211. Potted Plant - July 2-8, 2017
Jerry-
Cindy and I were about 2 weeks into our Colombian vacation when she got some sort of flu which has taken almost a week to recover from. So we have spent a lot of time resting during which I came up with the potted theme. We are staying at the home of Manuel and Gladys who are the parents of Diana, a young lady we hosted back in Minnesota about 16 years ago. They have been very kind to us, trying to help Cindy feel better and me feel less trapped here in Bogota. Gladys has some plants that I've been photographing at different times of day, hoping to find something special. Here is a sort of bush in the stairwell that I like.
Camera was the Sony a6300 with 16-50 zoomed to 50. Exposure was 1/160 @ f11, ISO 1600, Vivid mode.
Cindy and I were about 2 weeks into our Colombian vacation when she got some sort of flu which has taken almost a week to recover from. So we have spent a lot of time resting during which I came up with the potted theme. We are staying at the home of Manuel and Gladys who are the parents of Diana, a young lady we hosted back in Minnesota about 16 years ago. They have been very kind to us, trying to help Cindy feel better and me feel less trapped here in Bogota. Gladys has some plants that I've been photographing at different times of day, hoping to find something special. Here is a sort of bush in the stairwell that I like.
Camera was the Sony a6300 with 16-50 zoomed to 50. Exposure was 1/160 @ f11, ISO 1600, Vivid mode.
Don-
This guy sits in front of my garage. I spent a week looking around
town for a potted plant I liked but found none. This one is chosen out
of sheer desperation. The rest of the potted plants around the house
look rough from the weeks of 95 degree weather. I photographed it but
it was a very dark picture. So I sprinkled a little brightness and spruced
it up with clarity the poured on some vinaigrette.
Equipment is a D810 with a 24-70 f2.8 lens.
Focal was 42mm.
Exposure was 1/400 sec; f/6.3; ISO 280 (Auto); Aperture Priority; Pattern
Metering and the exposure compensation was mistakenly set at -3 stops.
This guy sits in front of my garage. I spent a week looking around
town for a potted plant I liked but found none. This one is chosen out
of sheer desperation. The rest of the potted plants around the house
look rough from the weeks of 95 degree weather. I photographed it but
it was a very dark picture. So I sprinkled a little brightness and spruced
it up with clarity the poured on some vinaigrette.
Equipment is a D810 with a 24-70 f2.8 lens.
Focal was 42mm.
Exposure was 1/400 sec; f/6.3; ISO 280 (Auto); Aperture Priority; Pattern
Metering and the exposure compensation was mistakenly set at -3 stops.
Byron-
I decided to photograph a potted plant that is very simple. It is Moss Roses in a large Terra-cotta vase that is supporting a 4X4 post. The lighting is fairly simple. I waited until the Sun had gone down so the light level was decreasing I then attached a flash to a light stand and used the good old Byro-Snoot. I accomplished 2 things in this photo. In addition to fulfilling the theme, This photo has no post production anything. I came really close to a third dream of mine, to only take one exposure for the theme of the week. I shot 2 exposures. They are both identical. Why do I like the no post production aspect? It is like the early Queen albums. On the back of the album cover it would say "No Synthesizers" They accomplished their sound by hand. My "No Post Production" is similar to that. As far as a single exposure, it puts pressure on the photographer to make sure everything is set up correctly and really on the wily skills obtained through years of experience.
ISO 100, f8, 1/200 sec,
I decided to photograph a potted plant that is very simple. It is Moss Roses in a large Terra-cotta vase that is supporting a 4X4 post. The lighting is fairly simple. I waited until the Sun had gone down so the light level was decreasing I then attached a flash to a light stand and used the good old Byro-Snoot. I accomplished 2 things in this photo. In addition to fulfilling the theme, This photo has no post production anything. I came really close to a third dream of mine, to only take one exposure for the theme of the week. I shot 2 exposures. They are both identical. Why do I like the no post production aspect? It is like the early Queen albums. On the back of the album cover it would say "No Synthesizers" They accomplished their sound by hand. My "No Post Production" is similar to that. As far as a single exposure, it puts pressure on the photographer to make sure everything is set up correctly and really on the wily skills obtained through years of experience.
ISO 100, f8, 1/200 sec,
Darin-
Revo and I went over to Moon Nursery this evening to shoot some potted plants... BIG pots and BIG plants! We had thousands to choose from and this is what we came up with.
Revo and I went over to Moon Nursery this evening to shoot some potted plants... BIG pots and BIG plants! We had thousands to choose from and this is what we came up with.
Kevin-
Okay, this might be viewed as a boring, traditional approach to Potted Plant, but it gave me an opportunity to practice some not often used skills. What do I mean? Simply a studio set -up and lighting scheme that hopefully emulates the look of the inside of a clean, contemporary home. In a sense I simply imagined the look of late afternoon sunlight shining through a window at Dan and Elaine’s newly remodeled place.
But first the potted plant ..er plants. I didn’t want to photograph a “typical” potted house plant like a peace lily……but instead wanted to do something more design oriented. So what to photograph? I spent a lot of time thinking about a Bonsai Tree. But since I don’t have one, nor the time to grow one, I settled on succulents! Now not only can succulents be photographically attractive, the name of the genre is exciting to pronounce. Say it with me… Succulent.
Besides the succulents I dragged a steel table with me to the studio and set up two studio strobes. One , from a softbox created low overall light in the “room," as if it was coming from windows that were not facing the sun. The other, with an orange gel, mimicked direct light from the setting sun. But it only did that when I shined it through a narrow space between two v-flats to create a “window," with another card framing the “bottom” of the window and another narrow piece held by hand to divide the top and bottom window “panes."
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens set to 62mm, ISO 200, f/8 at 1/250the of a second (flash sync).
Hopefully this worked!
Okay, this might be viewed as a boring, traditional approach to Potted Plant, but it gave me an opportunity to practice some not often used skills. What do I mean? Simply a studio set -up and lighting scheme that hopefully emulates the look of the inside of a clean, contemporary home. In a sense I simply imagined the look of late afternoon sunlight shining through a window at Dan and Elaine’s newly remodeled place.
But first the potted plant ..er plants. I didn’t want to photograph a “typical” potted house plant like a peace lily……but instead wanted to do something more design oriented. So what to photograph? I spent a lot of time thinking about a Bonsai Tree. But since I don’t have one, nor the time to grow one, I settled on succulents! Now not only can succulents be photographically attractive, the name of the genre is exciting to pronounce. Say it with me… Succulent.
Besides the succulents I dragged a steel table with me to the studio and set up two studio strobes. One , from a softbox created low overall light in the “room," as if it was coming from windows that were not facing the sun. The other, with an orange gel, mimicked direct light from the setting sun. But it only did that when I shined it through a narrow space between two v-flats to create a “window," with another card framing the “bottom” of the window and another narrow piece held by hand to divide the top and bottom window “panes."
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens set to 62mm, ISO 200, f/8 at 1/250the of a second (flash sync).
Hopefully this worked!
Paul-
My progeny and I, at her brilliant suggestion, walked around Lincoln’s “Hay Market District” this past Monday morning. ‘Lots of trendy and unusual stores, eateries, emporiums, bars, craft shops, galleries, and havens for sports collectable fans. I also counted 7 places that sold coffee, two offering up unusually-flavored ice creams, two doughnut meccas, and one place that sold tea with very exotic names.
And the Hay Market is now the newest home of Rocket-Fizz. (Looking for Moon Pies, candy bars you think they stopped making decades ago, or sodas that unexpectedly expand what typically falls under this liquid category? Then this is the place to go, fellas.)
Anyway, my impetuous and merchandise-loving companion and I were taking refuge from a merciless sun under a canopy in front of a store called Ten Thousand Villages (neat place, too), when I saw this plant bedecked with a whirligig. I gave it a spin and shot one or two pictures for kicks and grins. These ended up being the best of the 80 or so I snapped off for this week’s theme.
At the root of the work: (10:03AM—and already ridiculously hot and humid) Nikon D5200; 18-55mm lens; Auto WB; ISO 1000; 1/15 sec. at f/13; 24mm focal length; matrix metered on 21 focus points. The camera was hand-held. Cropped in Adobe Lightroom, a little extra saturation in the leaves, a bit more contrast, but that’s about it.
If you're curious:
Rocket-Fizz: http://rocketfizz.com/ Ten Thousand Villages: http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/
My progeny and I, at her brilliant suggestion, walked around Lincoln’s “Hay Market District” this past Monday morning. ‘Lots of trendy and unusual stores, eateries, emporiums, bars, craft shops, galleries, and havens for sports collectable fans. I also counted 7 places that sold coffee, two offering up unusually-flavored ice creams, two doughnut meccas, and one place that sold tea with very exotic names.
And the Hay Market is now the newest home of Rocket-Fizz. (Looking for Moon Pies, candy bars you think they stopped making decades ago, or sodas that unexpectedly expand what typically falls under this liquid category? Then this is the place to go, fellas.)
Anyway, my impetuous and merchandise-loving companion and I were taking refuge from a merciless sun under a canopy in front of a store called Ten Thousand Villages (neat place, too), when I saw this plant bedecked with a whirligig. I gave it a spin and shot one or two pictures for kicks and grins. These ended up being the best of the 80 or so I snapped off for this week’s theme.
At the root of the work: (10:03AM—and already ridiculously hot and humid) Nikon D5200; 18-55mm lens; Auto WB; ISO 1000; 1/15 sec. at f/13; 24mm focal length; matrix metered on 21 focus points. The camera was hand-held. Cropped in Adobe Lightroom, a little extra saturation in the leaves, a bit more contrast, but that’s about it.
If you're curious:
Rocket-Fizz: http://rocketfizz.com/ Ten Thousand Villages: http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/