Daily Shoot #ds602: Make a photo that features stripes of some sort today.

Hosta Leaves

Today's Daily Shoot assignment was to photograph stripes of some sort, and Hosta leaves immediately came to mind.  This particular Hosta in my back yard grows very large, and it's leaves are huge.  I've always liked how they blend in together, but I have rarely tried to photograph them.  Today's assignment prompted me to try again.

Here is another photograph taken at a slow shutter speed:

Abstract of Hosta leaves

. . . Rob Williams
      http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

More Photographs of the new Ottawa Convention Centre

This is really a fascinating new landmark in Ottawa's downtown.  I returned to the new Ottawa Convention Centre in the evening to photograph the building in a different light.  Here are a couple of the results:

The Ottawa Convention Centre after dusk

The Convention Centre viewed from the National Arts Centre

. . . Rob Williams
http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

Ottawa's new Convention Centre

Ottawa's downtown has a dramatic new landmark, the  Ottawa Convention Centre.  The front of the building faces the Rideau Canal, the National Arts Centre, and the Parliament Buildings, and is made of glass shaped to look like crystal.

Ottawa Convention Centre

The curves and dramatic shapes and lines of this building are quite fascinating.  I'm sure this building will be a focus for visitors to the capital throughout the summer.

Spring leaves in front of the Convention Centre

Even on a cloudy day, the building is fascinating to look at.

Reflecting the sidewalk

. . . Rob Williams
http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

Mercury in hi-res

As well as being a photographer, I am also an astronomy enthusiast.  I studied Astrophysics in university as a 3rd year Physics course, not a small task when I was a full-time Mathematics student.  I don't own a telescope, but I've spent more than enough time reading about it and wondering if I could stay up past midnight watching the stars, and still be up at dawn for landscape photographs.

Today I came across a beautiful hi-res photograph of Mercury, a fantastic composite of over 30 photographs from the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2008.  Full marks to Gordon Ugarkovic who created this photograph.  Here is his Flickr stream, and here is the link to his Mercury photograph at 500x500, from which you can take a look at the hi-res version (5000x5000).

. . . Rob Williams http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

Orchidophelia - the Ottawa Orchid Society's Show

I attended the Ottawa Orchid Society's show this weekend.  They thoughtfully invite photographers to bring their tripods on Sunday morning to photograph the show, and so I came prepared with my tripod and cable release.  Here are some of my favourite images.

Still Life with Orchids

All of these photographs were made without a flash.  The lighting was quite good this year.  It has been quite hard in the past to find a good background, but there were a number of good opportunites at this year's show.

A "Monster" Orchid

I couldn't shake the image of an alien monster when I saw this colourful orchid.

White Orchid

I love the variety of shapes and colours in the orchid family.  I have photographed a number of native orchids to this area -- Showy Ladyslipper, Yellow Ladyslipper, Pink Ladyslipper, Rose Pogonia, Grass Pink and Bog Candle, and it's fascinating to see some of their more exotic cousins.

. . . Rob Williams
http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

"Tilt Shift" photographs and photographer Tristan Greszko

I've been seeing a number of photographers using a technique that people are calling "tilt-shift", or "miniature".  Simply put, you narrow your depth-of-field dramatically to a narrow band in the photograph, putting both foreground and background strongly out of focus.  The effect makes the scene in the photograph look like a miniature model (like photographs of a model train set).

To be honest, I'm not a big fan.  Occasionally I see an interesting photograph, but most often, these photographs look more like a gimmick than a serious photograph.  I also dislike the term "tilt-shift" for this technique.  Yes, tilt-shift lenses can create this effect, but that's not why photographers use it. 

However, photographer Tristan Greszko has created a video called A Tiny Day in the Jackson Hole Backcountry, that is really fun to watch (use full-screen!).  Moreover, he has some great skiing, mountain and nature photography on his website.  It's really worth a visit.

So, maybe the gimmick works after all.

. . . Rob Williams
http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca