Grass is invading my space–literally. The very wet (and now warm) Spring is making the green stuff very happy. We’ve already got bunches in the field that are 6 feet high, and the ground it still too wet to mow. What to do? Take some photos! Here’s a shot of a tall sprig of wild oats I took late this afternoon. Wild oat is a nuisance grass, but the dangling, rocket shaped seeds look mobile-like–especially when they’re still green.
Canon G11 frolicking in the grass.
Saturday morning, after a good night’s sleep, inspiration strikes. With a large cup of coffee in one hand and the Canon G11 in the other I ventured out into the yard looking for a subject. What I found was truly monumental. I fired off a couple of close-ups and headed back into my studio to view the results on the computer. Oh yeah! After a couple of quick tweaks in Photoshop, this was the outcome of my morning inspiration–Poop art.
For reference: the shot as the camera captured it.
Canon G11 making poop art.
Spring comes slowly in Northern California–not like in cold climates, but later than it seems like it should given the temperate weather. Here’s a couple of ready to bloom close-ups taken from the yard taken this afternoon.
Rosebud:
Wisteria spike:
Canon G11 feeling Spring.
Here’s a backyard image of Max the wannabe gopher killer. He’s not our cat, but he hangs out in our field. As a hunter, well, he tries. Occasionally, he sneaks into the house and catches some ZZZs in the guest bedroom. Talk about living in the lap of luxury.
Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm at 85mm. 1/125 second at f/5.6, ISO 400.
Canon T2i hanging with Max.
One of the beautiful things about large digital files is the latitude of detail–if the overall exposure is good shadows areas can be brightened and highlights can be darkened in post production. Digital photographers can do this in camera with graduated neutral density filters, but the “trick” is less effective with angles. For this Petaluma River image, in Photoshop, I pulled up the shadow areas and lowered the highlights with the “Shadows and Highlights” image adjustment tool to give it an HDR effect.
Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm at 24mm. 1/160 second at f/11, ISO 200.
Canon T2i rolling on the river.