# Mostly Nature Grab Bag



## Chris J. Randolph (Jul 1, 2010)

Aloha!

Saw the photography area here, and thought I'd introduce myself by way of pictures. I'm very much an amateur, but I like to get out and snap nature every now and again, plus whatever else catches my fancy.





























Anyway, hope ya like something you see here, and thanks for taking a look!


----------



## Laurie (Jan 9, 2009)

Good stuff!! Love the flowers!


----------



## farmwife99 (Nov 22, 2008)

Very nice photos.  Just shows there is beauty all around us.


----------



## Chris J. Randolph (Jul 1, 2010)

Thank you!  I really appreciate it.


----------



## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

Nice! Those are beautiful. I especially love the last one.


----------



## Chris J. Randolph (Jul 1, 2010)

Jessica Billings said:


> Nice! Those are beautiful. I especially love the last one.


I'm a total sucker for a dramatic sky. 

Thanks, Jessica. Very kind of ya to say.


----------



## Daniel Pyle (Aug 13, 2010)

I particularly like the black and whites.  Some great contrast there.


----------



## Chris J. Randolph (Jul 1, 2010)

Thank you, Daniel.


----------



## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

I like the landscape photo, with the town and the mountains in the distance. Well done!


----------



## BlueEyedMum (Nov 26, 2009)

Love them ALL!! You have a good eye!


----------



## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Believe it or not, I'm rather drawn to the horizon-skewed time exposure taken at the traffic intersection.  There's a lot going on in that photograph.  I also like that you chose to take advantage of the textures in the sheep's wool and surrounding grasses by going black-and-white.

Very enjoyable.


----------



## Chris J. Randolph (Jul 1, 2010)

Thank you so much! Making me want to grab the camera again. 



R. Doug said:


> Believe it or not, I'm rather drawn to the horizon-skewed time exposure taken at the traffic intersection. There's a lot going on in that photograph. I also like that you chose to take advantage of the textures in the sheep's wool and surrounding grasses by going black-and-white.
> 
> Very enjoyable.


The story behind the long-exposure shot is a little funny... I'd gone out to capture this sunset, and on the hike back to my car, I still had the exposure set fairly long to compensate for the low light. While walking, I decided to just take some experimental hand-held shots, and that was what came out. It turned out to be quite a bit better than any of the sunset shots.

Thanks again, folks. Really appreciate the feedback.
~C


----------



## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

A tip for sunset shots, Chris:  The sun tends to trick your light meter into underexposing the scene.  Set your EV +1; or use spot metering and meter on something of intermediate brightness, press the shutter release halfway and recompose the shot before snapping; or set exposure bracketing ±1 in addition to the two previous tricks, then pick the best shot in the bracket.


----------



## Chris J. Randolph (Jul 1, 2010)

Thanks for the tips.  I think my exposure settings were all manual at the time, but it was quite a while back, and my memory's a bit hazy.  My camera doesn't do auto-bracketing either... really need to invest in some better equipment, but I didn't want to plop down the cash until I had some more skill and experience under my belt.


----------



## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

Chris J. Randolph said:


> Aloha!
> 
> Saw the photography area here, and thought I'd introduce myself by way of pictures. I'm very much an amateur, but I like to get out and snap nature every now and again, plus whatever else catches my fancy.
> 
> Anyway, hope ya like something you see here, and thanks for taking a look!


I just noticed the dog in the upper right.

Love these photos. The first one almost looks like a painting. The single, perfect rosebud. The worm. All very nice. But it took a few looks and a couple days gap between to notice the dog... LOL.


----------



## Chris J. Randolph (Jul 1, 2010)

Thanks, T.M. Roy!  You're too kind. 

That sheepdog just looked so glum up there, I had to get a shot of him.  He ended up a little subtle in the final shot, though.


----------



## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

The earthworm was  a great choice--Something "nobody" ever photographs!


----------

