Category: flowers
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Purple Flowers
I've made it this far, time to stop and smell the roses. Try out the tag surfer on the right, that list of keywords at are all different sizes — you might find something unusual!17
More than Tulips
The joyous colors of spring have returned. Life on the edge of the prairie is a delight at this time of year — warmth and humidity long strangers in this land. Like the prodigal son, they return to shock and confusion. The former no-man's-land of snow is once again a yard that needs mowing and tending to. And flowers, yes, flowers. Green is a welcome enough color, but the flowers a near sensory overload — a kin to coming off a long diet and plunging into a bender at the Willy Wonka factory outlet store. Now the thunderstorms are sweeping in at night and disturbing this perfect world. When you see the flowers stop! Stop and look, for tonight's storm may do them in.7
High Noon Light with Bokeh
Ah, the lovely browns of late autumn in Minnesota. I went exploring along the Minnesota River yesterday and though I chased a woodpecker for a while, I chose this picture for today. The high-noon sun is usually a problem for most situations, but I found a way to make it work. The high light was glancing down on this little fluff-ball giving it dimension — notice the way the stems have clear light and dark sides. Since the sun was high, the dark-brown trees were, well, dark. By using my telephoto at the widest aperture and placing the subject just inside my minimum focal distance, I was able to throw the background completely out of focus. Depth of Field (the area in focus) is determined by three things: aperture, distance to the subject and focal length. In this case, I was maximizing all of these factors which makes for a nice Bokeh. I've done this before and probably will again. A good time to try this is when you have a good solid color in the background or a confusing one. Bokeh is the light effect created by the out of focus light from the background. The quality of this effect on the image is a function of and an important distinction in the quality of the lens. For example, at some point everyone who has an SLR with interchangeable lenses discovers the 500mm mirror lens for $90 on ebay. Why is this powerful lens so cheap? It has very little glass in it and two problems: the aperture is fixed at f/8 and the bokeh looks like little donuts. Seriously, little white donuts. That's it for today, have fun and keep your focus!2
Purple Delights
I saw the purple invasive plants in the background and changed to my telephoto so that I could group the thistle in the foreground with the soft, out-of-focus plants in the back. Just as I got the picture framed up, this little hero dropped in for his close-up!1