30/10/10 Filed in: Fall
Halloween Scene: ISO 200, 28mm, f/6.7, 1/90
I took this shotback in late September when I photographed "The Chase" and "Falling Leaf."
There is an old cemetery on top of Michener Hill in Red Deer. I put this photo away knowing I would pull it out again for Halloween.
I did some post processing on this photo using a plug in for Apple's Aperture (Colour Efex Pro by NIK software). I used the Midnight filter to give this image a more eerie look.
Cedar and Snow: ISO 200, 11mm, f/3.2, 1/160
We got some snow this week. It usually snows just in time for Halloween.
This is a macro of our cedar tree by our front entrance which faces north. Taken with a point and shoot set on manual settings.
24/10/10 Filed in: Fall
Fall Rose Leaves: ISO 400, 35mm, f/5, 1/100
My last post showed some bright colours of summer. This image is of some rose leaves changing to their fall colours.
For some reason when I transfer the image to my website it does not look as sharp as it does on my computer. Click on the image or HERE to see a sharper image.
I took this shot today on a very overcast sky without the use of flash.
23/10/10 Filed in: Summer
California Poppy: ISO 80, 6.2mm, f/2.8, 1/125
This summer I planted some California Poppy seeds in some of our beds. One patch managed to survive without being mistaken for weeds. I am posting this shot now as they have shown to be pretty resilient to the cold fall temperatures. They flowered up until a week ago when Angela finally trimmed them back for fall hibernation.
This was taken with a point and shoot camera. I set the camera to Macro Mode and it took care of the rest.
20/10/10 Filed in: Fall
Last Leaf: ISO 200, 50mm, f/5, 1/320
Our colourful apple tree has lost all of it's leaves. I am sharing with you a photo taken last week of a leaf that is not willing to let go.
What is really weird is that the neighbour's Mountain Ash and our crabapple tree that is below it still have many green leaves. The background of this photo is the Mountain Ash's green leaves and orange/red berries. The majority of the other trees on our block are barren. It's quite odd.
American Robin with Autumn Leaves: ISO 400, 270mm, f/6.7, 1/180
American Robin: ISO 400, 270mm, f/6.7, 1/180
A sure sign of spring is when the Robins return to our yard.
Wait a minute, it's autumn!
We are still experiencing warm weather and it must be fooling the robins playing in our yard.
The parents may have returned with their spring babies to show them where they were born so that they will all return to us next spring.
12/10/10 Filed in: Fall
Frost Bitten: ISO 200, 50mm, f/2.5,1/100
Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.
Stanley Horowitz
I have never done this before but I have seen users of Flickr add quotes to describe their pictures. I found one that that sums up my postings for the month of October.
05/10/10 Filed in: Fall
Up in Flames at Night: ISO 200, 24mm, f/5.6, 8.0s
I have read about painting your subjects with LED lights and wondered how hard is it to do. Well, I tried it the other night on our apple tree with all the different coloured leaves.
I set the camera on a tripod since I was playing with long exposures. The shutter stayed open for 8 seconds on this shot. In order for the camera to focus I had to shine my flashlight on a spot on the tree for the autofocus to find its mark. I also set the camera to take the shot 10 seconds after I pressed the shutter release. You can also use a remote or a cable shutter release (I don't have either for my Canon 40D) .
I set up my flash/strobe on a second tripod away from the camera and pointed it at the inside of a white umbrella. I thought that bouncing the light of the flash/strobe would illuminate the tree more effectively than directly pointing the flash/strobe at the tree.
I also warned my wife that if any neighbours come knocking on our door asking about crazy lights going off in the backyard it was me playing with the flashlight and camera.
Once I heard the shutter open (After the 10 Second delay) I then "painted" the tree with my LED Flashlight. After experimenting with a few different motions (Up/down, Side to Side) and different speeds I got a few shots I thought would work. It was hard to tell in the dark looking at the little screen on the back of the camera especially when my eyes were adjusting to brightness then darkness.
Before I started I had envisioned that it would isolate the apple tree from the distractions behind it (neighbour's motorhome, our white fence etc.) The finished project came pretty close to what I envisioned. I chose this one to show you.
02/10/10 Filed in: Fall
Up in Flames: ISO 100, 18mm, f/6.3, 1/50
Our apple tree surprised us this fall. We have never seen it have this much colour at the end of a season. It usually turns yellow and a little orange. This year most of the leaves have turned red. As you can see they are also hanging on to the branches a little longer so that we can admire her beauty.
I have my circular polarizer on to help saturate the colours in the leaves and sky.