Desert Hike - Umtanum

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 200mm, 1/1000 at f4

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Pygmy Short Horned Lizard 

 Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, 189mm, 1/800 at f4
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Image: 5D mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L

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In a sea of flowers, which one do you photograph ?

Umtanum Creek Canyon

Ross

Images In Light

Subject Isolation

Image: 5D Mk II, 300f2.8 IS L, EF 25 extension tube, f2.8, 1/80 sec, iso 400

Image: 5D Mk II, 300f2.8 IS L, EF 1.4x II TC, f5.6, 1/60 sec, iso 200

Isolating a subject is a matter of using the appropriate aperture , in the top image I used f2.8 to isolate the single purple flower so it would stand out even more from the blue ones, in the lower image I used f5.6 to try and maintain the entire flower in focus, it helps a lot to not have a busy background so the bokeh is as pleasing as possible and this helps with the isolation, extenders and extension tubes come in useful to get in tighter with your lens and a wider aperture lens is better for isolating your subject, this can be used for taking people portraits also.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Subtle Light

Cannon Beach, Or. 5D Mk II

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Artist's Point, Mt Baker, Wa. 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 L IS

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Subtle light can produce some beautiful and dramatic images, one of the benefits of staying around after the sun sets and the tourists have left. Being there for it is usually the hard part about photography, being that I have a day job I must attend, I don't get to see enough of it.

I had a recent conversation on this subject with some fellow photographers, most understand how important a role good light plays in getting an image that is aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes it can be indoor lighting, sometimes that light right before or after a storm.

Tulips and Snow Geese

Image: 5D MkII,300 f2.8, EF 1.4x II TC , 1/3200 sec @ f4, iso 100.
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Image: 5D MkII,300 f2.8, 1/2000 @ f 2.8, iso 100
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Image: 5D MkII,300 f2.8, EF 1.4x II TC, 1/2500 sec @ f4, iso 100.
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What do Geese and Tulips have in common ? at this time of year we have the Skagit Valley tulip festival and it coincides with the annual migration of the Snow Geese, they stop off to rest and fatten up on their way to the arctic circle to breed. This makes for great photographic opportunities, if you can't get one your bound to get the other. One other migratory bird of note in the NW are the Sandhill crane common to Eastern Washington during their migration.

Ross Murphy Images In Light