Thursday, May 26, 2011

SEEING AND MAKING IMAGES IN YOUR BACKYARD


I have read comments on my blog and others that readers wish they lived in an area with interesting things to photograph; that it must be wonderful to live near animals and landscapes so beautiful.  It is but if you do not, than that is not a reason to stop photographing. I wanted to post a blog to show that you can make interesting images in your own neighborhood; even in your own backyard, if you take the time to look and see. 

So when I awoke this morning I grabbed my camera and 105 Nikon macro lens and went out to my backyard in search of interesting and hopefully beautiful images. I have a small garden out there and thought what better place to look. At 9 AM it was just leaving the golden hours, as I wrote in yesterday's post. 


The first thing I saw was a shrub I just planted last week. It has red flowers. Red always catches my eye and I would suspect most photographers who shoot in color. This is what I saw when I looked at it.

I think it's an interesting plant with great potential for adding color to my garden. What about as a subject to create interesting images? As you can see in this image, it's not so interesting.  The light was a little harsh and I have not finished planting in the garden so  the background was not great. So do I move on, or worse yet go back in the house to have breakfast? Say the heck with it because there's nothing out there to photograph? No, I tried to "see" an image. If this view didn't work, than including more of the background would be worse, in my opinion. Maybe you would "see" something that I didn't.

What about getting in closer and carving out mini landscapes of this flower? This would turn from a documented image to a creative image; things I saw and helped create with my choice of ISO, f stop and a little post production. Let me say right now that in post production the color channels were not manipulated and vibrancy and saturation were not adjusted in either Lightroom or Photoshop. These are my two most used post production tools and the only ones I used on these images. The only work performed in Photoshop was reducing noise and sharpening. In LR I adjust white balance, exposure slightly, added a vignette in some images and cropped almost all of them in some fashion. These were the images I captured. I hope you find them interesting and enjoyable to view.
Remember these are what I saw my own personal vision. If you were out there with me looking over my shoulder, you might have wondered what the heck I was shooting. Learning to "see"  is the important skill to learn.












24 comments:

Ravenmyth said...

Glad you did not go back to your house and have breakfast. Again, a beautiful illustration of diversity in a subject. I also like the continuous shots, it brings multiple perspectives to the subject. You are so right. There is so much beauty all around us and if you put something in your back yard, you must have liked it. I would say would make for a good photo op....thank you again Jim...you do inspire!

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree with Raven Myth more about your inspiring nature. And you're right, if you wait for something 'amazing' to photograph you miss the everyday beautiful things that are right under your nose.

Ana said...

Hi Jim!

As always you did amazing photos. I agree that everywhere can be performed great photo, because our world is beautiful, especially Poland, Croatia and Macedonia ;)

Ana

Ann said...

Beautiful images! I love going out in my yard & finding interesting things to photograph..as I did today!

Melissa Tandoc said...

in our place this plant is called 'santan'... and they grow abundantly here in different colors---orange, pink and yellow...it's funny how you would regard it as 'not interesting'... you should see it in full bloom when the topmost part is already filled with flowers...

however, real life came when you zoomed them in...red pulsates life... in a dark background, it comes even brighter...

i read through the technicalities... sorry, i don't give much in to those until i use them... but they are great help to my friends who also do photography...

the last, i agree that "learning to see" is of utmost importance...

maybe i focus so much on one thing or subject... but i'll learn to "see" more...:)

thank you :P

Aaron said...

great post Jim.
You are moving more to instructional posts these days. any reason for that?

I agree with you completely it is all about finding a subject and changing your viewpoints until you make sometime interesting. I have been shooting the same 1km radius for over a year now and still manage to find a new and interesting picture almost each day.

Unknown said...

I think that is Santan flower in the Philippines =) It's common here in the Philippines to have a lot of flowers. My mom actually bought and planted a lot of flowers in front of our yard.

Every picture you post makes me smile and inspires me. Thank you Mr. Jim =)

Savira Gupta said...

The depth of the color red changes with each shot, angle..... Magnificent shades of RED!

Rimly said...

These are Exora flowers. They come in all colors and when they bloom the entire bush is filled with them.Lovely shots Jim.
I was sitting yesterday in my car and I saw this tiny bird build a nest and I remembered you. You would have taken excellent shots of them with an equally interesting tale to accompany it.

Unknown said...

Thank you Ravenmyth, Lucy andFaye the thought that I might inspire someone with my images is the highest compliment I could receive.
Melissa I did not mean that the bush did not have a beauty on its own. If it didn't I would not have planted it in my yard lol. What I meant was that the shot was not that interesting. THe clutter around it and the light. It was a good shot to document what I had in my garden but that was all.

Ana I would love to visit those countries but I am
starting with Italy in Sept 2012.

Aaron I have had these types post in the past. It says not your usual photography blog and I will continue to mix it up to keep it interesting for my readers and myself. Including another collaboration coming up soon.
Thank YOu everyone I really appreciate your taking the time to comment

Alpana Jaiswal said...

After a long time,I am out of my hibernation..atleast I hope so..and loved these beautiful pictures and the vivid colors..true,we only have to look around to see beauty...and Jim,thank u for reaching out to me..will remember this touching gesture of yours.

Laura said...

Very nice, and thank you for stopping by!

Nelieta said...

So glad you posted this Jim! There is so much beauty around us..all we need to do is to find it!

Anonymous said...

Jim...I love this! I'm frequently wandering around my back yard for pictures because I can't get surgically separated from the computer as often as I would like. After a while my finger gets itchy, my muscles start to twitch and I start to drool (it gets ugly), and I need to go out and get a fix, even if the pics end up being crap. =)

Today's friday moment on my blog is a backyard picture. =) Check it out if you feel on taking a hop...

http://really-wait-what.blogspot.com/2011/05/friday-moment-52711.html

Corinne Rodrigues said...

The sheer beauty of your photographs leaves me speechless every time!

Anonymous said...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the colors!!! WOW! Those are so beautiful!!

Nava K said...

Awesome shots and the pics looks so alive, vibrant color.

Anonymous said...

So much to discover in a small plant :)
Beautiful photographs, and very true advice: images are all around us, we just have to find them!

Anonymous said...

WOW! Your photographs are very vibrant!

Here is my photoblog: http://redsblogmeaningmyblog.wordpress.com/

fantasy in practicality said...

in our land, in bengali, it is called RONGON.

a very common bush with different colors are seen here and there.

you have made the simple flower look gorgeous.

i appreciate the eyes that has a different look to invent natures beauty in every fold.

sukanya said...

you have magic in your hands...i am interested in photography and hoepfully will pick it up soon.

JIM said...

Thank you so much for your great response to this subject. I think I might come back to the subject from a different angle soon. Not the same plant but more about making images.




Jim

Alfandi said...

nice macro shots of the ixora..

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