Search locally for "your" hidden photo opportunities

I couldn't get poor Gilligan's three hour tour out of my mind as I entered my seventh hour of my kayaking trip with no idea how far ahead my truck was. I was told from the trusty World Wide Web that it should take approximately six hours so I figured I could get it done in four and a half, so much for over confidence. Can one take a wrong turn on a river that flows only one way? A dumb question but I was starting to have my doubts. Luckily my wife was along so if I were to get stranded  I had both the beauty of Ginger and the down home girl of Mary Ann to keep me company. (Just in case she reads this, I figured that comment will be good for an attaboy).  Soon after this seventh hour I came into some familiar water so I knew I'd be taking my final stroke of the paddle in about an hour. What a great way to spend my anniversary, kayaking and taking pictures.
My reason for this topic is to encourage people to get out and explore their local surroundings. We are flooded with outstanding photographs of the mountains of Yosemite, breathtaking sunrises over the Grand Canyon, refreshing coastlines and other incredible icons across America and we often think "what do I have to photograph without taking an expensive trip somewhere?" Well, without even knowing where you live I can tell you there's lots to photograph. Once I started to take an added interest in nature photography I was amazed at what I discovered within a hour from where I live.
Take a drive and get off that pavement, follow some dirt side roads and see where they go. Many photo opportunities can be taken right out your car window-roll down your window of course- and may be just a couple miles away from where you drive everyday. Local parks, zoos, arboretums and nature centers are another great place to slip away for some peace and quiet and hone your camera skills. I even meant a person once that was getting outstanding pictures of flowers that she photographed in a cemetery.
One of my close to home photo opportunities are exploring the lakes,swamps and rivers by kayak. I've lived in Mid-Michigan my entire life and by using this form of transportation I've found brand new scenery I never knew existed. While mixing kayaking and photography I use a compact camera instead of my SLR camera. I do this for a couple reason, first I find it more convenient because it's far less bulky and I can get added zoom without the trouble of changing lenses. Oh, and second reason, if I were to go overboard with the compact camera I would only be severely bummed out instead of wanting to jump off a cliff. Some of the compact cameras out there theses day are amazing with all the options and high quality images they offer, so don't use that as an excuse.
Grab your camera-including fresh batteries and media card- and get out there and explore and see what kind of hidden treasures you've been missing out on in your neck of the woods.
.
Places I like visit locally:
For-Mar Nature Preserve & Arboretum.....Burton Michigan
Seven Ponds Nature Center....Dryden Michigan
Shiawasse National Wildlife Refuge.....Saginaw Michigan
Dow Gardens........Midland Michigan

Sunrise over the Holloway Reservoir

Solitude on the Flint River

Shade along the Holloway Reservoir 

                                          South Branch of the Flint River

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." Heraclitus

Dragonflies

I find dragonflies a fun insect to photograph. I used to get frustrated trying to get a good shot of these, their small, quick and just plain don't want to cooperate with this big bald dome that's sneaking up on them. I'll let you know why I was having so much trouble and will pass some tips on to you. I use a macro lens attached to my camera body to photograph flowers, insects and any other small images I want to get close to. A macro lens is designed to focus close to a subject-within an inch or less if needed- and helps capture nice sharp details.  These dragonflies are so flighty I just couldn't get close enough to get the shot I wanted before they would fly off, land a foot away and entice me in for another try. I would readjust, get them in the composition I wanted, focus,and  put my finger on the shutter release only to have them flutter back to the perch they were just on. Really they were just toying with me, making this sweaty, clumsy, bald headed buffoon  chase them all over the yard. I'm glad I could supply them with some entertainment but I had to find a better way.
I switched to a 300mm lens, sounds like common sense after the fact but I really like the results I get from the macro. Using the longer lens allowed me to stay back about six feet which was just enough comfort zone between me and the insubordinate flying acrobats I was after.
Another must for photographing these or any other form of wildlife is a manual focus and make sure the focus is locked onto the eyes. Auto focus will usually focus on the closest thing, so if the insect is in some bushes or on a flower the camera might focus on a leaf or flower petal leaving your dragonfly blurry. It definitely can be done with autofocus but it can be frustrating at times.
Location is also a big key. It's tempting to grab a easy shot of these guys as their perched on your deck railing, sunning on the hot hood of your car, resting on the arm of a lawn chair, etc. Shots like these that include man made elements greatly distract from the picture. It's best to capture a image of them in a more natural,pleasing setting.
Grab your camera and go see what little critters you can find.
Remember, keep distance between you and the insect, lock focus on the eyes and capture the photo in a natural looking surrounding. Give it a try and e-mail your results, I'd love to see them.

                                             Colorful natural surroundings.

                                                  Eating a tasty treat.

Up close and personal.

Bedding down for the night inside a day lily.

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere" Vincent Van Gogh

Shutter Speed

If your anything like me -and for your sake I hope your not - you think of your shutter speed being for one thing and that to freeze whatever it is your photographing in its place. No blurry motion, just crisp sharp still image no matter if it's a person throwing or kicking a ball, leaves or flowers blowing in the wind or a bird's wings fluttering as it takes flight off a branch.

I would see photographs where part or all of the image was deliberately blurry and I would think "boy that sucks, why on earth would the photographer do that". Then the more I learned about my camera and the more I read about creative techniques I realized this could be a fun way to show action and bring the image a little more "alive" sort a speak. There are a number of different techniques when it comes to using shutter settings but I will show just one here for now.

My favorite is to blur a moving subject while the surrounding elements are still and in sharp focus. With having part of the image in focus it doesn't look like you screwed up and just took a blurry shot. (you can do that later and call it abstract if your into that artsy fartsy stuff).

   

In this image above I set my shutter speed to around three seconds so I could blur the moving water. This made the water more white  and added the silky texture while the surrounding trees and rocks added nice sharp contrast.

Here I again chose a longer shutter speed while focusing on the log and icicles. The longer shutter speed created a nice texture in the falling water in the background while giving the image a sense of motion.

In this image I believe the shutter speed was around 6 second. I focused on the bridge and then waited for a car to pass by. With the long shutter speed the car became nothing more than a blur while leaving a streak of head and tail lights.

                      "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see"
                                            Henry David Thoreau

Easily Overlooked

Even as a kid I enjoyed searching for the little things that were easily overlooked by others. Still today I find this a fun exercise to do when looking for a subject to photograph. In this materialistic world we live in it's easy to find interest in the beautiful things while we walk right passed the things were not conditioned to like. For example, we praise a yard full of roses, yet we curse that single dandelion that popped up overnight.

So, back to this exercise I spoke of. While others are having fun frolicking on the beach waiting for that perfect sunset, I find myself more elated by crawling through the weeds or wading knee deep in a swamp looking for something "odd" to photograph. (seems strange now that I put it in print, maybe I should have gotten out more when I was younger.) Sure these pictures won't be hanging above the fireplace mantle but it's a great way to explore and discover nature and also good practice at using your camera to capture a creative image of a not so popular subject.

 In the photo above I found this colorful stinkbug soaking up the moisture on this daisy with it's jagged tongue. I chose to get low and slant the camera just a bit to create a dynamic in your face feeling.

My goal here with this toad was first to get low at eye level. I then focused only on the eyes and set my lens to it's largest aperture to create a shallow depth of field (which caused the blurred effect in front of and behind the toad).

Here I wanted to capture every ones favorite summertime sweethearts. Again I got low to photograph this to give a little different point of view. I shot this very early in the morning to capture the warm color in the background.

Thanks for viewing my first post on this new blog and keep in mind in this digital age of cameras it doesn't cost anything to take a bad picture. So get out there and experiment with the camera settings and your creativity. If you get one great shot out of a few dozen then its worth it.

                               "One at a time is good fishin"  Bill Sherman