Sylvia's Simple Shots

It was a nice trip to the wetlands at 6:30 am to ensure contact with the least number of people and the most number with wildlife.

I found many birds.  The wetlands are in desperate need of water/rain.  There many areas with no water and therefore no habitat for water fowl.  

This Northern Shoveler male was showing off his colors.  There were several pairs doing some sort of mating behavior.  It is a large duck and unfortunately at this angle you can not appreciate his bill.

Love this shot with an unusual presentation.

 

 

This is another upgrade to the photo studio.  I generally scan my greeting cards for this blog but I had a discussion with my sister about needing a scanner with the new computer. 

That would mean photographing all the cards and it would be nice to have a consistent set up.  

I decided that I would make a large piece of background paper.  This one is 24 inches wide which is the full width.  It measures 36 long so it more than covers the back and floor of the studio.

Love the mottled color scheme which will just fade to out of focus.

Perfect.  Easy set up is a must.

I also wanted a prop.  I tried several objects from around the house and a white vase about 8 inches tall worked really well but it was glossy and the lights showed up in the surface.  I thought I maybe could purchase something but with the way things are with COVID I am not going out except for essentials.  

Could I alter the surface of the vase?  After a bit of research I found this post.  It uses acrylic paint and baking soda. I cut down the proportions for a bit of paint. 

Using an old craft paint brush in case it ruined it and took some craft acrylic paint in Warm White and mixed it up.  It went on quite thick which I was okay with.  You can see the glossy and matte contrast in the second picture. 

I let the first coat dry completely then applied a coat of just the acrylic paint.

I am so impressed with this DIY technique. 

 

 

Here you can see how I have the background and vase in this card photo.  It creates a context for the card but nothing detracts from the card.

Loving it!

 

This is a screen capture of a live stream set up by a wildlife photographer in Denmark named Morten Hilmer. Wildlife in the Forest.

It runs 24/7 and is set up on a stream on his property.  It is powered by solar energy.

As you can see there are pheasants, many other birds, foxes, badgers, deer, and many other creatures who come to the stream.

It is a nice pleasant way to spend a few minutes with soothing sound and seeing nature.  It turns to black and white infrared during the night but you can see the animals clearly.  If you are looking for a you tube channel to give you some relaxing time, please check it out.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays this week was nuts. Metal ones or the edible kind.  This shot is of roasted almonds.  You can check out my Flickr photostream (SMDPics) to see the shot I submitted. 

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #129 and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #287.

Have a great week!