House Sparrow on a Twig.....

Here we go....the first of what I hope is many bird shots of the season. In the past, I have not done much in the way of nature photography. It is not because I do not enjoy nature, because the opposite is true. It is just that circumstances have not permitted me to spend much time out in the wild. So I put up a little bird feeding station just off my back deck, and I can even shoot from inside on days that I find too cold, or if I am involved in other chores about the house, and I keep my camera handy to get a fast "grab shot", which indeed this one was. It was taken with my 500mm mirror lens on my crop sensor Sony a77ll camera. This would give an effect similar to 750mm I am told. The bird is about 20 feet away, and it is hard to get a sharp image of these little birds, as they constantly jump and fly about. So it is mostly having the camera on high speed frames per second, in this case 12/sec. and then it is a matter of "spray and pray" shooting. It is good for the ego to try and shoot these little creatures, because your "keeper" rate will plummet when compared with other types of photography. Anyway, it was a bit of fun, and hopefully some folks will enjoy this one....Cheers!
 

Family Heirloom.....

 This little image is one that I shot a few nights ago, just to test out a little background that I had made from a couple of sheets of black foam core that I had picked up from the local Dollar Store. It also served as a test of my 90mm Macro lens that I had purchased about a year ago, and I am still getting used to using it. It had been touted as one of the sharpest lenses that you could buy, and is often used for portraiture as well. That was enough to tip me over the edge, and go for it. The tea set in this image is one of a family heirloom from my wife's little collection of tea cups etc. that she keeps in a cabinet. But I wanted to give the lens a workout, and this image was shot at f11 for 1/8 sec. with the camera on a tripod. The textures in the carnation and the doily came across very nicely, being next to the shiny porcelain tea set. The contrast between the black background and the tea set is quite stark, and I am hoping to do a similar set up using a white background for a high key effect. It will be interesting to see the difference between the two images, and which would be visually more appealing.....Cheers!

Abstract Sparrows.....

 Sooooo, December is upon us! The year really sped by quickly, and in just 3 weeks, we will have the Winter Solstice again, and then we will get to see the days lengthen, as the Sun makes it's way back from the South. As I was reading online earlier today, it appears that up North in the Muskoka's they got really clobbered with about 50 inches of snow....boy, I sure would hate to be stuck in that one on Hwy. #11 N. Here in SW Ontario, we got just a small sprinkle, and some folks are pushing the panic button already. We don't get Winter here...we get about 4 months of November, then Spring happens overnight. Anyway, I digress....This little image tonight is from a few shots that I took earlier today, or I should say yesterday, as it is well past Midnight now. When I got to playing with it a bit later tonight, I thought I would make it into an abstract of sorts. It always amazes me that I am now committing such violence to Nature shots, as when I first started in photography, I was the ultimate "purist", and wanted every image to be tack sharp, and well exposed and composed. When digital imaging came along, I felt it was the Devils curse upon photography, and it would never go far anyway....Now, all these years later, here I am, taking 2 lovely little Sparrows, and turning them into this Abstract piece of work. My in house art critic just hates this stuff, but for what ever reason, I still get a kick out of this sort of image, and when you get to be my age now, anything that gives you a mood kick is all good. No offence intended to the Nature purists.....I will post nice clean shots of birds in due time, but indulge me for now. Here's wishing everyone an enjoyable Winter season, and Christmas and New Years as well...Cheers!

Bird Feeder Station - 2024

 This is a quick shot of my bird feeding station that I set up a few days ago. Last year, the squirrels and I had an all season fight, and I tried everything to keep them off of the feeders, but after a day or so, they managed to get up the pole and dine on the bird seed. So this year, I decided to try something else beside greasing the pole with axel grease. I have to admit that I got a bit of sadistic pleasure from watching them slide back down the pole a few times, but they persisted, and eventually made it to the top again. What to do! Well, I went up to the CTC and bought a cheap plastic funnel and cut a slit down the side so that I could slide it over the pole. Then I taped it together again, and taped it to the pole just under the feeder. After filling the feeder and put the suet blocks in the cages, I waited for the birds to arrive....but the squirrels arrived first. They don't miss much.... When they would climb the pole, they made it up as far as the red funnel, and could not get past it no matter how much or hard they tried. After a few days, it appears that they have resigned themselves to dining on the seeds that the birds knock to the ground while they chow down. The red funnel actually works great, and I don't know why I did not think of this sooner. Now, I shoot birds through the back door window with my 500mm mirror lens....works great. Cheers!

Autumn's Rose From the Garden.....

 

About a week ago, I finally got around to pruning the bushes in our back yard, and in the process, was able to rescue a few blossoms that were still hanging on. It has been rather cold at night since November has arrived, and pretty soon we will be having frost which will bring the colours of the garden to a halt for another year. So I gathered a few roses, and placed them in a vase on the kitchen table. Of course, I could not resist taking a couple of quick shots of them, since flowers are one of my favourite things to photograph. Today, I set up my bird feeders for another Winter, and hopefully will be able to get some decent shots of the visitors, should the squirrels permit....they are pretty persistent creatures, we shall see what transpires.....Cheers!

Tools of the Trade.....Repost for Terri

Well, every once in a while it pays to listen to input  from those of you who are caring to visit my little blog from time to time. Terri informed me earlier today that she had difficulty making out what was in the image of my old tools that I had posted below. On top of that, my "in house art critic" agreed with her, so who am I to argue with 2 very smart women? Here is my repost of the image below, and hopefully it will be a lot easier for folks to view and enjoy somewhat. Maybe it is me who is fading into history, and not the tools so much.....at any rate, for what it is worth, here it is again. Cheers everyone.....

Tools of the Trade.....

Over the years, I have enjoyed many many DIY (do it yourself) projects that involved some fairly minor renovations, and some quite major. When I was just a boy, I had been involved in building 3 homes by the time I was 16 years old. My work life started when I was 12, and I got a job at a local BP service station, pumping gas, checking oil levels, and cleaning the windshields of customers cars. However, I always enjoyed building stuff, and renovating. This past Summer, I replaced the front verandah on our house, and by the time I was finished, I pretty much knew that this would be my last major project. From now on, someone else will have to do it. As the song goes, you gotta know when to fold 'em. So tonight I went out into my "man cave" and set up this little image that is a "parting shot" to my old tools....they helped keep me somewhat balanced financially and mentally as well over the years.....I think!! Hope you enjoy.....

 

End of Summer Roses.....

Another Summer has passed, and a couple of days ago, I went out to the back yard and snipped a few blossoms for the kitchen table. The aroma was just lovely, and it forced me to take a quick picture before they wilted. This is the result, and I hope it brings a smile to your face......Cheers!
 

Old Tyme Fiddler.....

He left us a few years ago, and when he would tune his fiddle and I would join him on the Hohner diatonic accordion, we spent many many evenings making the rafters ring, while other family members danced in the kitchen. He had a pitch perfect ear, and did not need any tuning aids or devices. He was 99 and played right up to the end when he passed. I loved that old man.....

Surround Sound on a Detroit Night.....

 This is a re-post of a coloured rendition that I had posted about 3 1/2 years ago. I had wondered what it would look like as a Black & White, and I accidentally came across it today, and decided to drop it on here.....with a different title. It is a composite of at least 3 different images that I decided to play with one evening, and it took several hours of editing in Photoshop and Corel PaintShop Pro software. Anyway, for what it is worth, here is the mono version....Thanks for looking in. Cheers!

The Black Hat.....

 This image is a Black & White rendition from the same session as below. As I said, I have been away from the portrait end of things for a while, and there is a lot that could have been improved. Making mistakes is a part of the process of learning and improving, no matter the endeavour. Someone once said that the perfect photo has yet to be taken, but I have to suggest that I have seen a lot of them that come pretty close....not mine of course. At any rate, I have to say that playing with a set of studio lights and some of the gear that goes with it, is a very nice diversion from my flowers and still life stuff that I have been doing for the past several months. There have been many times that I wished to have been able to go out about town with my camera, but reading the many headlines in the local newspaper of the various assaults on folks of all ages, makes me more content to hide away in my garage or back yard, and do my thing there.....and focus on the positive. Cheers!

Mysterious Woman.....

Lately I have been dabbling with studio portraiture, and this is my first attempt in a very very long while. It is fun to experiment a little with some off beat styles, and this lovely lady decided to go a little on the "dark" side for me. She was a thespian in her high school days, and I was fortunate that she has not lost her "joie de vivre" for this little session. The lighting is not what I was hoping for, but it will do for a start. It would probably look not half bad as a black & white, maybe I will give it a go sometime. Thanks for your time. Cheers!

Red Roses in a Vase.....

 While I was doing something else tonight, I got side tracked with this image that I accidentally came across. It was fun to take something that I had passed over many times before, and finally make it into something that I personally find somewhat pleasing. If I remember correctly, I originally shot this image while watching a hockey game, that wasn't going my way, so I set up an extra flash to the left of the flowers, and triggered it with the on camera flash. Flash photography used to terrify me somewhat in the past....not so much anymore. I put a poster efx filter on it in Corel, and this was the final outcome.....hope you enjoy it a little....Cheers!

First Rose of Sharon Blossom - 2024

 

Looking out the kitchen window this morning, I was most pleasantly surprised to see this lovely Rose of Sharon blossom greeting me. It is the very first blossom to open on the bush beside the back deck, and within the next few days, this bush, and the others in the yard, will be covered with these, and should continue to bloom until well into late September or early October. Unfortunately, there isn't much scent to them, but to be surrounded by their vivid colours makes a morning beverage very pleasant indeed. Sometimes I think that I am a bit crazy to be spending money on expensive lenses, but while it is not a work of art, these lovely blossoms make it worthwhile....well, to me anyway. Hope you enjoy it  also....Cheers!

SONY a7Mk2, and 90mm f 2.8 Macro Lens

  Yesterday was the first day of Summer, and I decided to offer this little image as a cheerful welcome to the season. It has been very warm and humid for the last week or so, with a few cooler days here and there which are very welcomed. There are several jobs about the place that need doing, but when the temperatures are pushing into the high 30's C., then it is time to take it easy, and not risk a heat stroke. This yellow rose is growing by the back fence, and I could not resist trying out my 90mm Macro lens. Hope some folks enjoy it.....Cheers!

A Garden Stone.....

 A couple of days ago, I was working in the garden, when I dug up this very round stone. It's shape was very unusual, as you would expect to find a round stone such as this at the seaside somewhere. So, I brushed the dirt off, and tossed it to one side until I was finished what I was doing. When I went back into the house, I washed it off in the utility sink, and set it aside. I had no idea what exactly I would do with it, but I just liked its shape, and thought it could be somehow included in a still life set up maybe. After a while of mulling it over in my head, this is what I came up with. Geometric shapes have always interested me, so this image is made up of circles and rectangles, and also the irregular. It has various textures from the polished smooth balls, to the rough surface of the stone "vase", and the straw in the little wooden rectangular box. The crinkled pinkish gift wrapping paper provides a colourful background. This image doesn't have some deep profound meaning or story behind it....it is just a little something that I dug up, literally, and enjoyed the process of "enhancing the unpolished"....just because....Cheers!

And Some Flowers for Her.....

Before I started to "conjure" up this image tonight, I had all sorts of possible ideas rattling around inside the old cranium. While I very much enjoy shooting flowers, I was getting rather tired of the same old flowers in a vase images. Then there was this light bulb moment where I thought it might be nice to portray them in a bit of a different setting, that might also suggest a story of sorts. So I took a quick dive into the clothes closet and dug out a jacket, shirt and tie, and did a little arranging of the items, and set up my LED lights before I went for the flowers to include them in the overall scene. This was the result, and it was a bit of fun to deviate from the usual methods of presentation....it also adds a bit of a masculine element, if I am allowed to suggest that these days....it is what it is....enjoy life while we can.....Cheers!
 

Light Amongst Rose Petals

The first thing you learn on your photographic journey, is that Photography is all about lighting. It took me a very long time to realize this, but as they say, the first 10,000 photos are throw aways. On the surface, what is so wonderful about a pile of dead rose petals?....Nothing actually. However, when you apply some backlighting, and some fill lighting, suddenly these dead petals come to life, and the lovely colours hidden within them is brought to the fore, and when the light infiltrates the various surfaces of the petals, it seems to do a little dance that for me is somewhat pleasing to my eye. This is AKA Textured Lighting, and hopefully some of you will enjoy it as well.....Cheers!

PS Lighting by 2 Aperture Light storm LED lights

     Camera ~ SONY a7ll mirrorless on Tripod

     Lens ~ SONY 90mm Macro OSS @ f16, 1/6 sec. ASA (ISO) 100

Three Roses Abstract.....

This image tonight, or I should say this morning, is a variation of the same 3 dead roses as show in my posting below. Sometimes, it is fun to try for a totally different or unusual presentation of the same subject matter. My preference for this one was a more abstract treatment, as I stuck the roses in amongst a vase of tall branches that sits by the fireplace. At first, I thought it was kind of silly to do this, but the more I looked at it, the more it grew on me. So I got brave, and decided to put it on here for you to love or hate....it's all good. Hope it provides a little kick of sorts for some of you....Cheers!
 

Withered Roses.....

About a week ago, my neighbour Terri, gifted me with these 3 badly withered roses. Apparently, I had mentioned to her in passing, that I enjoyed photographing things that were well past their best before date. She has recently been trying her hand at floral arranging, and I guess she decided that instead of throwing these into the garbage, she would pass that on to me. Anyway, this little shot is one that I took while I was watching a hockey game out of my other eye. The lighting is supplied by 2 Metz 400M flashes, one mounted on the camera, and one as a remote slave unit which was triggered by the camera mounted one. It was a simple set up, and the purpose behind it was to test the sharpness of my 28 ~ 70 mm kit lens, that had received some rather bad reviews online.....My conclusion is that it is best to ignore the self appointed, so called experts' opinions. Most of them are biased toward other makes of photo equipment. It seems that as far as I am concerned, the lens is as sharp as it needs to be for a general purpose walk around lens. It is a joy to use, and for me, that is all that matters. Thanks a lot Terri, you do beautiful flower arranging, and maybe someday I will learn to do justice to more of your "withered" gifts. Hope some of you will enjoy this little image.....it was a fun diversion from a boring game. Cheers!
 

Of Orchids and Earrings.....

It may be a bit late, but here's wishing all the best to everyone in this New Year of 2024 that is upon us. Today, we had the first snowfall of the season here in Windsor, Ont., and my computer tells me that it is +3C outside right now, so most of it will likely be melted off before sunrise. The less I have to shovel the better. The snowblower hasn't been fired up for about 3 years now, and I am hoping to make it through another. When you retire, who wants to spend their time behind a snowblower anyway. However, this afternoon when we looked out the front window, and saw the trees and bushes covered with snow, it did bring back a slight tinge of fond memories of when we lived in Northern Ontario, and some of the very cold Winters we had up there. Anyway, since I am spending most of my time about the house these days, I get the itch to photograph something....anything to keep the old mind active. This little image is of an Orchid plant that someone gave to my wife, and I found an old pair of her earrings in a drawer, and decided to try something a bit different. It is fun to find something quite ordinary, and present it in an unusual fashion, which was my intent here. It helped pass the time for a few hours a couple of evenings ago. I was using my 90mm macro lens on my Sony a7ll body, and lit the whole thing up with my LED lights. Afterwards it was processed with Affinity 2, and Corel photo editing software to get it to this point. It isn't a wall hanger, but fun nonetheless. Hope you enjoy it.....Cheers!