Rainstorm Abstracts (Part 2) - Pleasanton, CA (12-11-2014)

On 12/11/2014, the San Francisco Bay Area experienced a huge rainstorm. While great for the severe drought conditions occurring in California, the storm took many by surprise, and flooded many areas. Where I live (Pleasanton, CA) wasn't so much affected by the flooding, however many other areas in the San Francisco Bay Areas got flooded like crazy! If you want to see the aftermaths this storm had on the Arroyo Del Valle (creek in Pleasanton), you can see the post here.

The photos I'm showing today are some abstract photos I shot of the rainstorm from my house. Most of them will be selective focus bokeh photos (you'll get what I mean). Also, most of the photos shot were shot using the help of a flash to help freeze the rain droplets as they were dropping. The photos are split into 2 parts. This is part 2.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos of any of the photos you see here, use the following links. If you wish to purchase prints of any of the photos, please contact me here. To view my best at home photos for 2013 and 2014, use this link. To view my best monochrome/abstract photos for 2014, use this link. To see all of my 2014 at home photos, use this link.

Part: 1 | 2 |

This blog post is just filled with out-of-focus abstract photos I took. Pretty much what I did was focused to achieve bokeh and background blur while capturing the rain droplets that happened to have fallen down on the plane of focus. Rain drops were frozen using my Canon Speedlike 600EX-RT.

You are probably wonder what this brown stuff is. It is the fence of my yard.

 Black and white process of the photo above.

I decided to compose with a bit more color in the shot. Those are tiny bushes in my yard (kinda obvious). 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

Now you are probably wondering how I knew there was going to rain drops that fall down in the plane of focus... Answer to that is... I don't! It was heavy rain (so it was easier to catch them in midair), however I sometimes have to shoot several times on each composition to get an adequate amount of rain drops in the shot. These photos are all trial and error and no 2 photos will ever look the same!  

 Black and white process of the photo above.

Also needed for these photos are a bit of luck. Most of these photos you see here, I've only had to do 2-3 photos before I got one I was satisfied with. On one of my compositions, however, I tried 9-10 times trying to get adequate amounts of rain to show up on the photo, but it just didn't happen. I ended up giving up on that particular composition. I suspect it was due to the tree in my backyard obstructing a lot of the rain in that direction. 

Black and white process of the photo above.   

Last one of these abstract photos.  

Black and white process of the photo above.  

These are all the photos for today. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Part: 1 | 2 |

Rainstorm Abstracts (Part 1) - Pleasanton, CA (12-11-2014)

On 12/11/2014, the San Francisco Bay Area experienced a huge rainstorm. While great for the severe drought conditions occurring in California, the storm took many by surprise, and flooded many areas. Where I live (Pleasanton, CA) wasn't so much affected by the flooding, however many other areas in the San Francisco Bay Areas got flooded like crazy! If you want to see the aftermaths this storm had on the Arroyo Del Valle (creek in Pleasanton), you can see the post here.

The photos I'm showing today are some abstract photos I shot of the rainstorm from my house. Most of them will be selective focus bokeh photos (you'll get what I mean). Also, most of the photos shot were shot using the help of a flash to help freeze the rain droplets as they were dropping. The photos are split into 2 parts. This is part 1.

Full Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos of any of the photos you see here, use the following links. If you wish to purchase prints of any of the photos, please contact me here. To view my best at home photos for 2013 and 2014, use this link. To view my best monochrome/abstract photos for 2014, use this link. To see all of my 2014 at home photos, use this link.

Part: 1 | 2 |

Rain drops falling frozen using flash effects. 

Here is another exposure. You might be wondering why each water droplet shows up a few times. The Canon Speedlike 600EX-RT can strobe. My flash went off several times during the exposures. 

 One last exposure of the rain shot like this.

 Black and white processes of the 3 photos above. I displayed the black and whites separately because I know a few of you will click on the photo (which opens up a slideshow) and play it like a stop motion animation.

A tried to do the same thing with my telephoto lens to get more background separation, but because I am more zoomed in, the rain droplets are dropping "too fast" for my flash to freeze at the power I selected. I think I had my flash at full power when I did this which extends the "flash duration". If I had turned down the power, it would have probably froze the motion better. Nonetheless, I feel that the photo still make a cool abstract. 

Here is another photo shot with the same method above. One of the best things about these photos? No two photos will ever be alike! 

 Black and white processes of the 2 photos above.

Notice that swimming pool in my backyard in the photo at the beginning? It made quite a great subject too with the splashes and bubbles the rain droplets made. There are also a few autumn leaves floating in my pool. I wanted to frame them out, but there was too much floating around to completely get rid of. You'll see what I mean in the next photo. 

Black and white process of the photo above.  

 A photo shot of the autumn foliage floating around my pool. I think it made a nice contrast against the blue water. 

A photo of parts of fallen pine cones contrasted against the wet ground. 

These are all the photos for today. I will continue with the rest of the abstract photos next time. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Part: 1 | 2 |

Spider Macro - Happy Halloween!

Guess who found a spider in the bathroom yesterday? I did! Guess what I did with it? Well, I didn't kill it. However what I did might still sound a bit mean. I picked it up with some tissue, and dropped it in my sink. Then I went ahead and set up for macro photography using my Canon EOS 5D Mark III with my Kenko Extension Tubes and Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens. I had to push the spider back in my sink a few times for these shots. LOL I decided to post these photos up as it is Halloween, and I guess it fits the theme pretty well. So happy Halloween everyone! Hope you have a safe one.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best macro photography for 2013, use this link. To view my best insect photos of 2013, use this link. To see all of my 2013 at home and backyard photography photos, use this link.

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Also have a safe Halloween! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Water Droplet Photography (Part 3)

Today I want to show you some of water droplet photography I did. You might be wondering, what the heck is that? Well for these photos, I just took a DVD that failed the burning process (a great way to recycle them) and some water (dripped onto the DVD using a laboratory pipette). The rest is self explanatory. For some shots, I used a flashlight and for others I used my Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT for some cool lighting effects. All of these photos were taken at home with the help of my Kenko Extension Tubes. The lens used in these photos are my Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens mounted on a Canon EOS 7D. 

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best macro photography shots of 2012, use this link. To see all of my at home and backyard photography shots of 2012, use this link. 

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 |

Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 2 seconds ISO: 100  

For this photo, I went back and forth with my LED flashlight. You can kind of see the pattern in the water droplets. I think this is one of the best I did because I achieved a rainbow which I think looks pretty cool. 

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 2 seconds ISO: 100  

I moved my LED flashlight a little bit in this one. Still kind of the same position as the photo above with the DVD moved slightly.  

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 2 seconds ISO: 100  

I lit this photo with my LED flashlight. Don't think I moved it much. The DVD is in the same position as the photo above.  

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 2 seconds ISO: 100  

I lit this photo with my LED flashlight in a different position. Don't think I moved it much. The DVD is in the same position as the photo above. 

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 5 seconds ISO: 100  

I lit this photo with my LED flashlight in at a different angle. Don't think I moved it much. The DVD is in the same position as the photo above.  

  Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 5 seconds ISO: 100  

I lit this photo with my desk lamp. The DVD is in the same position as the photo above.  

Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 30 seconds ISO: 100  

I circled the DVD with my LED flashlight in this photo. The DVD is in the same position as the photo above.   

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 30 seconds ISO: 100  

I circled the DVD with my LED flashlight in this photo. I cleaned off the DVD and gave it a spray with my spray bottle. 

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 3.2 seconds ISO: 100  

I moved my LED flashlight just a little bit in this shot and I think I also used my desk lamp to light this photo. I cleaned off the water and made a new pattern with my laboratory pipettes dripping on bigger droplets of water. 

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 3.2 seconds ISO: 100  

I moved my LED flashlight just a little bit in this shot and I think I also used my desk lamp to light this photo. this photo has the same water pattern as the photo above. 

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 20 seconds ISO: 100  

I moved my LED flashlight just a little bit in this shot and I think I also used my desk lamp to light this photo. this photo has the same water pattern as the photo above except this time, I accidentally hit my tripod about 3/4 of the way into the exposure which is why there is a double exposure in the image. I thought it looked pretty nice.  

Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 62 seconds ISO: 100
I lit this photo with my desk lamp. I made a new pattern on the DVD by wiping it off and dripping out a new pattern.


These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 |

Water Droplet Photography (Part 2)

Today I want to show you some of water droplet photography I did. You might be wondering, what the heck is that? Well for these photos, I just took a DVD that failed the burning process (a great way to recycle them) and some water (dripped onto the DVD using a laboratory pipette). The rest is self explanatory. For some shots, I used a flashlight and for others I used my Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT for some cool lighting effects. All of these photos were taken at home with the help of my Kenko Extension Tubes. The lens used in these photos are my Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens mounted on a Canon EOS 7D. 

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best macro photography shots of 2012, use this link. To see all of my at home and backyard photography shots of 2012, use this link. 

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 

Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 2 minutes ISO: 100  

For this photo, I just lit the DVD with a light on each side.

Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 25 seconds ISO: 100  

For this photo, I just lit the DVD with 2 light sources with the position of the lights slightly changed.

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 8 seconds ISO: 100  

For this photo, I just lit the DVD with 2 light sources but cleaned off the DVD and created a new pattern.

  Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 30 seconds ISO: 100  

Not too sure about what I did, but I think I replaced one of the light sources with my LED flashlight. The pattern for this image is almost the same as the one above.  

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 30 seconds ISO: 400  

Same water pattern as above but I changed up the lighting. 

 Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 2 minutes ISO: 100  

Cleaned the DVD and made a new pattern. Still shining two stationary light sources on the DVD. 

Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 30 seconds ISO: 100  

Moved to another area of the DVD for a new pattern. Still shining two stationary light sources on the DVD but moved slightly for new lighting effects.  

Aperture: f/22 Exposure: 6 seconds ISO: 100  

Almost same water pattern as above. This time, I circled the DVD with an LED flashlight. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. I will be posting the rest of the photos of this effect next time. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 |