Snail SpiralPosted by admin on March 17th, 2008

Today I took a short walk through Platte River State Park in eastern Nebraska. It was fairly overcast and still a bit muddy, but there were bits of green appearing so it was a good day to focus on macro. After walking for a bit, I entered a small clearing of trees that I explored carefully looking for interesting items. I came across a snail shell whose owner had vacated and I spent the next hour focused on working on this shot.

I composed this shot using the golden ratio which is similar to the rule of thirds. If you are not familar with composition, the rule of thirds states that the primary subject should be placed at a third horizontally and vertically in the frame for maximum effectiveness. The rule of thirds is actually a simplified version of the golden ratio which is 1:1.618. This means that items of importance should be placed at .388 or a little more than a third from each side vertically and horizontally.

Additionally, this photograph follows the golden spiral which encourages the eye to spiral into the most important subject, here it follows the spiral pattern of the shell. This is one of the most blatant examples of the golden spiral I have ever taken, simply because the shell itself is a spiral pattern.

The golden ratio and the golden spiral can be found throughout nature and the more one is aware of this, the most impact your photographs generally have. Of course, like everything these are simply guidelines, which like everything creative, should be broken. I find I follow these rules, but also break them quite often. For more information about both of these compositional guidelines visit: Golden Section and Photography.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 50 CM + extension tube, f/10, .4 sec
Platte River State Park, Nebraska

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Intrinsic PatternsPosted by admin on March 15th, 2008

After a short spell, I finally made it back to the arboretum. The very first hints of spring are just arriving in Omaha and little bits of green are appearing, albeit among some remnants of snow and dead leaves. I took a walk through the mostly wooded portion of the park, stopping to look at some of the interesting patterns on the trees and within the leaves. I have walked by a particular dead log countless times, but for some reason it has never caused me to pause for more than a few seconds. Today was different. As the sun ducked in and out of the clouds, patterns emerged on this log and coupled with the intrinsic lines created a scene I felt compelled to record.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 50 CM, f/32, 1/125 sec.
OPPD Arboretum

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

A Frozen WorldPosted by admin on March 5th, 2008

After nearly a week of being closed, the arboretum opened and I took the opportunity to take a look around. It had been a fairly nice weekend with Saturday close to 60 degrees. The first part of Sunday was also nice, but then the temperature dove below freezing. This gave me another opportunity to look for ice that had thawed and refrozen which can create for some interesting natural patterns. For the most part, however, the ice and snow were scare and there was only a mucky muddy residue left. I did manage to find some nice rock patterns that continued below the ice in a small pond. In this image I particularly liked how the edge of the ice went around some of the rocks that poked above the surface.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 50 CM, f/9, 1/125 sec.
OPPD Arboretum

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

From the Archives: Reaching OutPosted by admin on March 3rd, 2008

Of the many great things about digital photography, one of the best is quick review. Quick review when you take the photo to make sure it looks right, quick review when you download your photos, and quick review when you want to go back and look for images. Occasionally, I go back and review photographs from the past. Sometimes, I learn a new technique in Photoshop that I want to try, other times I need a specific type of image, and then again sometimes I’m just in a mood to see what I can do with old photos. Today’s image fell into the last category. I have probably passed up this image 20 times in my reviews before I decided to process it finally. The hint of green among the interesting patterns of rocks caught my eye and I wanted to explore this image further. This is the end result. This is also the first non-midwest photograph entry into my blog.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 300 f/4l + 1.4 tc, f/11, 1/5 sec.
Alberta, Canada (June, 2007)

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Cold SurroundingsPosted by admin on February 29th, 2008

Today’s black and white image is reminiscent of my older images from when I was in college and shortly after. I used to photograph nature items almost exclusively in black and white. Back then I used a Pentax all manual camera (including focus), first a k-1000, and then later a ZX-M. I would normally use Kodak Tri-X 400 or T-MAX 100 film. After this phase I moved onto carrying two cameras, one with black and white and one with saturated slide film like Fuji Velvia and Provia and for a long time that is what I shot with. In January of 2005 when I bought my first digital SLR camera, the praised Canon 20d, one of the largest selling points was the ability to set a Black and White mode on the camera. I would often go out and shoot both and see how they would turn out. The Canon 20d even had the ability to simulate yellow, red, or orange filters which I used to carry everywhere. It was like 2 cameras in one! Since then I have tempered my use of the function since Photoshop has excellent conversion utilities for black and white. I still shoot images I plan to convert later and this is one such example.

This particular photograph was taken on an overcast day at the OPPD arboretum in Omaha, Nebraska. I wanted to focus on the contrast between the trunks and the snow so when I converted this image I wanted to make sure the snow was as white as possible without blowing out the highlights. Additionally, I processed this so that the tree trunks maintained their darker density.

Technical Details:

Canon 20d, 50 CM lens, f/18, 1/250 sec.
OPPD Arboretum

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.

Winter ContrastsPosted by admin on February 27th, 2008

In the last couple of weeks the snow and ice has been slowly melting in Omaha. Most of what was left was in the shaded areas or where it would melt and refreeze. Last week during one of my trips to the arboretum, I came across this old yellowed pine needle on a sheet of ice where water had obviously melted and refroze. The patterns in the ice were interesting, but when juxtaposed with the yellowed pine needle created an even more interest contrast.

Technical Details:

Canon 5d, 50 CM + Extension Tube, f/9, 1/60 sec.
OPPD Arboretum

To view other photographs, order this photograph as a print, or purchase licensing rights, please visit my website at http://www.journeyoflight.com/.