Saturday, May 26, 2012

aha moment: noun

an instant at which the solution to a problem becomes clear

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes it clicks....
This little bee had a chilly morning and he was trying to warm up on my railing so I thought since I had such a willing subject I would practice some macro shots.
I'm not good at macro....just sayin'
So I got my camera out, which was conveniently on my tripod and set it up on my balcony. Put the camera in macro mode and zoomed in.
Blurry bee, great background..... humph....
me mumbling something about bad camera for macro...then I remember my instructor Tony telling me that when in auto, my camera is trying to focus on everything at one time, this being the grass way down below and the bee and the railing way up close, one had to give and my camera was trying to focus in on the grass.

my aha moment....
I put the camera in aperture setting, as low as it would go, this case being f4.5, so it would only focus on what was up close:  then put it in macro mode, then zoomed in....and look at my grass in the background, it looks like a sheet of green paper behind the bee, this is the first time I have achieved this! woo hoo!
 ( And for a size reference, this little bee is about the size of your thumb nail. I also took about 15 pictures, playing around with my exposure setting too, and I only got one decent shot out of the bunch.)

Well, as you read this post I will be out and about with my photography friends trying to hunt, photograph the elusive white squirrel down in Brevard, and then we are heading off to the White Squirrel festival afterwards. I can't wait, this should be a fun day! And while I am there I am going to be working on my photo scavenger hunt hosted by Ashley over at Ramblings and Photos. So if you want to play along, here is your list:
  1. Beneath Your Feet
  2. Capturing Movement
  3. Texture
  4. Face Your Fears
  5. Currently

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and a few other guys made it in the view of my camera today...first off a woodchuck who is always found scooting across the yard from one patch of woods to the next:

and a picture of an American Redstart:

I love the variety of wildlife we have back here! I've heard we have deer and bear that occasionally visit but none sighted yet!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and don't forget Project Pinterest!
In the hills of North Carolina

4 comments:

...the yorkshire fox... said...

...well done Sandee these pictures are amazing and so close to that bee, incredible...Mel :)

Craftymoose Crafts said...

I never realized bees could be so...so...so Fluffy! Great shot.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Very impressive bee photo. I remember when I was taking photos using an SLR (not a DSLR). That is the type of photo you truly CAN get when you take the camera off auto.

I have such a lousy camera, there have been times I've taken up to 60 shots just to get ONE that was moderately blog worthy.

I had no idea you had so many wild animals and birds in your area. All I see here in the city is an occasional squirrel or blue jay. Nothing to photograph or write "home" about.

Have fun at the festival. But, please, please stay safe this weekend. I understand that huge subtropical storm might be headed your way. I look forward to seeing photos from today's adventures.

505whimsygirl said...

Hi Sandee,

Very cool! I still haven't played with the setting son my camera. Your day sounds perfect!!!

Right now I'm sitting in Starbucks drinking a chai latte and catching up on my favorite blogs. I brought my camera with me and will be heading out to the horse stables - I hear there's a baby...... the smoke in town is terrible due to a wildfire (no where near us) so might take some photos of that.

I accepted your Linkedin request but I must confess - I don't do ANYTHING with it....

Hugs,
Kay