Works in progress.

Shooting macro and shooting feathers of all things!!!

In my mind I can hear the song 'It's a Small World after All' in the back of my mind.

I learned about doing reflective water droplets by watching another tutorial. I decided to try a pigeon feather and use that red piece of wrapping paper with snowflakes on it for this project.

I was pretty excited to see the snowflakes of the paper show up in the droplets. You should see the little happy dance I did! The process sounded much more difficult but really it wasn't. 

Table. Camera on Tripod. Xmas paper behind feather that I sprayed with a mister or a spray bottle. Set up a flashlight taped to a cup aimed at the paper.

Focus. Bingo. 

These were my very first tries and I was excited about them. I decided to try it again but with a Christmas card behind the feather. I found some nicer feathers and used the face mister to add the droplets. I used Playdoh to hold the feather upright on the table. 

I used a Christmas card to bounce light off from and then grabbed some of those multicolor curly cue ribbons in that I have and dropped them behind the feather. Apparently this can be done with a cell phone or any camera that you have.

I think I found a new love for creating abstracts and color in the small size.

What I started with. The colors in the background are curly ribbons reflecting light.

This is where the 'magic' happened. It looks pretty lame right???

Two shots I ended up with.

Ribbons behind the feather.

Christmas Card behind the feather.

Oh just smack me now. I can't wait to do more!

I always thought that photos like this needed fancy equipment and an art studio. Funny what can happen with a lot of experimentation and play.

A couple of more...

 

Really, it wasn't done in a studio or even in a special place. I shoved my Christmas Lego Village to the side and set this up on my work/display table with the living room brightly lit by the Christmas Chair and the lights behind the Village.

I am so enthralled by the abstract beauty that I found in my lens that I kept saying .... to no one...

OHHHHH AHHH

Look at that!

Oh MY word!

But if I don't reply or stop by your blogs this week it is because I have been summoned for Jury duty on a 4 day trial. If I am picked, I won't have access to the internet or my cell phone for most of the time.

I do not mind serving, I've done it before and found it quite interesting to do. If I am passed by, I'll see you all tomorrow!!!

Un-hinge or Re-hinged!

I .

Am .

Learning .

In January, before Rich's last catastrophic medical incident, he leaned on this lazy susan door and busted one of the hinges. It was metal fatigue so it was not all his fault.

I looked at it and decided it was TOO difficult to tackle, so I removed the door and let the stupid thing be open. 

I gave the good hinge to Step daughter and she said she'd have her son get new hinges and fix it. Well, that didn't happen through no fault of hers or grandson's.

Grandson Dennis showed me how to use and change the tips on the battery drill thingy. 

Hey. It is a tool which I consider to have a motor. And I don't get along with Motors, so I've avoided using it.

So I decided to randomly take a trip to LaCrosse which is an hour away. I ended up at a Crafty Store which I would say has LOTS of yarn! I didn't get yarn, but got some chalk paint. I wandered by the fall decoration stuff and actually purchased something to 'decorate' my house with. 

My next stop was a hardware store and the guy couldn't match the hinge exactly. However, he thought what I purchased would work. 

So here is my decoration stuff. I was pleased with my 'decorates' as the kids used to call them. I got them with 60% off so I didn't feel like I paid too much.

Besides, it makes me smile when I walk in the back door.

My next project is getting a smaller table in the eating area. One of those tables with fold down leaves?

So...

Onto the Elephant in the Kitchen.
The broken door.
[I was also painting an ancient table with chalk paint that's 

the thing laying on the floor]

So.
I carefully read the directions.
I carefully figured out that the predrilled holes from the other

hinges did not match the ones I had 

for

 these hinges.

So I changed the yellow thingy head from a screw driver

to a tiny

drill and made...

new holes....with

many curse words as 
I forgot what Dennis

had showed me.

 I then discovered that I had to take everything else apart to put things in the place I needed too.

So. I had to take things 
apart twice.
As I must be dyslexic
in reading directions.
I put the hinge
thingies in backwards.
Two hours later while 
using blocks to hold

things 

in place...

I had a Lazy Susan Door!

It could use some adjusting. But I am not worried about it.

IT works.

It only took a couple of hours and lots of redoes to get it this close.

I decided to just leave it. 

Close enough.

I imagine that if I was in a wood working business or carpentry [WHICH I am NOT!], I could have done this easily.

I was very pleased with my afternoon of pretending to know what I was doing.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning up gardens that had been frosted this morning. It was a killing frost so Charlie and I got right with the program and cleaned up 3 garden cart loads.

This morning I'd met my friend who had the wedding this past Saturday at her farm. We looked at the photos I had and discussed future photo wedding plans. 

We had coffee. We had conversation. We had friendship. I must say that I have a couple of best ever friends in both Kristi and Olive. We communicate, we understand, we are empathetic, we are friends. And we take time for each other.

While I was in LaCrosse, I did take a hike in the city's park called Myric Park. I'll probably talk about it in my next post. I haven't been to Myric Park in over 10 years. I got to meet a nature photographer and a young son and dad on electric bikes.

But hey!

I got unhinged or re-hinged!

Wicked Cool Infrared

 When foggy mornings arrive, I run out with my Infrared camera and a couple of different lens filters to capture some fun colors.

Morning fog can be dreary, but Infrared Chrome adds a new dimension to the scene. It picks up anything with chlorophyll and makes it a gorgeous hue of reds. Dead trees and bark show up as black and anything to do with sky-water, shows up in a blue hue.

I was in the valley fog of the Kickapoo River. Fog is more common here along the river most mornings.

The sun was just beginning to break through the fog in this shot of a pine stand.

I like to use Infrared in challenging situations. The 665nm filter is a light spectrum that we cannot see either. It is really best used in full blazing sunlight. But I enjoy trying to push the limits with seeing what light does to it during a sunrise. The same principle works here. Foliage is highlighted.

The photo below was taken at sunrise when the sun first touched this bush

Below is another shot with the 665nm on a foggy morning. The filter sees through the haze a bit better than a regular camera. I was intrigued by the spider web on the neighbor's rye grass. [This went along with my study of grasses!]

In bright sunlight, the 665nm really performs!

This is a tree in my 'back' yard in full sunlight on a very hot and humid day.
Technically I should have edited the clouds into a white color, however the humidity picked up the blue hue.

With the spectrum filters, one has to edit the photos to get this effect. The IRChrome and the pure 850nm black and white filter barely need any touching up. 

This is how that same tree looked 'in camera'.

To get wild colors with other hues, one has to do a Channel Swap of colors. Depending on the programs used that can vary the results.

This next simple swap was done with a different editing program that obviously reads the camera colors differently. 

This program picked up the clouds with a slightly less blue hue. I could easily turn the leaves into a cotton candy pink. But I was also pleased with this.

It just depends on which one pleases your inner artist more as to which one you keep and which one you toss out.

Last? Two sunrises in different light spectrums.

Normal....

IR Chrome:

The History of IR Chrome and the use of IR Photography in WWII~~~~~~

Excerpt from Kolari Vision:

When WWII began, militaries deployed the use of infrared aerial photography as they did in WWI. The unique ability of IR to differentiate false greenery used for camouflage from real, live foliage (known as the “Wood Effect”) was a powerful asset, and many used it in hopes of gaining every advantage possible on the battlefield. However, a new paint that could mimic the Wood Effect was developed to render this photographic method useless.

A new tactic needed to be born to get back the upper hand. Kodak and the US Military worked together to create a false color infrared film — Aerochrome III Infrared 1443. With this new color IR film, the chlorophyll in plants would photograph as hot pink instead of a snowy white, making camouflage detection possible again without the Wood Effect paint getting in the way.

Projects

I have had this idea for a while. This week I stood with Miss Aurora and we talked about everything under the sun and she mentioned the Wonderland book of portraits that are extremely exotic and beautiful. It is done with models and special lighting effects.

In my head I had a vision of doing some self portraits in woodland settings. I'd done some of that last year when I was out and about with Charlie and Bear.

One of my favorites from last year was sledding with a Teddy Bear and Charlie running alongside us. I used a timer on my pointy shooty camera and set it to 7 shots hoping that one shot would deliver the following.

These are not the same type of photos that the artist Kristy Mitchel has done. But the discussion did rekindle some old ideas I had about self portraits.

I went up into my Magic Room [really, it is a spare bedroom where my paints, crafts, and toys are stored] and looked down at the outfit I'd picked out over a year ago. My intentions were to 'dress' up and take a self portrait in the woods. You know a dreamy shot where I looked beautiful and exotic.

Pfft. 
I should know better.
Most people who call themselves a photographer absolutely hate getting in front of the lens. I didn't like it as a kid and liked it less as my face aged. 

What I think I look like in front of a camera...or wished I did:

What I generally look like [in the winter]:

How I feel before coffee in the morning:

And here are two versions I did this morning while having coffee on a knoll overlooking the neighbor's meadow with Bear.
I like the B&W version much better.

I'm not very good at this and it took quite a bit of running back and forth with the timer set. I could use an app on the smarty phone to do it, but I always end up with the damn phone in my hand.

However, this is more me. I'm not gorgeous and dreamy looking. I have a face that has been beat up by the weather and sun. It has amazing wrinkles in it. If I were a man I'd have a gnarly weathered face. 

But see, I am going to be okay with that because really. No amount of makeup will make me look young and dreamy.

So what will my project be? Oh it will change constantly. But I am going to put on the gypsy crazy lady outfit and play dress up. Well, why not? I have to entertain myself.

I won't even try to do those incredible artistic shots. Those were someone else's vision. I want one of my own.

I'm going to work on the Bear and I stuff too. I really like doing things with Bear.

So...

off I go

to do my own thing.

You never know what I will come up with.

Just thinking

Just thinking.

Yep

I shouldn't do that right? I mean come on. It might cause a brain short [brain fart] or some such thing.
I was daydreaming about things I'd like to do if I ever get the time for it. I was told that my life is a piece of cake by some who thought that my 'retirement' from the work force was a road to Easy Peasy. 

Ahhh...she said, "Nice to not have to work any more right? You just do what you want!" Apparently CareGiving was never in her vocabulary.

My retirement was supposed to be filled with long days in the saddle exploring places. Or hiking exotic trails that would require me to spend two or three days in the wilderness. Another day dream was to toss Charlie [or Morris at one time] into my car and drive off to explore waterfalls and state parks. 

Though Travels with Charlie would make a better title for a good read, Travels with Morris would have worked too.

In my Day Dream I have my camera and Time.
Time. 

Time to explore. Time to sit on a log and inspect my inner thoughts. Time to spend a whole day exploring one trail and not being a slave to Time.

I could spend all day exploring light and all night exploring the stars. 

Pfft. 
My other daydream was to become a Big Hotshot Photographer! And then I realized that this wasn't a dream but a ball and chain. 

I would need THE best equipment, have lighting, have a studio and lots and lots of Stuff. Stuff!

Instead. I have a backpack. No studio. 

Some days I can even get out for a couple of hours and explore the nearby Reserve or County Parks.

I did finally save up and invest in a nice Olympus DSLR. They are super light cameras with some incredible features. Best thing? The camera doesn't mind going out in damp weather.

I have studied Fine Art Photography and wish that I were moving along in those lines. My photos seem more of a record of daily existence than of any artistic nature.  

But I would like to be Artistic. 

I have resolved that I won't find perfect but I will find everyday and real sights.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have some of those absolute perfect shots in a portfolio.
However.

I get sidetracked while walking in the woods and sit in the snow to look at the little things. Like the roots of a Buckthorn sapling that I'd pulled this fall. I thought the stark twisted black roots were stunning against the snow. 

Twisted

I wander the same scenery every day while taking Charlie for his walk. I look at the same scenes in different light and different weather. I still am floored by how it changes with the sun/rain/fog/snow/ or cold.

Morning Frost

And then I realize something. I've been documenting or photographing places that I can just walk or ride to and take a photo. And I've been doing it for years.

Below is the old Riley Farm. Note that in 2006 it had a barn! 

I don't recall what happened to it.

2006

2014

2018

2020

Sometimes I think I am on a fool's errand. After all, who cares? Who cares about the Blue Ice or the ice caves. Who cares about my ridge. Of course right now the ridge and the valleys around our house are the only places I am wandering at the moment.

But I love embracing the moment. Capturing something that catches my eye. So what if I've shot this scene before. It is never the same. It is never perfect, because we do not live in a perfect world.

The whole point for me is just to explore and 'see' interesting things.

Bittersweet in Hoar Frost

Through the Frost to the

Forest

So I'll keep practicing and trying to learn new things. Fine Art Photography and Still Life. This summer I hope to try some Astrophotography. 

Just thinkin'.

Why not? After all, I am retired and have all the time in the world [she says with a sideways smirk on her face].

Being that Naturalist

The simple definition is: One who studies Natural History.

Or...

A Naturalist is someone who studies the patterns of Nature.

Oh, well now I feel better.

I am in the 'wonder' stage right now. Our instructor had told us to go out and just sit in a spot and wait for a while. Look around, use all of your senses, and just observe.

Okay.
I'm supposed to take a notebook and write what I see and draw things that I see.
I am SO much better with a camera.

However I decided to do just that. I was going to make my daily trip to the creek anyway with Charlie.
So I found a huge rock to sit on and did some pondering.
A Naturalist is someone who studies the patterns of Nature.

Well, I have been doing that for about 20 some years while living on this place. But now I had a chance to learn much more.

I started to pick out some of the green blue stones [limestone bits] that I wanted to use to make a 'fairy house barn' with. I watched Charlie wander around close by smelling the scents of the animals who had recently come down into the creek for water.

After a bit I just thought I'd look down and see what I could see.
Tiny rocks. Nothing exciting. There was one of those bluish pebbles I could use.

But...wait!

There was a funky looking almost clear bug moving around. If I hadn't just sat still and gazed at the water between my boots I would have missed this.
I didn't know what I was looking at, so I took a photo for when I got back home and could look up aquatic creatures in one of the Handouts I'd gotten.

Then I noticed these rocks that had little piles patterns of rocks the size of sand on them.

What was holding them together?

So I pulled one off a rock and pulled it apart.

 Curious. A tiny larvae?

Some sort of living thing. Immediately I felt sort of bad that I'd opened it.

I had NO clue what it was. However I did recall seeing this sort of thing before and just ignoring it while I was seeking out other things along the creek.

Caddisfly larvae of some sort. They build stone houses around themselves and eventually emerge as a tiny fly that trout eat. Found in healthy and clean waters.

Wow. How cool was this? How many years have I walked right over these little wonders and never knew what they were?

I have to admit. I was pretty darned excited at this new discovery.

So now I was able to recognize what this was. Little houses for Caddisfly larvae on rocks that I'd walked over and glanced at. These are covered with silt.

Last but not least.
My love for rocks. I do love looking at rocks. When we were kids, Grandma used to take us Rock Hunting in a different part of Wisconsin. We'd hunt pretty rocks and often could find agates. I'm in a different geological region so I am still trying to learn what our rocks are.

I think this is a Stromatolite?
I could be all wrong about this. But now I am on a specific search for a really good example.

I think I have some rocks that have much neater fossils in them than this one in my garden but it is still under about 6 inches of ice and snow.

Well, I best get to my paper journal now and write that rather dry and factual entry.

I think I've been an informal Naturalist for a long time now.
I'm naturally curious about the woods, the creek, and the land around me. I enjoy watching the creek change over the years as well as the land itself.