This Memorial holiday weekend, I worked roadside areas of Tuolumne County including Red Hills, Stanislaus NF, and western Yosemite NP. I did expose 5 each 4x5 sheets on intimate flower scenes, however most of my time was spent working my G10. The above image was in the latter in one of my favorite locales for late spring wildflowers. However like many of my wildflower spots, I've never seen another person with a camera in that zone.
The above is a 2700x2100 pixels crop out of a 4100x3200 pixel image of purple owls clover, orthocarpus purpurascens, miniature lupine, lupinus bicolor, tomcat clover, trifolium tridentatum, rancheria clover, trifolium albopurpureum, slender tarweed, madia gracillis, amid seeded grass. I chose this smaller crop versus the full image as compression otherwise reduces the impact of the small confetti-like grass seeds. Taken with my G10 atop my Benbo, Av mode, f/8, auto spot focus, using a diffusion disk. The following is a link to a short slide show of the best closeups over those two days:
And also, the following link to an info pic showing how I use a soft clip on an adaptable positionally Tinkertoy structure to stabilize otherwise forever bobbing wildflowers. In this case the notorious square mariposa lily on its long stem. The round edge of my Litedisc reflector and diffuser are at left.
David, I updated your url addresses for hyperlinks. I think it is easier for everyone to view the work that way.
The G10 does a super job looking through your slide show. For me, looking at the image posted above and the rest of the slide show presents a very noticeable trait of the G10's quality overall. That detail is how well it seems to seperate colors. Basically stated there is no bleed and the definition is sharp and concise. Very nice work.
Additionally, the tinkertoy structure seems to be perfect for doing the flower close-up work. Anyone who has done close-up or macro flower work can appreciate the use of that little device.
Nice slide show... the images really pop against the black background. One of these days, I'm going to get around to getting a small pocket camera for stuff just like this. Nice work!
Beautiful photos with excellent lighting. Could you please explain a bit more how you set up the diffusion disk and what size you use? I have been visiting the Hwy 49 area and Red Hills all this spring, but I have not seen such rich groupings of so many different species. Could you give me a bit more specifics on this locality? Thank you.
Beautiful photos with excellent lighting. Could you please explain a bit more how you set up the diffusion disk and what size you use?
32 inch disk. I move it between the sky or sun and a subject while noting how lighting on a subject appears and when that looks best from the perspective of my lens, am satisfied. Same with a silver/white reflector that I often use also. In any case including when shooting in straight sunlight, I tend to be rather sensitive to how light looks on a small subjects by moving slightly about a few inches left right up down back and closer.
As for locations only a few images were taken at Red Hills and SR-49 unless you are also referring to the other slide show I included in this posting:
where I hiked the Preston Falls trail in Stanislause NF. Generally I am purposely vague about locations in much of my work because that is the one huge advantage I have over other photographers as someone that has been at it nearly three decades. If one considers the information provided, ie Yosemite NP, there are not many locations in the park at elevations where late spring wildflowers might be active in mid to late May. Thus the wise strategy would be to make a good study of topographic maps and on a future springs to drive roads in those areas and stop and explore about wherever the environment looks promising. You may end up with little to show on many places you visit or explore. However over time if you take time to notice the ways of nature you will become wiser and occassionally discover wonderful places.
Using the above image as an example, such species grow on specific geologies, sun exposures, and elevations. In this case well watered granite sand flats between granite bedrock where shadowing trees cannot easily grow. Such areas often show on topographic maps in otherwise map green forested regions as unexplainable white spots. They are only going to be well watered if not on ridgelines but rather where waters drain down into. Also by getting to know where the different species tend to grow and read what is known about them in natural history guides, one can increasingly predict where to find them in places one has not yet visited.
Discussion
5 repliesThe above is a 2700x2100 pixels crop out of a 4100x3200 pixel image of purple owls clover, orthocarpus purpurascens, miniature lupine, lupinus bicolor, tomcat clover, trifolium tridentatum, rancheria clover, trifolium albopurpureum, slender tarweed, madia gracillis, amid seeded grass. I chose this smaller crop versus the full image as compression otherwise reduces the impact of the small confetti-like grass seeds. Taken with my G10 atop my Benbo, Av mode, f/8, auto spot focus, using a diffusion disk. The following is a link to a short slide show of the best closeups over those two days:
http://www.davidsenesac.com/Spring_2009/hh_slidesh.html
And also, the following link to an info pic showing how I use a soft clip on an adaptable positionally Tinkertoy structure to stabilize otherwise forever bobbing wildflowers. In this case the notorious square mariposa lily on its long stem. The round edge of my Litedisc reflector and diffuser are at left.
http://www.davidsenesac.com/Spring_2009/ma_tinkertoy.jpg
The G10 does a super job looking through your slide show. For me, looking at the image posted above and the rest of the slide show presents a very noticeable trait of the G10's quality overall. That detail is how well it seems to seperate colors. Basically stated there is no bleed and the definition is sharp and concise. Very nice work.
Additionally, the tinkertoy structure seems to be perfect for doing the flower close-up work. Anyone who has done close-up or macro flower work can appreciate the use of that little device.
http://stevewolf.smugmug.com
32 inch disk. I move it between the sky or sun and a subject while noting how lighting on a subject appears and when that looks best from the perspective of my lens, am satisfied. Same with a silver/white reflector that I often use also. In any case including when shooting in straight sunlight, I tend to be rather sensitive to how light looks on a small subjects by moving slightly about a few inches left right up down back and closer.
As for locations only a few images were taken at Red Hills and SR-49 unless you are also referring to the other slide show I included in this posting:
http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=121300&CGISESSID=59775440235b3fb52ff08f8162c1e6fd&u=27090
where I hiked the Preston Falls trail in Stanislause NF. Generally I am purposely vague about locations in much of my work because that is the one huge advantage I have over other photographers as someone that has been at it nearly three decades. If one considers the information provided, ie Yosemite NP, there are not many locations in the park at elevations where late spring wildflowers might be active in mid to late May. Thus the wise strategy would be to make a good study of topographic maps and on a future springs to drive roads in those areas and stop and explore about wherever the environment looks promising. You may end up with little to show on many places you visit or explore. However over time if you take time to notice the ways of nature you will become wiser and occassionally discover wonderful places.
Using the above image as an example, such species grow on specific geologies, sun exposures, and elevations. In this case well watered granite sand flats between granite bedrock where shadowing trees cannot easily grow. Such areas often show on topographic maps in otherwise map green forested regions as unexplainable white spots. They are only going to be well watered if not on ridgelines but rather where waters drain down into. Also by getting to know where the different species tend to grow and read what is known about them in natural history guides, one can increasingly predict where to find them in places one has not yet visited.