My Sister's Garden - Part 2

Still on the flowers in the garden camera rampage, I set myself the challenge of the crucifix orchid. These are small flowers that grow in a round bunch. By focusing on one, and in particular one head, I was able to have some success. I did need to play with the in Photoshop a little to get the colours right.

Canon EOS 50D, f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 100

Canon EOS 50D, Macro lens, f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 100 100mm

Two different styles are above - one within, one standing out from the bunch. Both have their merits. If it wasn't for the dead flower in the second one, I would prefer it because it has a little bit of light flowing in from the top left corner. But I do like the top one, within the bunch, with one flower in focus.

The next is bougainvillea. These guys are everywhere but that doesn't diminish their beauty. They are fascinating because their petals are very leaf like and  they have remarkable shapes. I did enjoy shooting them even if I had to work around them very carefully!

Canon EOS 50D, Macro, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 100, 100mm

Canon EOS 50D, f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 100, 100mm

 The colours in these was really tricky to hande in photoshop and I think these came out a little, well, to use the technical term, splotchy. They were too dark - why are my photos always too dark? - so not enough detail was captured. Still, they are impressive pieces of nature. It just goes to show that me and my camera are no match for the creator!

Finally, there is this photo. I have included this to remind myself that beauty is not only found in flowers. Leaves are beautiful too!

Canon EOS 50D, Macro lens, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 100, 100mm

My Sister's Garden - Part 1

My sister is married with two kids, and they have a house with a gorgeous backyard. Not because it is perfectly manicured, but because it is free. Flowers, trees, veges and chooks. It's a slice of natural heaven. So when visiting, I decided it was the perfect place to test my Macro Lens. There were too many photos taken for one post so I have split them into two.

The first inspiration was this wonderful flower. I have no idea what it is called, but its shape was stunningly intricate, and struck me as soon as I walked into the backyard as something my macro would have fun with...

Canon EOS 50D, 100mm Macro Lens, f/4.5 1/400, ISO 640, 100mm

Canon EOS 50D, Macro LEns, f/4, 1/400, ISO 640, 100mm

I like the first one because of the background composition - I like the green fronds against the corregated iron, but it is blurred enough to not be harsh. The second I like the perspective, and the points. The colours gave me a lot of grief in this one though. For some reason, when I open RAW files the red diminishes, it goes very orange. I will need to research this because it is very challenging to bring the red back to the same depth that is captured by Betsy. But in adjusting the colours above, the purple tips were really enhanced which was a nice surprise.

The second challenge I set myself was the pink flowers. Their tips set an interesting depth of field challenge, and I had a great time experimenting with the focus.

Canon EOS 50D, Macro Lens, f/4, 1/400, ISO 640, 100mm

Canon EOS 50D, Macro, f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 640, 100mm

Canon EOS 50D, Macro, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 100, 100mm

The first of these three is my favourite, as it has the buds in focus as well. I like the middle because the tips are in focus - effect created by lowering the aperture. The last, I love the blurred background.

Flowers never cease to amaze me! The array of colours, their beauty and intricacy. God's love letter to us!

A Tale of Two Pilbara Symbols

There are many things that symbolise the Pilbara for me. This is one of the reasons this place is a wonderful place for photos. Everything has a meaning and a story to tell.

When more than one symbol connect, the picture created is even better.

One of these symbols is the sunset. They are truly magnificent in the Pilbara. I am of the opinion it is because of the vast open spaces, giving plenty of space to God to create his canvas of colour. We can see the big picture, with no buildings or structures interrupting our view. Just clouds of colours.

I hear that the best way to photograph sunsets is with a split filter. I have split filters, but have not yet used them much as I keep forgetting that I have them...oops. But in this case, it would have been tricky as I was photographing a sunset with another Pilbara symbol - the iron ore train.

One of the longest trains in the world and I would guess one of the most valuable. Literally millions of dollars are rattling by when they go past. Train tracks spread across the country as far as they eye can see, and waiting at a crossing for one of these bad boys to go past is not uncommon.

Thus sets the scene for this story. On our way home from Millstream one day, the sunset just got better and better, until I convinced my husband it would be a good idea to pull over. Luckily our friends in the car ahead had the same idea. We pulled off to the side of the road where we had one of these vast views and started snapping away. We realised that although we had a great view of the clouds, we could not see the horizon due to the railway track mound. When climbing on top of the ute didn't suffice, we decided to run to the track to see if we could get a better vantage point.

Rain is scarce in the Pilbara, but we had had some that week. Unfortunately, as nice as the rain it it usually means one thing for the Pilbara in the following weeks - insects. We ran towards the track, hit a mud patch with small stagnant pools. It was here that we were set upon by the most violent mosquito attack known to mankind! One swipe down your arm could kill up to 15 mosquitoes at a time, but that didn't stop the little critters from attempting to eat us alive! I am sure they were starving, and saw us as their salvation. They followed us all the way back to the car and we spent the remainder of our trip scratching every patch of bare skin as each one was covered with bumps and bites.

At least I managed to snap this baby. A split filter would not have helped in this situation due to the silouette effect, and I had to crop some power poles out, taking away the wide angle effect, but in the end, I love what it symbolises - The Pilbara. Mosquitoes and all.

Canon EOS 50D, 10-22mm Wide Angle lens. f/5, 1/200, ISO 250, 21mm cropped. Slight enhancements in Photoshop.