Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What do you want to be when you grow up? Remember when you were a child… you could be a doctor in the morning and an astronaut in the afternoon and everything else in-between? How could you think like that? Why would you think like that? Why was your brain so scattered? Now, I don’t even play a child psychologist on TV… but I believe your mind was not at all scattered. Rather, it was putting into perspective and order all the new and bewildering things you were discovering every minute you were awake. You were also gaining an interesting side-effect benefit… you were discovering what sorts of things appealed to you; which you found interesting and enjoyable; which you excelled at and which not. You were laying the ground work to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. And so it goes, too, with photographic vision and focus. In deciding to be a photographer, you have answered only part of the question. You will still need to define, and refine, what your unique expression, voice, vision, focus, message, style, etc., will be. And what better way to do that than to be a landscape photographer in the morning and a portrait photographer in the afternoon and everything else in-between? But, won’t that just scatter my attention? Un-focus my focus? Spread me too thin? Oh, noo-oo-oo-oo…
As I wrote in an earlier post (Dec 8, 2015): “… try shooting architecture, portraits, animals, plants, textures, mechanical, food, bugs, stars, fireworks, motion, sports, landscapes, pets, close-up, far-away, cityscapes, countrysides, still life, studio set-ups, storms, clouds… and yes, even Selfies; there is something to be learned from every shot taken. Soon [you] will start to discover a photographic preference developing and will start to hone the skills to excel at that chosen genre.” By trying a lot of widely divergent genre, you will refine and pinpoint where your Mind’s Eye goes, which mental lens you tend to use to view and interpret the world, and the unique style you’ll develop to convey your vision and message. So, get out there. Shoot everything. Shoot color. Shoot black and white. Shoot sepia. Play with the art filters in your camera. Or open up Photoshop. Shoot realism. Shoot abstract. Shoot up / shoot down. Do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around. OK. That last one was just for fun. Point is… how will you know if you don’t try it? Happy Shooting. Happy Discovering. Happy Coming-Into-Your-Own. Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. What do you think will be — or what is — your favorite genre? How did you come to decide this? What sorts of things influenced — or are influencing — your developing style? Do you prefer: realism or abstraction; documentation or fantasy; grand view or minutia? Did you find any hurtles to overcome during your discovery process? Were you surprised by what you discovered about your preferences? I bet we all have some great stories… let’s share ‘em!
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Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do I ever have a photo challenge for you! Bubbles! I recently experimented with trying to photograph bubbles. Not the kind found in champagne or beer, although that might be fun too, but the kind you used to have so much fun blowing, watching, and chasing as a kid. An interesting thing about the experiment was that it presented about every possible photographic challenge you could think of:
For me, this was actually an experiment in seeing what my new camera would do on some of the automatic settings. I rarely use them but it is always good to know what your camera does when left to its own devises; for that moment when a hummingbird flies up and you don’t have time to do much in the way controlling your settings.
You also don’t want your camera's settings to ruin a great opportunity, so you should learn what can happen. For example, while on auto, the ISO on my camera sometimes went to some ridiculous number and if I had captured something good, I likely wouldn’t be able to print it due to the noise/grain in the image. One caution: this is a messy, messy challenge — you’re going to get soap everywhere, so don’t try this challenge indoors! Also, you’ll need an assistant — someone to blow the bubbles — and to clean up afterward! Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. So how did your bubbles turn out? I'd love to hear about your experience. Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the best month to see Life Aquatic in bloom. If you haven’t been to our local Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens – now is the time to go. This is one of the nicest parks we have in the DC metro area – and we have a lot of parks. Kenilworth National Park is our only National Park dedicated to aquatic plant and animal life. The best time of day to go to Kenilworth is in the morning (open 9am to 5pm). I know, I know, I hate mornings too, but this is really worth it! And coming up is the Lotus and Water Lily Festival on July 16th. You can see a spectacular display of lotus and water lilies in full bloom and there are lots of activities at the park. The park is 700 acres and is on the south side of the Anacostia River across from the National Arboretum. Unfortunately, you can’t go from park to park even though it’s just a stone's throw away – well more like a stone’s swim. There is so much to see at Kenilworth Gardens… We’ve found frogs, turtles, fish, snakes, butterflies, dragonflies, praying mantis, beautiful spiders (yes, spiders!), bald eagles, egrets, herons, and more; and that’s all in addition to the beautiful lilies, lotus, hibiscus, clematis, and others! If birds are your thing, you’ll be in good company. There is a marshland and a boardwalk to explore. There are lots of different bird species, so be sure to pack your binoculars, and a lo-o-o-o-o-ong lens for your camera! And bring water… it’s hot this time of year. Don’t like the bugs and heat or you just can’t make it to Kenilworth? I have good news for you. You can still see plenty of great flowers, lily pads, and dragonflies at the Associate Artists' Gallery at the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, VA. Wait … what? Luckily, I have chosen July to feature Life Aquatic with my current offerings on display in Building 9. Come, take a look at my photo of Giant Lily Pads (Victoria amazonica), up-close Lotus and Lily images, colorful lily pads, and dragonflies.
Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. What is your favorite aquatic-themed subject? Is it fishes? flowers? fowl? Where do you go to see your favorites? Let's share... maybe we'll discover a great place we hadn't known about. How fun! Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “ ‘Will you walk into my parlour?’ said the Spider to the photographer…” [ed. lic.] --Mary Howitt 1829 It’s been raining – no surprise here, it’s April and you know the adage: April Showers bring May Flowers. Even though we know the promised benefits, sometimes April seems to drag on and on while we wait to photograph the beautiful May Flowers. So, make good use of it. With all this rain comes an opportunity to look for new, challenging subjects to photograph. And I know just the thing! Spider webs! Eeewwww! No, Really. Even if actual spiders aren’t your thing, their webs can make some intriguing Macro shots. Webs holding raindrops, or heavy with dew, can be fabulous subjects — they almost define your Hook for you. But they can be challenging subjects. Webs pose a whole host of fun challenges: movement, focal point, resolution, background, depth of field, refracted images, etc. But, overcoming these hurtles is all the fun! These engineering marvels have amazing strength and construction. “Markus Buehler, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) at MIT, has previously analyzed the complex, hierarchical structure of spider silk and its amazing strength — on a pound-for-pound basis, it’s stronger than steel.” … But, I digress… Your first challenge — chronologically, and the hardest one for me — is that you can’t get up at the crack of noon and wander out into the yard in your jammies thinking you’re going to snap a masterpiece before breakfast… er… lunch. You must plan ahead and choose your photo shoot location and timing with care. Choose a site that is home to a lot of spiders: a wetland, a remote meadow, any place that is also home to a lot of insects in general. Plan your timing to be early… very early… in the morning. You’ll also need a morning that follows a light night rain or a misty or foggy night. You need the water drops, after all. An added bonus may be that this morning will be overcast or foggy, providing an even, diffused light. Perfect! You will also need it to be beyond calm. You’ll need it to be windless. Just the fact of very early morning will help with this. Pack your Macro lens and your tripod. Don’t neglect the tripod; you need to be able to eliminate as much movement as possible. When you’re all set up and ready to shoot, remember that it takes only about three air molecules to move a web. Any wind you generate with breathing, body movements, and even the convection currents from your body heat, can jiggle your web. So, now you’re out in the field, scouting for a subject web. But not just any web. You want one that is pristine — or as pristine as it possible given that bugs have been crashing into it all night. You want a great background, and maybe some ancillary objects in the frame that will add to your image’s message. Maybe diffused color areas or a suggestion of something behind that adds emotion. Maybe the spider is in the shot. That could be a great message/hook. …Or not… You found it! Your National Geographic masterpiece subject. Carefully get as close as you can; set your tripod, being sure to not move the web thereby dislodging its watery cargo or breaking its structure. Fill your viewfinder with it. Consider your view angle, the direction of the lighting, the background, any ancillary objections within the frame, the presence — or not — of the spider, the emotional clarity and successful communication of your message, and anything else affecting your Artistic Statement. Whether you shoot for a very narrow depth of field or a very deep focused range, is entirely up to you — and your message. Either way, set your shutter speed to be as fast as possible while balancing it with the rest of the techy things, e.g., aperture, ISO, exposure compensation, desired amount of over- or under-exposure. This fast shutter speed will help to overcome any unavoidable web movement. And just to complicate the whole deal… try using a flash. You may be able to get a lit and focused web while all else behind is vastly under-exposed and dark. Could be dramatic. Enjoy!
Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. How did it go for you? Did the early morning kill you? It did me! Have you tried various depths of field? Was the spider in your shot? What about using flash? Tell us what unusual things you tried on your photo shoot — we’d love to try them. |
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About Chris
I am a Virginia-based photographer and gather my images while hiking in parks and natural areas here at home and in the locations I travel to. I also love to visit arboretums and botanic gardens to find unusual and exotic subjects. Archives
March 2017
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