Gembikei Gorge

Well the locals call this Gembikei gorge. I was expecting something bigger with the title of gorge.

Anyway, while I was there I took a few shots from various angles. This one kind of stuck out as being worthy of posting. I liked it for the simple blue-yellow colour complement. I purposefully cut of the top of the water source since it was just white and green and would add nothing to the image from a colour standpoint. I also wanted to keep it a little more abstract rather than "finish" the photo.





Gembikei Gorge
Canon PowerShot G10 at 50mm EFL
0.4s, f/4 & IOS 80 - tripod mounted



What do you think? Do you want to see where the water is coming from or do you enjoy the mystery?

Timeless

For something a little different. Here's a black and white image.

I found this old cart in one of the samurai gardens of Chiran, Southern Japan. It was rather rundown but had an old rustic charm about it. I converted the image to black and white to more emphasis it's timeless appearance.

Timeless
Canon EOS Kiss X Digital with a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM at 35mm EFL
1/25s, f/4.5 & ISO 100 - handheld

Do you like the conversion? Would you prefer to see the colour version?

Edit: 6 Jan 2011

Here is the colour version.

Timeless
The above image in colour

Jumping Spider

Hi All,

Here's a photo of a jumping spider. He was quite active, always looking straight at the camera as I moved around taking photos at different angles.

I quite like the surrounding complementary colours of the spider's environment which contrast with the neutral colours of the spider itself.

Jumping Spider
Canon EOS Kiss X digital with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM at 160mm EFL
1/400, f/4 & ISO 400 - handheld

In this shot, I was going for an environmental portrait of a spider. So my question is, do the colours visually overwhelm the spider? Should I try to crop a little tighter to bring more focus to the spider.

The French Alps

Here's a shot taken while on a climbing holiday in the French Alps.

I liked the trail leading into the mountains with jagged peak everywhere. The two climbers are so small, emphasising the scale of these mountains.

However I don't really like the two paragliders who are setting up their flying machines on the mountain. While small, once noticed their presence takes on a lot of visual weight. I'd like to clone them out but such a task is beyond the capabilities of Lightroom.



The French Alps
Canon PowerShot S30 at 35mm EFL
1/1000s, f/6.3 & ISO ???



What do you think? Should I get rid of them or leave them.

Another dragon in the garden

Hi Gents,

While I was doing landscaping in the backyard, I had another friendly little visitor. Tools down, run inside and grab the camera.

I was trying to show the amazing colours that these little guys have up close. I was also testing how much difference there is between f/11 and f/16 in terms of acceptable sharp focus. (I notice that it looks different in terms of saturation on every monitor I have which is annoying, but hopefully I have it right for a happy medium now.)

How did I go?

Canon 40D, Canon 100mm Macro lens, Canon 580 Ex II flash.
1/250 sec at f/16, ISO 100.

Cheers!
Craig.

Dragons in the garden

Hi Gents,

I haven't been out anywhere exciting lately, so this was another image from my garden. I was hanging out clothes to dry on the line and noticed that this little guy was a bit cranky that I was walking past his nice sunny spot.
I had other photos that didn't cut his tail off, but this was the best of him really putting on a display.

Canon 40D.
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM at 125mm.
1/45 s at f/9.5, ISO 200
Image 1.
What can I do to get the BBC publishing arm to give me a ring and include my photos in their books?

-- Updated 2010-01-26.
Here is the same Bearded Dragon about a week earlier while sitting in another garden and shedding its skin. It looked a lot more raggard at this stage which is why I did not include much of the rest of its body. I also managed to get lucky and have him looking directly at me. He didn't do this for very long though. I really didn't want to have anything man made in the image though, as you can see my garden wall at the bottom of the frame which is a pity.

Canon 40D.
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM at 195mm.
1/180 s at f/8.0, ISO 250
Image 2.

Cheers
Craig.

Junagarh Architecture

Hi All

Here's a shot of the Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, India.

I wanted to show it's rather unique architectural style with the lower levels made from red sandstone and the upper levels in an off-white colour. On the day, the sky was quite stormy which I thought worked well with the colours already present.

 

Junagarh Architecture

Canon EOS Kiss X Digital with a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM at 26mm EFL

1/250s, f/11 & ISO 100

How do you feel about it?

Flufferbies

Hi Gents,

The first image is to give you an overall idea of what the butterfly looks like to the average observer, and the second image shows a close up shot to show how things don't always look the same when you get very close to insects.

Image 1:
Canon 40D, EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM.
Canon 580EX flash.
1/250s at f/8.0, ISO 160



Image 2:
Canon 40D, EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM.
Canon 580EX flash.
1/250s at f/11.0, ISO 200


They should be called flufferbys I think, because they are covered in fluffy stuff.

Cheers!

Art or Photography?

Canon EOS 350D with Canon 18-200mm IS lens. Taken at 1/320 sec, f/11, ISO 1600, EFL 80mm

Ok, so here's a shot where I didn't like the original colours or textures so much, but I like the lines and shapes, so I buggered up the colour a whole lot more by adjusting the tone curve in lightroom.

Is it interesting?  Was it worth the time and effort?  Or should I just trash the picture and move on?

Even More Ladybirds!

Hi Gents,

Well I was wondering if it was a mexican standoff between Geoff and myself as to who was going to post next so I gave in and decided I would put something up.

Here is a photo of another type of Ladybird that I found in my backyard. I like seeing the variations that they have. They are a pretty little insect.

Canon 40d with Canon EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM.
Canon 580EX II Flash with a home made light diffuser
1/250 s, f/11, ISO 100.
25mm Extension tube.


I had another 2 images I really liked out of this sequence, but I thought I'd follow Steves advice and just post 1 this time.

Maybe I'll post the other ones later as I'm interested to hear what you both think about them also.

Regards
Craig.

Mossy Rocks

Since we're all getting into confessions I thought I'd come clean with my own. I have a thing for moss covered rocks and flowing water.





Mossy Rocks
Canon PowerShot G10 at 28mm EFL
2.0s, f/4 & ISO 80



This was taken with the camera balanced on some clothing with a 2 second timer and using the built-in 3 stop ND filter this camera comes with.

Does this give you the feel of a tranquil stream somewhere deep within the mountains?

New Years Day Housefly

Hi Gents,

Here is a photo sequence taken on New Years Day of a Housefly.


Image 1: Housefly Portrait
Canon 40D, 100mm Macro Lens.
1/250s, f/11, ISO 100

Image 2: Housefly having a drink.
Canon 40D, 100mm Macro Lens.
1/180s, f/13, ISO 160


Image 3: Housefly not wanting its portrait taken anymore.
Canon 40D, 100mm Macro Lens.
1/180s, f/11, ISO 100


Image 4: Housefly trying to hide under the leaf.
Canon 40D, 100mm Macro Lens.
1/180s, f/13, ISO 160

Be sure to view the 100% images.
I like the reflection in the water droplet in the flys mouth in image 2.

Cheers
Craig.

Praying Mantis

Here's something a little different to my usual architectural shots.

Praying Mantis
Canon EOS 7D with a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro lens at 160mm EFL
1/250, f/8.0 & ISO 100 with twin off camera flashguns

How does this work for a portrait of a Praying Mantis. Do you like the black background or should it be white? How about the soft focus on the stick it's holding onto?

Fire




Taken with Canon EOS 550D using Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS lens
1/2000 sec at f/5.6, ISO 6400, Focal Length 190mm (EFL 304mm)

 
So what makes a good fire picture?

Baby Taj

Here's a shot with a few locals in it.




Baby Taj
Canon EOS 7D with a Canon EF 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM at 35mm EFL
1/100, f/8.0 & ISO 100


I was trying to show this architectural gem in it's natural surroundings.

I kind of feel that the top left corner needs a few leaves so it balances with the top right corner. Also given the typical weather of the area, there was a fair bit of manipulation to bring back that blue sky. As a side effect, there is quite a halo around the edges of the trees.

What do you think? Does the image have enough interest that these imperfections aren't so noticeable or what?

Hawaiian Village

Here I was going for an image to showcase a typical traditional Hawiian dwelling.

Hawaiian Village
Canon EOS Kiss Digital X with a Sigma DC 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 at 85mm EFL
1/125s, f/5.6 & ISO 100

This was taken with a tripod and is a composite of several shots. The shots were combined in photoshop to erase all the camera toting tourists walking around the area. I don't mind local people in my shots, but I object to tourists with their cameras.

Besides the lack of native Hawiians, does it capture a traditional village hut in an interesting way?