IMG_20140408_141056
Oct, 2014Views
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Awards
Zenith Award
Great Shot
Absolute Masterpiece
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AndZap
March 16, 2015
Thanks ViewBug for the award and the points. It's not why I do it but thanks for the recognition. This amazing bug was begging to be macro'd...
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
Firstly thanks for the kudos and the opportunity. This photo was taken the backyard of where I live in Chatswood. A suburb of Sydney on the leafy North Shore, NSW, Australia. There is a 15 year old Hibiscus bush/tree in the yard with the most beautiful display of pink and grey hued flowers (sometimes almost the size of dinner plates).Time
I love taking photos in the morning to about 11am and from 4pm to 6pm (and up to 8pm in dayliight savings time). I find this is the best time to get the best out of the natural light we have abundance of here in Australia. This particular photo was taken about about 9.30am (from memory).Lighting
I find it a challenge to make the most of natural lighting provided by the environment. So this is natural lighting essentially. You'll find me running for my phone/camera anytime there's some form of anomaly with the lighting around - and just start taking photo's of what's around.Equipment
Ok. Here's the skinny. Believe it or not it's a three year old Google Galaxy Nexus mobile phone camera! On standard settings. Again, I love the challenge of pushing the envelope on these things in natural environments and seeing what I can squeeze out of it. I keep getting ribbed that my phone is so old, but can't let it go as I'm getting so familiar with the camera and what it's capable of (in good light of course).Inspiration
I love nature and the outdoors and recently decided i wanted to get back into photography as a hobby as it's so enjoyable. As mentioned previously the tree is asking for photo's to be taken of it as it put's out the most amazing display of Hibiscus flowers. We were kind of having a friendly competition with the house mate on who could take the most detailed and well constructed photo's of this tree - with their phone camera's. To my surprise one day (as I work from home) - I noticed this shiny luminescent insect in among the flowers - as I was trying to beat my house mate with his latest shot. A glimpse was all I needed to say to myself I wanted to try and get a macro of this stunning - bug. The light was great so all I need to do was be patient and try and get in as close as possible and wait for the right focus on the viewfinder on the phone. it also took a steady hand as we know macro's are hard to keep in focus. I'm impressed myself about how much is in focus in the shot and the detail.Editing
Nil. None. I'm very familiar with graphic software - but I'm trying to achieve the best result possible in camera. This particular shot needed nothing done to it - hence why I submitted the photo.In my camera bag
Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Canon Powershot A700. As I'm enjoying photography again, I plan to modernise and get a better camera. View Bug is inspiring me to keep going and get more into photography.Feedback
Lighting, lighting, lighting - and an open attitude to photo opportunities. Don't forget to look beyond the obvious. Good lighting gets you off to a good start in helping to paint your canvas. But what I find is also important is to trust your instincts and take a moment to visualize. Take your time about what you want to see in the resulting shot. Think about and have empathy for the subject matter. Finally, having gone to design school in my formative years, I'm a big believer in the golden mean design principles. Still holds true and always will I suppose.
