Butterfly

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Photograph © Rick Sammon. All rights reserved.

I am just finishing up a new project on butterflies.

Stay tuned for info. Any guesses? :-)

For now, here is some info on this cute creature:
Precis coenia
BUCKEYE
RANGE: United States to Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas and Bermuda

Directly between the eyes of the Precis coenia is a pair of palpi that are widely thought to be used for cleaning the eyes, as they are often seen brushing across the eyes while feeding or at rest.

Camera info:
Canon 1Ds Mark II
Manual Exposure Mode
Canon 100mm Macro Lens
ISO 100
F/16.0 @ 1/60th sec.
Canon MR-14EX Ring Lite

Click here and scroll down to see a list of my gear.

Butterfly photo tip:
Add light

When adding light, a ringlight is a good choice. A ringlight fits around a lens and can provide ratio and shadowless lighting. The light from a ringlight also adds contrast to a picture, making it look sharper than a natural light photograph. I used a Canon MR-14EX ringlite on my Canon 100mm macro lens for this picture.

You could use a camera’s built-in flash, or an attached accessory flash for close-up flash pictures. If you do, you will probably get a harsh shadow in your picture – caused by directly light or because the lens or lens hood is shading the subject from the flash.

A coil cord is another option. It lets you position the flash off camera for more creative lighting than on-camera flash photography. However, harsh shadows may be undesirable.

Explore the light,
Rick

Location, Location, Location - and thank you, thank you, thank you

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Photograph © Rick Sammon. All rights reserved.

A big "thank you" goes to Springdale, Utah-based photographer David J. West.

Last night, after our farewell group slide show, David (a proud new dad) shared one of his secret spots for shooting Zion National Park with my photo workshop students.

Visit his site – and his gallery when you are in Zion.

Check my workshop page in a few months for info on my May 2011 Southwest Photo Caravan with Juan Pons - which will include shoots in Arches, Bryce and Zion - and few of our own secrets spots.

Explore the light,
Rick

P.S. Here is my original image, pre-Adobe Camera Raw. David, who also uses Photoshop, has a good line: "You can't put Mother Nature on paper." In other words, he (and I) have no problem using Photoshop to enhance our pictures.

"Who's the Dummy Now?"

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It's Day 7 of my Southwest Photo Caravan in Utah. We started out in Arches National Park and then moved to Bryce. Right now we are in Zion. All the workshop students are doing wonderful work.

On Day 1, I told everyone not to speed in the parks and along the state roads. This is good advice if you come here.

Well, all I can say is, "What a dummy!"

As we were riding down State Road 89, I spotted a dummy in a police vehicle at the beginning of a small town. Of course, this police set-up is designed to keep people from speeding. Good idea!

As we were leaving the small town, I spotted another police set up. So, because I like to have fun on my workshops, I popped out of my car for a quick fun shot. There was not a policeman in sight when this picture was taken. This is just a fun set-up shot.

Speaking of my photo caravan, some of the folks rented cars from "Rent a Wreck." Here's a shot of one of our pit stops. :-)

Actually, this is an official stop on my photo caravan. It's great for HDR and straight photography. Juan Pons and I will be stopping here on the May 2011 Digital Photo Experience (DPE) Photo Caravan. I hope you can join the fun. Contact us through DPE – where I have been posting pictures from the workshop all week.

Here's my latest shot, from Bryce today at sunrise. The canyon seemed to be aglow with the morning light.

Explore the light,
Rick



Some thoughts on criticism and bad book reviews

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My good friend/author/photographer/digital darkroom expert Rob Sheppard recently sent me this note. I thought it was well worth sharing.

Explore the light,
Rick
P.S. This picture has nothing to do with this post, except that it was in one of my books, Flying Flowers.

• • •

Hi Rick --

I am a big fan of Seth Godin and have been reading his book, Tribes (which you actually know all about). Anyway, I read his section on criticism and thought about of our experiences with reviews on Amazon.com. He says this:

(Talking about criticism and bad reviews of his books) "One bad review doesn't ruin my day because I realize what a badge of honor it is to get a bit of criticism at all. [By and large, most books are ignored.] It means that I confounded expectations -- that I didn't deliver the sequel or the simple, practical guide that some expected. It means, in fact, that I did something worth remarking on."

That is an interesting idea and a different attitude. He ends this section with a very unexpected idea:

"How can I create something that critics will criticize?"

Rob