saturday morning trip to Jacobsburg State Park here in Pennsylvania. In this particular case, I set up the camera directly above the flower and shot straight down at it so you don’t see a stem. It appears to be just [...]]]>  

(1/100 sec @ f/11; ISO 200; 0 EV; Focal Length 135mm; natural light)

… from our Saturday morning trip to Jacobsburg State Park here in Pennsylvania. In this particular case, I set up the camera directly above the flower and shot straight down at it so you don’t see a stem. It appears to be just floating in air. 

Image made using my Canon 30D and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens w/ Canon 500D close-up filter/lens, tripod-mounted.

Hope you enjoy the image.

(1/15 sec @ f/22; ISO 400; 0 EV; Natural light)

Made this image a fews days ago but it got lost in the HDR IR shenanigans of the past few days.

I used a simple set up comprised of my Canon 30D with the Sigma 150mm macro lens; tripod-mounted.

Hope you enjoy the image.

Well, I guess I am really only pushin’ one daisy in this image. 

I made this image late last Spring using a Canon 30D and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens w/ a 500D close-up lens (filter). I focused on the yellow center of the flower and opened up the aperture to f/4 which allowed me to slightly [...]]]>

Well, I guess I am really only pushin’ one daisy in this image. 

I made this image late last Spring using a Canon 30D and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens w/ a 500D close-up lens (filter). I focused on the yellow center of the flower and opened up the aperture to f/4 which allowed me to slightly blur all the petals radiating from the center. It also blurred the background nicely. This is one of my two favorite daisy images from last year. The other, shot at f/32, may find its way on to this blog very soon. 

(This image is Copyright Ed Vatza 2009. Usage without my prior written approval is prohibited.)

In my previous post (“Patterns”) I said that I am now much more likely to photographically decompose the subject and focus in on specific elements of a flower rather than the flower itself. While this is true, it doesn’t mean that I have totally abandoned flower portraits. I still work a few into almost every [...]]]>

In my previous post (“Patterns”) I said that I am now much more likely to photographically decompose the subject and focus in on specific elements of a flower rather than the flower itself. While this is true, it doesn’t mean that I have totally abandoned flower portraits. I still work a few into almost every flower shoot. But the ratio is probably 10:1 tight close-ups to portraits.

When I do cut flower portraits, I generally like to use a black background. It’s personal preference but I just think that black sets off the flower color better than almost any other color background that I have tried. That’s what I did with this portrait of a Gerbera Daisy.

But recently while viewing a video presentation by one of my favorite nature photographers, Tony Sweet, I was inspired to try something else the next time I set up a cut flower session. He set up bunches of flowers and then he pulled out a single bloom and placed it in the foreground so the background was the bunches of multi-colored flowers. By separating the single bloom from the bunches by enough distance, opening up the aperture to reduce the depth of field, and focusing on the foreground flower; he created a wonderful portrait against a beautifully diffuse, multi-colored background. That’s something I have to try. Keep an eye out here for results of my experimenting over weeks to come.

In the meantime, here is that Gerbera portrait that I promised.

(This image is Copyright Ed Vatza 2009. Usage without my prior written approval is prohibited.)

What would life be without rules? Some might say much better. Others might say anarchy.

Rules are made to be followed… sometimes. And rules are made to be broken… sometimes. The trick is knowing when to follow the rules and when to break them.

Take the image above. I have broken a rule of photography that says [...]]]>

What would life be without rules? Some might say much better. Others might say anarchy.

Rules are made to be followed… sometimes. And rules are made to be broken… sometimes. The trick is knowing when to follow the rules and when to break them.

Take the image above. I have broken a rule of photography that says never put an out-of-focus element in front of the in-focus subject because it will detract from the overall image. Here I have allowed the stem in the foreground to be out of focus while the petals of the Gerbera Daisy are in focus. I did it on purpose by opening up the aperture and focusing on the petals because I wanted the image to be about the beautiful underside of the Gerbera flower. A sharp, in-focus stem would, I believe, distract the viewer’s eye from the petals. The image would have been dominated by the stem standing out in the foreground rather than the flower’s radiant beauty filling the background.

Am I right? To my eye, I am. To yours? Well you be the judge.

(This image is Copyright Ed Vatza 2009. Usage without my prior written approval is prohibited.)

and finding another.

Sometimes we find ourselves so focused on what we are looking for that we fail to see what is right in front of us. That almost happened to me this past weekend when I stopped by the local floral shop in search of that perfect rose to photograph. Fortunately the florist allows me to browse the cooler on my own. I [...]]]>

and finding another.

Sometimes we find ourselves so focused on what we are looking for that we fail to see what is right in front of us. That almost happened to me this past weekend when I stopped by the local floral shop in search of that perfect rose to photograph. Fortunately the florist allows me to browse the cooler on my own. I looked and I looked but I just couldn’t seem to find that perfect rose. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. It was almost to good to be true. I turned my head and there it was…  the most perfect, most vibrant hot pink Gerbera Daisy that I have ever seen.

I didn’t find what I was looking for but by keeping my eyes open to what was there, I found something much better.

Here is one of my favorite photos of that vibrant, pink Gerbera.

(This image is Copyright Ed Vatza 2009. Usage without my prior written approval is prohibited.)