Winter Holiday Doldrums

Well here it is after the Christmas Holidays and almost non-stop rain
for a couple of weeks and more to come. I am desperate to shoot and to
check on my various hunting grounds to see how the local critters have
faired in the soggy climate? My creative juices are all pent up from
not being able to go and do my local hunts and safaris around my
favorite gardens. Spring where art thou????
Well it is a good time to organize my equipment and to clean up the
same. It is also a good time to back-up and archive all of my recent
shoots. Also a time to clean up files and dig up other frames and see
what I can do with them, there may be some gems buried?
For me taking the camera and one or more of my Macro lens and going
forth to HUNT bugs is a major passion and I definitely feel a loss when
I am not able to get pictures of and record the activities of the myriad
critters to be found in the Macro world.
When the rain stops long enough to semi dry things out, it is amazing
that even here at the end of December you can still find such critters
as Jumping Spiders, Garden Spiders, Hover Flies and Lady Bug Beetles and
a variety of flowers blooming.;This helps to keep the creative juices going recording and documenting
the lives and habits of those critters. Eve time I am able to go on one
of my hunts I see or learn something new about the critters that I see
and capture. My cameras are truly my visual dairy of the nature that I
see and observe. So what is one to do?
Well take another look at the past shoots and see if there are images
that can be worked and presented? Shoot around the house or apartment
and for those that have pets, that can be a never-ending pursuit to
capture the antics of those that we love. I know my cat is a regular
"Ham" as when I get the camera out he actullling starts "Posing", "see
how good I am" what a character and a joy to be around and shooting him
does help to revitalize my creativity.
Well back to work archiving and creating.
Happy New Year.

Carole Blatchley
Photographer/Fine Artist
athoskat@comcast.net
carolecb@mac.com
http://www.carolebanksimages.com
http://www.athosimageworks.com
http://athosimageworks.blogspot.com//
http://urbanstreet.blogspot.com/
http://athosimageworks.com/serendipity/

Macro Pursuits Update

MACRO PURSUIT AND STUDY
Update
Even in the most developed urban environments you can, if you look, find beauty. There are beds of cultivated flowers here and there as well as many flowering weeds breaking through the brick and mortar and concrete along with the Bee's and Spiders and other Bugs. Learn to see as you move about in your daily pursuits. Open your eyes, pause and take a deep breath and the slowly look around, you will most likely see something that moves you. So for your pleasure and to stimulate and encourage you to be more observant this BLOG is presented.
I have been very busy the past months updating and refining my web sites, http://www.carolebanksimages.com, and http://www.athosimageworks.com, please stop in for a visit when you can. KISS-KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID, is most important, simple, clean and straight to the point. Do not waste the viewer's time or make if difficult to navigate to get to where you want them to go.
MACRO HUNTING of flowers and bugs is the most challenging and rewarding pursuit. Everyone can do it. The equipment is SIMPLE and readily available for all cameras.
You only need to get a set of Close-Up Lens (CUL). They usually come with a +1,+2, and a +4 Diopter screw in lens. Used singly or in combination (with the strongest first and others stacked on top) you should be able to get ¼ -3/4 and sometimes, depending on the Prime Lens you may get 1 to 1 or Life-size.
Then this in combination with the built in flash DIFFUSED you have a very useable MACRO setup to begin your foray into the MACRO world.
The next step will be to get a set of Extension Tubes (automatic) if you are using an SLR or D-SLR. This will expand your Magnification Factor to about 1.0X - 2.0X or greater in combination with the CUL's.

Now for those that have SLR's or D-SLR's the way to go if you are able afford it is the dedicated MACRO LENS. They range from 50mm up to 180mm. My particular favorite for both working distance and quality is the Sigma 150mm Macro, a really super lens and when coupled with the Canon MTE24 Macro Flash you are truly ready to delve deeply into the MACRO world up to 1X but with the addition of Extension tubes in combination with Cull's you can readily achieve at least 2X with good working distance.

And for those that want to go beyond 2X there is always the Ultimate in MACRO LENS, the Canon MPE 65 that starts at 1X and goes to 5X, a truly remarkable lens SHARP.

Your subjects are everywhere and except for the dead of Winter you will readily find subjects and objects.
Keep in mind that "Composition and balance" guidelines still work. Your goal is to produce a pleasingly crafted image to convey what you saw and visualized in your "Mind's Eye".

You will find that in order to improve your odds of obtaining images you will be involving yourself with the Natural History and Life Studies of the Flora and Fauna of your various hunting grounds. This will make you better equipped to locate and find the subjects that you are seeking. You will be better equipped then to capture the subject doing what it is supposed to be doing.
You may well find yourself collecting various Insect, Flower and Nature Guides so that you may become knowledgeable about your subjects.

This in turn makes the MACRO PURSUIT even more enjoyable.
Recent images to follow soon.

Carole Blatchley
Photographer/Fine Artist
athoskat@comcast.net
carolecb@mac.com
http://www.carolebanksimages.com
http://www.athosimageworks.com
http://athosimageworks.blogspot.com//
http://urbanstreet.blogspot.com/
http://athosimageworks.com/serendipity/