Week 17 of 52 Theme: “Green” Tips and Drips!

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#LPTG13WK17, Backyard, blade, D7000, D7000 Blog, D7000 HDR, Digital Camera, Digital Photography, drip, drop, droplet, DSLR Modes, explore, Extension tube, Extension tubes, Flickr, focusing, Garden, Grass, green, Green New growth, handheld, Handheld HDR, HDR, Howard Jackman, Learning D7000 controls.Camera Controls, LensProToGo.com 52 week challenge, LPTG, LPTG 52 challenge, LPTG 52 week, LPTG.com 52 week Challenge, LPTG52, Macro, Macro water drops, macro with extension tube, Natural HDR, nature, Nature HDR, Nature Macro, New D7000 user, new DSLR, Nikon, Nikon Blog, Nikon D7000, Nikon D7000 Controls, Nikon D7000 From Snapshots to great shots, Nikon HDR, Photography, Photomatix, Photoshop, print, sale, setting sun, Shooting Mode, Still Life, sumoetx, Sun, sun burst, Sunset, tip, tips, Using a Nikon D7000, Utah, utah HDR, Water

Green is all around us especially as we’re fully into Spring, so this weeks theme was more about showcasing it in an interesting and fun way, which to me lately has meant Macro so I grabbed my 50mm f/1.8 and put on the 12mm & 20mm extension tubes and hit the backyard.

Tips and Drips on the pine tree’s new growth. 50mm f/1.8 with 12mm + 20mm extension tubes. – 3 shot HDR Handheld

Next was some long grass

50mm f/1.8 with 12mm + 20mm extension tubes, 3 shot HDR Handheld (so much easier to handhold while lying on your stomach, turns out I make a pretty good tripod!) The Sun bursts were a lucky bonus as I was shooting into the setting Sun.

50mm f/1.8 with 12mm + 20mm extension tubes 3 shot HDR Handheld

I hope you’ve been enjoying your Spring, next week I’ll be ditching the Macro and going really wide! I hope you’ll come back to see it as I think you’ll really enjoy it!

Until then, Happy Shooting!

Howard

 

 

 

Week 16 of 52 Theme: “Cookies”

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#LPTG13WK16, 2013, Ant, Ants, bite, bug, bugs, camera, camera controls, Camera Mode, close up Ant, Cookie, Cookies, crumb, D7000, D7000 Blog, D7000 HDR, dessert, Digital Camera, Digital Photography, DSLR Modes, Extension tube, Extension tubes, focusing, Food, Food closeup, Food Macro, ground, handheld, Handheld HDR, HDR, Howard Jackman, Insect, insects, jaws, Learning D7000 controls.Camera Controls, LensProToGo.com 52 week challenge, Low angle, LPTG, LPTG 52 challenge, LPTG.com 52 week Challenge, LPTG52, LPTG52.com, Macro, Macro Ant, Macro bug, Macro extension tubes, Macro food, macro with extension tube, Nature HDR, Nature Macro, New D7000 user, new DSLR, Nikon, Nikon Blog, Nikon D7000, Nikon D7000 Controls, Nikon D7000 From Snapshots to great shots, Nikon HDR, Photography, Photomatix, Photoshop, Salt Lake City, Shooting Mode, Still Life, sugar, sumoetx, Theme:Cookies, treat, Using a Nikon D7000, Utah, week 16 of 52

Hello my name is Howard and I’m a cookie-holic! That’s the first step right? Well here’s the thing, I don’t want to stop, that’s right I’m addicted to cookies and I don’t care what you say I’m going to just keep on eating them. So when this weeks theme was revealed I was excited not only because I was going to photograph one of my favorite foods, but because I was going to eat them afterwards.

The first shot I had envisioned was going to include my favorite Sesame Street character, that sugar induced quivering blue mass of fur known as Cookie Monster, but someone else in the group made a shot with him in it first so I decided to go macro and involve some friends from the front yard.

If Ants dreamed I think they would dream of something like this…
50mm f/1.8 with 12mm+36mm extension tubes @ f/11 1/250 sec.

This was a painful shoot for me, not because I was lying down next to hundreds of scurrying ants that crawled all over my arms, no it was because this was a cookie that my daughter and I had lovingly made just minutes before and then had purposely dropped on the ground all for the sake of a photograph, what is wrong with me?

Going for the chocolate!

This little crumb seemed to frustrate this guy as he kept dropping it (maybe he was just sneaking a few bites)

On the other hand this guy was all “Go Big Or Go Home!”

Like climbing Mt Everest
3 shot HDR @ 2EV handhled

Mine!!

Hey Carl, after we take apart this mountain of heavenly goodness how about we go get that dried up worm on the sidewalk?”

Ok so I might have gotten a little carried away with that last caption…

Although I had to sacrifice a cookie for these shots rest assured that the rest of the batch was dunked in milk and eaten in tribute to their fallen Brother.

Thanks as always for stopping by.

Happy Shooting!

Howard

Week 15 of 52 Theme” “Something I Don’t Like” Dandelions

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#LPTG13WK15, backyard exploration, backyard HDR, backyard weeds, blossoms, camera, camera controls, Camera Mode, close up, D7000, D7000 Blog, D7000 HDR, Dandelion, dandelion seed, Dandelions, Digital Camera, Digital Photography, DSLR Modes, flower, focusing, Gorillapod Focus, green, Handheld HDR, HDR, lawn, Learning D7000 controls.Camera Controls, LensProToGo.com 52 week challenge, LPTG, LPTG 52 challenge, LPTG.com 52 week Challenge, LPTG52, Macro, nature, Nature HDR, Nature Macro, New D7000 user, new DSLR, Nikon, Nikon D7000, Nikon D7000 Controls, Nikon D7000 From Snapshots to great shots, Nikon HDR, Photography, Photomatix, Photoshop, purple, Salt Lake City, seed head, Seed Heads, Shooting Mode, Something You Don't Like, spike, spikey, spikey plant, Still Life, Using a Nikon D7000, Utah, utah HDR, vegetation, weed blossoms, Weeds, Week 15 of 52, yellow

The theme “Something I Don’t Like” is one of those themes where it’s so open you get a little overwhelmed trying to narrow it down to one subject. It just so happens that ever since we moved into our home we’ve been locked in mortal combat with weeds in our backyard which seems to be specifically formulated to grow weeds, but not grass.

What will be… 50mm f/1.8 + 12mm & 20mm extension tubes – 3 shot HDR Handheld.

I caught this shot in a surreptitious moment as the seed from another Dandelion I was photographing fell off onto this blossom and absolutely made the shot! I’ll credit luck every time it happens!

This is what the seed fell from…

Going bald, I can sympathise! 50mm f/1.8 + 12mm & 20mm extension tubes – 3 shot HDR Handheld

50mm f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube – 3 shot HDR Handheld

50mm f/1.8 12mm + 20mm extension tubes – 3 shot HDR Handheld

Offensive Line… 70-300mm – 3 shot HDR on Gorrillapod Focus.

50mm f/1.8 12mm + 20mm extension tube – 3 shot HDR Handheld

A full seed head in the grass 50mm f/1.8 + 20mm extension tube

I love the dreamy abstract feel of this one. 50mm f/1.8 + 36mm extension tube – 3 shot HDR Handheld

Full Seed Head 50mm f/1.8 + 12mm extension tube – 3 shot HDR Handheld

Some new friends arrived this year to keep our dandelions company… 50mm f/1.8 +12mm extension tube – 3 shot HDR

They look like mini Venus fly traps. 50mm f/1.8 +36mm extension tube – 3 shot HDR Handheld

 

If these harden as they mature we’re in big trouble. 50mm f/1.8 12mm +20mm extension tubes – 3 shot HDR Handheld

50mm f/1.8 12mm + 20mm extension tubes. – 3 shot HDR Handheld

I have to inform you that although no weeds/vegetation were harmed in the making of this series of photographs that all of these died a horrific death at the hands of a rapidly spinning mower blade soon after…

I refuse to mourn!

Thanks for stopping by, my next post will show something I love and dislike, I hope this week you photograph something that you love.

Happy Shooting!

Howard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 12 of 52 Theme: “Planted” Too Soon…?

Tags

50mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.8 with extension tube, close up, D7000, D7000 Blog, D7000 HDR, D7000 Macro, Digital Camera, Digital Photography, Extension tube, flower, green, Handheld HDR, HDR, Howard Jackman, Leaf, leaves, LensProToGo.com, LensProToGo.com 52 week challenge, LPTG, LPTG13WK12, LPTG52, LPTG52.com, LPTG52weekchallenge, Macro, Macro HDR, Macro Snowflake, Nature HDR, New D7000 user, new DSLR, Nikon, Nikon Blog, Nikon D7000, Nikon D7000 Controls, Nikon D7000 From Snapshots to great shots, Nikon HDR, Orange, Photography, Photomatix, Photoshop, Planted, Primrose, Snow, Snowfall, Snowflake, Spring, spring storm, Still Life, sumoetx, tog, togs, Using a Nikon D7000, Utah, utah HDR, yellow, Zeiko Extension Tube

I love Spring! It’s a truly magical time of year and here in Utah it’s even more magical in that one day it can be sunny and 70 degrees and literally 24 hours later there’s 8 inches of new snow on the ground… Yep gotta love Spring.

I wasn’t quite sure what to use for the theme of “Planted” but as soon as it started to snow I knew I had to grab a shot of the flower outside because I love how it shows the collision of two seasons with Spring triumphing over Winter as the snow began to melt. I hope you enjoy it as well!

Primrose and Snow 3 shot HDR Handheld 50mm f/1.8 + 20mm extension tube

Taken before the Sun really started to shine again, 3 shot HDR Handheld 50mm f/1.8 +20mm extension tube.

3 shot HDR handheld 50mm f/1.8 + 36mm extension tube

Melting quick! 3 shot HDR Handheld 50mm f/1.8 + 36mm extension tube

Do you see that one flake upper right that’s reflecting the light just right? I love it! 3 shot HDR Handheld 50mm f/1.8 + 36mm extension tube

It was a real quick photo shoot, as soon as the Sun came out it was game over for the snow so I wasn’t able to get those real close up shots of the snowflakes that I would have liked, but shooting wider meant I could include the green of the leaves for some nice color contrast.

I hope you have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by.

Happy Shooting!

Howard