Bob Crum

Being Saturday morning, 4/15/17, I'm writing about the past weekend that isn't here yet. It's not easy saying what I don't know I'm going to say. It goes without saying but if you expected anything less, I'd be speechless. Or not.

Anyway, as you read this on Thursday, 4/20/17, I'll be packing and loading my F-350 for a trip to Reno, NV. Leaving Fillmore Friday morning. My daughter will be flying to New Zealand and some things at the house need addressing. Debra has cats. Being such a cat lover I cannot think of anything else that I'd rather do more than cat sit. Ummm, wait... there is one thing! Photographing Lake Tahoe mermaids!

Do you think I'd be in Reno and not tour Lake Tahoe... the most photogenic lake west of the Monongahela River? Not only that but I'm considering trying something I've not yet done: Time-lapse photography. It may be a treat... or a bust. Much depends on the weather. A clear blue sky does nothing for time-lapse photography. I need lots of cumulus clouds floating over Emerald Bay. A flock of pink flamingos flying overhead would add a nice touch. With a little luck, the tour boat will appear to circle Fannette Island. When it comes to weather, ya know... fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me 429,638 times and you're the weatherman!

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Well folks, the wild flower season in the lower elevations is about done. However, I selected Fence Post and Poppies for Photo of the Week. Little things, like the fence post, add a little extra interest to a photo of just poppies. But it took some ingenuity to capture the composition because of other distracting elements around the scene. If they were in the frame, it would have ruined what I wanted to convey.

I used a Tokina 11-16mm ultra-wide angle lens on a Canon 7D. Though this lens is great for landscapes, rendering very sharp images, it does not have image stabilization. Hence... must use very fast shutter speeds or a tripod.
I used a polarizing filter to further enrich the colors. Used aperture priority for depth of field set at f/22. In this image, f/11 would suffice but, as you'll see, there was another consideration. ISO set to 200. Now look at the shutter speed: 1/10 of a second. Pretty slow... on purpose. Notice the tall thin grass? Notice how it's slightly blurry but the poppies aren't? A slight breeze was blowing the taller grasses but not so much the poppies. Well, actually it did so it took patience... waiting for a lull in the breeze. Anyway, 1/10 of a second captures the motion of the tall grasses. The slow shutter speed accomplishes the goal wonderfully. It's a matter of programming the camera in order to obtain the desired result. This is “photography”.

One other thing; I visualized the composition in my mind but I couldn't use my tripod to get the desired perspective. So, instead, I rested the camera on a bean bag to hold it steady for the slow shutter speed I had to have. Where there's desire, the will and a bean bag... it gets done. Most times.

For the website, fillmoregazette.com, there are a few more poppy photos and of couple photos taken on the way home. Obviously, I could not resist shooting a photo of that awesome tree loaded with character. The field of pretty petite lavender flowers topped off a fabulous day trip photoing wildflowers.

Happy photoing.

Email comments, suggestions or questions to: bob@fillmoregazette.com