Tag: Flowers

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

Gaillrdia- Arizona Sun

Posted in California, Macro Photography, NatureTagged , , , , 2 Comments

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

Early one recent morning I took a walk around the neighborhood looking for flowers to photograph. I found a few patches of Gaillardia. I love the cone in the center with all that texture, and the bright colored pedals. Gaillardia-Arizona SunI spent a lot of time with these flowers. I shot it from several different angles, getting closer,

Gaillardia-Arizona Sunand closer,

Gaillardia-Arizona SunThis is my new favorite flower! I like it so much I’m going to purchase some and plant them in my yard, and hope they survive. I don’t have a green thumb.

Have a great week-end everyone!

Nikon Df| AF Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 micro| Hand-held| Lexar Professional Digital Film

Developed with CS6, Nik Viveza 2, and Nik Color Efex Pro 4

 

Spring Colors

Posted in California, Flowers, Macro Photography, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , 1 Comment

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

Butterfly Iris (Moraea iridioides) Thank you Barbara for the ID!xx

Spring Whites
All flowers were taken with a rented Nikon Df in the last golden light of day, before the sun slipped behind the Santa Cruz Mountain Range.

Initial thoughts it is so quiet, and very light weight compared to my D700, and D300s. Image quality seems fine, the colors are really nice and seem right on. I didn’t need to correct anything in ACR for this image. Finding the shutter button is a bit challenging now. It’s not where my finger naturally is going due to the smaller size of the body I’m sure.

Spanish Lavender

Spanish LavenderGaillardia Arizona Sun…I think.

Gaillardia Arizona Sun

I’m looking forward to spending time with this camera and trying my favorite lenses on it.

Nikon Df| AF Nikkor 105 mm micro lens | Manual Priority|Hand-held

Rhododendron-Berkeley Botanical Garden

Posted in California, Fine Art, Flowers, Macro PhotographyTagged , , , , 1 Comment

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

Rhodedendron Pink

My friend Dali and I made an impromptu stop at the Berkeley Botanical Garden one morning last month and we found the Rhododendrons in bloom. I was hoping for Butterflies too, alas, no joy there.

It’s a lovely Garden. I hope to go back next year and spend more time wandering around the different regions.

Playing with my macro lens quite a bit this Spring has shown me its limits, and not being able to get closer than a foot has been the biggest disappointment for me.

I could add an extension tube or two, but then I’ll be struggling with Depth of  Field issues so, I think I’ll rent a Lens Baby Composer Pro and see if that doesn’t help me make the images I have in my head when shooting flowers.

Nikon D700| AF Nikkor 105mm D micro @ f4| 1/1600s| ISO 320| Manual Priority| Matrix Met| Tripod

 

Bearded Iris Morning

Posted in Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., PhotographyTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

Copyright © 2013 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved

I went to Nola’s Iris Garden yesterday with a Meet-Up group. It’s in the Eastern Foothills of San Jose, CA.
This should have peak season for them, but we’ve had several days of really warm temperatures lately and that has taken its toll on the Iris. I found most of them wilted and tired looking, but walking through the rows of Iris I did find several that were in good condition.
Nola’s specialize in Bearded Iris and are open to the public in April and May.  I’d like to revisit this nursery next year and hopefully see it in all its splendor.

I used my  Nikon D700 with my Nikkor 28-105mm AF-D micro lens for this outing. It’s an older lens which can only be found on the used market today. I purchased it to have a “walk around”, light mid-range zoom for hiking. The macro function wasn’t something I was really interested in at the time I purchased the lens, but I’ve used the macro function quite a bit since purchasing it, and I’m really happy with the results. The macro is a 1:2 ratio not a true 1:1, but I can get even closer using my Canon 500D Close-Up Lens with it.

Orange Beard

Beard

Colorful Housing

Colorful HousingFarm tools

Pitch ForkWoody met John Deer

Woody meets John DeerA view of the Eastern Foothills from the garden

Wide field view