PhotograClare » pine needles

Triangulation

Clare Topping — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:35:59 +0000

I have included this photo on my blog, not because it is technically good, just because I like the shape of the trees.

This is another photo which I took on my way to work, being initially attracted to the sunlight which was catching the brown needles around the bottom of the group of trees.

Then I noticed the texture of the bark, so started taking some shots of that. Then I decided I liked the way that the tree swept upwards, then I took this picture.

I am not sure if the low-ish early morning sun is a good or a bad thing – it does bleach out some of the tree, but it does a good job of hiding the industrial estate. So, from a compositional point of view there are quite a lot of features, but it could benefit from the sun being behind the tree completely (I did try this, but then lost the second tree and a lot of the interest.

This was taken with my Canon Powershot S90, ISO80, 1/50secs, f/4.0, 6mm.

Shades of green

Clare Topping — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:50:16 +0000

I like taking pictures of plants and flowers. I like the colours, the different textures, the different look when the light changes, and I like the fact that they are plants and all that means to a nature lover.

However, there are a lot of great plant photographers out there that I don’t think I could ever rival, so I concentrate on pictures of plants that are nearby and am trying to take more abstract and close up shots.

This is the same pine that featured in one of my most abstract photos of about six months ago. This time my eye was caught first of all by a small water droplet, then by the light on the needles at the edge of the shot. I also liked the fact that it refused to be buffeted by the blustery breeze that made all the other plants impossible to photograph.

In essence I think that this photo, especially compared with the more abstract shot, shows a different facet of the plant. There is the glaucous, subdued colour of the small cone and the fresher green of the needles, particularly when many plants were starting to look a little parched. Unlike many conifers this is quite a soft needled, tactile plant which is one of the reasons that I bought it, and I think that comes through in the picture.

The picture was taken with a macro lens, handheld, ISO200, 1/125secs at f/4.0.

Abstract

Clare Topping — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:54:38 +0000

I went out for a walk today to try and take some interesting pictures of flowers in the snow. I took some that were OK, but interesting would not really be a fitting description. Then I got home and thought I would have a look at the flowers in the back garden and see if there is anything that was worth shooting – after all, I had the camera already set up with a macro lens.

What immediately caught my eye was the dwarf pine that I recently bought, partly because I like the feel of the needles (they are very soft and tactile – unless you have a pine allergy), and partly because I thought it looked nice.

I took a few close ups, not sure where to focus, and was pleased with nearly all of them. For once they were better than I had expected when I looked through the viewfinder. The close up shows up the shades of green and yellow brought out by the Winter Sun.

For those interested my 100mm Macro lens was back at work, handheld, ISO 200, 1/125secs and f/6.3 to get the shutter speed and a softer depth of field.