Calla Lily.....

It was a rainy dreary day today, so I decided to busy myself with taking a few shots of this lovely Calla Lily that my wife received for Mother's Day. We were trying to keep it outside, but the weather turned so cold and windy, so we decided to bring it indoors for a few days, until Spring decides it is going to stay for a while. The lighting is provided by a portable flash bounced into a white umbrella, and the on camera flash bounced into a silver reflector. No "special effects" were applied, to make it look more "painterly" or abstract. The darker vignetting around the edges is deliberate. If I have a lens that is not quite perfect, and shows a bit of vignetting, that is just fine with me, although most folks who do the online lens reviews give this a thumbs down as an optical flaw.....whatever! It was a fun way to pass the day...hope some folks will enjoy this image also.....Cheers!
 

Oranges in Bowl Abstract.....

 

As far back as I can remember, I have always been interested in art and artists. When I was in grade 2 or 3 in the one room with 9 grades school house in Newfoundland, the teacher at the time told me that I would some day be an artist. I was very skeptical of that and it is a feeling that I carry until this present day. I used to enjoy taking pictures with the old Brownie Hawkeye camera, and still carry a picture of my parents in my wallet that I took when I was about 11 years old. I treasure it. Over the decades, whenever I happened to take time out from living, I would enjoy looking at the various coffee table art books. Then sometime in my 30's I became interested in photography...big time. Back then, a fine black & white image appearing in the developer in the darkroom was the ultimate end. It would be dry mounted and framed and hung on the wall in that special corner. My, how things have changed. Now it seems that an image taken of anyone or anything, can be the end, or the beginning of something else. Abstract artists used to be in my mind at least, very suspect and not to be taken too seriously. Just what the blazes were they trying to say anyway? But all these years later, here I am, using my perfectly nice images from my camera and lenses, and with the help of digital software, transform them into something else resembling the style of art that used to confuse me at one time. But I am no artist....I am not trying to convey some deep profound concept with my images. I make them because I enjoy being able to make another version or rendering of what comes out of the camera. The end has become the beginning, and the idea that we old folks are stuck in the past, and do not like change, is all bunk!! We are open to change, whether it makes sense to others or not is beside the point. The world is changing, and sad is the person who allows the person they used to be, to define the person they are today.....I enjoy abstract images......Cheers!

Floral Illustration....

 

This little image is my first one for 2025, and is somewhat belated, due to the fact that Covid paid me a visit the day after last Boxing Day. It knocked me/us down for at least 5 weeks, and to say that it leaves you feeling somewhat drained afterward is putting it mildly. We were fortunate to have family and friends that checked in on us, and this little floral arrangement was brought to us by our neighbour Terri. She is a very creative person and  great to have living close by. When I finally got around to picking up the camera again, I chose to photograph the things around me that expended the least amount of effort on my part....yes, I'm a lazy photographer, or at least I seem to have become that lately. Anyway, tonight I decided to play around with one of the shots that I took of the bouquet sitting on the coffee table. It was photographed with my camera set to Illustration mode, and then after editing, I took it over to Corel Painter Software, where I was able to add a bit of an impressionist feel to the image. This is what I settled on, and I find it enjoyable to look at. I just might print it out on some textured paper and throw a frame on it as well. Hope you enjoy, and here's wishing Cheers and Good Health to everyone......

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!