Lens-Artists – Page 12 – Slow Shutter Speed

Posted on May 1, 2023May 1, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 42 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #247: Backlit

As photographers, we look for unique lighting situations. This week Ann-Christine suggests we look for images where the sun is lighting our subject from behind. I’ll admit that I take advantage of light without planning for it. I’m thinking I should get up early for that sunrise, but…… Or stay up late for sunset, but…. Or plan for the blue or golden hours, but… I just enjoy being out there with my camera photographing in whatever light nature gives me.

I’m a little late with my response, so I’ve had the chance to see many wonderful responses already. Here are some of my photos where I’ve put the sun backlighting my subject.

You know I photograph lotus flowers each year. The next two images are from the same shoot at Land Park’s pond. On the left, the lotus seems to be bowing under the sun’s strength. On the right, the sun creates translucent petals.

Other floral or leaves. Almond blossoms are backlit and in shade. Autumn leaves seem to be soaking up the sun so they can continue to change their color. A tree captures the sun on the back of its leaves during autumn.

Animals. I’ve chosen a deer and a horse. I enjoyed the glow the sun gave their bodies as it shined behind them.

When the sun is at your back, you create a self-portrait–your shadow.

My next images were taken just a few minutes or seconds apart. See the difference the setting sun makes in this landscape. I may have worked with the color in the second image, but I really can’t remember. You can still see the difference.

Finally, this challenge must end with a sunset!

Thank you Ann-Christine for this enjoyable challenge. Backlit images are so relaxing. Please remember to link to Ann-Christine’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag in the WP reader.I enjoyed seeing all your still life images last week and got many ideas. Next week Sofia’s challenge is on Mood: Places, photography styles, situations or portraits where moods are recognizable.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 33 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #246: Still Life

This week Patti challenges us with Still Life. Yikes! Fortunately she gave us a broad description of what she wanted us to post. “You can photograph just about anything: flowers, silverware, a variety of products (think of advertising), fruit, kitchen utensils, tools, and objects around your office or home,” she says.

Since this is my second attempt at posting my response, I’ll be brief. Three types of still lifes I enjoy photographing are flowers, buildings and sculptures.

McKinley Rose Garden in Sacramento.

Buildings in Melbourne, Australia.

Thompson Building Supplies and Nursery.

Thank you Patti for giving us a broad definition for still life images. In my first attempt at this post I was more eloquent, but frustration kicked in when WordPress wouldn’t let me post it. Let’s cross our fingers for this one. When you post your reply, please remember to tag Patti’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

I enjoyed seeing and reading about your environments last week as you responded to Tina’s challenge. Next week Ann-Christine will be leading the challenge. Be sure to look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 26 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #245: Environments

I love where I live even though I came here kicking and screaming. Sacramento and its proximity to beautiful environments like rivers, forest, farms, ranches and cities makes this a great location for photographers. In fact, I’ve blogged about it many times and have shown beautiful images of my favorite spots. So, in response to Tina’s challenge, I’m going to show you a recent new environment I traveled to.

Lifou Island “is the largest, most populous and most important island of the Loyalty Islands, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. With a total area of 1,207 km² (466 sq mi), Lifou is located east of Australia at 20.9°S 167.2°E. (Wikipedia).”

Among our choices for a ship’s tour of the island was “Luecila Beach and Scenic Drive,” and that’s the one we picked. Our drive to the beach was a little more than one hour. We did see flowers and traditional houses as promised in the tour’s description. Photographing through the bus window was nearly impossible. I can describe the area as beautiful, lush and green. What amazed me were the houses with huts in their yards. I asked the guide about the huts. He replied that they were for guests who come to visit. Hospitality?

The beach was worth the long drive. It was beautiful. When we arrived, I was hungry and tried to purchase a piece of papaya fruit. The women in the kiosk didn’t take credit cards or American dollars–just francs. They ended up giving it to me without payment. It was delicious. I thought they were very gracious.

Sandy and Peg didn’t want to walk on the beach so I discovered its beauty on my own. Here’s a gallery.

I’m so glad to have walked this beach since I was sick and couldn’t see Mystery Island. I spent two days in our cabin. That’s life!

This was one of the new environments I experienced during my trip to Australia. Please remember to link to Tina’s original post when you respond and use the Lens-Artists tag. I’ll be sharing more of my trip on my blog. I enjoyed your responses to Siobhan’s challenge of Glowing Moments. Your interpretations were varied and creative. Next week, Patti will present the challenge so look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on April 1, 2023April 1, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 39 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #243: It’s tricky

Happy April Fool’s Day everyone. And thank you Donna for this tricky challenge. Tricky for me because I don’t create creative images. But I do like to play with Photoshop filters. I enjoy trying one by one to see what they would do to an image. It’s fun. Here are some examples.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know I like to zoom my lens in and out and slow my shutter speed down. Yes, I’ll stop at a neighborhood carnival just to take pictures. And holiday lights are perfect subjects too.

Here are some single shots:

I’ll admit that this was a difficult challenge for me since I’m not a truly creative person. I can see an opportunity and take it while composing a picture, and I’m venturing a little bit into Photoshop. So Donna, thanks for the gentle push. Please link to Donna’s post when you reply and use the Lens-Artists tag so it will show up in the Reader.

Thanks to all of you for showing us your New Experiences last week. I enjoyed them all and learned more about plays, bees, hang gliding and more. Next week our guest host, Siobhan of Bend Branches will be leading our challenge, so look for her post.

Interested to learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge and join us, click here for more information.

Posted on March 25, 2023March 25, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 131 Comments

LENS ARTISTS PHOTO CHALLENGE #242: NEW EXPERIENCES

Experiencing something for the first time can be exhilarating, exhausting, and engaging. Looking forward to that experience can create feelings like anxiousness, happiness, and anxiety. It’s even more exaggerated when the experience is something you wished for but thought would never happen.

My recent trip to Australia falls into that last category. My wish: to go to Australia and photograph with Leanne Cole in Melbourne. You see, when she was in the U.S. in 2015, I had the great opportunity to take her to Santa Cruz and go down to Monterey for a day. She was visiting a friend in Saratoga. We both remember that day. I was amazed at how at ease she was with her camera. And the thought of visiting with her in Australia was a dream come true.

This exciting trip was with my friends Sandy and Peg who are sisters. They invited me along as their adopted sister. Peg was detained a day so Sandy and I flew the long trip together.

I had a day alone with Leanne, walking Melbourne, when Sandy went to pick up Peg at the airport. We had breakfast, lunch and met Sandy and Peg for dinner. What a wonderful day that was. Melbourne is an exciting city with amazing architecture and the Yarra river running through it. Here is a sample of images from that day.

The next morning Leanne picked us up and took us to Port Campbell where we spent 2 full days photographing iconic scenes—places I have seen in Leanne’s blog many times.

On the way to Port Campbell

Leanne had arranged a wonderful rental house for us at Port Campbell where we enjoyed our 2-night stay. We explored the beaches and sights.

On our way back to Melbourne, Leanne took us to a rainforest, Maist’s Rest.

I had never been in a rainforest before, and this was outstanding. The ferns (which I love) were huge. Here’s a peak.

We had a wonderful time and experienced new things. This was the highlight of my almost 1-month vacation. Thank you, Leanne, for driving and being our very own tour guide. I totally enjoyed our girl friend time and the fun with all four of us. We all appreciated your time. And I’ll admit that Australia has great coffee!

There will be future posts on my blog about this trip. From Melbourne we journeyed to Sydney and then cruised for 11 days. Maybe I can fit some into an LAPC post.

But today, your challenge is to show and tell us about a new experience you had. It could be a trip, the birth of a child or grandchild, a road trip to a new place, the possibilities are endless. As you respond, please link to this post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

We all enjoyed your responses to Sofia’s challenge of Spring. Your narratives and images were imaginative and beautiful. Some of you even got in the Spring mood while walking in snow! Next week, April 1, Donna Holland will be challenging you and she’s not fooling around! Be sure to look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on March 18, 2023March 18, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 33 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #241 – Spring

I have two favorite seasons: Spring and Autumn. Choosing between them, although difficult, Spring would win. Both are photographic wonders, but I don’t have to travel so far to experience Spring’s beauty. Sacramento is a wonderland of blossoms and regeneration of wildlife. This week, Sofia of Photographias encourages us to share our thoughts and images of Spring.

Every Spring Ananda Village, in Nevada City, volunteers plant amazing tulips for visitors. It is getting so popular that we now have to make reservations.

North Table Mountain was formed by volcanic activity and has an array of beautiful wildflowers each Spring.

Speaking of wildflowers, there is nothing more beautiful than a mountain of wild California Poppies.

There are also beautiful rose gardens in the Sacramento area. These were taken at the McKinley Park Rose Garden.

Each Spring the owners of Maple Leaf Gardens used to host an open house for the public.

Wild mushrooms also make an appearance in Spring.

Spring is also the time for birds to nest.

Each Spring, geese families strut around the pond in my neighborhood. You’ve got to watch out for the dads though, they are very protective of their goslings.

Spring is definitely a time for renewal, hope and beauty. We will be ready for it after the Winter most of us have been experiencing.

Thank you Sofia for this challenge that brought beauty to our computers. When you respond, please remember to link to Sofia’s post and tag Lens-Artists. I will be challenging you next week, so look for my post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on February 18, 2023February 18, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 46 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #237: Bringing Softness

I’ve had a lot of fun this morning playing with Lightroom. I’ve not done anything else, but I’ve had fun thanks to Bren of Brashley Photography’s challenge: Bringing Softness.

First I started with flowers. I did a select subject in LR and then inverted the selection, used the radial filter so some of the flower would be soft and then finished with moving the clarity slider over to the left. I also added a vignette.

Then I wanted to see how the technique would work on animals. I picked the Capybara (world’s largest rodent) and orangutan at the Sacramento Zoo. This wasn’t as easy as flowers but I did pretty much the same technique. I wanted their faces to remain sharp.

I also tried buildings in Boston. I’m not sure the technique worked as well. The radial filter became my friend. I wanted some of the building to remain in focus. In the corner building on the right, the doorway should be in focus.

I’ll finish with my landscape experiment. The first one on the left is from the Tulip Festival at Ananda Village. I think the clarity technique added a dreamy softness. The middle image is from a trip to Port Costa and taken on the way. The dreamy look is more slight. The last, on the right, is from the Port Costa trip also. I liked the way the background was made slightly soft while the railroad tracks in the front remained sharp.

Thank you Bren! I love learning new techniques, especially when I can use software I already have. Remember to link your response post to hers and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we saw and read about many differences with Amy’s challenge of East meets West. I enjoyed all you responses. Next week, Ann-Christine will present the challenge.

I will be on vacation through March 17th and not posting. I’ll see you all when I get back.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 49 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #235: Shadows and Reflections in Monochrome

I love black and white images when done right. Meaning, not every shot is suitable for black and white unless you know how to burn and doge with ease. Since I’m not artistic, I wait for the picture that is suitable for black and white. Thank you Patti for having me explore my black and white images and the concept of monochrome.

Who would have thought a beautiful lotus flower would be suitable for black and white? I did after processing this in color and then playing around a bit.

At this point I need to explain how I create a black and white image. I shoot all my images in color and process them in color. I then take the images I think might look good in black and white and export them to NIK Silver Efex (lately I’ve even converted them in Lightroom, especially for this post,), play with it and then export back into Lightroom. I liked the way the shadows fell on this flower’s petals.

For shadows I have three examples. Explanations are in the captions.

**Taken at a winery, I liked the way these shadows reflected lines, squares, etd. Black and white just accentuated the patterns.**

**Marlene and I typically take our shadow images when on an outing. I was working with a blue filter while processing. I think it helped show the rocks underneath our shadows.**

The next two are reflections that I just processed to black and white. I wasn’t too happy with the contrast of the landscape so I played with a green filter.

Here’s an image of a person sleeping in an area of dark shadows.

I’ll end with images that are among my favorite black and whites.

Thanks for this fun challenge Patti! Please remember to link to Patti’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag when you post your reply to this amazing exercise. Last week we all enjoyed your variety of responses to Donna’s Messages. Amy will be bringing you next week’s challenge. Be sure to look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on January 29, 2023January 29, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 34 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #234: Messages

For her first challenge as an LAPC Team member, Donna Holland of Wind Kisses has chosen the topic of Messages. I am challenged with this challenge!! When I photograph and later look at my images my messages are in the form of feelings. So I’m hoping my feelings will turn into messages for you.

My first visit is to the Sacramento Historical City Cemetery. This is a very old cemetery, full of history and simply beautiful. When I bring my camera to this cemetery, I’m overwhelmed with sadness and peace. There are family plots containing large and beautifully engraved monuments and/ or statues, and then there is the simple statement of great loss like this one grave marker. I guess the message is to live your life in gratitude.

The cemetery’s beauty is given to us by wonderful volunteers who plant flowers to bring joy for those of us who visit. There are roses, poppies, bushes and other beautiful florals. This rose had a guest and I just couldn’t resist taking its picture. The feeling is joy and the message might be any shelter is a good shelter!

On the topic of flowers, sunflowers always help me smile and feel great. I guess the message I get is “Don’t worry be happy!”

Typically, after we photograph our sunflowers, we go over to Mezger Zinnia patch in Woodland where the family plants flowers each year and encourages people to pick them and give them to someone who cannot come and pick the flowers themselves. They even provide vases. Typically, people will pick two bouquets; one for themselves and another for someone else. What does charity feel like. To me it feels like hope. The message I think is that people do care about each other.

Keeping with the yearly theme, Wide Open Walls happens once a year in Sacramento. In 2020 we found a very special mural dedicated to Ruth Bader Ginsberg shortly after her death. This mural symbolizes her determination to do the right thing while she sat on the Supreme Court. Seeing this mural filled me with pride as a woman. I guess the message is “Yes you can!”

Another image of determination is from the Nimbus Fish Hatchery. Each year salmon swim upstream to lay their eggs. Following their instincts, they do this facing certain death. I’m amazed at nature’s plan for survival. I would call that courage. I’m not sure what message it sends except that you need to do what your instincts tell you to do.

I’ll close with an image from the annual Chalk It Up Festival in Sacramento. Artists from all over gather and create their art with chalk. This art is beautiful, but it can’t last long. After the weekend festival, people will walk on it and sprinklers will spray water on their beauty. Why do the artists put all that effort into it? Do they get pleasure from seeing the enjoyment people get from their effort. I feel grateful that I get a chance to see their art. Maybe the message is to create joy for others.

Thanks Donna for this soul searching topic. At least it was for me. When you post your messages, be sure to link to Donna’s wonderful post. I know she, and the entire team, will want to see all your replies. Oh, be sure to use the Lens Artists tag. Next week it’s Patti’s turn to challenge us and she’s giving us a hint on her theme: Shadows & Reflections in Monochrome.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on January 21, 2023January 21, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 122 Comments

LENS ARTISTS CHALLENGE #233: A One Lens Walk

Lately, I find that I’m usually choosing one lens to put on my Fuji camera when I go out for a photo outing with my friends. We are usually gone for few hours. I carry nothing else except for an extra battery. I mostly use my 18-55 lens which covers landscape and close ups. I’ve taken it to Bodega Bay to catch ocean scenes and to the Antique Trove to capture some indoor close ups.

When I go to the Sacramento Zoo, I always take my 55-200 mm lens. It does a great job of capturing giraffes and also gets me up close and personal with an orangutan.

You know I love Macro. When I need a lift, I take my Fuji and macro lens to the Green Acres Nursery. There I find many macro-opportunities.

The McKinley Park Rose Garden is another of my favorite places to take my macro lens.

Macro lenses are great for photographing other things like this bird. I was in the Rose Garden and saw it above me.

And then there’s my old trusty prime F/4 300 mm lens I use on my Nikon D7100 for bird shots. I don’t use it often but when I do, I appreciate it. Actually, this lens is why I’m holding on to my Nikon.

If I know I’ll be gone on a longer photo outing and not near my car, I’ll put on my waist pack containing an extra lens giving me a total of 18-200 mm in length. It also carries extra batteries, filters, water, lens cloth and tissues. My problem is, I don’t like changing lenses in the field. Maybe that’s why I challenge myself with one lens each outing.

My challenge for you is to take a lens for a walk. Yes, choose a lens and walk. You can also use your cell phone or point and shoot camera and see what you can do with it. Another trick, when you’re using a zoom lens, is to pick an aperture and stay with it. If you don’t have time or the weather isn’t cooperating, then delve into your archives. Look for images that represent one F stop or close to it. Most of all, have fun! Remember to link to this post when you take us on your one-lens walk and use the Lens-Artists tag.

We all enjoyed looking back with you during Sophia’s challenge last week. I thought your responses were unique and interesting. Next week our newest team member Donna Holland of Wind Kisses will be leading the challenge. Be sure to look for her post. Have a great week!

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.