Cheapest Model I Know

I've been trying to learn more about lighting but practicing is difficult. I hired this model and I didn't pay a lot and it was awkward. No talking, took directions poorly (odd, given the size of its ears), and had a wicked facial hair problem.

Sigh.

© Jeremy Buehler and Bug Noir (www.bugnoir.com), 2010.

White on Grey on Grey

Haven't been shooting much lately due to time constraints and weather, but this weekend I'll be out to shoot my 70-200mm f/2.8. Very excited about it, although the 2x teleconverter I ordered was not in. So no winter zoo trip for me yet; perhaps a trip to Mill Pond, or, if I get adventurous and the weather holds, Phyllis Rawlinson Park.

Only four and a half months left!

© Jeremy Buehler and Bug Noir (www.bugnoir.com), 2010.

Halifax: Day 19, Heart Shaped Pond

Today I went to find the Hemlock Ravine heart-shaped pond, that I've managed to miss several times so far. It was hard to find - mostly because I've never entered the park by its main entrance. It would have been a beautiful spot, and could be again with a little attention.

On the way to the pond.

The pond itself isn't in great shape, which is a shame. It's larger than I thought. I couldn't shoot the entire pond in one frame, so I turned to the old-style benches around it.

At the top of the heart. There were ducks in the pond; it is more suited to swans.

The edges of the pond made for cool leading lines.

The path leading down to the pond, or away from it. This was taken on the way out.

A lone stump along the path.

A bit of baby greenery.

© Jeremy Buehler and Bug Noir (www.bugnoir.com), 2010.

Halifax: Day Three, Spiders and Wood

Today I spent the afternoon in the woods, learning a local park and shooting a variety of subjects. Shooting in the woods on a cloudy day meant carrying and using my tripod. It's a very nice spot and I'll probably go back when I've had a chance to chew on the photos I took today.

One challenge I'm having is accurately judging the exposure of images on my laptop screen. I'm missing my larger and more accurate desktop monitor. The result is I'm not sure if I'm adjust the images too bright or too dark.

Someone asked me for a photo of birch trees; I am fairly certain this isn't what they had in mind.

Baby trees.

I definitely want to do more of these. Water droplet reflections are an aspect of macro photography I haven't really tried yet.

Dead trees make very cool skeletons.

I thought this stump looked vaguely spider-like. This was ironic, although at the time I didn't know it yet.

You see, when you spend your time looking at the ground, you don't see what's around you. Or who's watching you...

I saw one spider. And then another. And another... until I realized I was surrounded by hundreds of them in the small spruce trees around me.

I'm usually ok with spiders but when there are so many around, and they're all so big, it made me a little uneasy.

And so I moved on, back to the trail and out of the spider habitat. There was more artful tree stumps.

This one reminded me of the scene in 2001 A Space Odyssey, when the monkeys are standing around the obelisk.

Some interesting clouds appeared over the harbour, and I was able to use them to add texture to the background of this tree.

I hope this fills the birch tree photo request.

I climbed a ravine wall for this one; the textures in the tree stump kept me busy for a while.

Beside the tree in the last photo lay this one; two methods of decomposition. This one was carpeted with lichen.

More stump texture.

Putting the fun back in fungus.

© Jeremy Buehler and Bug Noir (www.bugnoir.com), 2010.

Angels Have Weird Toes

Today I picked up a new batch of gear, and included in it was a Nikkor 35mm 1.8 DX lens. It is super cheap, but after my first outing with it tonight, I have to say a bargain for the money. It has some hefty distortion but the images I took (when they were in focus) were very sharp. It focuses slower than I'm used to but I can't blame my out of focus shots on that. I've never used a lens with an aperture larger than 2.8 and I now want every lens I own to be bigger than 2. Come on, lottery!

I went to a local graveyard to shoot (where else would I be on a Friday night?), one that I've walked by hundreds of times over the years but never visited. I was surprised to find some of the graves dating back to the early 1800s, their marble surfaces almost worn away.

Due to a line of trees, and my timing - I was a little late - most of the graveyard was in shadow when I arrived. There were occasional pockets of light where the suns rays broke through the trees. I went from one to the next to try to compose shots that made use of it, with some success.

I'll definitely be going back to visit again, but probably in the morning when the graveyard will get unobstructed light from the east.

This angel was riding the tacky line but it did not have questionable toes.

Tried to frame here, in hindsight I should have held the camera lower to the ground. I was sitting when I took these, so that would be interesting. Regardless, this shot is one of my favorites.

This marker was the strangest. At first I thought the top part was sculpted skulls, but as I got closer realized they were flowers.

Some of the evening's good light on the plain but pretty-in-the-light church.

I met this angel. She had some skin issues but she was pretty. I think she was older than she looked.

She was hanging out, doing what angels do.

This shot is probably more creepy than a graveyard deserves; the rot approaches from the left to finish the job. Or it's a tree. Could go either way.

The toes in question. Weird!

At first I thought, damn, I over-exposed the shot! then I took a closer look and thought, hot damn, I over-exposed the shot!

She was either praying, or begging me to come back and re-shoot her with a stronger sunset. Perhaps a bit of both.

Riding the theme of empty bench shots from my last post, this one has so much symbolism attached to it, it's symbolism overload!

© Jeremy Buehler and Bug Noir (www.bugnoir.com), 2010.

Lines and Shapes

I worked for it today; five hours of shooting at Phyllis Rawlinson Park. I doubt you'd recognize the location if you compared it with my other shoots there. My goal was to shoot examples of lines and shapes to practice seeing what's really in the viewfinder. A bug or two snuck into some shots, so it's not without the usual insect factor.

This is also the largest post I've ever made. Not really the best. I found that reducing an image to its simplest elements, while a useful exercise, does not make for photos that really say anything. A.K.A. they're boring. There's a lot of black and white today because I shot mid-day and there wasn't much color. I tried to use color where appropriate.

Anyway, it was a good day and lots of fun. The weather was beauuuuutiful. Almost nice enough to make you think it's summer!

I noticed this on the picnic table while I was eating lunch. I have no idea what it is. It's dead. It's also on my 'please don't crawl or lay eggs on me' list.

I lucked out when this boring colored dragonfly let me shoot it from below. Fill flash used.

Horizontal and vertical lines on two planes.

Curved line, adding depth, and leading the eye through the photo.

Triangles and vertical lines.

Triangles, diagonal and horizontal lines. Squares.

Mummified rat.

Vertical lines on black; spirals.

Grey triangle leading to circle, leading to square.

Scarier than the rat. Slightly more hydrated.

Green line, brown line, line of circles, blue line, blue rectangles, stacked. Vertical brown lines lead the eye into the photo.

Horizontal and vertical lines leading into a horizontal row of circles. Framed by the dark grey line across the top, which stops the eye from leaving the photo.

Curved line leading the eye through the photo. I cropped out a weak 'punchline' along the line in the lower left. It was a single green weed crossing the white line. Leaving the image in color, with the punchline, might have made for a stronger photo - but the punchline wasn't that punchy, so who knows. I'll revisit it some other time.

Alternating green and grey lines, topped with three lines of yellow, green and blue.

The grand fields of Goldenrod. Horizontal blue line stacked on green and yellow horizontal lines.

Separated horizontal line highlighted by vertical lines of various widths.

A Korean emoticon.

A scene from The Fifth Element, or a strong left to right leading image using a dark grey trapezoid, strong horizontal light grey line and two framing darker grey lines.

Colored rectangles separated by light grey lines, framed by darker grey horizontal and vertical lines.

I drew a crowd. Of one. Very small spider. Who left.

Copper(?) drain spout.

I blew this shot, but it's close. Strong left-to-right leading line with depth. Still not sure how to fix it. It probably has something to do with the dead orange spruce.

Horizontal white lines of degrading focus receding into the distance, creating depth.

Diagonal lines on a concrete downspout spillway that lead the eye from left to right. Vertical lines slow the eye.

Whoah, color! Wasn't expecting that. Curved line from top left to bottom center leads the eye through the image. Darker color of center... whatever they are... holds the eye.

Shadow of Stonehenge. Horizontal lines at the top of the image lead the eye off the photo. Bad!

A bird on a wire. Barn swallow.

There were a few splashes of color amongst the Maple family trees. The inevitable cometh.

And what do you know... a colorful dragonfly! Yay!

Diagonal lines form a curve that leads the eye through the image.

Horizontal line with semi-circle and diagonal left-to-right directional shadow.

For Theresa.

© Jeremy Buehler and Bug Noir (www.bugnoir.com), 2010.