San Jose Nature Photographer – Page 2 – Circadianreflections Blog

A morning at the Aquarium

March 31, 2014March 31, 2014Posted in California, Photography, TravelTagged Low Light Photography, Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Jose Nature Photographer, Travel and TourismLeave a comment

Since it was supposed to be a rainy Saturday my friend Dali and I headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We met early at a favorite coffee shop then drove a little over an hour south to get there just before the Aquarium opened. We anticipated a big crowd; it being a Saturday, and rainy. There was already a line to purchase tickets when we arrived.

We headed straight for the Jellyfish tanks since those are very popular, but we got side-tracked by the scuba-divers in the BIG tanks. They were cleaning the glass, and both little and big kids found them fun to watch.

…and now for some fish!

There are two Octopi here. This top one is the smaller of the two. They’re both pretty large.

This bottom one is enormous!

This Stingray came out of the deep blue and looked so graceful and hypnotic swimming through the tank.

Finally we got to the Jellyfish! I have a lot of Jellyfish images to go through, but here’s one of my favorites.

By noon the Aquarium was pretty crowded, so we headed to the cafe for lunch. I didn’t take any foodie images, but I did take a photo of the entrance to the Cafe. I liked the lines, and color contrast.

Then we went back upstairs to find some animals and fish we missed earlier. I’ll be working on those images soon, but here’s one gem we found. Isn’t it pretty!

It was a tricky venue to shoot because most the tanks were dark and back-lit. In addition to that the lights in the halls and galleries were pointing into the tanks which caused reflections of the bulbs, and glare on the tank glass, also there were reflections of the people, and the room on the glass. To clean up the images I cloned out some of the light reflections, and the worst of the muck that was floating in the tanks.

I used a Nikon D700 with a AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G lens, and to keep the shutter speed up my ISO varied between 1000-2500. I used a little noise reduction in a few of these images.

It had been many years since my last visit. I really shouldn’t wait so long between visits.

Daybreak St Thomas Is.

March 27, 2014March 27, 2014Posted in Photography, TravelTagged cruise, San Jose Nature Photographer, St Thomas Island, Sunrise, Travel and Tourism1 Comment

I took this image in September 2012 while on a Cruise.

I woke up early to catch the sunrise then I watched us pull into the harbor, and finally dock in port. The Captain and Crew did what I thought was an amazing job of docking the Freedom of the Seas; an enormous ship! We pulled in backwards or in reverse and basically paralleled parked that baby behind a Disney Cruise ship and the end of the pier, and floating next to dock were lots of sailboats anchored near the docking lane like these in the image. It really was the most memorable docking in my life to date. The sunrise was quite beautiful too.

Morning Moon

March 25, 2014March 25, 2014Posted in California, Landscapes, PhotographyTagged landscape, Lonely Tree, Moon, San Jose Nature Photographer, Santa Clara County3 Comments

While waiting for the sun to crest the mountain tops to the East I turned to look southwest and captured the Moon shining down on the little tree that sits atop the summit of The Steep Hill.

Nikon D700| AF Nikkor 28-105mm micro| Hand-held

Ides of March

March 16, 2014Posted in Astrophotograhpy, PhotographyTagged Astro-imaging, Moon, Night Photography, San Jose Nature PhotographerLeave a comment

Travelerette at the Casting Pool

March 10, 2014March 10, 2014Posted in California, Photography, TravelTagged Legos, News Updates: Rumors: Photography: Nikon: Nikkor, San Jose Nature Photographer, Toys, Toys in photos, TraveleretteLeave a comment

Travelerette at the Casting Pool, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2014 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Watching these men and women is a bit hypnotic. The arm motion and line is so fluid, and I think graceful.

I created Travelerette at the Lego store in town to go with the Traveler, but he was napping at the time of this photo op. 🙂

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 24-70g| Hand-held

Product Photography

February 28, 2014February 28, 2014Posted in Photography, Still Life, TutorialTagged Food and Drink, Product photography, San Jose Nature Photographer, Strobist3 Comments

As you may have noticed I’m working on improving my Product, Still-life, and Artificial Lighting photography skills. Developing this skill set has been quite the challenge.

Working with lights is a whole new animal to work with. You have to learn how create light. For me Landscapes are so much easier.

First there’s the composition to make…yes make! In nature I find them ready-made. It’s not always easy to set up more than one object so it is pleasing to the eye. All the rules of composition I learned in art classes are coming in handy when shooting still-life and product images. FYI- I didn’t do well in any art class I ever took but, the rules are proving themselves very valuable indeed with still-life photography! Then one must create the light that one sees in the mind’s eye. Let me tell you…it’s is easier seen in the mind than it is to create!

It took me months to get this composition just right:

I’m sure you’re thinking….what? Months? You’re kidding? Yes months! It just isn’t something that comes to me naturally. I wish it did.

I’ve continued to push myself and create still-life images, and to use my Speedlight, and continuous lights.

One of my recent images was a watch though not magazine worthy I’m happy with it:

My latest self-imposed challenge has been to photograph a wine bottle.

This has proved very hard to photograph. There are several problems to fix.

Here’s my first image of a wine bottle:

Problems with this image I need to fix: the hot spot which showed the light source: a Speedlight (SB910) with shoot through umbrella, (I cloned that out in this image), on the right side of the label there is light spill, the wine isn’t filled all the way up to the cork wrap, and it’s too close to the edge of the frame.

Those of you who are more knowledgeable with product photography may find other issues, but these are the issues that scream at me.

So, today I set up and re-took the shot. I moved my Speedlight with Shoot-Through Umbrella further away from the subject, then placed a black flag near the bottle to block the light from spilling onto the label, and I moved the bottle back an inch or two. Here’s that image:

I still have a hot spot, the flag worked pretty well as did moving the bottle back an inch or two. It’s not the image I hoped to create so I’ll keep working it. Perhaps, the third time will be the charm and I nail it. I am getting closer and that is progress!

Strobist- SB910 @ 1/2 power camera right through a shoot through umbrella, white foam core reflector subject left, and black flag subject right.

5/52 “To travel is to live.” âHans Christian Andersen

January 27, 2014January 27, 2014Posted in PhotographyTagged Bokeh, Photography, San Jose Nature Photographer, Strobist, TravelLeave a comment

5/52 “To travel is to live.” âHans Christian Andersen, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

It will be 5 years this Fall since I’ve been to France. I’ve been 3 times, and there is still so much to see and do, and the language yet to master.
I hope to get back there and travel in different regions, but no matter where in France I go vibrant, and bustling Paris beckons me, and I’ve still not seen Versailles!

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