Thursday, March 1, 2007

Paper Wasp

Found a wasp nest in the tree next to my house which offered the perfect opportunity to set this shot up using a folding card table and a potted plant purchased from the local nursery ... Something white is said to attract bees and other stinging insects. Try a dab of after shave to spark a bit more attention (they love the smell). Took about 5 minutes for the wasp to find my flower. Camera was already setup on tripod and ready to go when this little creature came down from the nest for his free lunch. -- RCP

A Bird in The Dark

Shot this guy at the Denver Zoo with a 28-105mm lens on my Canon 10D. Used the P mode (that's for "perfessionul," right?) Bottom line: I got lucky 'cause when you're with non-fotogs (family, in this case) you just don't feel the freedom to stalk your prey - even at a zoo. But zoos and other wildlife sanctuaries are ideal places to get phantastic photos of your favorite fauna. Look for the unusual!

How'd you do it?

(I can't believe I'm doing this. I used to rant that I wouldn't even read a blog. Now I are one. Go figger.)
Phriends of Fotography, if you have a foto you're especially pleased with, this is the place to post it. This is all about telling the rest of us schmucks How You Did It. Personally, I'm less interested in the mundane (e.g.: shutter speed, ISO, size of the hole in your lens, etc.) than in technique.
But, go ahead and expose it all here if that's what floats your boat. What was the "adventure" in finding or creating this work of heart? THAT's what I'm hoping for.
Example #1: "Had to hook one leg under the anchor chain in the foc'sle of an aircraft carrier doing 30 knots, get most of my body out over the ocean (which was about 50' below), hope I didn't get caught by some uptight Master-at-Arms, aim, focus, meter, wait for a dolphin to leap next to the bow, then shoot."
Example #2: "Found this awesome vista in the middle of Alaska, but the light was too ordinary. Waited a half hour, saw a storm blow thru the valley below, then started shooting like a machine-gunner on steroids when the sun began blasting thru the clouds."