Category: Fine Art

Daybreak in Santa Clara Valley

Posted in California, Fine Art, Landscapes, Photography, SunrisesTagged , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Daybreak Santa Clara Valley

I woke up wide awake just before 4AM and before I could talk myself out of a morning “stretch my legs” hike I got up, dressed, ate, and left the house and headed to my lonely tree on the “Steep Hill” overlooking Santa Clara Valley.

Once I got to the top of the hill I set up my camera and took a few images of Blue Period and the little bit of color that was in the sky looking East, and then I heard to my right an Owl Hooting its morning greeting. It wasn’t too long after that the Blue Jays, and Sparrows started their morning songs, and two ladies came up over the top of the hill stretching their legs too with an early morning hike. We chatted a few minutes then they continued up the hill.

I waited for the Sun to crest the Diablo Mountain Range, but just before it did and during the Sun’s rise the colors grew in intensity, and splendor.  All the while the Owl and birds continued their morning salutations. It was glorious!
Just a few minutes after this the colors began to fade so, I packed up my gear and hiked up to the tippy top of the hill then headed home for another cup-a-tea.

Nikon D700| AF-D Nikkor 24mm @f16| 1/30s| ISO 200| Manual Priority| Matrix Metering| Tripod

More to come…

P52 36/52 Guarding his Territory!

Posted in Birds, California, Fine Art, Nature, Project 52-2014, WildlifeTagged , , , , , , 4 Comments

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Guarding his TerritoryI set up a little blind in my backyard hoping I’d be able to make a decent image of the Hummingbirds that come to the feeder. I used the cover of the sandbox as a blind by bracing it against my Camilla bush,  then I set up my tripod, camera, and comfy seat behind it then waited.

  It took about a half hour and a few over my head buzzes before the Hummingbirds felt safe enough to stop at the Feeder for a drink.
  After lunch I moved the sandbox cover to the edge of the lawn for a different angle bracing the cover on the Patio Cover’s post. I heard the Hummingbird chitting away in the Flowering Plum beside me so turned to see if I could see him and there he was sitting on a branch watching the feeder.
There’s been another male coming by and this one chases him off whenever he comes around. He sat there for long enough for me to photograph him for several minutes.
He was in the shade of many branches overhead so, while the image is sharp there is more noise than I’d like. I tried Auto ISO during this shoot to see how it would do, mainly to see if I would be able to concentrate more on shooting than having to change my ISO setting frequently to adjust for the light changes. I was also shooting a Butterfly that would occasionally come by to sip on the Lantana Bush which was in much better light than the feeder, and the tree. Auto ISO worked very well for me in these conditions.

 I used Adobe’s Camera Raw noise reduction a little bit to help remove some of the noise. 

Here’s another image of an Anna’s Hummingbird at the Feeder. He’s just about to take off after drinking some nectar.

Ready for Take OffThat sandbox cover worked a treat as a blind.

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4 +  Nikon 14eII Teleconverter

More to come

P52 31/52 Jaxon

Posted in Fine Art, Flowers, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro Photography, PhotographyTagged , , , , , 11 Comments

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

P52 31 of 52 Jaxon 19 months oldI’m still trying to figure out how all the bits and pieces to my LensBaby Composer Pro work. I finally put my Soft Focus Optic

in and took some photos of flowers, and a few head shots of #1 Grandson who is 19 months old now.  I like this pose the best of the three images I took.

I thought the pose fit Black & White best, and then I put an antique finish, and frame on it and really liked how it came out.

I’ve had the LensBaby Composer Pro for several weeks now, and like it, but I was having an issue with the Ball Locking, and the mounting lock. The Ball adjustment lock and the mounting lock both turn in the same direction and when ever I would turn the ball to change the point of focus it would also unscrew the lens. I kept remounting it, but nothing worked.   It wouldn’t have that secure “snap!” when twisted into place, and I couldn’t find a little dot to line up with my white dot on my camera.  Let me assure now, that I did read the manual…such as it is- multiple times. It’s a brochure that tells you how to install and remove your Optic, but there is nothing on how to mount it to your camera.  As you can imagine I wasn’t happy about that set up, and it was scary thinking my lens wasn’t really secure in the mount. I was afraid it would fall off at any time.

I finally sent a message to my friend Wayne asking him what the trick to mounting the lens so it would lock in place is? Within  a few minutes he told me there was tiny “Red” dot on the metal mount that I should match up with my camera. I looked at the mount and sure enough there it was! A tiny red dot on the metal mount. I never saw it before.  Nikon programmed me to look for a white dot since my camera and lenses all have a white dot to line up.

I remounted my Composer Pro and got that nice “snap!” into place and locked sound. What a huge relief that is! Now I like my Composer Pro a lot more!  THANK YOU WAYNE!

There’s supposed to be a dot on my Optics that you line up with the Composer Pro when installing them, but I can’t find the dots! Red or White! I’m hopeless I guess.  For now I’m lining up the notches and securing my Optics that way.  They’re secure in the Composer at least so, hopefully it’s right. 🙂

Here are a couple flower images I made using the LensBaby Composer Pro and Soft Focus Optic. I love this soft, dreamy look, and the OOF areas are smooth and creamy. Love it!

My Lantana with Soft focus Optic and +8mm & +16mm macro converters.

P52 31 of 52 Lantana_0341…and a neighbors Daisy like flower with the Soft Focus Optic

Daisy_0378 v2I’ve also got a wide-angle, and telephoto lens I need to try out. Perhaps this week-end.

Nikon D700| LensBaby Composer Pro with Soft Focus Optic and Macro Converter kit.

More to come…

Dahlias from the garden

Posted in Fine Art, Flowers, Macro Photography, NatureTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Here are few macros I’ve made of the Dahlias growing in my backyard. This one is a Pom-pom Dahlia.

Nikon D700| AF-D Nikkor 105mm micro| Hand-held
Nikon D700| AF-D Nikkor 105mm micro| Hand-held

This one I used my 20mm Kenko extension tube, and a Hoya Soft Filter on my Macro lens

Single-flower Dahlia
Single-flower Dahlia

This yellow Dahlia I photographed using my AF-S 50mm f1.8g lens

Single-Flower Dahlia (yellow)
Single-Flower Dahlia (yellow)

…and one more Pom-pom Dahlia. I’ve had a lot of fun photographing these this Spring/Summer. Unfortunately, the blossoms are getting smaller, and smaller on this plant.

Pom-pom Dahlia
Pom-pom Dahlia

I think I’m ready to try growing Plate size Dahlias and Peony’s next year.

Nikon D700, D300s, Nikkor AF-D 105mm micro lens, Kenko Extension Tubes, Hoya Soft Filter (B)

Shadows- Dahlia in Black & White

Posted in DEDPXL, Fine Art, Flowers, Macro Photography, PhotographyTagged , , , , , 2 Comments

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

DEDPXL03 Shadows I am following Zack Arias’ Dedpxl Assignment Group over on Flickr. There’s a new assignment each month. I hoped it would be challenging enough to get me out of my box, and teach me to “see” more creatively.  It has been very challenging. Especially this assignment on Shadows. I’m seeing shadows everywhere, but not much has moved me or struck me as being compelling enough to make an image.

This Single Flower Dahlia was sitting on my patio when the afternoon light hit it. I thought it was interesting and held possibilities so I grabbed my camera and began shooting it from all angles. Then I thought to clip a single blossom off the plant and image it out on the patio and play with the shadows and light. This image is from that session.

This assignment wraps up on June 14th. Zack will be posting the Critique, and Future Assignments here

Nikon D700| AF-D Nikkor 105mm f2.8 micro| Hand-held

Developed in CS6, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2, Nik Color Efex Pro4