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I am a man who does lots of stuff... I am a father... I am a husband... I am a bicyclist... I am a guy who brews his own beer... I am a photographer.. I know a thing or two about computers...

More Macros

I’ve been in a macro mode lately.  Sometimes it feels good to look at the little patterns in life’s texture.  Look at the ground and see an organic shape or texture that no one would notice and capture it with the camera.  I’m shooting with the D70 from Nikon and my “favorite” Sigma 1:3.5-5.6 II Macro set to 80 with the macro switch flipped. I love the $5 lens (current Ebay Value).  I want to try a “real” macro lens but for now poverty tells me that this one is OK.

Across the road on the canal side of the house.  The Virginia Creeper is doing very well, it’s also quite beautiful as it changes to it’s dormant state.

Shooting some organic black and whites.

Back to some berries growing from the same twisted mess that all of these shots are coming from. Love the angular shape of the stem.

B/W again with the branches of the tree.

And a creepy worm, it’s eating the roses in front of the house so it did not have a happy ending after this was taken.

Miscellaneous berries hanging on a tree.

Back to some pretty leaves or leaf rather in the midst of being red…

Enough for today, it’s late and I doubt I’ll post again for 19 days until my return to Denver.

Macros & Botanics

I’m having a difficult time making it off the property lately.  Yet I still find things to point the ol’ camera at and push them on the few people who read this blog.  I’ll start this way… I went on a walk with Thelma yesterday out into the forbidden forest on the island.  This forest is chock full of the nastiest wild rose vines and creepy biting plants you’ll ever put yourself in the way of.  Luckily for us the beavers of the forest keep the trail well maintained once you find it.

First photo, macro shot of a woodpecker log.  This was once a mighty tree, now reduced to a home for non-interesting bugs and only a few feet high.  Shot with the D70 and the 28-80 Sigma Macro. (All shots below are super low resolution so my archaic internet can load them to the gallery)

Low Resolution Macro

An interesting perspective (to me) of a log with moss in the forest

This one was an interesting shot.  We live in the middle of nowhere but for some reason the street a few hundred meters away has some lights on it that come on occasionally.  This is our willow tree under darkness of a clear sky at night.  This was shot with my 18-135mm at 18mm for 36.7 seconds or something like that.

Back to the “favorite” Sigma lens for this one.  I was shooting at lizards on the wall and this one jumped on to the memory card.

Back to my recent love of creepy bugs…

And finally some pretty flowers to look at…

Enough for today.  It’s tuesday and we have guests coming in next week for two weeks and then I’ll be back in Denver.  I’ll post again.

Weird bug.

I seem to be on a bird and bug kick lately.  Why not?  They are plentiful here in the countryside and they tend to make themselves available for me to photograph.  I spotted this guy (or gal?) yesterday on a dandelion over by the forbidden forest on the island.  I have no idea of what it is but it sure makes nice pictures.  Anyone who actually knows what this is can leave a comment.

Photo below is a 100% crop of the original.  Shot with the Nikon D70 and my trusty 28-80mm Sigma on the macro setting.  Not bad for a cheap plastic lens.

Weird bug, Patinges France

And here is the original, slight crop and curves in PS.

Weird bug, Patinges France

Small post today, I’ve been working on some drawings that I’ll post at some point here.  But for now, the weather is beautiful, the power is out and a huge branch went through a glass door at the guest house.  I have more productive things to do.

Shootin fish in a barrel…

A few days ago the family went to the zoo/amusement park known as PAL.  PAL is about 30 minutes outside of Moulin France and for a zoo/amusement park it wasn’t too bad.  Being August and all, it meant that the entire nation of France would descend on the same place at the same time.  I knew the day would be full of walking and riding rides so I came equipped with the D70 with the 18-135mm lens, which is my best travel/snapshot set up.  I brought along the Quantary 2x converter, which does not work well with the lens but I wanted to attempt close up shots of the animals.  I have horrible eye sight and manual focus is not good for the nearly blind but I think some of the photos came out OK.  No art will be found here, just snapshots of the zoo and having fun with the family.

Momma elephant protecting her baby from the American paparazzi…

Elephants at the French Zoo

A seal having fun with the little bit of room it has.  Difficult shot, the lighting was awful, this is luck and playing with the camera.

Bored kitty cat, hanging out.  Shot with the 2x converter on the 18-135mm, good manual focus.

Portrait of an ostrich.  Also taken with the 2x converter and not as good manual focus.

Portrait of a cute goat.  The petting zoo was completly unattended by any staff, imagine that, an entire population of people who might be killed by a free roaming goat.  It could never happen in America.

Enough pictures and words for now.  Enjoy and leave long-winded comments about your love of goats.

An Ordinary Day…

Most days in our lives pass through as an ordinary day. We wake up do some stuff, eat something and then go back to sleep. Seemingly pointless…unless you have a blog to tell other people about your pointless day. Does that give it a point? Could someone else be even more bored to waste braincells reading about a strangers ordinary day? Who knows…

My ordinary day begins as any other day, wake up, drink coffee, check photos on JPG Magazine and begin the day.

Look in the mirror to see the broken blood vessel in my eye.

Broken blood vessel in my eye

No changes, so I decide to go for a bike ride in the forests surrounding our region. It’s amazing, we’ve lived here in central France for almost 3 years and I’m just now going out on these old forest/logging roads to see if I can get lost. Had a great ride, no photos though, the rain has been coming down and I had no idea how the trail conditions would be so better safe than sorry. Here are some after ride shots.

Glad I threw some big tires on the Orbea for these roads, most of them are butter smooth but the mud, oh the mud is like cement, and sticks to the bike and body worse.

The ride was only 10 miles today but I did get lost, bled and had to walk through 2ft deep mud for quite some time. Not epic, but certainly good times on an ordinary day.

Back at the ranch we’re cleaning up the borders that have been overrun by nasty vines and scraggly bushes, we worked on the front border outside the mill house today.

Where to begin??? Input from the whole family is necessary.

Michelle hard at work while play with the Nikon.

The border is still a work in progress, I may or may not post some finished pictures when it’s done. We worked until about 6:00 pm or so and had our obligitory soak in the hot tub. Michelle made an amazing Quatre Saison pizza for dinner and we all went to bed content that another day had come and gone.

Until the phone started ringing. Michelle had been in contact with the family in Denver all afternoon, Laura had gone into labor and baby Bianca would be born today.

Welcome to the world baby girl!

Congratulations to Laura and Aurturo for another perfect child on this planet! We send our love and wish we were there with you now!

The ordinary day had turned extraordinary, the family has gotten larger and happier!

As a new day starts, we have no idea what it will bring (though I have images of plumbing and painting) I’m sure that something will happen to make this day memorable. Enough of this post, I’ll be back with something else some other time.

Bugs…

Sometimes some very interesting photos are right in front of us.  Sometimes we never pay any attention.  We are enjoying our August break by spending time as a family and I am taking certain care to pay attention to the little things in life that make it great.

I’ve been shooting with my trusty, often dusty Nikon D70 and the amazingly clear (for a cheap plastic lens) Sigma 28-80 3.5-4.6 kit lens that came with my Nikon N75 so many years ago.  I have my eye on the Sigma 105 2.8 Macro in the near future for bugs and flowers and the such but right now I’m working the composition and technical aspects of the shots.

Elusive little critters that they are, I’ve tried to capture one of these quick moving bugs in mid-flight.  Hummingbird moth in the lavender outside the mill house.

Hairy Moth Patinges, France August 2008

Another moth photo, this one was either really old or really young.  It could not fly very well even when I transported it from the house to the terrace for further examination.  He was quick to use his wings to get away after his photo shoot however.

Hairy Moth Patinges, France August 2008

Hello grashopper…

French grasshopper in the butterfly garden.  Patinges, France August 2008

A couple of shots of what I believe to be a freaky wasp.  The first is with his head in focus with good details on the antennae. Depth of field on this shot proved to be quite difficult for me.  I wanted the bug to fill the frame and hold focus on the entire critter.  Working with the shallow depth of field in macros can certainly make for some happy mistakes, or not so happy trying to do what you want to do.

Wasp on a rose

Wings and tail in focus.

Wasp on a rose number 2

Action shot of a butterfly in the garden.  Shot with my Nikon 80-200 2.8 ED This shot was all about luck, the focus is no where near what I would have liked but the framing and bokeh of the lights behind turned out pretty cool, I think.

Butterfly mid-flight Patinges, France July 2008

I have a bunch more of these photos but with the dial up internet, they won’t be seen until winter and I get back to my home in Colorado.  We are heading on a couple of trips this month so I’ll have more travel photography to put up after we get home.  I still have 800 or so shots from Provence in June to look through so it may be a while before any of the new ones make it to the web.  Have fun and leave comments for me…

Portraits of Fast Men…Tour De France 2008

Saturday July 26th my tour group along with our guide Darren and myself spent the day watching the Tour de France time trial in Saint Amand Montrond France.

Shooting fast moving sporting events has always eluded me and my photography skills. The time trial is an excellent chance to photograph these elite athletes one at a time. The speed is higher but with the riders singled out they provide excellent portrait opportunities.

All shots are with my beloved Nikon D70 and Nikon 80-200 ED 2.8 lens at various manual and automatic settings.

Below are a few of the riders and what I beleive to be fairly good photos of them…

One of the most aggressive and prolific riders of the tour. Jens Voigt

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

Bernard Kohl beginning his sprint from the last corner of the course.

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

Either Andy Schleck catching Kim Kirchen(sp?) or vice versa???

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

Carlos Sastre in his yellow jersey keeping ride!

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

The man, the myth and the legend…Eric Zabel

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

George Hincapie looking at the camera during his ride.

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

Top American GC hope Christian Vande Velde smiling for his portrait in the final straight.

Tour de France Stage 20 Time Trial Saint Amand Montrond France

All for now, I’ll be posting a few pictures from Paris in the next few days but I still have some interesting portraits of these amazing cyclists in my gallery