C B Images

Photography by Chris Bates

Spider

Itsy Bitsy Spider_
Itsy Bitsy Spider: ISO 1000, 210mm, f4.0, 1/250

It has been awhile since my last post. My life has been busy in the last year and have not had much opportunity (energy) to go out after working and exercising my photographic eye. Today, I got a chance to review some old shots taken last year.

Last summer, I was sent to work in Invermere, British Columbia. After one of my shifts I was sitting on the balcony of my hotel room during a light rain and spotted this little guy hard at work on the siding of my balcony view.

Zinnia, Mosquito, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada,  Chris Bates Photography
Zinnia and Mosquito Bokeh: ISO 400, 90mm, f/5.6, 1/500
Click on Image (Or Here) to see larger size.

Zinnia, Spider, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Chris Bates Photography
Zinnia and Spider: ISO 400, 90mm, f/5.6, 1/125

Zinnia, Macro, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Chris Bates Photography
Zinnia Close Up: ISO 400, 90mm, f/6.3, 1/100


Three shots of Zinnias. Took these during the golden hours just before sunset in our backyard.

I just want to make a point about backgrounds. The first two images are using natural backgrounds.

The Zinnia and Mosquito was shooting into the shadows of our potato and sunflower plants. The background is very undistacting and does not take away from the main subject.

The second one has our worn out picnic table as a background. The white background takes away from the flower by providing no real contrast. Then there is the edge where it cuts across the stem of the flower. The black along the bottom does provide nice contrast for the leaves of the plant. I could have easily moved the picnic table to get rid of the background but sometimes backgrounds can't be moved (ie: a House). I could have moved to the other side of the flower but I would have our deck as the background(Which can't be moved).

The last picture is the same flower as the Zinnia and Spider. I brought out my black Foam Board/ Foamcore to use as a backdrop. Like the first image, the background in undistracting and does not take away from the main subject.