Weekly Photo Challenge:Distorted
Friends, when i hear the word, distorted, i immediately think of the sandstone formations throughout the western US, where wind and water have carved holes in the rock. These small holes in red rock sandstone were found in sinagua country south and east of the Grand Canyon, the very large hole eroded by wind and water. I love the textures both small and large that are still being carved, as we stand in the wind taking the photos. Larger forces at work than mere humans. til Tomorrow MJ
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Friends, this handsome fellow is an early spring visitor, the yellow-rumped warbler. We haven’t seen them yet but i think they are probably on the doorstep. When they arrive in Crex Meadows, they cruise the edge of the lakes and eat the mosquitos as they hatch. They will also eat berries and fruit, but prefer the insects. til Tomorrow MJ
Birch Cones
Friends, more macro work, tiny cones from a birch bush, Birch have both female cones and male polen sacs, and these cones are about 1/2 inch long. I brought them indoors and lit them with flash against a gold reflector. I think the top one has a face in it, maybe the face of neptune with a beard. Getting hard to find something to photograph outside, with 16 inches of new snow, the contrast is non-existent, oh well, maybe Tomorrow MJ
Pin Feathers
Friends, today we have winter all in one shot, been short of snow all winter, now on leap day, Feb 29th, we have a foot of snow and more coming. This is another macro shot of my favorite bird feathers with the yellow shafts. This time i concentrated on the base of the shaft and the pretty pin feathers. This preparation is dry (no ice) cause a friend requested that i show the through focus technique in a dry situation. well here it is, do you like dry or ice??, I personally think that the ice gives a more saturated colors and i like the bubbles. til Tomorrow MJ
Birth of a Pine Cone
Friends, this is a macro image of a young pine cone among the needles of a white pine tree and encased in ice. As this preparation thawed, smaller bubbles appeared, not sure why that happened. but i like the detail in the small cone forming and you can start to see the scales forming on the surface. White pines have both female and male cones, but I am not sure how to differentiate them especially when they are very young. If you look closely at the needles, you can see the white lines on the needles and on White Pines the white lines are present on two sides of a three-sided needle.Can you see them, i can. til Tomorrow MJ
Baby Owl
Friends, This baby owl is a young Great Horned Owl with his ears flattened down. When he is an adult bird the feathers on the top of his head will stand erect and give the appearance of horns, hence his name the Horned Owl. This particular bird is a captive owl after being injured or abandoned. His handler brought him to Crex Meadows on a family day where he posed for photos. I loved his big yellow eyes that were watching me intently. Now i know how a field mouse feels when being hunted. til Tomorrow MJ
Remember?
Friends, thinking about traveling this morning and escaping the drab winter days of February and the upcoming winds of March. This green river was found in Yellowstone National Park but i don’t remember the name, is it important to remember the name? I do remember the feeling as i watched the water run by, of peace and joy at being out in nature on a wonderfully warm and sunny day. I wish you peace and joy, and patience while waiting for spring. til Tomorrow MJ
Feather details in Ice-Part two
Friends, more bird (Northern Flicker) feathers in ice. Using the same technique as in a previous post these feathers were frozen in ice. In a single image, the whole field was not focused as the feathers were on different planes. Multiple images (8) with different focus points were taken and combined as layers in a single photoshop image. Briefly all the layers were selected and the two commands auto-align layers and auto-blend layers were run sequentially from the edit menu. This process combines the images with layer masks that only allow the focused region to be part of the overall image. I love the bright yellow shafts and the small details that show up in the feathers and in the ice.
These feathers were found in Crex Meadows and are from an unfortunate Northern Flicker. The feather identification was facilitated by an online data base at this address http://digitalcollections.ups.edu/slater/ til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Indulge
Friends, yes i boosted the saturation a little, but the colors were real. This sunset view was 180 degrees from the actual brilliant red sunset. The storm clouds were reflecting the dying light of evening. I had been frantically photographing the Sandhill cranes flying into their nightly roost by the thousands in Crex Meadows. I sat still for a few moments and looked behind me. Sometimes the reflected beauty is more impressive than the real thing. I indulged in a few quiet moments to watch the sun go down. But even when i am enjoying a little down time, i still couldn’t resist snapping another photo. . til Tomorrow MJ
Feather details in Ice
Friends, I have always been frustrated by the limited depth of field when using my macro lens. When trying to photograph this bird feather in ice, the bubbles and the fine feather details were not in focus even at f/22 on a single image. Other macro photographers have remedied this problem by shooting multiple photos at different focus points and then blended the images together in Photoshop, to achieve the focus range that they want in the final image. To find more info on this technique, there are several excellent tutorials online, just google “image stacking in photoshop”. Viola, the method works, this image is a merging of four separate images taken to focus the bubbles, the feather shaft, and the tiny barbules on the barbs above the shaft. These elements were on three different planes but were combined by Photoshop to my satisfaction. More practice is needed to be able to go nose to nose with the wild flowers of spring. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 