Different and unusual camera techniques

I was setting up my camera to take some fall color shots. I didn't have the ball head on my tripod quite tight enough. I hit the remote trigger as my camera slowly drifted downwards. Oh dear! But I kind of like the effect- a watercolor, Monet impressionist look. It reminded me of the photo books I have read by Freeman Patterson like "Photography and the The Art of Seeing." He encourages experimenting with different techniques.

So when I was out a few days later, I tried his technique of rapidly zooming in my 18-200mm zoom lens on a tree scene while using a long shutter speed It gave these streaks of light and slight warped look as seen on the right. I also pointed my camera down and tried it on the leaf strewn path of the woods. I really liked this one as the 18mm end gave the entire leaf background and the 200mm end showed a couple of the leaves stacked on top of the scene.

The Search for Fall Colors

Fall is in the air. The mornings are crisp. The trees are changing colors to red, rust and yellow. So the search is on to find these colors. I hiked one of Lake County's many Forest Preserves and found the view above. I took a walk in the ravine near our house and took the picture of yellows to the right.













I looked up to see backlit colorful leaves.

My favorite of the day was when trying out reflection pictures in a stream, I saw these maple leaves floating down the stream with trees from the otherside of the stream reflecting in the water.

Color Experimenting

I have always liked those monochrome pictures that have one item, like a flower, that is in color. I decided to do my own experimenting with that and tried it on a coneflower picture I had taken.

Lincoln Park Flower Garden

A beautiful peaceful place to photograph is a flower garden. One such place in Kenosha is the Lincoln Park gardens. They always do a nice job every year with the plantings. The familiar white arch entrance adds a nice touch. I have taken pattern shots of a section of the garden or pictures of individual flowers. It also brings back memories as I grew up near here and my brother, sisters and I walked by here every day when we went to school.

Sculptures

Kenosha has had several sculptures installed by the lakefront recently. They are interesting, but a bit difficult to photograph. Where they sit, the backgrounds are rather busy. This sculpture had the least busy background as I walked around to find the best vantage point and put the trees behind the sculpture so that the sculpture itself would be the main subject and a busy background of buildings by the lakefront wouldn't compete with the lines of the sculpture. However, there are still some poles and telephone lines that I didn't care for. So I did a little photoshop and took out the poles, cloned in a few bushes in a few bare spots to make it look even and then cropped the picture. Here is the final result.

Little Surprises

I was just bemoaning the fact that my morning hunt for some good fall color pictures was not too successful as we went for our almost daily bike ride at Illinois Beach State Park. This past summer wasn't so great there for pictures either, not like last year. We stopped at one of our usual points by the lake and my husband spotted two little sandpipers dashing around. They were feverishing looking for something washing up on the beach to eat. These little things must be on their fall migration to the south. I crept up and sat on a dead log on the beach and watched them dart around. I was able to get some nice shots with my 300mm zoom lens.

Sesame Street

When I was young, my name was spelled Sherry with a “y.” When I became a bit older I wanted to change the spelling and hence Sheri with an “I.” Now that I am into photography, I want to be Sheri with an “eye.” That is what photography is all about, “seeing.” It is taking the time to observe the world around us. With that I would like to share a couple of pictures and their story that my sister Caryn sent to me the other day….

When I came out of work today, I saw that the pond was covered with geese, so I had to take a picture.

Then the old song from Sesame Street started going through my head
"One of these things is not like the other.
One of these things just doesn't belong.
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?"

I guess every family has that weird Uncle.
Have a good day!
Caryn

I love it. She saw all the geese and decided to take a picture. Then she “saw” that something was a little different than just a bunch of geese. Yes, that is a Great Blue Heron in amongst all the geese. Not only that, but she connected that with a memory of the past, Sesame Street. That is what I think is the fun of photography. It is taking the time out to take a closer look at and enjoy the world around us.

Wildflowers

It is great to go out on a quiet morning and take pictures of wildflowers. It is fascinating to see the great variety that God has created. September is the month of purple flowers. I love the beauty and delicacy of the Purple Fringed Gentian.