Friday, March 27, 2015

Portraits of Plants and Rocks

This is a story of light,
specifically light inside a box,
specifically light inside a light box, which I made.
The project began a little over two weeks ago when I saw Amanda Peters’s beautiful photos of larch cones.  I asked her about them, as did others, and she then explained the process.  The light box was inexpensive and simple to build, but using it was another matter.  I had to experiment … a lot.  Most of the 366 shots from the first session ended up in the trash.

I learned a fair amount from my trials and errors.  Of course I could have consulted some of the many webpages on the subject, and I will next time.  But honestly, I enjoyed exploring on my own.
Because so much of the scene is white, a camera in Auto mode underexposes, making the subject too dark.  Fortunately last month I learned about exposure compensation.  For most of these photos I set EC to +1, or even +2, and everything in-between (three increments per step).  Yet I still had to adjust in iPhoto.  Maybe it's time to start checking photo histograms after shooting.

My light source was sunlight through a window.  But the day was only partly sunny, with clouds sailing by.  More light would have been nice.  A tripod might help, allowing photos with longer exposures to be more in focus.

But even after severe culling, I still had enough photos for a modest exhibition.  All post-processing was done in iPhoto … nothing fancy.

I’m strictly a wild plant botanist.  I've never learned the names of the house plants that I bought 24 years ago, along with a house.

This is the sagebrush that's traditionally burned in women’s sweat lodges.  It’s also called fringed sage, Artemisia frigida.

Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus) in my yard has green stems through the winter.  I spotted the buds when I was composing the photo.

One can never have enough pebbles … nor enough pebble-searching.
Never!!!

Treasures from the Lunar Crater Volcanic Field in central Nevada.

Sand ripples from tidal flats 250 million years ago; San Rafael Swell, Utah.

In 1875 Grove Karl Gilbert studied Mount Hillers in the Henry Mountains in Utah.  He called it a “laccolite” and thereby made it the type locality for structures now known as laccoliths – uplifts formed by shallow intrusion of magma.  Gilbert was one of the greatest early geologists of the American West.

10 comments:

  1. Very cool! Your light box is so simple yet perfect for highlighting single specimens. Interesting depth of focus of the different images - taken from the top or more from a side.

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    1. Thanks, Nina! I'm happy with the light box, it's fun. Just need to figure out how to best use it.

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  2. Nicely done! I prefer natural light, as well, so I try to photography indoor pictures near a window--sometimes it works pretty well. Kathleen at Kasey's Korner is a pro with indoor (and outdoor) photography, and she uses natural light, as well. I enjoy simple photos of simple (yet profound!) subjects.

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    1. Thanks, Beth, for the Comment and the tip about Kasey's Korner. She seems to pay a lot of attention to composition, and to good effect. Some neat ideas there, e.g. use of depth of field.

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  3. Nice work! Getting the lighting right is always a struggle with small subjects. For years we fought reflection when shooting Navajo silver items! Sheets, scrims, tupperware, you name it: all trying to approximate a bright cloudy day!

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    1. thanks, Richard, I'm glad to hear I wasn't struggling with something easy :-) At least I don't have to deal with reflections ... that would be tough!

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  4. I'll have to try a lightbox again. I cut my first box without leaving support for the... fabric, since I didn't have any tissue paper to hand... Yours looks good and so do the results! Love those beach pebbles :) All the rabbitbrush around here is green and growing too - amazing how it can make the place look lush ;)

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    1. Amy, I recommend Amanda's post about making one (link in my post). I followed her approach. My success with photos is limited at this point, but I'm optimistic!

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  5. Echeveria and Begonia, I think, for your houseplants. Nice pebbles.

    Have you considered going for a mid-grey background so you get illumination but not so much post-processing to do?

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  6. Thanks, Pat, for the ids :-) I have wondered if a different background would be helpful ... maybe have several different inserts on hand, even with different textures. Lots of opportunity for experimentation.

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