This is another shot from the Nature Close-up class field trip to Ridley Creek Stat Park. What caught my eye on this one is the back lit seed head. I like how the two oof white areas, one in LLHC and the other in the URHC, mimic the color and shape of the seed head. Also the  the oof swirls of green worked out well.

(After looking at this for a bit I think that oof white area in the URHC is the diffuser I was using to shade part of the bg. Goes to show you that mistakes can work sometimes.)

Read more »

Nature Close-up Class Field Trip at Ridley Creek State Park

As I mentioned in my last Wildflower Post, last weekend I did a field trip to Ridley Creek State Park with my Chester County Night School Nature Close-up Photography class. For the field trip John Koskulitz was helping out. So when I was not helping students I took the opportunity to shoot some. And at our final classroom session we critiqued some of their images. At the end of the session they want to know if they could see some of the images I shot that morning. I couldn’t show any at the session because I didn’t have them with me. But I think I will post a few over the next week of so and share with everyone.

I keyed this out but have forgotten what it is called so I will have to update this when I get home. I’m down in southern Delaware teaching the Beaches and Wildflowers Workshop. Update: this is Canada Mayflower.

The shooting metadata for this image is:

D200 with 105 macro
1/45 sec @ f/3.5 , ISO 100
Matrix, Aperture Priority, Comp +2/3

After shooting this version I added a 36mm extension tube Read more »

Back Lit Bleading Heart

Last Saturday was the field trip for my Close-up Nature Photography Class for the Chester County Night School. For the field trip we went to Ridley Creek State Park. Even though the spring wildflowers were early this year we did manage to find quite a few different species to shoot.

Early in the morning the flowers in the formal garden are back lit.  Since John Koskulitz was helping out and the light so nice I tool a little time to shoot a little.
.

.

.

Read more »

Last weekend I taught a close-up workshop at Welkinweir. On the Thursday before the workshop I went to the arboretum to scout (and to shoot some) before the workshop. Later, while reviewing the images, I decided I should pick one to use on the cover of the workshop booklet. I needed a horizontal image to fit the layout of the booklet. I picked a shot of a single cherry blossom bud. After completing Lightroom Develop Module adjustments I decided the image would be improved with a soft glow treatment. So I brought the raw file into Photoshop as a smart object so I could easily use smart filters. Since time was a bit short I decided to try quick and dirty method. I added a bit of Gaussian blur and then changed the blending mode of the blur layer to Lighten (I initially tried Screen but I like Lighten better). This gave the image the bright soft glow I was looking for. Then I added the text. Maybe 15 minutes start to finish.

Read more »

Shenk’s Ferry White Trout Lily

Last Saturday I had a Close-up Workshop at Shenk’s Ferry. I went back on Sunday. While there I struck up a conversation with a lady and her little girl. In the conversation I mentioned that I’ve been looking for some White Trout Lilies for two years and have not found any. She said she know where some were at the glen. I had been looking down the embankment near the creek. As it turns out I was not looking in the right place. So here are four images from my very first encounter with these guys.

  Read more »

Because the snow had covered the ground for an extended period this year I was concerned that the wildflowers would be late this year. I’m not sure why, probably the resent snap of warm weather; but if anything, they are coming in early this year. Here is a close-up of Dutchman’s Britches I took yesterday in Ridley Creek State Park. Normally the wildflowers at Ridley are a week or so behind those at Shenk’s Ferry but not this year!

I added a min-sized extension tube (20mm) so that I could pretty much fill the frame with a single blossom. Read more »

This is a close-up of a trillium blossom from Shenk’s Ferry.

Read more »

This high key version of Dutchman’s Britches is from Shrenk’s Ferry Wildflower Preserve.

All the previous wildflower images in this series have been from Ridley Creek State Park. Ridley is a big place but I have found a few clusters of wildflowers.

By comparison Shrenk’s Ferry is a narrow glen along Grub Run that is less than a mile long. And the density of wildflowers is unbelievable…dare I say, the ground is completely covered with wildflowers. The show starts in late March to early April and goes to the middle of May. And the blanket of flowers changes from week to week as early bloomers give way to new arrivals. So the show is different every time you go.

Even though the walk up the gl Read more »