Scott Fillmer » nature

Backyard Photo Walk with a 35mm Lens and Some Bokeh :: Photos

Scott Fillmer — Sun, 08 May 2011 19:43:17 +0000

I love doing the back yard photo walk, mainly because you really don’t have to go anywhere to shoot. Every time you go out in your yard you will be surprised at how many new things there are to shoot each time you try it. It doesn’t seem that way at first, especially since you look at the same setting every day, but if you look hard, everything changes as the seasons move on, and there is always something new to shoot. Yesterday I went to test out this Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX and this is what I came back with. Years ago when I was shooting Nikon’s FX (Full Frame sensor) I loved to shoot specifically at 50mm using a fast 50mm lens. Over the last few years I have been shooting with a crop sensor (or DX), which makes my 35mm lens a 52mm. All that to say this is about the same as something like this but with a different lens.

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone.

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Dagger Kayaks on the Apostle Islands and Columbia River

Scott Fillmer — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:54:21 +0000

My wife and I in days past were quite active paddlers. We spent about 5 or so years kayaking all around the country in between conventions (our work), and because we were always traveling we were able to kayak in some really neat places. Just to name a few, we went out to the caves in Lake Superior near the Apostle Islands, the slot canyons at Lake Powell in Arizona, coastal surf in the North Carolina Outer Banks, rivers and lakes from Ohio to New York, and out to the great Columbia river in Oregon. Only problem, for me, was I never did like my particular kayak (the Dagger Cortez 16.5), for various reasons, but I never could get comfortable on a long paddle.

Since then we have tried to find different outdoor activities that we could both enjoy together, but never really found anything we both equally liked (other than sailing, which we might do again some day), so we decided to go back to kayaking, but with shorter, lighter, smaller, less expensive, kayaks we can just throw in the back of the truck and take to the nearest body of water (like Chewacla which is only a few miles away). Anyway, below are some of our previous paddling trips, wish we had time to go back to some of these great places.

These below were all shot with film so they are a little grainy, HDR high res images are in order soon.

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Waterfall on Society Hill Road in Lee County

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:09:33 +0000

A little local flavor for Friday. I drive by this waterfall all the time and have never in all my years of looking at it stopped to take a photo. There are a few small waterfalls in Lee County and this is one of them, privately owned of course, but still quite beautiful and visible from the road. I was trying to work on a little HDR with the Nikon D90 but this didn’t turn out how I was hoping it would so I offer up this single shot image.

I am still testing the HDR on the iPhone but so far the results have been fantastic. I just love the HDR look but haven’t really been able to find a result I like myself, so I will just continue to experiment. Now that HDR is available on the iOS 4.1 I am going to at least try to get a decent HDR image with my iPhone at the Clemson game in about 10 days, especially since technically speaking you aren’t allowed to take in your DSLR, even though I was able to take it in at the Arkansas State game.

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Fall is Fire on the Mountain with Yellow Aspen Leaves

Scott Fillmer — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:48:51 +0000

Ok, well maybe not here in Auburn, but right now, the Aspen groves of the Rockies are ablaze with color. After flipping back over some fall photos of the last few years I came across this one, taken at this exact time of year, but at the 11,000 foot range in the Rockies. You can’t see the glorious fall colors that surround these tall pines from the photo, but at the time, it was about 40*F outside and the entire surrounding area was full of yellow aspen trees, like the one shown below. Fall has to be one of my favorite times of year, almost as much color in the fall (if you look closely) as there is in Spring.

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Monday Morning Photos of a Sunrise Surprise

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:56:24 +0000

This morning just when I opened my eyes this is what I saw above. My face just happens to face east right out a window, and this morning these low clouds turned into a beautiful sunrise. The colors fade so quickly but the brilliance produced in a matter of five minutes is just amazing. As I write this there are virtually no colors in the sky and the sun has retreated behind the thick clouds but what a great surprise to wake up and see the colors of a sunrise.

I was only able to take a few shots and by the time I got over to the pond (last photo) the colors were already just about gone, (time sequence of the shots was about 2-3 minutes). You can click on each photo to see a larger image, hope you enjoy them as much as I did when I ran out in the grass in my bare feet.

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How To Make a Milk Carton Flash Diffuser Video

Scott Fillmer — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:18:08 +0000

This past weekend Deb and I went to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain Georgia to go for a bike ride and do a little photo and video shooting at the Butterfly Day Center (see my Callaway Gardens Butterflies // Friday Feet). Generally when you are shooting butterflies in an enclosed area you will need some type of flash, and to get a nice even smooth light across your subject, you need to diffuse the light source. It is all in how you want the end result to turn out, you can shoot with a more harsh light (no diffuser) and get a nice solid black background with a brightly lit subject, or use a diffuser for a little softer look.

You can buy several very expensive diffusers and there are some very good ones on the market, but if you are looking for a cheap and quick fix when you don’t have any diffuser, or any money to buy one, try a milk carton. They are cheap, and quite effective, and can you make one in about 5 minutes. I started cutting up this milk carton on Friday and realized some video would be a good idea.

How to Make a Milk Carton Flash Diffuser from Scott Fillmer on Vimeo.

The tools you will need are a semi-transparent milk carton (not a white one), a razor blade, some tape, and that’s about it. The equipment I used in this photo shoot was a Nikon D90 and a Nikon SB-800 flash (borrowed from Jak Blount) a flash braket and flash extender cable. The video is about 4 minutes long and includes some images from the shoot as well. Hope you enjoy.

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Another Beautiful and Colorful Fall Day in Alabama

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:13:11 +0000

What a difference just a few days makes in the fall. This is what our tree (and swing) looked like this afternoon. Compare that to this Fall Has Finally Arrived in Alabama, and My Swing Loves It, taken just a few days ago.

It was a totally different time of day of course, but the colors have changed dramatically, and many of the leaves have started to fall off the trees. I don’t remember this tree turning colors like this last year but as the years click off each fall probably looks more colorful to me. How were your fall colors this year?

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How To Do a Photo Walk in the Backyard with Creativity

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:04:32 +0000

Have you ever heard of a photo walk? A photo walk is very simple. Usually a group, consisting of a walk leader (usually an advanced or pro photographer) and those interested in participating in the photo walk. You choose a location that can be walked in a certain time frame and then you shoot what you come across and interests you photographically in the walk. An example of the results can be seen at the DPS Las Vegas photo walk which took place during the BlogWorldExpo in September.

They can take place anywhere you want to have a few photographers get together and pound the pavement (or dirt) to get those creative minds moving. For a photo walk tutorial or more information on how they are generally done, see 10 Tips For A Great Photowalk. This basically is what I did for 2 years at UAB while I was studing photography. We would just go out and shoot at a predetermined location and all look at the results the following class.

There are a few differences but it now has a fancy name, and we have things like blogs that can be used for show-and-tell. Whatever you want to call it, it is always a good learning process and helps open your eyes to what interesting photographic elements are around us all the time.

My Own Photo Walk in the Backyard

With all that said, you can always do a photowalk in your own backyard. I have done this for many many years and it doesn’t matter if you live in a high rise in NYC or on a farm in Alabama. There is always something you can call your backyard, even if it is the MARTA station outside your house or office in Atlanta (or MTA station if you are in NYC).

I try to get in a little exercise each day, so I usually walk in my backyard but now that the sun is setting around 4:30pm each day, I have to get out there a little earlier to be able to see where I am going. Yesterday I decided to take my camera bag with me and do a fast photo walk before the sun went down. I really only had time for two different shots.

First I came across this swarm of gnats flying through the setting sun. Have any of your photographer out there tried to get a acceptable shot of a swarm of gnats? Wasn’t as easy I had initially thought, but the second shot above was the result. This was shot hand held in manual everything. At least the wash of sun gave me some good color on the fall leaves in the background.

Next I came across this feather that was stuck in the barbed wire fence that runs along the length of our property. Probably something I walked by every day and just never noticed. One of my most favorite types of photography is marco photography (or closeup), so I took out my macro lens and shot the first image above as the sun had set. The sun was all but gone at this point so depth of field was interesting to preview, but it was an image I walked by every day and never noticed until I did the photo walk.

By the way, for those writers or painters out there it works the same way. Just take your canvas or journal and get out of your office or normal environment and see how creative you can be by changing your surroundings.

Any time you think there is nothing to shoot, just try taking a photo walk in your backyard. You might be surprised by the results. Anyone else tried this?

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Hand Feeding a Ruby Throat Hummingbird :: Photos

Scott Fillmer — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:08:55 +0000

Did I mention we have some crazy, very aggressive eating Ruby Throat Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) here at the house? These little guys are not in the least bit shy, and will act more like a hungry dog if you let their food run dry. These images were taken as Deborah was trying to put their food back on the window. A family of about 10 Ruby Throat Hummingbirds live in our yard, I think there are probably 10 more or so that live in the close surrounding area, and when you go out to change their food, they dive bomb you.

This female Ruby Throat Hummingbird finally sat down for a meal, and stayed a while. Usually she is fighting with the males for a seat, and this time, she decided to be bold and take a seat to eat with Deborah. The males didn’t seems to interested in chasing her off, but not happy she was the only one eating. She sat, alone, on this feeder while Deborah held it in her hand for about five minutes without getting up (all while flock of other hummingbirds buzzed around her head trying to figure out how to also take a seat at the table). I have found over time, birds will get to know you, and trust you. I have also had small wild birds eat out of my hand like the common gray finch, but this was the first time with a hummingbird.

I did upload a few more images of this shoot in the nature > small small creatures gallery. One in particular is a wider angle shot that shows my wife and her holding the feeder, not just her hand. We have had hummingbirds at this house since we moved in and each year they come back to the same window letting us know they have arrived. They seem to have a great memory (even from year to year) and will return to the same location, feeder or no feeder.

Do you have any crazy hummingbirds at your house? The season is almost over for them here in Alabama and soon they will be off to their winter home in Mexico, Central and South America and the West Indies. If you want to see them next Spring, just put out a feeder and they will find it.

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Colorado Columbine Flower in Bloom, Always Beautiful

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:57:16 +0000

There are a few wildflowers that really capture a state, and the top two that come to mind are the Texas Bluebonnets and the Colorado Columbine. The Colorado Columbine is actually native to Canada but has really become a symbol of Colorado since it was adopted as the official state flower on April 4, 1899 by an act of the General Assembly.

The Colorado Columbine Flower in Bloom

This flower has so many different faces and can be photographed in so many different poses that one shot does not do this flower justice. Below is the classic head on shot as I like to call it. When trying to shoot closeup images of flowers it is great if you can get the green leaves in the background as this will make the flower pop off the page. I managed to get a little green in the bottom right corner but would have loved that all the way around the image.

What are your favorite wildflowers of the Spring and Summer months?