35/365 Urban Mushroom, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
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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.
16/365 Lioness, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
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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.
13/365 Selenium Bee, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
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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.
12/365 Male Monarch, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
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This male Monarch was so busy collecting nectar that is didn’t even mind the lens of my Canon G10 camera two inches away.
11/365 Plumage, originally uploaded by Kirk Howard.
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I saw this Snowy Egret feather on the ground. I took this Macro shot with my Canon G10.
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.
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.
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…
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.
Sentinel Dome 360º from KiHo on Vimeo.
Sentinel Dome 360º May 11, 2009
Sentinel Dome 360º from KiHo on Vimeo.
Sentinel Dome 360º May 11, 2009
