The Lipstick Tree

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to call this the lipstick tree. As we waited for my mom to work out at the gym, there was one of these outside and we could spent a good hour picking one or two of the red, bristly blossoms and slowly dissecting it. My favorite were always the unbloomed buds because they provided more material for slowly picking apart.

At the time, we thought we were bored. Little did I know that even to this day, when I saw one of these trees that was all I would be able to think about. A lazy early evening with the lipstick tree.

New Cards!!

My new business cards from moo arrived a couple days ago, and I love them! The quality is really superb, and the tiny format makes them great conversation pieces. Everyone I've shown them to has just had to take one, and of course look through the box for their favorite one! Interestingly enough, the faces are less popular than the flowers, cityscapes and cookies. And I was hesitant to include the non-person photos as I would really like to be moving in the direction of shooting more people. You know, show what you want to be shooting and all.

Shooting more people. Um, yessss. You know, with a camera. Please Internet police, don't take me away!

A View Past

Sunlight, when it appears on frequently foggy San Francisco afternoons, is harsh and unforgiving. Rays can be blinding. But the warmth of the sun while we have it is to be enjoyed. I was walking near Golden Gate Park today when I saw this street view (all the way to the bridge!) and I just had to have a photo. The bicyclist and the pedestrian just added to the mix.

Alighting

This butterfly landed right in front of me. I was so surprised, but very grateful!

Another Splash!

Getting Closer

After holding my breath last week, I decided it was time for more. More holding my breath, more macro till I'm cross eyed. And this is a pretty good cross section of the methods available to me. The first one I took with the reverse lens macro technique, using my slightly broken 50mm and my 55-250 on the camera. This method is hard! And it makes me strain my eyes trying to figure out what's in focus. But there is something I do really like about the shot below, so maybe it's worth it.

This one I took using the Lensbaby Composer and the +4 macro lens.

The last two are the Composer and the +10 macro. Turns out that the +10 is a lot easier to use if there's enough available light. I took these mid-afternoon in open shade - some of my favorite light.

There's something about yellow and dark blue that just gets me as a color combination. Maybe that's why I like these shots so much.

But it's weird, even looking at them makes me feel a little out of breath! Maybe I should really start using my tripod.

Anyway, you might see a few more macro shots from me in the future, so be prepared!