Tag Archives: close-ups

Job’s tears revisited

Early this year I posted a couple of close-up images of the well winterized Job’s Tears plants we had growing in the yard. This year’s plants were especially nice, and catching them before the winter rains set in makes for cleaner looking seed pods and dry leaves. The pods are commonly used as beads.

Job's Tears close-up

Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. 1/80 second at f/2.8, ISO 100.

Canon T2i working the Nifty Fifty.

Psychedelicized aloe bloom

I’m a relative newbie to digital photography so I spend a fair amount of time checking out other people’s stuff and reading photography blogs. There’s lots of great information to be had, but one thing that bugs me is all the silly bickering about the post processing of images. If I look at a digital photo I’ve taken and think it might look more interesting tweaked, I’m going to tweak it. If I like the result I’ll post it. I liked the way this one turned out.

Aloe bloom psychedelicized

Canon G11 on ‘shrooms.

Aloe saponaria

We have a patch of cool looking African aloe on the edge of the driveway next to our house. It’s a super sturdy and very prickly aloe–not something little kids should play near. In May it shoots up 2′ to 3′ tall spikes with multiflowered, salmon colored heads. Here’s a close-up of a recently opened bloom.

African aloe bloom

Lens: Canon EFS 15-85mm at 50mm. f/5.0 for 1/250 sec, ISO 200.

Canon T2i recording the homestead species.

Pole bean gnarl

This past weekend we had a free day to start work preparing the soil and plotting out our veggie garden. Early May is tomato planting time here in Northern California so we’re getting a bit of a late start. Typically, we leave some things to winter over because it provides the birds with food and perches. The pole bean teepees were still up, so I grabbed some experimental close-up shots with the EX 12 II extension tube between the lens and the camera. I’ve only used the extension tube a few times, but I’m liking the weird results.

Last year's pole bean gnarl

Lens: Canon EFS 15-85mm at 85mm (with Canon EF 12 II extension tube). 1/250 at f/5.6, ISO 200.

Canon T2i focusing on the gnarl.