Visit my print gallery >>

A few weeks ago the family and I took a short trip up to Randy’s in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Its a local nursery that carries all kinds of tropical plants and wildlife. They normally stay open only during the hot months – so check them out while you can!

They’ve also got this great butterfly house, which they do allow you to take photographs in. I would be kind to the insects though and suggest you not use flash while in the building. Its got some great diffused light from the cover they keep over the structure.

I enjoyed browsing around the nursery looking at all the exotic plants and aquatic life they had to see. Its a great trip to make if you live in the area.

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Show as slideshow

[View with PicLens]

Ive also got a few more images that are available in my gallery.

This past weekend we took a short trip to the Georgia Botanical Gardens, located in Athens, Georgia. It was a pleasant April day – cool, wind blowing  – relaxing.

We wound our way through I’d say three quarters of the paved trails of the gardens, spending around 2-3 hours doing this. Going in the spring is a great time to see all of the blooming foliage. There are also an additional five miles of more rugged trails that I have yet to check out.

The gardens are broken in several themes including:

1.   Heritage Garden
2.   International Garden
3.   Shade Garden
4.   Native Flora Garden
5.   Flower Garden
6.   Middle Oconee River

Heritage Garden info:

“The Heritage Garden contains plants of historic and socioeconomic interest to Georgia. Included in this garden are ornamentals such as heirloom annuals and perennials and antique roses; fruit crops such as apples, pears, and peaches; row crops such as cotton, tobacco, and peanuts; and a selection of plants native to Georgia.” -  Georgia Bot. website

International Garden info:

“…International Garden pays homage to three plant hunters whose work has had significant influence in the American South—the Bartrams, father and son (who named Franklinia in honor of Benjamin Franklin) and Ernest Henry “Chinese” Wilson whose Asian introductions have proven well adapted to the Southeast.” - Georgia Bot. website

Shade Garden info:

“Prominent architectural features of the Shade Garden are the wisteria covered arbor situated on the Azalea District Plaza and the Mathis Plaza with pool and sculpture, La Grazia Dello Stelo (The Graceful Stem) by Athens sculptor John Kehoe. The Mathis Plaza honors the first president of the Friends of the Garden, William Mathis. The Shade Garden is most colorful in spring when the dogwoods and azaleas are in flower but is interesting year-round.” – Georgia Bot. website

Native Flora Garden info:

“Many of the species found here are woodland species, some rare, threatened or endangered. Other rare, threatened, and endangered species can be found in the Bog Garden and Threatened and Endangered Plants section of the International Garden.”  – Georgia Bot. website

Flower Garden info:

“The Herb Garden contains collections of herbs used for culinary, dye, fragrance, and ceremonial purposes; medicinal herbs are displayed in the Physic Garden reminiscent of a 17th century knot garden. These two gardens represent the Middle Ages.” - Georgia Bot. website

There is also a tropical conservatory that you might want to check out as well. Which, I’ve dropped in some details below.

“The Visitor Center/Conservatory features a permanent collection showcasing these diverse crops. Examples include mahogany and bamboo used for furnishings; palms that provide timber, food, fiber, soap, oil, and fuel; and tropical spices used to flavor and preserve our food. Cinnamon, allspice, turmeric, cardamom, ginger, and pepper have been valued for thousands of years and continue to be used worldwide.” – Georgia Bot. website

Here are a selection of snapshots from the gardens to give you an idea of whats there.

Show as slideshow

[View with PicLens]

12►

This week I will be reviewing the Promaster Spectrum 7 MC 28mm 1:2.8 lens.  This particular lens is a Pentax k-mount, so you will need to either be using an adapter for your body or using a Pentax body.

The Promaster 28mm is both a wide-angle lens and a macro for some close-up photography. I’ve been using it for landscape photography, botanical and prop work.

Kenji Uegaki

This Promaster lens build was pretty light-weight, lacking  the solid metal feel of some older m42 lenses like the Hanimex I reviewed recently. There was a fair amount of plastic in the body, which made me feel a little paranoid sometimes when using it.

More lens reviews

• Lens review: Promaster Spectrum 7 MC 28mm f2.8
• Lens review - SMC Pentax-M Asahi 50mm 2.8 1:2
• Review of Hanimex 135mm F2.8 m42 mounted lens.

What really makes this lens shine though was the quality of its macro images. The bokeh was smooth and detail sharp and clear. Like I said earlier, it really shines in close in work. I also recently used it in a series of photographs of espresso cups. The shots taken with the Promaster actually turned out better than the tripod-mounted shots I was taking with my Asahi lens.

As far as landscape photography, it does an adequate job. Its nothing amazing but, if you need a wider lens and don’t like using zooms, this lens will do the job. Its really great for this when you consider the price.

Because the Promaster seems to be a mish-mash of various lens manufactures the quality can vary widely. But, the price of buying one of these used off of a site like eBay can be a really good deal.  I won the bid for this little lens for 18.00 U.S. dollars. Thats really cheap considering the versatility it offers.

cfinke

Now, there is a word of caution for this lens. You’re going to need to make a minor modification to get it to mount to your Pentax body. See, there is an extra pin that really serves no purpose on dSLR cameras. What happens is the extra pin gets stuck in the mount on modern Pentax cameras.

Instead of explaining this myself, I’m going to direct you to theaterofnoise for a detailed answer on how to fix this problem.

Here are some tips from my own experience doing this, in case it might help:

• Have plenty of light
• Mark how each part comes off or, take pictures of each step
• Have a set of jewelers screw drivers
• Tweezers
• A lot of patience

I think for the price this can be a great lens to add to your collection. It can work great for a macro lens with some nice bokeh for botanical shots or prop shots.

Some shots from gallery taken with the Promaster 28mm

Show as slideshow

[View with PicLens]

- advertisement scroll down for article -

- advertisement -

In this weeks post I wanted to share with you more creative ways to take pictures in your own backyard. This time its about long exposure.

A few days ago I decided to brave the cold weather we’ve been enjoying in the south and take some pictures. I like taking pictures in my yard, its a place I’m familiar with, never fill rushed to get through and leave and its (of course) close to home.

I’ve been very fortunate to live with a stream nearby, and I like to walk down to it to clear my thoughts or look for interesting photos. We’ve also been having a lot of rain lately which has widened the stream and increased the water flow. I walked down along the stream below some of the larger rocks and spied a great place to try.

Fading North Georgia Limited prints for sale thru March.

- scroll to the end for a video about this shoot -

I’m sure a lot of you aren’t going to have a creek or stream handy so you can also try out a local park. Here is one I visit all the time.

Because I’m photographing water, long exposure makes sense for this shot. If you don’t know what that is, you basically leave the shutter open longer which causes moving parts of the image to blur and become softer. This how you get that silky look in a lot of water-centric photographs.

Here is one picture from the shoot

Things you would like to have with you for that type of shot are:

• Tripod
• Shutter release or a camera with a timer
• Neutral density filter

Check out my latest Photobook – “Parts” – see preview >

You’re going to need the tripod to have a steady shot. This is because the shutter is going to stay open longer than you can hold the camera still. The shutter release/timer is to also help keep the camera steady. Believe it or not, just pressing the shutter release can shake the camera enough to blur the image. The last thing, the neutral density filter works a lot like a set of sunglasses for your camera. It lets you keep the shutter open longer for a more dramatic effect.

Creek at 3:00 PM

And this is an exposure around 5:00 PM. Notice there are fewer hotspots. Also, the water is more silky.

Creek at home 5:00 PM

I’d love to hear from you about your creative backyard ideas too! Leave a comment with your thoughts.

The shoot – videoblog

(link for Google Reader users)

Late one afternoon I was out in the backyard trying to find something interesting to shoot. First I went down to the little stream in the wooded area of our yard. Then attempted to capture a few photos of birds in the trees nearby.

After about 30 minutes of this I decided that I just couldn’t find anything interesting and started to head back to the house, until a few rays of light smacked me in the face. Looking up I decided to try something with a little lense flare and shadow with that bit of light.

Kinda interesting anyway, not sure if I really like the effect or not. It could make a nice “decor” print due to its lack of central focus. If you like it you can buy a print at my Imagekind gallery. So hey, if you can’t find something interesting, look for something that you wouldn’t normally consider correct composition.

Buy this print starting at $14.24 >>