{click image to view large}
To watch this flock dance along the ground and in the air was a glorious gift yesterday!
I think now what I saw was a “mini” mumuration of starlings. A Flickr contact pointed me to this (two minute) video which shows their ballet on a grand scale: Murmuration of Starlings in Ireland.
●●●
Nikon D300; f5.6 @ 1/350 sec, ISO 250 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance 33.5m
{click image to view large}
What to say…?
I simply like the energy in this!
●●●
Nikon D300; f9.5 @ 1/350 sec, ISO 200 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 112mm (168mm EFL); focus distance 3.16m
{click image to view large}
Photographed in June on my way to the 2011 Miksang Institute Summer Program, I didn’t realize at the time how representative this image would be of that journey!
●●●
Panasonic DMC-FZ40; f4 @ 1/80 sec, ISO 80 (handheld);
Focal length: 31.9mm (177mm EFL)
“Bagged”
{click image to view large}
Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/125 sec, ISO 200 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance .71m
●●●
“Flow”
{click image to view large}
Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/350sec, ISO 200 (handheld);
105mm f/2.8 @ 105mm (157mm EFL); focus distance .45m
●●●
Two takes on one theme I’m noticing often at this time of year—as temperatures begin to fall, but the sun still has some warmth.
{click images to view large}
To sample colors for this image using Photoshop, I first converted to 8-bit Mode and then applied Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic with a Cell Size of 200 square. The resulting palette is pretty cool!
●●●
Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/125 sec, ISO 3200 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance .67m
{click image to view large}
trans·mu·ta·tion/ˌtransmyo͞oˈtāSHən/
Noun:
●●●
Nikon D300; f9.5 @ 1/180 sec, ISO 200 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 150mm (225mm EFL); focus distance 21.13m
{click image to view large}
This was a challenging image to process, with respect to color. When I tried to eliminate color casts—using every trick I know—it looked, somehow…wrong. Too, nature doesn’t always conform to our rules of color harmony. 🙂
Now I’ve reset my camera to shoot RAW+JPEG, so I’ll have a color reference. The JPEG preview on my camera display looked accurate in the field but, working solely with the RAW file next day, it was hard to recall from memory.
●●●
Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/180 sec, ISO 720 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 22mm (33mm EFL)
{click image to view large}
This is one of those rare images where very little processing was needed. Other than running the file through the DxO raw converter and boosting contrast a bit, I have not modified the light—it is as seen!
Spot clean one distant black streak of a bird, add some high-pass sharpening, and done. I love when that happens. 🙂
●●●
Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/250 sec, ISO 200 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm (27mm EFL)
{click image to view large}
Looking up as I passed the entrance to a neighborhood alley… “Whoa! Never noticed that before.” 🙂
●●
Panasonic DMC-FZ40; f8 @ 1/500 sec, ISO 80 (handheld);
Focal length: 108mm (600mm EFL)
{click image to view large}
Standing up above the rest, this white flower caught my eye in the garden of a courtyard building in our neighborhood. The background is a sidewalk, which sits on a small rise above the bed of zinneas in hues of orange, pink and yellow.
The morning was very still and calm, with quiet light, so that’s the word that came to mind as a title for this image.
I’m thrilled to write that I’ll be assisting Marti Jeffers next spring during her workshop in Callaway Gardens and Warm Springs, Georgia, and hope to have the pleasure of meeting more of you in person there!
●●●
Nikon D300; f8 @ 1/180 sec, ISO 360 (handheld);
18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 200mm (300mm EFL); focus distance 2.66m
