fantastico: St. Edward the Fourth

Well, I tried it again.... I attempted to get some shots from St. Edwards State Park ...for the fourth time. My previous attempts to get some pics from the park were complicated by looming darkness and crummy weather. This time, my challenge was time; I had just over an hour to spare Thursday afternoon between work (in Bothell) and a meeting (in the U-District). In my world, Kenmore is on the way to the U-District. (just like Bellevue is on the way home from Ballard). I did enjoy my little trip there, and yes, will be back... hopefully for more than an hour.

The Seminary

The first two shots are of the old seminary. It is such a neat building. I used my polarizer on the top one (awesome sky, huh?) and used my new depth-of-field skills to capture all that lovely grass in the foreground. If only they were flowers. The bottom picture is a close up of the brick near the rear entrance of the seminary... I used my new canon f1.8 50mm, canon close up filter AND a little sideways cokin action.

In the Grotto, Part I

My mission for this trip was to find the grotto. It was surprisingly easy to find! I took many pictures here, mostly messing with the white balance (hmm, shade, sunny or auto?) but also mixing up the composition a bit, too. The bottom two pictures were taken from the same spot, only adjusting my tripod up and down. I didn't use a polarizer or cokin filter for these, and kept my aperture at f22.

In the Grotto, Part II
It was a little eerie to hang out in the alcove section of the grotto. I am not sure if it was an alter or what, but it was vibey. I felt weird taking pictures there and like I was offering up my camera when I set it on the ledge to switch out filters and lenses. Oh well, guess that's where faith comes in handy, eh?

For "In the Grotto, Part II," I have three pictures taken from the same spot. The first one was my first attempt. I set up my camera, I think at f22 still, metered and pressed go. Well, you can see, the rocks in the foreground are too, too dark. I had a bright idea... use fill flash! So, the middle picture is an example of what the rocks look like with a little flash. Better, but still not quite natural. Then, I figured it out. Try a mid-range f-stop (I think it is around f14?), keep the shutter open a little longer & use my cokin filter sideways to tone down the sunlight. Sideways cokin is the new orange.

In the Grotto, Part III

And then I busted out my new lens & close up filter.

Random-ish Side note: I have a little story that makes me chuckle; when I was taking the seminary picture (the very first one on this post) some landscape workers zipped by in their trendy golf-cart-mobile and one guy said "look at that weird chic." At first, I was a bit annoyed (um, who are YOU calling weird? Weirdo.) but then I thought, "wow, if he thinks I am weird taking pics of the building I wonder what he would think of my macro shots... ha!"

So, with that funny notion in mind... here is a mossy rock. Macro, of course. Taken on the steps into the grotto, of course. On a tripod with a self-timer, of course (btw, I NEED to get a handy little remote, the 10-second timer is getting old...). And, in true Lori-dawdling style, it took me about five minutes to take this pic because I kept experimenting with different settings. Take that, weirdo landscaper guy.

Now that I am using some powerful close-up tools, I have a new appreciation for the wind. Before, if there was a nice breeze, I would take it for granted, its coolness going undetected. Now though... now I am trying to get some beautiful berry shots I am supremely aware of the wind. Their delicate branches sway so easily in the faintest of breezes, resulting in many blurry shots.

The shot below is of the trail that runs near the grotto and heads down to the lake shore. It is a fine example of my multi-tasking abilities. I managed to set up my tripod, compose a shot with a limited range (50mm grrr!) and carry on a conversation with my mom (complete with directions to Home Depot). Not bad.

Newman Roses 1, 2, & 3

I arrived early to my meeting and was delighted to see a bunch of roses outside the chapel. How lovely! I used my tripod for all of these, an ISO of 200 (it was windy so I wanted the ability to use the fastest shutter speed possible) and a bunch of different f-stops. I also moved the camera around to different angles & heights. I used my close-up filter on the top two, but removed it for the bottom one. Also, the bottom one has some slight editing (white balance, curves & contrast); I only took one shot at this angle. I didn't have a chance to try any different settings because by that point my friends were arriving and I drifted into conversations....

Another day, another shoot. I have had the XTi for one month now. I am amazed at how comfortable I am with it, and with the adventures I have had this past month. September is looking like it will be an adventurous month, too... ;)