A Bloy and his Blog » Photographs

Waiting for paint to dry

Jonathan — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:20:02 +0000

Yes, it’s an exciting life I lead.

Finally got my kitchen window frames painted today.

Sunset skyline

Jonathan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:54:54 +0000

I believe this is the first time I’ve ever taken pictures of a sunset during the winter. I guess the lesson is, you’re not going to get good photos if you don’t get out there.

Footprints in the frost

Jonathan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:55:41 +0000

Taken near the shore of Lake Wingra.

Carnivorous orchid

Jonathan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:44:57 +0000

Another shot from the conservatory at Olbrich Gardens.

Testing the new lens

Jonathan — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:48:51 +0000

I’ve been interested in getting a longer lens for a while (especially to get closer to wildlife). A few days ago I bought a Promaster 70-300mm F/4-5.6 macro lens. Since normal telephoto shooting is fairly straightforward, I was anxious to test the lens’ macro capability. The conservatory at Olbrich Gardens would be the perfect spot to do that.

I’m going to like being able to get in close, like the above shot of the very young and fuzzy ficus leaves.

With macro photography, you really need to pay attention to the depth of field. Notice how the lower edge of the peace lily is nice and sharp, compared to the center of the blossom. Using manual focus can help a lot in these situations, and the Promaster lens in manual focus mode is very smooth. Fine adjustments are easy to make.

The Promaster 70-300mm lens isn’t the highest end lens on the market, but I believe it does give you decent quality for a reasonable price. A worthy addition to my camera bag.

Entombed in ice

Jonathan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:27:43 +0000

Frozen waves

Jonathan — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:05:27 +0000

A frozen Lake Monona.

A good morning

Jonathan — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:41:52 +0000

For the weekend photography challenge over at Digital Photography School, I shot my favorite morning activity. Reading the news with a cup of coffee.

Hoarfrost

Jonathan — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:42:55 +0000

I woke up this morning to find hoarfrost beautifully covering all the plant life in the neighborhood.

After a few cups of coffee, I grabbed my camera and headed over to Olbrich Park.

As I walked through the park, there were amazing scenes everywhere I turned. I took almost 200 pictures in about an hour and a half.

Sometimes, the hoarfrost was so thick, it looked like the plants had sprouted white fur.

What an incredibly gorgeous morning.

An open letter to Mother Nature

Jonathan — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:42:21 +0000

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you for all the snow over the past several weeks. It really does makes everything look beautiful. Unfortunately, I am beginning to run out of places to put it when I shovel my driveway.

Would you mind holding off on the snow for a while, say maybe until some of it melts? That would be great. Thanks.

Your friend,
Jonathan