A gentle stroll

Californian Poppies at Auckland's Botanic Gardens.

Some friends came over earlier today and we ended up at the Botanic Gardens here in Auckland.  I was keen to continue working with as shallow depth of field as possible.  Not easy with a wide angle lens!  The first shot in this post was take with the Nikkor 12-24mm wide open at f4.  The lens was at the long end of the range really to avoid the pathways and other general clutter beyond the flower bed.  Focus and exposure was taken in the centre of the white flower and I must admit to being quite pleased with the sharpness of the image.  The background blur is quite nice I think and I managed to increase this blur effect by getting as close as possible (minimum focus distance) to the white bloom.  Perhaps let me know what you think of the shot.

Strelitzia reginae (bird of paradise)

Shot #2 of a "Bird of Paradise" flower was taken with my 18-200mm zoom lens.  I wanted to get as much of the bloom as possible in the frame and try to accentuate the spiky nature of the plant.  I'm not sure what I think of this shot ... a bit cluttered?  You may recall a shot I took earlier this year of a Strelitzia?  This was much more isolated from the background, but I think I prefer this for being just that bit tighter and closer.

Shot #3, again taken with the 18-200mm lens, and closed down to f11, shows a Telopea flower.  I find these very attractive and fascinating blooms.  The flower seems to lush and colourful, whereas the leaves seems to dry and bland.  Contrasts again!  Perhaps one day I'll do a series on contrasts taking inspiration from Johannes Itten.

Waratah Telopea

Into the bush

Fresh air.  Apparently this is what I need to clear my head and feel better.  To be honest, I can't say I felt much better when I got home, but it was quite pleasant in the fresh air this morning.

The first shot in this post is a 5 shot HDR image taken in Totara Park, Manukau City.  I've always felt the place seems more green when I'm there and walking about than it seems when I get home and look at the photographs.  This image, however, seems to give a better impression of the colours and light I thought I saw.

I didn't take a tripod ... well the main reason for the walk was to get some air and clear my mind rather than take photographs ... and the light levels were not that high.  ISO was at 800 and the shutter speed down to 1/4sec.  All I can say is that Photomatix does a good job of aligning the images and Nikon's VR isn't bad for reducing camera shake!  Click on the image to see an enlarged view and perhaps let me know what you think.

On the way home I came across a "Bird of Paradise" flower.  They're quite common in the gardens near where I live, but for some reason this one just stood out as something rather special.  It certainly has the look of a bird's head don't you think?  Single shot image, again processed in Photomatix Pro with a bit of a twiddle in Lightroom to produce what you see here.