Traveling the Journey of Light | Photoblog Thoughts, feelings, and techniques behind the photography of Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston

Pine Cone DesignsPosted by admin on March 21st, 2008

For today’s image I went to the arboretum and worked on extremely up close shots of pine cones. I particularly worked on keeping a small depth of field which creates a very small area of focus. I wanted to create a little more of an abstract feel to this pine cone. This is a good example of how small the depth of field is in macro work. This particular photograph was taken with an aperature of f/5, which is fairly shallow, but is extremely shallow here, leaving only the very tips of the pine cone closest to the camera in focus.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 50 CM lens + extension tube, f/5, 1/160 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/.

Coming TogetherPosted by admin on February 24th, 2008

Continuing with my work from the local arboretum, I went on Friday with the intention of using just my macro lens with an extension tube. The extension tube is a nice addition since it allows a closer look at the world without the loss of any optical quality since there is no glass which also makes it relatively inexpensive and light. Additionally, it works with any lens, so it is very verstile. Today’s photograph was an extreme closeup of the end of a branch of a pine tree.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 50 CM, Extension Tube, f/5.6, 1/100
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/.

Nature’s HugPosted by admin on February 17th, 2008

Recently, I’ve been visiting the local arboretum. I have an exercise where I like to walk around with only one lens and try to see the world through that lens. The lens I choose on February 15th was my 50 mm compact macro lens which allows me to get fairly close in on intimate nature scenes. The weather has been fairly uncooperative with negative temperatures and little snow making for a nice brown frozen muck. So, I’ve set my sights a little higher and found this single leaf caught in two branches in a tree. The light on the branches was dappled which gave the needles an extra element for the composition.

Technical Details:
Canon 5d, 50 CM lens, f/6.3, 1/100 sec.
OPPD Arboretum, Omaha, Nebraska

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