Last Buds

I hope everyone is doing well and using your photographic explorations to help manage your way through the maddening pandemic isolation.  Our exuberant New England spring has displayed a widely varied supply of color and new growth.  The inspiration seems endless, from bursting new buds to spreading young leaves, in a riotous array of shades of green.  For me, all I have to do is grab my camera and head, socially distant, out of the door, and that has been my sad problem.



Over this last, gloriously perfect, week of the spring, I have been completely crippled by a severe pre-patellar bursitis and cellulitis. The result has been that, while the spring colors have evolved, I have been hobbled with a walker and limited from bed to chair.  I thought my Covid isolation was a problem enough, but at least I could get out for nice long walks and drives, but now I have been limited to gazing longingly out my window or up into the trees from my porch. 

Westmoreland New Hampshire on my last drive before the lay-up

I was able to limp to my Orchard across the street

The good news is that, with a combination of surgical drainage, strong antibiotics and a knee restricting brace, I am feeling better, and I have reason to hope for improved mobility in the next several days. Susan will readily tell you that, whenever I am sick, I am prone to pitiful whining.  Ok that is true, but I promise that complaining only comes from a sincere desire to encourage all of you who are not “mobility challenged” to get outside and capture all the spring beauty that you can, before it is too late. There is only a week or so left before the dull drab summer colors descends.

Seven  Layer Focus Stack

Fortunately, before I was laid-up, I was able to capture much of the spring buds and a taste of the emergence of the early May leaves. This week I share a few of my later buds and early blossom photography, captured both outside and in the studio.  My next article will be dedicated to the varied shades of green that make the New England spring our “second Autumn”.  Again, it will be all about encouraging you shut-ins to get outside and enjoy what has been a wonderful spring.  And I’ll try not to be more than a just little jealous.

Lessons Learned

I have largely finished my in-studio macro photography and as I have been packing away my improvised gear,  I wanted to share a couple of tips that I have learned through my usual technique of “painful trial and error”.

Holding Tight

First, I have experimented with various ways to securely attach my subjects in the studio.  For the sturdy, woody branches, one of my old surgical clamps worked well, but these devices proved too sharp and tight for the delicate ferns.  They cut right through, and the greens quickly flopped.  On one occasion, I was struggling to maintain focus and then realized that the plant was slowly bending under the pressure.   I found that the solution was to tape the stems to a piece of mat board which could then be securely attached to the clamp. 

Manual Exposure

Even on Manual a few flares come through

In all of my early, focus stacked, shots, I set my camera on aperture priority, but even with the lighting and composition fixed, I saw some slight differences in exposure between layers which led, to areas of flaring around the subject in the blended composite.  I finally realized the problem was that, as the focus point moved towards the back of the subject, its size within the frame became subtly larger, with the dark background contributing proportionately less to the exposure and resulting in a darker overall image.  I could have narrowed the field of exposure to be restricted to the brighter subject, but the simplest solution was to switch to manual exposure. With the exposure fixed, the flaring disappeared, and without the clouding, my edges were much sharper.

Just a little rim light

Balancing the Light

Finally, as my subjects became more mature, and thicker, trans illumination became less effective.  Increasingly I relied on my large studio box to light the subject from the front, adjusting the angle to provide nice contrast.  I still used back-lighting, but in these cases, I adjusted the intensity to provide a nice bit of rim lighting to highlight the edges.

Spring is rainy season and I love droplet lenses

Ok, this is the last time I will say this.  Get out and enjoy the spring colors. I have seen some nice work on Facebook from many of my friends, but if you are still hiding in your house, you are missing out AND it is NOT my fault!

Check out my growing
Spring 2020 Gallery

Jeffrey Newcomer

www.partridgebrookreflections.com