Schlagwort: Close-Up

Pelargonium inquinans

,
Chris Renk

Day 117 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

After an eventful journey to the Ötztal valley, I found the time and muse to take a photo for my photo challenge.
This Pelargonium inquinans bloomed not far from my mountain hut on the edge of a forest. I usually only know this flower as an ornamental plant on balconies or terraces.

Here you can see again how plants can adapt to their environment and survive because the winters at 1.800 meters can be frigid.

The photo was taken against the light, which framed the outline of the flowers with a soft glow.

This time I used my Nikkor 50 mm F1.4 because I didn’t have much space for the photo.

Dipsacus strigosus

,
Chris Renk

Day 115 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

Today’s photo shows a Dipsacus.
The cardoon (Dipsacus) is a plant genus in the subfamily of the cardoon family (Dipsacoideae) within the family of honeysuckle plants (Caprifoliaceae).

The approximately 20 species are widely distributed in Eurasia and North Africa.

This photo was also taken freehand with my Nikkor 70-200 mm telephoto lens.

Argynnis aglaja

,
Chris Renk

Day 107 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

After the announced rain did not come, I took the opportunity to take pictures of insects today.

My photo of the day shows a large mother-of-pearl butterfly, which had just settled on a flower of the weed to eat.

Butterflies are merely beautiful creatures, which I always enjoy watching.

Hope you enjoy it too!

Malva Moschata

,
Chris Renk

Day 102 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

The motif of today is from the area of fauna and flora.

It is the musk mallow, which was discovered in the shore area of our local lake.

With its pink colour, the Musk-Mallow clearly stood out from its dark green surroundings.

So I could not help but capture it in the picture!

As I was planning to take more wildlife shots, I had my Nikkor 70-200 F5.6 VR mounted on the camera.

I am still very enthusiastic about this lens and its sharpness and soft bokeh.

Nevertheless, the shot succeeded!

Helianthus annuus

,
Chris Renk

Day 86 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

Another day of flowers.

This time I concentrated on the common sunflower.

Sunflowers are very photosynthetic; a large plant binds the carbon dioxide present in a room of 100 cubic meters per day. So sunflowers are very useful for the climate on our planet.

The wild sunflower was spread initially from North to Central America. Archaeological findings show that the sunflower was cultivated in the Mississippi region and also in Mexico City around 2500 BC.

Historical records show that the Incas worshipped the sunflower as an image of their god.

So it seems to me, very sublime and with a considerable portion of aesthetics equipped.

I don’t think it will be the last picture of a sunflower I took for my Photo Challenge.

How about you? Have you already photographed a sunflower this year?

Have fun with your photo projects!

Silybum marianum

,
Chris Renk

Day 85 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

It’s already 85 days since I started my 365 Photo Challenge and I don’t regret it in any way.

The only thing that annoys me is that I didn’t start it earlier.

Even though it requires a high degree of self-discipline, grabbing the camera after a hard day at work to search for an adequate photo subject, to capture it in a picture and to post it afterwards.

Meanwhile, this has become routine for me, and I wouldn’t want to miss it anymore!

Now to today’s picture. This one I also took near my house and portrayed the beauty of the milk thistle.

Because of measures protecting bees and insects, there are now large fields, which were sown, especially for them with a variety of flowers and plants.

A dream for us photographers. So why wander into the distance, when paradise is just around the corner.

I took the photo against the light of the setting suns, which filigree illuminated the contours of the milk thistle and lifted it from the background.

For the photo, I used my 70-200 mm Nikkor lens again. I had my tripod at hand, but in the end, I abandoned it for better composition and shooting angle.

Have fun exploring the picture!

Leptophyes punctatissima

,
Chris Renk

Day 84 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

Since the main focus of today was on sports, I had only a little time for taking pictures.

Therefore I decided to go to a field only 400m away from my house to look for motives.

It is always fascinating how close nature is to you. You just have to open your eyes and look for it!

My first motives were poppy flowers when I noticed a movement not 20cm in front of me in the high grass.

When looking closely, I discovered this spotted grasshopper, which moved from leaf to leaf. It was not easy to get a free view of the grasshopper in the thick grass.

Happy as always, the grasshopper took a break, and I could take my time to find the optimal composition.

I made the photo with my Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VR II, which as always delivered a lovely bokeh.

For my first grasshopper a surprisingly good photo, without appearing to be too arousing!

Have fun watching the grasshopper!

Am I not cute?

,
Chris Renk

Day 77 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

Today I used the excellent weather for a trip to our local lake to see if the little swan chicks have hatched yet. I had already reported about the swan couple in several posts.

During my visit today I was pleased to find out that a total of 3 swan chicks have hatched. The little ones were already busy on their feet and were feeding.

In contrast to the swans at the Ammersee, this swan family showed no shyness towards me.

On the contrary, I seemed to belong to them somehow. So I was able to sit down nearby and watch the little chicks in peace and quiet and to take some pictures from time to time.

In the end, the little ones even started to eat the grass between my legs.

Of course, I always kept an eye on the parents, just in case of a sudden change of mood to be able to go on distance.

I hope you have fun looking at the picture!

Anisoptera

,
Chris Renk

Day 61 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

Today I photographed my first Dragonfly of the year.

I spotted this exemplar on a local fishery lake, situated in the Isar floodplain.

The floodplain provides an ideal environment for all kind of insects.

For this image, I utilized a 70-200mm f2.8 Lens. Not sure if I had the Image stabilization on at all.

Nevertheless, I must have got everything right since the photo has a decent sharp depth of field!

Again, sometimes you have to be lucky in photography!

Being lonely

,
Chris Renk

Day 48 of my 365 Photo Challenge.

The motive of the day was a poppy flower, which bloomed lonely in the middle of a field.

Its red colour makes it easy to focus the eyes of the viewer on the red flower!

For you the 3 guidelines for a good photo:

  1. know your subject
  2. draw attention to the subject
  3. simplify

In this case, the flower was the subject. I drew attention to it by following the rule of thirds and placing the poppy on one of the intersections.

Then I simplified the scene by using an open aperture to blur the background.

Besides, I applied the selective sharpness to the blossom of the poppy flower.

So go ahead and show me your implementation of the 3 guidelines!

Have fun with it!