I got the idea to shoot the flowers in the park near my house down close with a very wide lens. I thought that it might exaggerate the expanse of the flowers by pushing the background trees far into the distance.
After being harassed by a couple of irritated bees, I took a few shots. It was so sunny that it was difficult to know what I had until I got home. The area behind the flowers is mostly grass and I was trying to get down low enough to make it look like the flower go on into the distance. With an ultra-wide lens, anything very far from the camera shrinks into the background rather quickly.
Perhaps I was out a little too early to get a great shot or perhaps this just wasn’t interesting enough, so perhaps I can be forgiven for pulling the clarity slider down quite a bit do give the flowers a blurrier, more colorful look. I also removed an annoying bird.
I got down really close to some firewheels. Actually I got down to close to the minimum focus distance to see what I would think of that. Most of the flowers were spent, but I don’t think the spent ones looks so bad. Once again, I shifted the clarity down to give the in-focus flower a bit more pizazz.
I wandered down to a bug habitat, switched lenses, and found a dragonfly that was very cooperative. They usually fly away whenever I am near, but this one just stayed on his perch in the afternoon sun and let me shoot.
I wish I had watched the background a little more and got the dragonfly a bit better isolated, but I was already off into the weeds to get the sun at my back and not wanting to wade much farther in. The next one is probably a bit more isolated but I like the first one better.
These were both cropped quite a bit, but at the resolution that I post for the internet, I have plenty of data for cropping.
The hot summer days are here and today was no exception, but I have to get out and shoot something. I found a new place to hike down by a river and I am going to try to get a good photo or two down there when I can. So, hopefully you will see some nice riparian photography on my blog soon.
Thanks. Please leave a comment below.
Jason Frels 
I like the first dragonfly shot best, also. What a stunning shot. I love the flower shots, also.
I used to have the same problem with the bright sun washing out the digital display, so that I couldn’t determine the quality of the shot. But then I got a camera with an electronic viewfinder. That makes a big difference.
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Thanks,
Yeah, the electronic viewfinder does have some advantages. You can also get something called a Hoodman Loupe (I don’t know if that is a brand name) to help you see the back screen on a bright day, but I haven’t ever bothered to buy one. Maybe I’ll consider it. Another problem with the back screen or electronic viewfinder is whether or not it can show the entire range of light to dark in your photo like a good monitor can.
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Sounds like a product to look into. I doubt the viewfinder is as good as a monitor. But at least it can help you know if something was in focus, and you can check out your framing and composition.
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Well, with a 14mm lens, everything is in the frame, so there’s composition.
You’re right that an EVF makes that easier on a sunny day. I walked down to a shady area to have a look.
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I just checked out a Hoodman Loupe on Amazon. Looks like a pretty good product. Some very nice cameras don’t have an EVF, so I think this might make a nice accessory if you want to buy those kinds of cameras.
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The close up of the firewheels is great and cool shots of the dragonfly! Mike Powell, another blogger, takes a lot of dragonfly shots, I had never paid much attention to them before, but they can be pretty nice to look at. Looking forward to the river pictures! 🙂
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Thanks. I didn’t expect to hear from you for a couple of days on this.
Dragonflies do not like to be photographed. I got lucky to find a cooperative one.
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Surprise! Haha! I think I got it straightened out and won’t miss seeing your posts now. I have them coming to my email now which I thought I had set up before but they were just going to the Reader apparently.
Glad that dragonfly was nice and cooperated for you. Hope you thanked it. 🙂
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Amazing shots – really love the last one and the dragon fly! (Both shots are great)
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Thanks. I appreciate the nice comments.
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These are great, Jason. As always, they make me want to get out in nature. My little boy and I went to Lake Brownwood State Park this past weekend for a one night trip, but I only got a few decent photos.
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It is nice that they are allowing camping again. I may try to plan something soon.
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That panorama looks like what we saw there two weeks ago.
The part of the North Fork of the San Gabriel River that I try to go to at least once each year is the stretch adjacent to Tejas Camp, on County Rd. 258 east of Parmer Lane. If your picture isn’t from there, you may want to check out the place.
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That’s where I was.
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