A Blast from the Past!

Carol's Mannequin

I was standing by the sliding door talking on the cell phone in a rather lengthy conversation.  Carol's mannequin was standing nearby in the dinning room.  The light was coming from the double windows behind it in the same room.  I saw this image and remembered it.  One day, when it was raining outside, I decided to see if I could reproduce what I saw from memory.  I worked quite a while on the lighting, even putting a scrim inside it to control where the light went and what it showed.  I made this in March, 2007 and had forgotten about it until Carol gave me back the print.  Upon looking at it today, I realized just how evocative it is and I think that I rather did a good job on the lighting.  What do you think?    

An image helps me find my glasses.

Gorman Nature Center Foggy Morning

We had a very foggy morning at Gorman the other day.  I arrived in time to make this image and others.  I had picked out some views in the forest which I thought would work best during a fog so I decided to walk that trail.  The trail was not in as good a condition as I had remembered it.  I made several shots but the one I really want to share is the one that helped my find my glasses lens.

split Cherry Tree

The trail was up and down and had many obstructions.  It would not be too bad for a hiker but I tow a yard cart containing my photography equipment as I walk.  I had difficulty getting it past the obstructions.  Anyway, this is one of the shots I made.  I still had quite a ways to walk to get back to reasonable, for me, terrain.  I started noticing that I could not see as well as I thought that I should.  I had been playing with the grandchildren and thought that maybe they had accidentally bent my glasses.  I started to try to adjust my glasses as I walked but could not seem to get it right.  I was getting tired and was anxious to get home.  I made it back to the easy trails and saw an inflorescence of Indian Grass which interested me.  I stopped to photograph it.  After the shot, I put my glasses back on and realized I was missing a lens.  I was so tired that I felt unequal to retracing my steps.  I started back to the truck and finally decided I had energy to walk part of the way across the difficult trail.  I thought that I could hide my cart and walk without it.  I tried to remember when I had begun to notice that my vision was not as good.  I stopped at each place where I had made an image along that trail and did not find my lens.  I thought of this shot, saying to myself that I would go no further than its location because I was so tired.  You have probably guessed that I found my lens near this Cherry Tree.  I kind of like the image in sepia.

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American Goldfinch on nest

When I was beginning to photograph birds, I found a pasture in which grew bull thistles.  The Goldfinches came to feed.  I sat in my car, as a blind, and shot out the back side window.  I had only marginal success.  In the years since, I have found these birds to be active and difficult to shoot.  I have made images of them sitting in a bush but you have to be quick because when they see you looking they move behind some leaves or a limb.  I have learned to recognize their "chirps" so that I know they are near even if I can't see them.

A friend told me about this nest.  It was in a bush and just higher than my head.  I carry an old metal milk carton which I use at times for a seat and other times for a step stool.  You can guess how I used it for this shot.  I used flash and a medium long lens with a sufficient working distance so that I would not put too much stress on the bird.  The nest is now empty.  I did peek in a time or two to see the little ones before they fledged.  They pretty much filled the space within the nest.

I know from my days of having a backyard bird feeder that these birds stay around in the winter.  They change color so that you can barely notice their yellow color.  They feed upside down on a thistle seed feeder.  There are many seeds at Gorman upon which they can feed through the winter.  The Goldenrod seeds are numerous.  We also have thistles.   

Shadow Darner

This is one of the late season dragonflies active at this time of the year.  I have been seeing them for several weeks.  The other dragonflies, for the most part, are all gone.  I had been unable to get a shot of the Shadow Darner until the other morning, sunless and kind of cool, I observed one hoovering over a vernal pool.  It performed a lot of this behavior, enough that I thought that I might be able to photograph it.  I had several shots that I considered usable on a limited basis, of which this was one.  It is by far the best shot that I have of this dragonfly in flight. This one is probably a male.  They are known to fly into early November, the latest of any other darner.  My information comes from the ODNR Field Guide, Common Dragonflies & Damselflies of Ohio.

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The Importeace of Light.

Inspirational Poster

I spent my "rainy" morning adding to my website.  I have a Zazzle store and have long intended to show the individual items on my website with links to their respective Zazzle pages.  I did it this morning and have a sore wrist to remind me I did so.  I offer some of my images made into photographically inspiring posters with quotes from people I respect.  This is a non-seasonal one with a quote which supports my comments from yesterday.  I have found Brenda Tharp to touch my soul as I read her books.  Though I have never met her, I like the way she sees things.  Please check out the "Zazzle Store" page on my website.

Zazzle Store 

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The Light is almost everything!

Gorman Nature Center cell tower

Ten years ago, at the camera store, a customer service representative advised me that photography is 95% light.  The advice caused me to wonder what that meant.  I have been looking for it ever since.  This shot was made because the light was doing something which I thought was worth capturing.  I don't think that the cell tower is particularly attractive or that it adds to the landscape.  The sun was peeking through a cloud and shedding light on the top of the tower.  The tower became significantly higher toned than the clouds in the background. The other thing I learned from looking for what the light was doing, was to look for what the light was not doing.  Backgrounds seem to work better if they are lower toned than the subject.  Someone once observed that your eye goes first the point of highest contrast.  In this image, the highest contrast is located at the horizon.  When I get there, I look for the next highest contrast and I see the tower.  It is possible that I did not spend enough time with this one.  It might have been better had I used a telephoto lens.  The truth is that I ran out of time.  The light changed and did not come back.  The light does want it does fleetingly.  End of shoot.

Bull Thistle

Bull Thistle

Steve discussed the Bull Thistle during the wildflower walk.  I love its color.  The Bull Thistle has many little florets in the "head".  Each one produces seed connected to what I call a "parachute."  The wind disperses the seeds once they are mature.

Bull Thistle Seed

The power of reproduction is very strong in nature. 

These thistles grew in my father's pasture.  The cows avoided them when eating grass.  They are very prickly.  He would "clip", mow, the pasture once or twice a season so that they would not "go to seed." 

I have seen Goldfinches feeding on the seeds of this plant.  They are easier to photograph when feeding.

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