So, first the set up:

There were two Foam Boards. The black was used as a background and the white was used to help reflect the light a bit. The white also worked as a wind-break at the time.

I used the fill-in reflector (Silver) to add a bit more natural light on the flower.

To get right up-close to flower, I used this computer wrist rest. This wrist rest has little micro-beads that allow you to adjust the camera location. I have found it makes a GREAT on-the-ground rest for my camera, especially for doing macro shots.

To capture the image itself, I used a 50 mm Canon macro lens with an el-cheapo extension tube set.

That site, Deal Extreme, has a lot of amazing deals on REALLY cheap camera items. Remember, you get what you pay for… but, these deals are hard to beat. Also, I think with my original order, it took about 2 months or so for all of the parts to come in… but the prices really are great.

I have included links to where I bought all of the items, too. I hope this helps you.

Rainbow over Boise in HDR:

Rainbow over Boise in Panorama:

From a technical standpoint, photography is the art of capturing the light that is reflected off your subject. With the example above, about the night shooting, over Boise, you are capturing the light itself. Figuring out HOW to do that, properly, is a trick. I am ATTEMPTING to capture the vista, in camera, how I want it to turn out, with the least amount of tweaking. This particular shot was shot at 75mm, using f/4, ISO 100 and a 10 second exposure time. A lot of the lights pop MORE than what I want, it was the best of the bunch, the most crisp looking. After I did some processing in raw, and over-saturated some of the colors, I thought that the picture took on a life of its own.

My previous post about low-light, was more concerned with the WHERE to shoot from. This one is more about the why. As I learn more about photography, I get better. In the week between the previous night shot of Boise, and the latest night shot. I have read more, learned more, and upgraded my camera to a Canon XSi. I am pretty sure the biggest change between the previous week and this later week, was a MUCH nicer camera, but that is not all. I noticed with my Canon A650 IS, a LOT of the shots were blurry. This last time I went up, instead of having my tripod behind my car, I put my car between the wind, and the tripod. With the 10, 20, and longer exposures, this made all the difference in the world. It are these little things, that all add up to make a photographer great. I have to look around, and figure out what aspects of a shot I am able to master, and then I try to figure out a method to master them. I am sure that someone with years of experience would have noticed the wind right away, and shielding the camera from the wind, would not have required a conscious thought.

So, I have discovered, I like shooting at night. My other favorites I have discovered are macro, and taking shots of patterns. Finally, I DO love my daughter, as a subject. She is a real ham, and does an amazing job in the front of the camera. Oh, and this weekend, my daughter got her FIRST digital camera. A 5MP, Kodak digital camera I picked up used for her. She had been asking for a camera, to be like daddy for a long time. I look forward to our adventures together.