FishEye Studio

Just another small fish in a very large pond

Urban Mushroom

35/365 Urban Mushroom, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Image 35/365

I found these mushrooms on a tree just down the street from my house. I waited until the afternoon light. Since the light was fading I used a 12 inch silver reflector to get light under the mushrooms.

Add a comment

Lioness

16/365 Lioness, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Image 16/365

This photo was taken at the Oakland Zoo. This Lioness was following the young male lion. They were waiting for the zoo keepers to open the enclosure so the lions could be feed.

Add a comment

Selenium Bee

13/365 Selenium Bee, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Image 13/365

Sometimes photographers would use Selenium (Se) while developing.

Photography
Selenium is used in the toning of photographic prints, and it is sold as a toner by numerous photographic manufacturers including Kodak and Fotospeed. Its use intensifies and extends the tonal range of black and white photographic images as well as improving the permanence of prints.
Early photographic light meters used selenium but this application is now obsolete.

Add a comment

Male Monarch

12/365 Male Monarch, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Image 12/365

This male Monarch was so busy collecting nectar that is didn’t even mind the lens of my Canon G10 camera two inches away.

Add a comment

Plumage

11/365 Plumage, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Image 11/365

I saw this Snowy Egret feather on the ground. I took this Macro shot with my Canon G10.

Add a comment

Ghost Trees

Ghost Trees, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.

Add a comment

Depth of Field

D.O.F. or Depth of Field, What is it? Is it the distance from home plate to the center field fence? Is it the height of the wild grass in an unmowed meadow or field? No, it is none of these.

Depth of Field is a term used in photography to describe the focal distance between the nearest object and the farthest object in focus in the focal plane. Here is a simple example of how D.O.F. works. If you are standing on a street corner and you are looking down the street a sign. You notice that most everything is in focus between you and the sign, but the sign itself seem to be a bit out of focus. However, if you squint you notice that it bring more objects into focus including the sign.

Just a Sip

This happens because as we squint we close down the iris in our eyes. Just like a camera lens we can close down our aperture and create the same affect, increasing the focal distance. If you have a 50mm lens with the aperture adjustments of f2.8 to f22 the larger the number the smaller the aperture opening and the greater focal distance is created. The smaller the number the short the focal distance and the wider the aperture opening is.

Larger then Large

Keep in mind that the aperture does increase or decrease the amount of light allowed through the lens of the camera. So you will have to adjust the shutter speed to compensate, and make a properly exposed image.

If you have a point-n-shoot camera without all these adjustments, don’t fear. It is possible to achieve the same results even when you are using a point-n-shoot style digital camera. On the top or back of the camera is a dial. On that dial are many different settings represented usually with little pictures.

The mountain picture is used for taking scenic pictures. This is the setting you should use for the greater depth of field. When this setting is selected the camera knows you need the greatest focal range and will select the proper aperture and shutter speed.

For a shallower depth of field choose the picture of the flower. This is for close up photography. This setting will allow you to take a sharp picture of a subject and allow the background to be out of focus.

Give this a try, let me know how it works out for you…

Add a comment

Green Sea Turtle


Green Sea Turtle
Originally uploaded by Kirk Howard

This was taken with my new Canon PowerShot G10 camera and Canon WP-DC28 underwater housing. It took a week to get somewhat familar with all the controls and buttons and knobs.

However by the end of my vacation I was able to capture moments like this free diving with an very buoyant housing. I need to get the weights to help make the camera neutrally buoyant.

Add a comment

Yosemite Night and Day

Sunday I drove to Yosemite just for the night. Just like last year in June I went to capture a Lunar Rainbow or Moonbow. This time I went in May on the night after the full moon. The difference from the two months June and May, May has a lot more water coming out of the waterfalls. Here is a link to last years post on Lunar Rainbows or Moonbows June 2008.
Here is a Shot that I took from the pathway in Cooks Meadow parallel to the Merced River. It was almost 2:00 AM and the Moonbow was starting to disappear.
Upper Falls Moonbow
This video was shot on the same day May 11, 2009. It is a 360º view from the highest point on Sentinel Dome.

Sentinel Dome 360º from KiHo on Vimeo.

Sentinel Dome 360º May 11, 2009

1 comment

Yosemite Day and Night

Here is a Shot that I took from the pathway in Cooks Meadow parallel to the Merced River. It was almost 2:00 AM and the Moonbow was starting to disappear.
Upper Falls Moonbow
This video was shot on the same day May 11, 2009. It is a 360º view from the highest point on Sentinel Dome.

Sentinel Dome 360º from KiHo on Vimeo.

Sentinel Dome 360º May 11, 2009

Add a comment