A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
In this post I hope to help you see and photograph abstracts. Since this is new for me too, many of the images are from the Internet for demonstration. Abstract photography is a challenge but there are some basic tips to get you started off in the right direction.
Believe it or not, your smart phone is the easiest way to take abstracts.
You can just hold up the screen and go on a search for cool close ups, walls, floors, architecture, nature, etc.. Most abstracts are seen by looking at a scene and getting closer and closer to it until you start seeing elements such as patterns, lines, shapes, colors and textures that photographed in a certain way (good composition) can make an appealing image.
Some of the best places to go to look for abstract opportunities are recreational places for kids. It’s always colorful with lines and boldness everywhere. Malls, tourist entertainment areas, gardens, etc are all places that surround you with possibilities.
You could just go around the house and use your phone as a frame and zero in on things that make it’s own little picture. We tend to see the entirety and the big picture of life. But looking at the world only through a tiny frame, gives you an entirely different perspective. If you imagine this grid inside your frame. This is an overlay grid in your camera that will appear on your screen. It will be in your menu. Or you can just imagine it over what you are photographing.
The idea is to place the most important features in your picture on one of the lines. Better yet, on one of the intersctions of the lines. You can hold this frame up to things letting your eyes only see within that frame. Turn your frame vertically, horizonally, diagonally. The idea is to see little miniture pictures within your frame.
There are no rules, but it is helpful if it has at least one of the items listed below.
The most important thing to remember is that after you find your point of interest, adjust your view of it by turning your frame in many directions until you find a good composition.
Composition takes some time to learn and feel, but basically it can be easy using a rule of thirds overlay from your camera or just imagine it over your scene.
Composition is one of the most important elements in any art form.
As well as being visually interesting, abstract photography can create a sense of mystery, making the viewer wonder what it is and whether there’s more to it than first meets the eye. But why you would want to create an image of something that the viewer won’t be able to immediately recognize?
The main purpose of abstract photography and art is to evoke some kind of emotional response from the viewer.
The viewer can create their own story about the image, based on their own reality, experiences and feelings.
Below are some other things to look for.
Look for Lines and Curves
Line and curves are going to give your viewer something to base their new meaning on and add visual interest. Without these shapes, your eye wouldn’t travel through and across the image. Lines have other uses too, like in visual design.
Go Macro.
As we get increasingly close to some subjects, the detail that was not apparent at regular viewing distance may emerge as an abstract photograph separate from the object photographed. Fill the entire frame with the subject, eliminating unwanted backgrounds which is essential for abstract photography.
Shoot Through Another Object
Abstract photography often makes use of objects and turn them into filters. Shooting through a glass bottle, a rain splattered window, or even water might give you just the distortion or light refraction you need to create a really interesting and truly abstract image.
Seek out Texture and Patterns
Emphasizing patterns is one way to take a picture of a normal object that is composed abstractly.
Abstraction by Movement
One way to reduce information, thus creating an abstract photograph is by using motion. This may be subject motion, photographer motion, camera motion, or a combination of any of the above. The easiest way to do this is to put your settings on scene mode landscape and take a picture moving the camera up and down, twirling around, back and forth, diagonally or wiggly is low light.
Choose Strong Shapes
Look for pleasing, interesting or dynamic shapes. They will add structure to your photograph and attract the viewer’s attention. Strong geometrical shapes with straight edges and angled corners will give your photo the most powerful visual impact. For a more subtle impact, choose softer organic shapes such as pebbles and flowers. Think about how to best capture the shape in the image and what angle to shoot it from.
Use Color To Grab Attention
Color is one of the first things that attracts the attention of the viewer, especially from a distance. It also serves to hold their attention for a longer period of time. Using highly saturated or intense colors is another way of grabbing the viewers attention. Contrasting colors will create dynamic photographs.
Look For Repeating Patterns
Emphasizing patterns is a great way of creating an abstract image out of an ordinary object. Using patterns can help to draw your eye around or into the image.
Photograph Reflections
Reflections in water or other shiny surfaces provide a fantastic source of abstract scenes to photograph. The distorted effects you get from rippled water or uneven reflective surfaces create an abstract alternative reality.
Most of all, have fun with your photography. It’s a rewarding hobby.
Next week will be a new adventure.
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
My friend and I set out to do some abstract photography of the buildings and water reflections. This is a new thing for us and an exciting one. So I decided that I would share this new interest with you. I have always loved abstract photography, but it is something that you have to be focused to see and do. You have to re-program your eyes to see differently. And we were ready.
All photography works on an instinctive and subconscious level, but more-so with abstracts. When we look at these types of images we don’t necessarily have a rational response. The images are suggestive, sometimes shunning the logical and expected. They are mystifying rather than explanatory, unusual, quirky, idiosyncratic. Their uniqueness makes them very powerful and can engage our imagination very quickly.
Abstract photography is based on the photographers eye. We’re looking to capture something in a way that it would not usually be seen. Looking for the details, the patterns, the lines, the form, shape and colors that complete a subject and utilizing those key features to make an engaging image.
To capture an image in nature as an abstract, you don’t need any special equipment – just a camera, and the most importantly, your own imagination. What matters most is that your photograph reveals an eye-pleasing image, whether you can identify the actual subject or not. In fact it usually doesn’t have a subject. Only pleasing aspects that both calm and stimulate your mind.
There are no clear rules to abstract photography. The object of the photo may or may not be recognizable. Abstract images may contain a small portion of an object or multiple objects. An abstract will often concentrate on a limited area of a subject that reveals a shape, pattern, form, color or texture. Movement can also create abstract images, such as rushing water or the wind blowing a flower.
Beach waves at twilight. the camera was moved back and forth horizontally while the shutter was open.
In the next weeks to come I will talk about abstracts in detail. I will try to help you see. This is a rewarding type of photography because you can simply use your phone or any camera. There are no rules and once you get the hang of it, it can be come an obsession. Next week “How to look at things differently and zero in on another world.
The bow of a boat and it’s reflection.
A Life to Live
Melody Hendrix
Since people who love butterflies and would like to photograph them, are all at different skill levels, I am going to talk about two shooting methods. One for those who like to just point and shoot or use a cell phone and one for those who are advanced and like to shoot with manual controls.
First there are a few basic things that can greatly improve your butterfly pictures either way you shoot.
Take lots of pictures. When you find a butterfly, keep shooting until it flies away. This gives you the best odds of having at least one good one.
Start shooting from far away. Each step closer is a better and better shot.
Move in slowly as not to alarm the butterfly. You can crop later. Cropping is the finishing touch. There are a lot of simple software programs to use to crop, straighten, adjust exposure, sharpen and enhance. You can do this right in your camera in some models.
Getting a good sharp focus is one of the most difficult of achievements. Here are some tips to help with that:
The cameras now truly have artificial intelligence and usually do a great job. Most of the time, auto is a good choice, especially if you are doing a video clip. One thing I want to mention about videos is that no matter how good the video looks, if the camera is moving around, the video cannot be enjoyed. So be as steady as possible. Use a mono pod if you don’t have steady hands.
If you are taking still pictures, try using your macro mode (flower icon) if you can get close to a feeding butterfly on a flower. Some cameras can give you great closeups. You can even get a macro lens kit for your cell phone. They are not expensive and work pretty well.
If you are shooting a very active butterfly try using your scene mode – Action/Sports (or something similar)
Zoom in. Zooming in will help you get closer and also blur the background (shallow depth of field). It will also help the flash to be at a distance so it doesn’t wash out your subject. Zooming will also help you cut out distracting things surrounding your subject.
Use your flash. The more light the faster your shutter speed will be to stop motion. Check your shot and make sure the flash doesn’t white out your subject.
You can tape a little piece of white paper over your flash as a diffuser. This takes away the harshness of the flash and gives you soft light.
Using the flash in bright sunlight seems odd, but it helps to even out the light.
If a butterfly is in the sun and a shadow is next to it, position yourself so the shadow is behind the butterfly. Having a dark background will make the butterfly pop. Having a flower, nice greenery, distance (blurry background) or even the sky is also a nice background.
Sometimes instead of waiting for the perfect picture to just happen, you can create one.
Buy a nectar juicy potted plant (Milkweed, Penta, etc). After buying one, hose it down to remove pesticides and hydrate the plant. The more moisture, the more nectar. Find a nice background or shadow and place the plant there. The direction of the sun can help or hinder your shot.
Check out how the light looks.
It’s best to position the plant so light is coming from behind you. Have your camera on a tripod, bean bag or a secure place to set the camera. Have everything lined up and ready, and wait for your subject to land. Have a drink, a snack and some patience handy.
Here is my little secret.
Put a drop of red Gatorade on the flower. Once your subject discovers it, it should stay a while as most butterflies love it, giving you a perfect photo op. Keep shooting until it flies away.
Handholding the camera is probably the easiest way to shoot, but harder to get sharp pictures unless you have a steady hand. Just before you push the shutter button, watch the screen to detect any movement, hold your breath and gently, without moving the camera, press down on the shutter button. Try not to let the camera move downward as you press. Re-focus (press shutter button half way down) and shoot again. Keep camera as still as possible. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Butterflies are cold blooded and need the warmth of the sun to allow it’s body to move freely. It will sit and wait to not only warm up, but to dry out from the morning dew. This may be a good opportunity to check the bushes for one. They will be sleepy and sluggish. You may even get one with some dew drops.
Shoot butterflies at different angles. Shoot them at eye level or slightly below. This reveals it’s face and body. It is more personal and shows more detail of it’s eyes and personality. Or shoot straight down and wait for it to open it’s wings to see color and patterns. Shoot a wide scene showing flowers and landscape as part of the picture.
There are many butterfly conservatories around Florida. This is such a fun opportunity to get many kinds, colors and shapes of butterflies. The light inside is usually diffused and butterfly subjects are everywhere. Look online for the one nearest you.
Truly the very best pictures you will ever get is when the butterfly first emerges from it’s chrysalis and sit’s pretty, waiting for it’s wings to dry. You can have your way with them and get stunning pictures.
Advanced shooting with DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera with interchangeable lenses
Control your shutter speed: Your shutter speed are exposure settings that determines how quickly a photograph is taken. There are different ways of doing that. I prefer these camera settings that have worked out the best for me.
ISO – at least ISO 400. If your camera can handle noise well, you can use ISO 640-800. If the exposure is too bright go back to ISO 400.
Aperture – f6.3 – f8
focus – single point focus
Metering – SPOT meter is very important. This will allow you to pinpoint exposure of just the butterfly. You can even shoot into the sun with the spot meter on the butterfly. It makes a unique back lit image. Use your diffused flash to brighten it’s body, or no flash to create a silhouette image with a silver lining.
Light – Use a diffuser over the flash. Try setting your flash to high, but adjust your exposure compensation to -3. This will lessen the brightness on the butterfly and darken the background. Zooming in will also help soften the harshness of the flash. Try using a light ring. This works best with a captured butterfly. You can buy a light box. Set up your scene and put your butterflies in. This is for crazy must get a perfect shot people like me. haha
Photographing butterflies can be addictive. You must have patience and though you don’t have to have special equipment to get good butterfly pics, having the right equipment can greatly improve your pictures if you have a passion for butterflies and you are going to be taking a lot of them.
Below is an educational video I made to ID many Florida butterflies photographed in my yard and Oviedo Lucas Butterfly Conservatory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kGmXjFD4t0&index=18&list=UU3BEsOLXTq0wHMMs0rKDurg
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
1. If the caterpillar is on the skin, remove it without using your hands!Gently put tape over the exposed area, sticky side down. (Any kind of tape will do.)
2. Pull up the tape, removing the hairs or spines.
3. Repeat with fresh pieces of tape as often as needed to treat the area involved.
4. Wash the area gently with soap and water.
5. If the area itches, put on a paste of baking soda and water.
Use ice pack to reduce swelling.6. If that doesn’t help, try Zanfel Benadryl or a hydrocortisone cream.
7. If that doesn’t help, try an antihistamine cream. That shouldn’t be the first choice, as it doesn’t always help. Also, some people have skin reactions to these creams.
8. If the area is badly blistered, contact your health provider.
9. Call your health provider about a tetanus booster if your shots are not up to date.
The southern flannel moth, Megalopyge opercularis is an attractive small moth that is best-known because of its larva, the puss caterpillar, which is one of the most venomous caterpillars in the United States. The southern flannel moth (puss caterpillar) is found from New Jersey to Florida and west to Arkansas and Texas. It is common in Florida but reaches its greatest abundance in Texas from Dallas southward in the western central part of the state. Found on Oaks and citrus.
The adult buck moths have a flight period that occurs between October and November. as late as December in Florida. The adults are active during the day and are very quick fliers, and can be found flying most commonly between noon and 2:00 pm in oak forests during sunny weather
Lo Moth found on Ixora and rose. Adult moths are strictly nocturnal, flying generally only during the first few hours of the night.
Saddleback caterpillar and moth. Host plants are many plants, vegetables, flowers, citrus, maples, oaks, and blueberries.
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
Indian Moon Moth / Indian Luna Moth {Actias selen} head-on view showing feather-like antennae. Captive insect.
Moths have long, curled tongue designed for diet based on nectar, fruits and berries.
Moths are important pollinators of various plant species. They use moon, stars and geomagnetic field to navigate during the flight. Moths are important source of food for the birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and numerous invertebrates. Even people in some parts of the world consume moths as valuable source of proteins and minerals.
Some hummingbird moth larvae are large with stout bodies, and called tomato worms or horn worms. . They have five pairs of prolegs and most species have a “horn” at the posterior end. They are seldom welcomed, but adult moths are very beneficial.
Some caterpillars fall prey to the braconid wasp that lay their eggs on the moth larvae and feeds the wasp hatchlings with it’s life.
Moths primarily hide during the day and emerge at dusk or during the early morning hours. This is when I see them in the garden. Luna, Atlas and Prometheus are species of moth that do not have a mouth.
The species is also called the Oleander Moth after the Oleander plant, from which its young feed. Like most wasp moths, these moths are day fliers. It looks like a very dangerous wasp, but in fact is a harmless moth.
The caterpillars are orange or dark orange with long black hairs. The caterpillars look dangerous too, but the setae do not inflict any harm.
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
Skippers are a family, Hesperiidae, of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). “Are Skippers butterflies or a moths?”
They fly during the day like butterflies, but have some characteristics that seem to set them apart from other butterflies. Scientists have generally compromised by declaring skippers to be a third category, somewhere between butterflies and moths.
Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. Their host plants are those in the legume family, so a vegetable gardener may occasionally find these caterpillars on their green beans or peas. You will find them on Beggar ticks (Bidens). A very common and important wildflowers. Also known as Spanish needles and tickseed.
Long-tailed skipper caterpillars are “leaf-rollers” – they take shelter inside leaves by using silk to draw the leaf around them. Caterpillars make a nest out of a leaf or leaves and spend their time in the nest when they are not eating.
When they lay eggs,
they sometimes make stacks of their eggs when laying on their host plants!
Worldwide in distribution, skippers are richest in the tropics. More than 3,500 species are described, with approximately 275 in North America, many of which are found only in Arizona and Texas. Most skippers are small to medium, usually orange, brown, black, white, or gray. A few have iridescent colors.
Skippers have large eyes, short antennae (often with hooked clubs), stout bodies, and three pairs of walking legs. Their flight is often rapid, making wing movement appear blurred. Adults of most species have long probicscises and feed on floral nectar, but some also take up nutrients from bird droppings. Males have scent scales found in modified forewing patches.
Butterflies, moths, skippers; really… what is the difference?
The answer would primarily be the antennae. Butterfly antennae are thin with knobs on the tips most of the time while skippers have hooked ends instead of knobs.
The order Lepidoptera consists of approximately 265,000 species of butterflies and moths worldwide and only about 7.5% of them are butterflies. Moths are much more abundant than butterflies, but, why is it that we notice more butterflies? This is easy to answer. Many moths are nocturnal, they are active at night. We notice butterflies more often because they are usually more colorful and active during the day as they visit our flowers and gardens on a regular basis. But, there are actually more day flying moths than there are butterflies.
The colors displayed on butterfly wings can be any color imaginable. But when you think of a moth, you think browns, tans, and dull colors.There are many moths that have beautiful bright colors and butterflies that are dull brown for camouflaging.
Next week we’ll look at some strange and lovely moths you may have seen in your garden.
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
A Time to Live
Melody Hendrix
Old Things R New 