Early Morning Irises at Skylands

It is my favorite time of year when the wildflower gardens at Skylands are full of blooming Irises.  I have been there with my camera many times.  Each visit is different.  This morning the light was perfect and I got some really nice images.  Then I hopped on my bike for a five mile ride.  Perfect morning!

Keep Makin' Art!

Carl

Spring is here... almost.

Well even though we did not have much of a winter to speak of I have been looking forward to spring!  The blooming flowers and greenery everywhere always inspire me to paint and take photos.  Today I found the Sargent's Cherry were in bloom up at the Skylands Botanical Garden.  This will be the start of the time of year when I stop in to the gardens weekly to watch the progress and anxiously await the return of the wildflowers and butterflies in mid-summer.

I hope the start of spring is finding you renewed and inspired!

Keep Makin' Art!

Carl

More LensBaby Tests

I spent the day testing the LensBaby lens kit I purchased by taking pictures at Skylands.  The Composer Pro is the lens body I picked up and it features a system of swappable optics and uses manual discs you place in front of the lens to set the f-stop you want to use.  I first thought this was nifty and kind of went with the totally manual process you use with these lenses.  My first location was to try some of the optics at a stream i like to photograph.  I won't do that again.  First i dropped one of the aperture discs in the stream... That was bad enough.  I did get it back so no harm no foul.  I liked the results of the double glass optic I used yesterday, but wanted to try the others.  The pin hole / zone plate optic gives a real antique look like a turn of the century(19th century) camera.  The problem was with an effective f-stop of something like f177 The viewfinder is un useable because it is too dark.  Next I wanted to try the plastic optic.  It gives a very diffuse dreamy look.  I forgot to lock the optic into the lens and it fell out of the camera and into the stream.  I did salvage it and use it later, but it is so diffuse I struggled with getting any focus.  It has it uses and I will try it again.  After that the stream was not working for me so i headed to skylands with the double glass and single glass optics installed and got the photos below.  I love the ability to tilt the lens... this coupled with the double glass optic gives really nice and different results.  It is taking time to get used to how much tilt to use, but I will get the hang of it.  So far I would say static objects like buildings and flowers are great choices.  I look forward to trying some portraits very soon.  All in all I am enjoying the LensBaby Composer Pro and am figuring out when is best to use it and when to use a more standard lens and approach.

*Note - the 2x1 crops i used for these pictures were not a result of the LensBaby... they were my artistic choice for the day.

Keep Makin Art!

Carl

I really like what the Lensbaby Composer can do with shots of wildflowers.

How could I try something new at Skylands and not take a photo or two of the pumphouse!

Lensbaby - Composer Pro lens

I recently picked up the LensBaby Composer Pro.  It is a special effects lens with swappable optics for different styles.  It allows you to tilt the lens for radical focus shifts.  These shots were with the double glass optical that came with the LensBaby Composer.  So far it is very cool.  I am still getting used to how much to tilt and adjust the focus, but I have some great Ideas for shots.  Over the next few days I will be testing and showing you the results, but tomorrow I think will be a day for watercolor.....

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

A Rainy Sunday at Skylands

I don't much like getting wet.  It makes me scrunch my face up and squint, but sometimes the need to make art is stronger than our desire to be comfortable.  So I headed out this morning and spent two hours in the rain at Skylands with my 100mm lens and came away with these shots.  Not a bad walk in the rain If I must say.  I even splashed and jumped thru a few puddles like a little kid.  That was totally AWESOME!

Keep Makin' Art!

Carl

Diana at the hunt - Skylands

I have always liked this statue at Skylands tucked away near the edge of the woods.  There are a series of other statues there I am planning to photograph in IR when the light is just right.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Butterflies and Cone Flowers - Skylands

A beautiful late afternoon in Skylands.  I wandered through the wildflower garden photographing the butterflies as they moved among the cone flowers.  My favorite thing about Skylands is that every time I go there I find something different to photograph.

Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

Skylands - Irises in the Wildflower Garden

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in the Wildflower garden at Skylands.  The Irises are starting to bloom and the meadow was wet with dew as the sun peaked over the Ramapo Mountains to start the day.

Keep Makin' Art!

Carl

WildFlower Gardens at Skylands

The wildflower gardens at Skylands are staring to wake up and should make some great photography for the next three months.  Every week different flowers will be blooming starting with the Irises and Mountain Laurel then the Cone Flowers and Butterflies will be out along with many others.  I really enjoy the wildflower gardens over the formal gardens.  They have a more organic layout and offer much more creative photography.  I always enjoy shooting here.  In a later post I will discuss my technical approach to shooting here.  For now enjoy these early offerings.


Keep Makin' Art!
Carl

A Stroll Thru Skylands on a Cloudy Sunday Morning....

As a nature photographer even when you plan for exactly what you want to photograph have a back up plan.  I looked thru my calendar of when I shot where last year and saw that a year ago this week wildflowers were blooming in the Skylands wildflower garden.  It has many types of irises along a meandering trail with lots of high grass for a nice soft green backdrop.  I arose this morning and noted the heavy, foggy overcast and and thought it would be perfect... Alas it has been so called and rainy this spring that nary a thing was blooming in the wildflower garden, but the rhodo gardens were full of color so i wandered over there.  I generally have avoided the rhodos in the past, but they were in perfect bloom and the leaves were covered with water droplets.  I took out my trust 100mm macro and got to work.  I am really happy with the results.  It may not have been what I planned, but I went with what nature gave me to work with and am all the happier....


Keep Makin' Art!
Carl