Pictures

[pecunium]

I've been working on my portfolio.

This is the hard part, sifting through the pictures, and deciding which are not only decent examples of my work, not only examples which people will want to buy, but which will convince people that other people will want to buy them.

That is, make them want let me hang them on the wall, so people will buy them.

I have a lot of pictures, and some of them are pretty good, but that takes a lot of second guessing.

So here are some examples



This one looks really good as a 15 x 12 print. I know because rednikki has one. She was having a birthday party last week and I called her up, asking (to her, mild consternation) which she like better, flowers or bugs (she said she preferred flowers, but wine would be better).

So I took a few pictures, as the sun was declining and this one was worth working up. It was taken with a 200mm Micro-Nikkor. For this sort of picture it's a nice lens. The working distance makes it easier to get the light behind you, and avoid shading the subject.

The next three were taken at J-Bar which is where Maia keeps Leus. It was mid-December and the hummingbirds were out (as were the bees, some sort of thrush, the pigeons, sparrows and a hawk).

So I put the 300 f-5.6 on the camera and waited. The tripod is only semi-useful for such things, because tracking something like a hummingbird is impossible. Since shutter speeds of less than 1/250th are also useless, it's not such a big deal. I should have used some flash, to be sure the brilliance of the feathers was visible, but I didn't. Next time.



Sipping




Plotting




Away we go

If you want to see them at 800 pixels, go here

Comments

Hummingbirds

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Pretty.

B

Re: Hummingbirds

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I love 'em.

When Maia and I are settled, I'll set up some wisteria, and some sage, so I can shoot more of them.

They are, actually, easy to photograph, because (on the wing) they are fearless.

TK

Re: Hummingbirds

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

You'd be, too, if you were that fast.

Do they have any natural predators?

B

Re: Hummingbirds

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Yes, but none of them fly.

It's not the speed, there are faster, avian, predators.

It's the combination of small size, and manueverability. There aren't many predators (even ambush predators) who can catch them.

Given the aggressive nature hummingbirds have in the defense of territory, we can be very pleased they don't grow to the size of sparrows, much less pigeons.

Large, aggressive (I've seen them attacking cats) and fearless.

Yikes.

[writingortyping.livejournal.com]

I have received many compliments on my Poppy, which hangs on my office wall at work.

[eleanor.livejournal.com]

I particularly like the hummingbird!

[bifemmefatale.livejournal.com]

Thumbs up!

The daffodil one looks a tad green. Have you tried playing with the color in photoshop to see what happens?

You may want to add my friend glittertrixie, who has been posting some fab flower shots recently. Maybe you can share tips.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

It's a rendering issue, mostly.

The soft focus dithers some of the background, which is part of it.

The other possibility is your monitor. I know that it's got a slight cast on mine (I've not calibrated it lately) but prints out perfectly.

So I think it's an LCD issue here (I did it on the laptop).

TK

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

This is very nice work.

By the way, I followed a link to a comment you made at Making Light to add you to my reading list here. I hope you do not mind.

[annathepiper]

Lovely work on the hummingbirds! Well done!

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

The hummingbirds are lovely.

I've had a picture of yours hanging on my bulletin board for months, printed out on my printer at a random size which no doubt violates your sense of artistic control, just tacked up with a pushpin.

It's the soldiers training in hand-to-hand combat, the one that looked like an image of grief to me, this one.

That picture speaks more strongly and more quietly to me than any other you've taken, and I'd bet it speaks to others as well.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

My sense of artistic control...

I'm not sure I have one, not the way most people do. The resolution drop from moving it to the web is more obnoxious to me than having someone print it out.

When I post it, I give up control of that version of the image, so no offense on my part.

TK

[geekchick]

The hummingbird photos are lovely.

[tenderberry.livejournal.com]

I love the photos of the hummingbirds - particularly the colors of the hummingbird being picked up in the sage - or vice versa - I have yet to acquire enough energy to attempt to photograph the ones that visit the sage here - and twice in one day I saw one at rest in the sage - and of course no camera in hand -

[antiquated-tory.livejournal.com]

I'm dead impressed that you got those pictures at all. At the Desert Museum in Tucson year before last, I don't know how many shots I tried to get of a hummingbird--don't have them in Europe and phonemonkey was blown away by them--but not a single one came out.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I probably had a longer lens than you did, which helps.

I think part of the reason it's called "shooting" pictures is that it's a lot like hunting. You set up, and wait for the right opportunity.

TK

[syfr.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind; I borrowed a copy of the daffodils, and may use it as wallpaper.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I don't really mind, since I put them out where they are available, and you didn't have to mention it.

I can do that without real worry, because the web-resolution of a jpg, is so much lower than the print resolution of prints for sale.

And it's flattering.

So if anyone want's to buy a picture, just be sure to point them my way.

TK

[syfr.livejournal.com]

Sure!