Flower and Bee at Bleu Lavande Fitch Bay, Quebec Canada

Checking the metadata of this image revealed that I used the 18-200mm a (relatively) cheaper lens that came with my camera. It has a different bokeh than my 70-200mm lens which I also had with me. Bokeh refers to the quality of the out of focus portions of the image. Compare it to the bokeh in the two previous images that I created while at the San Diego Zoo which employed the 70-200mm lens. I'm still not done with this image. I'm going to try softening it with noise reduction and see what happens. PLEASE CLICK ON THIS IMAGE TO VIEW AT FULL QUALITY!

Exotic Bird San Diego Zoo San Diego, CAL

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's all about the eyes. When I brightened his eyes in postproduction I realized why he posed so graciously. I suspect that he has cataracts! This was shot using an aperture of f/8 which should be a medium to shallow depth of field. The reason that it appears so shallow is because I was right on top of him. This blurs the background thereby separating the subject from it. That aperture is also in the best quality range of the lens which is about two stops from wide open.

Prairie Dog San Diego Zoo San Diego California

This image was created during a session at the San Diego Zoo with nature photographer, Laurie Shupp.
She is truly amazing. Do yourself a favor and visit her website: www.imagesbylaurie.com/
The most important thing that I learned from her is that, like all portraits, it's all about the eyes. This little guy had very shaded eyes. His eye details were brightened using a NIK Software control point. Again the NIK Software suite saves the day.

Autumn Delight Westmoreland, NH

The orange tree would be lost in this forest image if not for the contrast in tone and complementary color. This is another example of backlighting that causes the subject to glow.

Tunbridge Worlds Fair Tunbridge, VT

In order to create slightly more contrast and reduce distracting elements, portions of the image have been selectively darkened such as the people in the background. This is another example of checking the perimeter of the image for distracting elements. The blurred hands and feet add a sense of motion, yet this image wouldn't work if his face wasn't sharp.  Notice the effect of the backlighting.
I plan on removing the feet in the background and then doing a before/after comparison to illustrate how an image can be improved by removing distraction elements. This is also an example of how many times you can use the words "distracting elements" in a single paragraph.

Hay Rake Milton Farm Museum Milton, NH

This hay cutter which had been sitting in a field at the Farm Museum in Milton, NH seemed to have been prominently displayed like a piece of agricultural sculpture. I often stopped to photograph it, but had the most fun employing this technique that was taught to me by renowned photographer Tony Sweet. Google him to see some of the most creative methods of composition. This particular technique involved zooming from a long focal length to a shorter one during a long exposure. To reduce your shutter speed for the long exposure try using a combination of low ISO, narrow aperture, or adding a neutral density filter to your lens. This actually employed a polarizing filter later in the evening allowing me to use a wide aperture of f/2.8. That helped to separate it from the background. A slight pause during the exposure before zooming will help define the subject. Otherwise it just looks like the screen on the Starship Enterprise at warp speed.

Fence and Blue Flowers Portsmouth,NH

Don't be afraid to be creative! These brilliant blue flowers made much more of an impact when viewed through this contrasting fence. Otherwise, to me anyway, they just appeared to be another piece of landscaping. This also allowed me to exaggerate the beautiful blue by slightly bumping up the saturation. Normally this would be way overdone, but the fence serves to tone it down a bit.