borrowed glass

Last weekend, a friend of mine handed me his Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 and said, "I thought you might like to play round with this. It's a little soft, but you should have some fun with it as long as it's not wide open." Fighting my allergies, I took it out for a walk around the neighborhood.
(ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/100s)

snowdrop

The snow had all melted by the time I made it to the cathedral. Too bad; it would've been lovely.

(ISO 100, f/8.0, 1/40s)

'tis the season

It's been a few years since I've managed to venture out at exactly the right time to get a decent shot of D.C.'s famous cherry blossoms. It's that time of year, and yet again, I'm going to miss peak bloom; this time because of a wedding. One of these years, I'll get down to the Tidal Basin before sunrise and get some classics.

(ISO 100, f/3.2, 1/250s)

family talent

My kids are going to be artistic. I may not be able to produce art as a quote-unquote traditional artist, but my photographer's eye improves each time I click the shutter. My better half, on the other hand, is spectacular at creating tasty (and beautiful) masterpieces. These peonies aren't real, and she made them for a cake order.

As a hobby.

(ISO 400, f/11.0, 1/500s)

new yellow mums

We finally have a bit of color on our patio. After a summer of unruly tomato plants trying to take over like Genghis Khan, we pulled them all out and planted some flowers for the fall. We're hoping the window box does well through December. We're planting herbs and lettuce in the spring.
(ISO 800, f/11.0, 1/160s, 10x close-up filter)

au bon pain

Bread making is an art form in France. Bread came with everything in Paris. I'm not talking about Pillsbury canned rolls or warmed up dinner rolls. They were all light, chewy, crispy deliciousness. Most were sliced baguettes, but these were tiny morsels of golden perfection.
(ISO 400, f/8.0, 1/100s)

roadside beauty

At the beginning of June, these tiny flowers appeared in the median on my way to work. I'd never have noticed them were it not for the interminably long light. I wandered over with my prime and screw-in macro filters.
(ISO 100, f/8.0, 1/400s)

going to the gardens

...and we're gonna get married. I can't believe the big day is finally here.
(ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/4s, 4x macro filter)

irish garden

I think our garden is Irish. We didn't plant these shamrocks. I hope some shepherds' pie & Guinness pop up next!
(ISO 100, f/8.0, 1/125s)

cool refreshment

Taking the prime out to play while she and the girls chit chat at happy hour.
(ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/25s)

more from the bouquet

Another homegrown petal shot. I think I'm getting the hang of these macro filters: small aperture, long exposure.
(ISO 200, f/14.0, 3.6s, 4x macro filter @ 55mm)

a single rose

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. No one appreciated the flowers more than my better half!
(ISO 200, f/18.0, 30.0s, 4x macro filter)

superbly detailed

A little bit closer. Her initial reaction was zinnia, but she soon realized it wasn't.
(ISO 400, f/9.0, 1/4000s, 4x macro)

on my belly, part deux

I crawled, kneeled, and squatted for many of these tiny flowers.
(ISO 100, f/4.5, 1/160s, 4x macro filter @55mm)

opening bud

Before I left for spring break, I had a chance to get on my belly at school and snap a few of the flowers littering our campus. This bud has most likely bloomed and moved on since it was taken.
(ISO 100, f/9.0, 1/100s, 4x macro filter)

petal depth

I wish I'd had more depth of field in this shot. Macro photography is a whole different animal that I'm going to have to get used to.
(ISO 100, f/9.0, 1/640s, 10x macro filter)

tiny flowers

In between climbs, I got on my belly to take some macro pictures of flowers that were dwarfed by the pennies in my pocket.
(ISO 100, f/9.0, 1/250s, 10x macro filter)

off to the woods

Horse Pens 40 is an amazing climbing destination near Steele, Alabama. I spent the better part of my spring break camped out with the boulders and some friends. The rock is bullet hard sandstone with amazing texture.
(ISO 100, f/9.0, 1/250s, 10x macro filter)

bright

Surprisingly, I didn't have to crop this entirely too much. These new filters are going to be a lot of fun when I figure out the quirks! For starters, methinks f/1.8 is too wide of an aperture to get good detail in the whole frame. Next round, I'm stopping it down a few and see what happens.
(ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/4000s, 4x macro filter)

creeping

(ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/1250s, 4x macro filter)