Fly Away!

Fly Away!

To end the week is this photograph of one of the statues at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. This was taken late afternoon when the light was starting to turn really nice. It filtered through the trees and illuminated this statue with a nice golden glow.

Have a good weekend.

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During Class

Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens

This was one of the images I took during the afternoon class session. We were supposed to be practicing with our depth of field (DoF), i.e. the amount of the photograph that appears in focus. For this particular picture, the idea was to get as much of if in focus from foreground to background. I'm happy with it, plus it helped to have a good, interesting sky that didn't blow out to all white.

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Strutting Around

Courting Pose

Finally, today we have the male lizard strutting his stuff for his lady. Isn't he a handsome little devil? I'm quite pleased with how all of these photographs of these lizards turned out. A few things about them that could be better, but some of those were due to the location in the conservatory and the lizard's position which didn't lend itself to trying different angles. There was basically only one angle available to see him, so I was kind of stuck with some of the background that I don't like. All-in-all though, I like them.

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And the Suitor

Lizard

This is the male lizard that was trying to court the female in yesterday's photograph. He was moving around on that big leaf trying to get a good view of the female and get a position where she had a good view him. Periodically, he would buff out his neck sack while "singing" to her. It was quite a little show he was putting on for her, although it did seem like he would look at me sometimes wanting some privacy.

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The Lady ...

Playing Coy

I was back out at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens this weekend for a couple of photography classes. The classes were taught by Charlotte, NC based wildlife photographer Dave Kelly. The morning class was on metering light for proper exposure, while the afternoon class was about using depth of field. Both classes were well attended and I recognized several of the people from last weekend's photography show. I enjoyed both classes and look forward to taking some more of Mr. Kelly's offerings at the Gardens.

More after the jump.

This particular photograph is one of several I took of a little scene that was pointed out to me by some other visitors in the conservatory. While the class was in the conservatory practicing our morning lesson, a group of visitors got my attention and said something like, "Here's a picture for you!". Curious, I went to look and found a couple of lizards engaged in courting. This was the female lizard who was kind of hiding and playing playing coy. You can see that she is changing colors between green and brown, which I thought was kind of a neat catch. The real star of the scene was the male who we'll see tomorrow.

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Purple Beauty

Purple Orchid

Here is another orchid from last weekend's trip. Rather than use a macro lens (which I don't have) or my telephoto lens with an extension tube (to fake a macro lens) I used my ultra-wide angle and got as close as I could to the flowers. This is a different way of getting close-ups, but can be effective at times.

Have a good weekend.

Keep shooting.


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Orchids

Red Orchids

Here are a couple of red orchids I photographed in the Conservatory at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. I liked this because of the long stamen coming out of the petals as well as the red, waxy petals themselves. Very different from many of the other orchids in the Conservatory.

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Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

Yellow Flower

This past weekend I went to a small photography show near Gastonia, North Carolina. It was held at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. The show it self was called "Picture Perfect" and had a program of speakers as well as a small vendor exhibit.

More after the jump.

I also got to spend a couple of hours walking around the gardens and in particular their Conservatory. Currently, they have a nice collection of orchids in the Conservatory. I'm certain that the gardens are quite beautiful when Spring is in full bloom.

The Gardens also has a series of photography workshops / classes in association with a Charlotte, North Carolina professional photographer. I've signed up for the two classes that are being held this next Saturday. So I hope you like seeing photographs from here as there were be quite a few more over the next week or two.

I don't know what the flower in this photograph is called. Someone told me it was a "Shrimp Plant/Flower", but I don't know conclusively. I just thought it was pretty and would make a good subject.

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