Friday, April 24, 2009

Around the Office with the Point and Shoot



It has been one of those weeks. I'm still sick, unfortunately. Megan is pumping me with meds, but I've definitely got a virus that has been really hard to shake. Its tough because I'm pretty much worthless around the house- she has to do more work with Weston. I'm typically full of energy, but this week, not so much.

My coworker says he thinks I have tuberculosis. You've got to know him, some of you do, but I just think that is hilarious. He is completley kidding. Well, as you can imagine, I've been taking it easy, but that didn't stop me from capturing a late sky watch image Friday evening which I posted at TA Photography.

As for here, I took fifteen minutes yesterday with my point and shoot camera, a nice little Panasonic number (more specifically, the LZ-8) I picked up from Big Lots for 100 bucks. It pays to always have a camera ready. And even if its a point and shoot- don't forget about composition. Make everything in the frame count, always, before you hit that shutter every time. Does that little branch really need to be in the frame? Can I use a different focal length? Can I get closer? Analyze your scene critically before you hit the button, and if you do that you'll always get better images. It doesn't matter if your camera is a Canon 5d Mark II or a Kodak disposable film thing you picked up because you forgot your camera battery.

Mosquito on Crab Apple

Red Maple Samaras

Eat your heart out Redbuds...I drool over this plant. These things are all over calcareous Ohio, not so much in the acidic N.E. part of the state where I grew up.

Ant on a sandbar willow flower.

The recently cut stump of an ash tree, spared from death by the EAB, but not spared from death.

Umm, Ok, wait a minute here...how did my head pop in that picture? Wasn't I just ranting about good composition? :)


And there you have it....Ok, I'll admit, sometimes it is fun to just point the camera at see what you get. For the last image of the Virginia bluebells, that is just what I did. I actually had the camera laying on the ground, pointing straight up, and I think this is a fairly neat perspective. It shows how we've integrated native plants around our office buildings. And that is great for a guy who's been sick all week and just needed a quick native plant rush.

Tom

8 comments:

  1. Very nice pics, Tom! I am sorry you are sick. Hope you are feeling better soon! :)

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  2. Some very nice light effects on the last two as the sun slices through your lens laterally.

    I would love to see you force that on few pics...now that we have sunlight in Ohio.

    ButchGriz.com

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  3. Are you sure you are sick, or just playing hooky to take photos? Just kidding...the sunshine will help heal you. These are great. The redbuds have been so pretty here this year. That little point and shoot camera did a great job and I love that last one looking up!

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  4. Beautiful spring pictures! That tree stump would be a wonderful abstract piece of art, the way you cropped the photo! Picture that as a 48x36 on your wall! WOW!
    Take care btw and rest up!
    Chris

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  5. Oh these are one beautiful spring photos. Anna :0

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  6. Redbud's you said "These things are all over calcareous Ohio, not so much in the acidic N.E. part of the state where I grew up."
    We moved to Dayton from Akron and noticed Redbuds and thought we had not been paying attention to trees in Akron. Now I will just have to go look up what "calcereous" Ohio is... soil is not acidic? Base? Never saw a Redbud growing up, I must have grown up where soul was acidic.

    Pretty photos.

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  7. Janet- Thanks. I went to the doctor today and he says I have a sinus infection. I got hooked up with antibiotics.

    Butch- We call that "flare"

    Thanks Mary.

    Thanks Chris. Not a bad idea. I've been wanting to get a few prints made for around the house.

    Maureen- Calcareous bedrock are things like limestone and dolomite. The soils that form from this material are often neutral or basic. Red buds seem to be really common on the basic soils of southwestern Ohio. They're also found in acidic areas in southeast Ohio, so redbud can grow in acidic soils. Perhaps the acidity and cold climate of northeast Ohio precludes redbud.

    Tom

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  8. Tom: Neat photos of the changes in Ohio this last week.

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