What? More black and white purple coneflowers? Can’t stop, won’t stop.
This is a natural successor to my shot last week; all the same principles applied rending a stark low key macro study of the echinacea flower. Approaching the shot from an angle this time allows the eye to travel through the shallow depth of field—in and out of focus—settling at the center point. It amazes me that this flowerhead was roughly the size of a nickel, and that despite its relative smallness it’s able to pack in all those stamen over such a small area. Not only that, it’s able to still create the feeling a room between them. No personal space issues here. As always nature is pretty cool.
My potted purple coneflower wins my appreciation this day. I spent a chunk of my afternoon shooting macros of a nascent cleome in my side yard making what I thought were good shots. They just weren’t as intricate and gripping as this echinacea. From the moment I saw this on my rear display I knew I was going black and white. This is a look (style?) I want to continue to develop; stark, low key still life studies with deep shadows, purposeful highlights, and enough contrast to let the negative space breathe. Photographs that accentuate clean lines and sharp edges that reach out for attention.
And just to editorialize on this image for a little bit, this totally makes my mind think of the wondrous reality that is spacetime. The fabric of space is so well represented in the stamen here; with all in its invisible grasp falling ever closer to its lightless, collapsed center.
It starts with one — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/400
The daisy is one of the favorite flowers. Simple, plentiful, hearty yet understated. I have two small daisy patches in my front flowerbed and since getting into this whole photography thing they’ve proven some of my favorite flowers to photograph. The reason? Versatility. From bud, to opening, to full blossom, to death, the daisy’s life is an interesting one. A watchable one. Eminently photographable and pure in its plainness, simple white daisy I will always watch you.
On a personal note, this kind of photography excites me: black and white, minimal, low key and emotive. It’s a style I wish to further develop. For me it sorta has this voodoo it factor and this is getting somewhere in that realm for me. My thoughts are vauge if only because my vision is as well.
The brooding Hyacinth — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/200
I’ve been waiting for this little guy to show up—one of my favorite early season flowers. At this point I was beginning to think it wasn’t gonna show this year. But finally, just the other day, this lone Hyacinth finally reared its welcomed head. Now ready for the camera, I spent some time this afternoon snagging a few macro photographs.
Taking my first look at the shots in Lightroom, it became quickly apparent that sticking with color was going to be rather ho-hum. Fortunately, some strong contrast added to a black and white finish really stepped up the intensity to demand more attention.
Tonight was a tease. All signs pointed toward a top notch sunset: rolling storm clouds, a clearing westward cloud deck, and even some small rainbows dancing about the horizon. The ground and houses were awash in a fierce golden light and the anticipation was on.
Heh. So much for that.
A last minute wall of clouds crept over the western sky consuming the sun some twelve minutes earlier than scheduled. This stout blockade all but assured the sky wouldn’t do its fickle light dance this night. But you know what? It worked out. My buddy Vin happened to stop by for pictures as well. Instead of seriously shooting the sunset we thought we were getting, we passed some time talking shop. In doing so I captured one 360 second long exposure photograph—the picture you see above.
For the final processed imaged I wanted to convey movement and minimalism. Black and white naturally lends itself to this aim, but I furthered the drama with a low key approach—reducing the exposure and reigning in the viewer’s eye toward the action above and below the horizon; leaving ample negative space gives the image room to breathe, naturally working the eye through the moving clouds toward the center.
If you’ve got some time be sure to check out Vin’s work!
Onward with the black and white binge—I knew straight away I’d at least have to give this a look sans color. To that end, I needed this image to be dark. Dark with strong contrast to render well defined edges.The lines marking the three petals draw the eye inward toward the center bouquet of pistils. There, floating, the eye hangs with the image gradually letting you pull back out.
A path in the pines — 40mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/640
Yesterday morning I woke up to a late season South Jersey Special. Which is to say we received about 6 inches of snow in Manahawkin while the good folks to the north (about 40 miles) saw next to nothing. You win some, you lose some in New Jersey. Wanting to make the most of the fresh fallen snow my buddy and I made for the Pinelands. After about 3 abrupt U-turns we pulled down a small little trail.
I started the shoot with my 40mm pancake lens—it seems like months since I’ve taken it for a spin. Not far from the truck I quickly framed up a shot, focusing on the trail that doglegs to the left back behind the pines. It advances the story and leads us wondering what’s around the bend. I didn’t know it at the time but this would wind up as my shot of the day. Different from my usual style, this grainy black and white calls for your attention at simply cuts out the rest.
Today’s photo excursion began in Harvey Cedars, moved to Surf City, and ended in Ship Bottom. Harvey Cedars and Surf City were total busts as it seems Long Beach Island is now near void of exposed jetty rock. This is for the best environmentally as the beaches have been built up and reinforced by a substantial rolling berm. Storm protection and preservation comes first.
With the oceanside long exposure jetty shot out of the question we turned to the sure thing of the bay. Returning to Sunset Point I meandered about looking for a workable solution. The sky was overcast, the water calm, and obvious shots were not exactly jumping out and boasting, here! Looking over the bulkhead I noticed an exposed tract of land with about 2 feet of exposed sand fighting off the bay water. I hopped down camera in hand and had my buddy pass down my tripod. I set up my gear, made my exposures, and climbed back out of the encroaching bay.
Considering the general overcast I had an inkling this would lend itself to a high contrast, low key result. I’m satisfied with the end product.
A new place to play — 14mm | f/22 | ISO 50 | EXP 41 sec
My buddy Jon and I had some time to kill and set out for some photo-exploring. Initially targeting the Barnegat Lighthouse, we made way to Long Beach Island and turned north. Approaching our final destination we made a quick pit stop at an area Barnegat Light bay beach. Unremarkable on its own, that beach told us one thing: the wind was going to spoil any shooting out on the long jetty of the lighthouse inlet. Any exposed area would render shooting difficult at best.
Having never been before we turned our attention toward High Bar Harbor. A unique piece of land on the west end of Barnegat Light where we made for a cove that would shelter us from the whipping west wind.
Where we wound up was pay dirt. An area of protected beach that has an eastern face—featured here looking out to the lighthouse—that will be most excellent at sunrise; and a path leading to a western exposure looking out to the Barnegat Bay to the rear. Morning, noon, and night, this spot has loads of potential.
It was a bit earlier than I normally shoot, and as such the light was rather intense. I went with my ND filter and stopped all the way down to f/22. I seldom stop down this far unless it’s for a very specific purpose—in this case it was to maximize my exposure time—slowing things down all the way to 40 seconds. Enough time to render sufficient cloud movement left to right.
