Macro Monika

As I've continued to be inspired to explore new types of photography, I've been taking pictures on almost a daily basis, including lots of macro shots. Turns out macro photography is a lot like birding - you can do it anywhere! I just have to turn on my "macro eyes" and suddenly there are subjects everywhere. Especially water droplets - water droplets are awesome! ;) Here are a few of my favorite shots from the last couple of weeks. (If you're interested in seeing more of my recent photographic exploits, check out my new page at 500px!)

Photographing Photographers

I've recently had the pleasure of going out on a couple of photography excursions with a fellow photographer. Photography has mostly been a solo act for me over the years, but it's been exciting to be re-inspired by seeing things through the eyes of someone else. You can both walk the same trail, but end up taking vastly different pictures, and that makes both of you start to push your own photography in new directions! Here are a few of the shots I've taken over the last couple of weeks that have been inspired by seeing things in a different light and experimenting with different styles of photography.

Of course, being with another photographer also gives you another subject to photograph. I found I was taking pictures of him taking pictures, and that it was pretty neat to see the shot that resulted next to the photo of the shot being taken. Here are a few examples of that:

By the way, that sweet little camera he's shooting with his a Ricoh GR, an excellent and compact wide angle set up particularly good for street photography and macro work. I've had a ton of fun getting to play with that a little bit too! And check out some of Jason's other work on his 500px site. 

Finally, a brief year list update! A little birding on San Juan Island has helped me bump the list from 67 to 74 by adding harlequin duck, red-breasted merganser, black oystercatcher, greater yellowlegs, horned grebe, mourning dove, and house sparrow. That helps me build my lead over my dad, who is still at 66 in the year list challenge, though I know that lead will be short lived! I'm still trailing way behind Dave for the moment as well, who as of yesterday is at an impressive 93!

Leading Lines at English Camp

I've been meaning to mention on my blog that I'm working on a 365 Project this year, where I'm taking a picture every day. While my blog usually focuses on birds, whales, and other things in the natural world, I'm aiming to improve my all-around photography by taking pictures of all sorts of subjects. My dad is also doing a 365 Project, and we're coming up with themes for certain weeks to help inspire us to look at things differently. This week's theme, chosen by my dad, was leading lines - strong lines in a photo's composition that help guide the viewer's eye through the image. (You can see my whole 365 project here, and my dad's here - click on the button that looks like a grid of squares between "previous" and "next" to see a calendar view.)

I made leading lines that theme of my photo walk through British Camp this afternoon, and it certainly succeeded in getting me to look at things differently! The walk I've done dozens of times took twice as long as normal as I stopped to take pictures of all sorts of "lines" I've never really noticed before. Here are some of the results:

Of course I wasn't just taking pictures of lines - I was also looking at birds! Highlights were hearing a pileated woodpecker (106) and then seeing a Townsend's solitaire (107). The solitaire wasn't only a year bird, but a new species for me in San Juan County! He's pretty camouflaged, but here he is:

Photography: Taking It Up A Notch

Despite doing a lot of photography since 2005, I've never had any formal photography training. I've never taken a class, and the books that I've read have never stuck with me enough so that I felt like I really understood my camera and how it works. I've taken a lot of great photographs over the years, but they have all been taken with some or all of my camera's settings on auto. I've always known that I could take my photography to the next level if I learned to really utilize my camera's manual functions, and I've finally found a tool that is helping me to do just that.

At Powell's Books in Portland last year I picked up a copy of Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, and I was intrigued. I should have bought it right then, but I thought it might be just like other photography books I've picked up over the years: not really all that helpful. However, it stayed in the back of my mind until a couple of weeks ago when I finally bought it. It's probably the best investment in my photography I've made to date. After reading just the first chapter, I was comfortably shooting with my camera on manual for the first time.

It's possible to take great advantage of light and composition with your camera on auto, but using your manual settings gives you far more creative control over your images. I had always more or less understood shutter speed, but after reading the chapter in this book about aperture I was ready to go out in the field and experiment with getting correct exposures while manually setting aperture. One of things I learned is demonstrated in these two images. For the above photo, I isolated the grass by intentionally making the background fuzzy. In the photo below, by adjusting the aperture, I was able to get everything from the foreground to the distant background in focus.

I am now confidently shooting with all of my camera's settings on manual, and plan to leave my camera in manual mode most if not all the time. I look forward to exploring my new found understanding of photography and making more creative images while having full control of my exposure settings. I will as always continue to post photos here on my blog as I learn more and continue experimenting!

This book is far more understandable than other photography books I've read, as Peterson's great analogies of how the camera works and what the different settings mean are memorable. They stick with me in the field in a way that other photography advice I've read has not. I highly recommend this book to all you photographers out there that want to improve your own photos! Click the link below to read more about this fantastic book, and if you purchase through this link you'll also be helping to support this blog.

Oregon Wine Country

We finally got some nice weather over the end of the holiday weekend, so last Sunday was a beautiful day to drive out to parts of rural Oregon and visit several of the small, local wineries that were open for the weekend. It was sunny, calm, and not even very chilly, so it was perfect for pulling out the camera and capturing some scenic shots of Oregon wine country.

A gravel road through one of the vineyards

A few oak trees (I think?) punctuated the otherwise flat landscape, standing out among the rolling hills. Here a couple of trees frame one of the barns at a winery.

One of my new lenses starts at 18mm, giving me a chance to frame some wider landscape shots like this one

By the time we drove home, the sun was setting and the moon was rising

We had to stop the car so I could try and capture this view of Mt. Hood beyond the road leading down from Bald Peak into the rural valley. Click on the picture to see a larger view showing the mountain more clearly.

I've never really figured out the tricks of photographing mountains in the distance....they often appear very washed out. Anyone have any tips?

Squirrels - Shot with a new camera!

A few days ago I bought myself a new camera and lens set up (!!!) and I've been starting to get used to my new equipment. After using my last camera set up for five years, I had started to notice some things slowing down. The lenses especially are a major upgrade for me in quality so I look forward to really seeing what they could do. I needed a subject to shoot while I played around and I found some obliging red fox squirrels at a neighborhood park. I'm sure I'll be posting more as I continue to experiment with the new camera, but for now enjoy these photos....

Moran State Park on Orcas Island

This week I've had some family in town, which always makes for a good excuse to take some time to tour the San Juan Islands and visit some places I don't always get to go to as much as I would like. I've had my camera in hand for all of our adventures and have lots of photos to share (look for some upcoming posts to feature the insects, birds, and deer I've seen), but for now I'll focus on today's trip over to Orcas Island where we went to Moran State Park. You can check out some photos from my last visit there, which was ten months ago. Sometimes I'm amazed at how rarely I get to one of the other islands!

The focus of the day was going up Mt. Constitution, the highest point in the San Juan Islands at just over 2400 feet. While this morning was foggy, the skies had cleared by this afternoon giving us a panoramic view that stretches from up north near the city of Vancouver south along the mainland of Washington past Anacortes, and west from Mt. Baker to east over all the San Juan Islands. Here's a view from the top of the observation tower looking east towards Lummi Island and Rosario Strait:

The interpretive signs and park volunteer shared the well-known history of Moran State Park, the largest recreation area in the San Juan Islands at 5000 acres and one of the most famous Washington State Parks, and the associated story of Robert Moran, who donated the land to the state in 1921 so the public could always enjoy this amazing place. Surprisingly, however, no where could I find why the hill is called Mt. Constitution. Inquiring minds, of course, want to know, so I had to come home and find out.

It turns out the name Mt. Constitution comes from Charles Wilkes who led the United States Exploring Expedition, an exploratory survey of the Pacific Ocean conducted by the US Navy from 1838-1842. The survey came through local waters in 1841. Many of Wilkes' place names didn't stick; for instance, he named Orcas Island "Hull Island" after Isaac Hull, a sailor in the War of 1812. However, the name Mt. Constitution, given by Wilkes in honor of Isaac Hull's ship the USS Constitution, has, for some reason or another, stayed. Now I know!

I had been to the summit of Mt. Constitution before, but today was the first time I stopped to see Little Summit, a slightly shorter peak that has less obscured views to the west. Here's a couple views form Little Summit:

On the way back down we also stopped at Cascade Falls, a beautiful place I would love to spend some more time playing with camera settings while photographing the running water in the dappled sunlight of the forest. Here are a couple shots from today with the "soft water" effect gotten from longer exposures. The goal is to have the water look soft but keep the land crisp and in focus, which can be a trick when taking handheld photos like I was today. I like these results though. You can click on the photos to see larger versions.

Here's another vantage point standing at the bottom of one of the falls looking up:

In my two visits here I've never made it too far along the trails because I get stuck just a short ways in with so many things to try taking photos of! I would love to spend some more time here exploring the other trails and waterfalls, but today the ferry schedule and dinner plans kept the visit short. I guess I'll just have to go back!