Beauty and the Beast(s)

I was out at The Nature Conservancy Great Salt Lake Shoreline Preserve this afternoon, just before the winter storm hit! With the low clouds and monochrome light, a landscape photo seemed out of the question. But, not to worry, Nature came to the rescue with other, just as fascinating subjects. 
I was in the tall rushes (8 feet) walking on the boardwalk, when two sandhill cranes magically appeared just off to my left.  No sound, just their presence, and even with my 200mm lens, I filled the frame with just one and had to back off.  Wow!

Then, on my way out, this mother cow and her baby gave me the 'evil eye'.  The baby can't be more than a few days old - see the umbilical cord hanging from its belly. 
Gosh life is great!!

The eyes have you!

A friend of ours said, after meeting Fuzzy, that fuzzy should have his own website as there is so much of him to see and share!  Here's another shot - very penetrating.

Yawnie

Fuzzy got caught in my experimentation last night with wireless flash.  He cooperated as well as can be expected - you set up the equipment and shoot when he is ready!  Hopefully he doesn't change locations on you quickly!!
I love the ability to create a black background without a special setup.  I can see where a softbox on this kind of shot would add a softness and quality that hard light doesn't.

Orchids in light (aka More fun with flash)

I just had to test out what I learned at the Nikon lighting seminar last night, so I picked on a new orchid sitting on the living room table. Previously I'd bought a flash color kit (plastic sheets of colors approximating certain color gels) so I dug them out and put them on the flash.  WoW!
With minimal preparation I created the following - all of these were shot in full daylight; 1/2000 at f/5.6 and one wireless flash on camera right. All were minimally processed in Lightroom 3 and the composite created in LR3 using the custom package feature in the print module.

If you have interest in doing this yourself, here's the link to the Nikon wireless speedlight guide http://www.nikonusa.com/en_INC/IMG/Assets/Common-Assets/PDF/FastTrack_To_WirelessSpeedlights.pdf (sorry Canon users, I don't have that link - check out The Strobist instead).  The Nikon trainer last night was Paul van Allen and he does a LOT of this stuff and posts much of it on Flickr.  I got the wireless link from him.
Have fun!  Try water dripping from a faucet!!!

Thursday mixture

A storm blew in today, classic spring weather here in the Intermountain west.  One minute sunny, the next snowing.  As I drove out by the Great Salt Lake, I saw the storm swallow up Antelope Island - creating a soft and fuzzy black and white photo, below.

Tonight I attended a Nikon wireless flash class and came away very inspired.  Knowing how to use technology (a little anyway) allows you to become more creative.  I've shied away from wireless flash in the past because I just didn't know anything about it.  Now I feel more comfortable and willing to look at shots a bit differently.  Here's an example of one that we shot in class.  This was done in a very well-lit room - look at the dark background.  Lighting came from one off-camera flash on the right facing into a softbox to soften the light.  Did an excellent job of creating a moody, yet beautiful setting.

What is this?

I shot this photo this morning, while the sun was still out. Something about it grabbed me - the vivid colors, the mystery, the shadows.
What do you think it is?

Silk Hope

Names of places often reflect how they began.  In this case, Silk Hope, NC, is named for an adventure in raising silkworms that did not pan out - I believe around WW1.  There's a stop sign and a flashing red light, along with a gas station/general store/hangout and the volunteer fire department garage.
Just down the road is our friend's place, a massage therapy school on 100+ acres - meadow and woods.  One evening walking along the road I was struck by the light, color and forms in this photo.