Children at Play and Harry Chapin's

The Streak Continues: 143

I published this post at 6:30am Amsterdam time, 12:30 in the morning on the east coast. We enjoyed a great morning of flower field photography

This post marks 143 straight days with a new blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I used, tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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This blog post took 1 1/2 hours to put together. Enjoy!

This in-camera HDR Art Vivid image was created at the tulip fields across from the Main Entrance to Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse, Holland (The Netherlands) with the Gitzo GT1542T Tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III (at 205mm), and the and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 stops as framed left a base exposure of 6/10 sec. at f/29 in Tv Mode. Color temperature: 4000. To get a good histogram with Art Vivid you need to add a lot more light than you would when creating straight blurs and even when using HDR Natural images. Central sensor/AI Servo/Surround Rear Focus AF on the pink flowers, re-compose, and shake the lens. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #1: Child’s Play

Trying New Things

After entering Kuekenhof on the sunny Saturday morning of April 19th, I asked if anyone in the group would like to take the long walk from the Extra Entrance to the Main Entrance. First-timer Terry Jackson and multiple IPT veteran Mike Gotthelf joined me for the hike. We wound up trapped by a series of canals on the wrong side of the light. My bad. But we persisted and eventually wound up in the right spot.

Most in our group of 8 have enjoyed learning to create a variety of pleasing blurs. These techniques work well when photographing the amazing flower fields. Mike in particular has had great success in creating horizontal pan blurs. After a while, he experimented with shaking the camera rather violently during the long exposures in a manner similar to the Jiggle Technique that Denise Ippolito has been teaching folks for years. Mike named this twist on her technique “Shake and Bake.” With the image framed and the tripod head locked up you grab the camera and shake it forcefully during the exposure. Then we took things a step further by using the same technique while creating in-camera HDR Art Vivid images.

5D Mark III User’s Guide

You can learn the fine point of creating in-camera HDRs and in-camera Multiple Exposures plus everything that I know about this great camera in my 5D Mark III User’s Guide here.

Get a Free Copy of Our 5D Mark III User’s Guide

Purchase a Canon EOS-5D Mark III using one of our product-specific B&H affiliate links above or by clicking on the logo link below and shoot me your B&H receipt via e-mail. Once and if the purchase appears in my account–it should unless you screwed up somehow and did not use the link :), I will be glad to have Jim send you a free copy of our 5D Mark III User’s Guide.

Flowers are Red

The image above was a result of our willingness to experiment with new things, to think out of the box. The image reminds me of something a four-year old might create when asked to paint flowers.

I have long loved Harry Chapin and his story songs but the first time that I heard Flowers are Red I had hoped for an ending that would shed a more positive light on teachers…. You can click on the link to hear the song. Not all teachers insisted in rigid conformity. If you had a teacher in grade school who inspired you to be creative, please feel free to share that story here.

“Flowers are Red” Lyrics from the Harry Chapin Archives.

“The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. What you doin’ young man
I’m paintin’ flowers he said
She said… It’s not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There’s a time for everything young man
And a way it should be done
You’ve got to show concern for everyone else
For you’re not the only one

And she said…
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said…
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one

Well the teacher said.. You’re sassy
There’s ways that things should be
And you’ll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me…..

And she said…
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said…
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one

The teacher put him in a corner
She said.. It’s for your own good..
And you won’t come out ’til you get it right
And are responding like you should
Well finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen

Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found
The teacher there was smilin’
She said…Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let’s use every one

But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There’s no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen.”

This image was created on the afternoon of, April 20 at Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse, Holland (The Netherlands) with the Gitzo GT1542T Tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop as framed: 1/6 sec. at f/45 in Av Mode. Color temperature: 4000K. Central sensor/AI Servo/Surround Rear Focus AF on the first row of gold flowers, re-compose, and pan. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2: Painterly

Children at Play

That afternoon Mike and his wife Barbara went in search of a spot to photograph the flower fields adjacent to the eastern border of Keukenhof. We were eventually successful. For the most part we worked on honing the techniques that we had developed and tried but we did try some different stuff. Most of which failed. Mike and I both felt like little kids at play as we looked at one exciting image after another on the LCDs on the back of our cameras. While reviewing my images I found some gems in the HDR series. You can set up your 5D Mark III to save the three RAW files when creating in-camera HDR series; the final result is a 61-megabyte JPEG that can be opened in Photoshop and immediately be saved as a TIFF to avoid the problem of image quality deterioration that you run into when repeatedly saving an image as a JPEG.

A Guide to Pleasing Blurs

If you would like to learn more about creating pleasing blurs, check out “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” by Denise Ippolito and yours truly. Illustrated with 144 different, exciting, inspiring, and artistic images the guide covers the basics of creating pleasingly blurred images, the factors that influence the degree of blurring, the use of filters in creating pleasing blurs, and a great variety of both in-the-field and Photoshop techniques that can be used to create the pleasingly blurred, out-of-the box images that do so well in major photographic compositions.

Your Favorite?

Please take a moment to leave a comment and let us know which of the two images here (if either) that you like best, and why.

Canon Gear for Sale

Doug Bolt is offering a used Canon 400mm f/4L IS DO lens in very good to excellent condition for $4599. The sale includes the lens trunk and lens cover; the seller will pay shipping to US addresses only. This one should sell in minutes to someone looking for a lightweight super-telephoto. The item will ship only when the check clears.

Please contact Doug for additional info and/or a link to photos via e-mail or try him by phone at home: at 301-937-3112 or on his cell at 301-537-8073.

Doug is also offering a used EOS-5D Mark II in very good to excellent condition for $1199. There is a shallow scratch on the body and a faint smudge on the top LCD. The sale includes a RRS L-plate, a vertical grip, and the original box and all the stuff that came in it. The seller will pay shipping to US addresses only. This one is a great body for flowers and landscapes. Mine saved me on a Southern Oceans cruise when I trashed two EOS-1D Mark IV bodies in a rainstorm; it was a great back-up camera body. The item will ship only when the check clears.

Again, please contact Doug for additional info and/or a link to photos via e-mail or try him by phone at home: at 301-937-3112 or on his cell at 301-537-8073.

Join me at Gatorland for a ton of learning. If you want to learn to use your flash, you will not want to miss this one. Click on the composite image to enjoy a larger version. Click on the composite to enjoy the larger size.

Another Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop

Saturday May 3, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 4:00pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6. A very small group is again likely: $399.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

Chicks in nests likely. Breeding plumage Cattle and Snowy Egrets. And tons more. You will learn to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. A big part of the above is that you will learn how and why you must work in Manual mode 90% of the time at Gatorland.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time. Last Saturday all 3 folks had a great time and learned a ton. And the weather for this coming Saturday is looking good.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register.

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Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂