Daylily Stamens Up Close

In our neck of the woods daylilies are just about everywhere. They are so common that I usually avoid them - that's just me. But with my new macro lens I can bring out patterns that are normally overlooked. I was able to keep these images of the stamens quite soft which makes them border on the abstract. A nice pair, I think.





Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Entering Summer

The school year is just about over, and I've gotten through my first 3 shows of the year. Peddler's Village was a fine show. The weather was great and the crowds were plentiful and friendly. My next show isn't until August, which will be in Collingswood NJ.

I'll be traveling to Colorado in a few weeks with the family. Hopefully I'll find some time to do some shooting, but our schedule is full of sightseeing and outdoor activities. Depending on the weather the wildflowers should be near their peak, so I will definitely be on the lookout for them.

I've added some newer images to my website, including the image below. It is usually a challenge to approach a flower bed full of beautiful, colorful flowers, and find the composition that will be neat, clean, and powerful. One of the tricks to making very attractive images is to reduce the clutter, either by getting closer or by using a narrow depth of field. I used both techniques here.



Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Wildflower

Recently I found some beautiful wildflowers along the Delaware-Raritan canal in NJ, between Washington Crossing and Lambertville. They were very photogenic: color, shape, simplicity, plus those "bells" hanging down. Once I identified a growth that stood out I worked the depth of field to capture the detail of this flower, while keeping the background mostly blurred. Anyone know the name of this flower?




Website: Photography by Matt Schrier

Morning Walk in Tyler Park

I decided to take a stroll early this morning through Tyler State park. There is a nice meadow that is frequented by some bluebirds as well as other bird species. The bluebirds have set up shop in some nest boxes built just for them (they have the word "bluebirds" right on them - I guess they can read!).

Although I previously had some luck getting close to one particular nest box, I was not able to today. The babies were clearly inside, looking big enough to pop out and try flying themselves. The mother (or maybe father, or maybe he was taking a day off because of Father's Day) saw me and my tripod setup and decided to shoo me away ... which she did very well. She dive-bombed me until I had no choice but to leave.

I was able to capture some birds hunting for insects in a nearby field, and also some robins (which are quite skittish when humans get too close at all). Moths were active, and some forest flowers were blooming. Here are some flowers I found bursting out:



On a side note we found a baby robin on our front lawn that apparently was either injured or fell out of its nest a little too early. It was hopping around, unable to fly but flapping its too-small wings. I initially felt there was nothing we could possibly do, but we decided to put the little guy in a box with some nesting material (grass and leaves) and put it near the parent robins that were clearly looking for it. We put the box in a bush so animals would not easily find it. I still don't think will survive, but at least it might have a better chance.