Spring in Charleston is usually several weeks ahead of the NC mountains where I live. We try to go there every year to get a head start on photographing flowers outdoors. Magnolia Plantation http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/is the oldest public garden in the USA, first opening in 1870. The plantation itself has been around since 1676. Many photography … [Read more…]
My first Lensbaby lens was a Double Glass. Lensbaby is a small company in Portland OR that makes special effects lenses. Their motto is ‘See in a new way’. Instead of customer support, they have customer happiness. Thier lenses connect to many popular camera bodies using a Composer Pro, which holds their various lenses like … [Read more…]
When we first moved here 11 years ago, we joined the Carolina Mountain Club (CMC). We were new to hiking in mountains and wilderness areas and wanted to know the best places to go and how to do it safely. CMC has been around for over 90 years. Members helped build and now help … [Read more…]
One of my favorite places to do close-up photography is on the railing of my front porch in the late afternoon on a somewhat warm winter day with little wind. We have some large green bushes (Nandina) in front of our porch with clumps of red berries. This can make a great background for a … [Read more…]
I thought that I would take my Helios 58mm f2 for a walk around the neighborhood to see what it could do outside. We have had very little snow this winter and when we do get some, it is usually not much. I like to photograph in the snow, so if it snows I head out with my … [Read more…]
In the winter when there are too many bare branches with no snow, I give into the excuses of too windy and/or too cold to go out photographing. I find a sunny window in our house and set up flowers in various patterns and color combinations. These photos were all taken in the upstairs bedroom of my house … [Read more…]
I love the magic of blur in a photo. Shooting wide open is one way to accomplish this. Lenses like Lensbaby can enhance this effect. Recently, I noticed some spectacular bubble and ovoid bokeh from heritage or vintage lenses. Vintage lenses can also be very sharp. Not only do vintage lenses only focus manually, but aperture, ISO … [Read more…]
There were two areas of sunflowers and all of the sunflowers in both areas were facing in the same direction except this one. For some reason it was facing all the other sunflowers that were intent on following the sun. The morning sun nicely highlighted the back of the sunflower that was telling all the … [Read more…]
This photo was made with my favorite lens from one of my favorite companies. It’s a Lensbaby Velvet 56 that I just had to have for my birthday last year. It is marketed as both a portrait and a macro lens, and it’s also good for shooting nature. It calms and beautifies distracting backgrounds. I have been … [Read more…]
The North Carolina Department of Transportation has a wildflower program where flowers are planted along the highways. It was started in 1985 by Former First Lady Dottie Martin, wife of former Gov. Jim Martin, who was probably inspired by Lady Bird Johnson in Texas. It is a great opportunity for photographers and there are three areas … [Read more…]