Ok - as promised, here's the Christmas TTV! Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your holiday, and here's hoping you and your's a safe, happy, and healthy Christmas and New Year!

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/10 sec at f/8. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 10 sec at f/9.9. ISO 200. Monopod and tripod mounted. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/21 sec at f/9.9. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Anscoflex II (without a TTV contraption), Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 8 sec at f/9.9. ISO 200. Monopod and tripod mounted. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0.

That last shot was done with my new Anscoflex II that Anya found for me! I shot it without the assistance of a TTV contraption which was definitely a challenge, but I love the different look it gives!

Anyway, Merry Christmas!

- Bill

PS: Just because, here's a bonus camera drawing shot...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 4 sec at f/22.6. ISO 200. No post production.

As promised - here's the second half of the Thanksgiving TTV fun. I know this might sound a bit trite, but I really am thankful for my photography as a hobby, and just as thankful for all of you who visit here regularly and give me a venue to share my photography and gather feedback to improve my skills.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/3 sec at f/12.9. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

- Bill

I know this is a little early, but I figured I would do a couple days with of this. Enjoy, and have a great Thanksgiving (though you should stop back tomorrow for the second half of the Thanksgiving TTV treats).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/6 sec at f/16. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

- Bill

Ok - I mentioned this in a couple of the previous TTV posts, but I seem to prefer a darker or slight "under" exposed shot with this TTV photography. I can't quite put my finger on it, and so I thought I would put it out there to you guys for your opinion.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/6 and 1/12 sec at f/8. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Usually I don't share my choice early on, but like I've said - I definitely like the darker exposure. Vote below and then leave me a comment and let me know why you liked the one you did.

And of course, tune in tomorrow for more TTV goodness.

- Bill

Ok - as promised, no lengthy discussion about the details of TTV photography. We'll take a look at two recent TTV shots, and go through my usual critique of them.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/50 sec at f/4. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Why This Photo: The model railroad display at Phipps made for many opportunities that begged for the TTV vintage treatment, this shot would probably look incredibly flat and boring with regular photography, but pops with TTV.

What Works: The focus hits right on the house and the front of the engine of the train. With the distortion of the viewfinder, getting this right isn't always as easy as with a regular shot. The distortion and blurred edges almost allows this shot to be mistaken for a real scene as opposed to a miniature setup.

What Doesn't Work: This exposure is a little bright for my tastes with this style of photography, and the blown out hot spots along the top are a bit distracting. The area of focus may have been better suited if it were shifted slightly to the right to get more of the train in focus.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/2 sec at f/8. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Why This Photo: I liked the idea of old style photos of flowers - almost as if I was out on an expedition back when this Argus camera was just released and exploring and photographing this flower for the first time. I know - I have quite the imagination.

What Works: I love the balance the flowers give with two on one side and one on the other, and the colors really pop in this shot.

What Doesn't Work: The shot is way too over-exposed, and that is unfortunate because the long shutter speed of 1/2 second definitely added to the blur and lack of focus in the shot. Though the colors are nice, they're probably washed out because of the over exposure. The framing of the shot may have worked better to move the orchids up a little in the frame and reducing the empty space towards the top.

I still am just so pleased with this "new" style of photography, and am definitely looking forward to heading back out with this rig. But I do have a good handful more photos from this trip to Phipps, so I'll continue sharing them (I think I still owe you for that sleeper of a post yesterday! ;) haha!)

What do you think? Are you a fan of this TTV stuff? Drop me a comment and give your own critiques of the technique and these photos.

- Bill

I apologize for not getting a post in yesterday - between uploading the photos and then starting to crop them and then heading to my photography class, I just didn't have time to post. However, I finished the rest of the cropping tonight, and will give you a couple more samples of TTV goodness, and then tomorrow I'll try and get some real posts written.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/25 sec at f/6.4. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/40 sec at f/5.7. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D TTV Argus Seventy-Five, Tokina AT-X M35 Pro DX AF 35mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1, 1/21 sec at f/9.1. ISO 200. Monopod and handheld. Cropped in Photoshop Elements 8.0. Phipps Conservatory.

The last one was shot by Anya, and after I let her have the rig, I didn't get it back the rest of the day... it is just that much fun to do this kind of photography.

Tomorrow, we'll take a look at how to build the contraption and discuss more details about what exactly all this is.

Stay tuned!

- Bill

While I sort out what it going on with my internet connection at home, I am unable to upload new photos, so you have to wait for more 2010 Vintage Grand Prix. Which means more of my typical photography.

Today we zip over to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, OH. And as usual, look at more macro photography.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/320 sec at f/4.5. ISO 400. No post production. Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, OH.

Why This Photo: There is just something about macro photography that draws me in. It causes you to look at something a little differently, and possibly see something you would normally not see, or pay attention to something you'd overlooked. And for whatever reason, that always applies with cacti for me.

What Works: The critical focus hits right on the mark with the center thorn of the cactus in tack sharp focus (yeah - I mean that pun!). The simplicity of the shot keeps my focus and draws me in without being too distracting. Finally, the macro angle allows you to see something differently - at times I look at this shot of a small cactus thorn and it honestly reminds me of a fossilized whale jaw that hangs on the wall at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in much the same orientation as this.

What Doesn't Work: While the shallow depth of field produces a nicely blurred and non-distracting background, there is simply nothing at all discernible in the background and is at times a tiny bit confusing. Additionally, the depth of field is so shallow that the secondary thorns are blurred as well. And unfortunately, the colors are a bit muted - almost to the point of being a monochrome shot.

I also like the framing of the shot and the fact that I managed to avoid breaking the edge of the frame with the center point of the thorn (which is a very typical problem I have if you've been following along).

I also took another shot of these same cacti that encompassed a wider shot and more of the thorns, but I just can't decide whether I like it as much.

Drop me a comment and let me know what you think. Hopefully I'll have an internet connection working at home soon so that I can start uploading new photos, or you'll have to deal with a few more old photos... hope you won't mind.

- Bill

Our last visit to Phipps was also to see what we could find at their Butterfly Forest.

This Julia Butterfly (Dryas iulia) isn't necessarily the flashiest of butterflies. Even with its wings open, it is simply an orange butterfly as you can see to the right. However, when their wings are closed, they're even less spectacular.

But that doesn't make them any less interesting as a photographic subject in my opinion.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/260 sec at f/6.4. ISO Auto. Canon Monopod. Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh, PA.

Why This Photo: Honestly, I was out specifically to take photos, and specifically out to take photos of butterflies, so...

What Works: Focus is sharp even with only using a monopod with the focus hitting right on the butterfly's eye and mouth.

What Doesn't Work: Framing is just a touch off with the one antenna and the feet of the butterfly break the edge of the shot, and the depth of field could be a bit deeper as the edges of the wings are not as sharp as they could be.

What I'm Not Sure About: I honestly can't decide whether I like the upside-down shot of the butterfly, and can't tell if this shot is interesting or just flat and boring.

Butterfly shots are tricky, but maybe that is why I keep trying them - I like the challenge, and I feel that once I can pull it all together and get that one perfect shot it will be all worth it. Is there a particular shot you keep trying for?

- Bill

Bouncing back to Atlanta for today's post.

I noticed this little snail crawling along the razor's edge while we browsed the Atlanta Botanical Garden. One slip the wrong way, and this tiny guy would end up in a very unpleasant ending.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 55mm, 1/60 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400. No post production. Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Atlanta, GA.

I am going to skip the full critique of this photo. It lacks tack sharp focus due to the lack of the use of a tripod. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I could find wrong with it if I tried, but I like this photo a bit too much to tear it apart.

If anyone cares to critique it a little more, feel free to do so in the comments - I know I said I didn't want to critique it, but I'm always interested to hear what others think of some of my photos.

- Bill

Anya and I took another trip out to Deer Lakes Park to see what we could find to shoot. I was mainly looking for more macro photos.

As we walked along, I saw this small bright blue moth fluttering around. I tracked it for a few minutes, then managed to pick it up. This isn't something I do too often, as I try to not impact anything I photograph, but I figured if I could be careful enough to not injure the moth, it would be ok. Maybe this is a technique I can work on improving and using to my advantage.

Once I managed to catch the little guy, he actually seemed very willing to hang out, easily moving from hand to hand if I just put another finger in front of him he would walk up onto it. After looking around for a bit, Anya found a small clump of moss that would work great as a backdrop.

As I held the moth, I noticed his proboscis was scanning over my hand, and I decided I wanted to try and photograph that. Luckily, he continued to search through the moss with his proboscis the same way.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/170 sec at f/8. ISO 200. No post production. Deer Lakes Park, Tarentum, PA.

Unfortunately, I didn't do such a great job of getting the shot I wanted. There were a few things I had in mind while taking these photos - some improvements I wanted to make, some things I wanted to try. But at the same time, there where are a couple of things I did wrong, and some things I simply forgot.

• Hand-held Shooting: This is a bad habit that I think I need to break sometime soon. I am not a big fan of the tripod we own (I've been telling myself for a while we need a new one). However, I rarely carry a tripod with me when I head out into the field. I sometimes get away with it, but today was not one of those days.
• Smaller Aperture, Slower Shutter Speed: I've been looking at some of my macro photography, and I'm starting to wish I had used a smaller aperture to capture more depth of field. So today was when I thought to try that. The photo here was shot at f/8. Combine that with my reluctance to carry a tripod, and you increase your chances of blurry photos.
• Poor Framing: This photo is only one out of ten that did not cut off any part of the moth. This is something I'm rather disappointed in myself with. Granted this is something that is easy to do with macro where any movement is exaggerated. But that's really no excuse, I simply wasn't taking the time I should have been to get things lined up.

All in all, I came away with a fairly disappointing set of photos, but some important reminders about things I need to keep in mind when out taking photos. Hopefully next time out, I can work on the juggling act that is remembering all the pieces that need to come together to be able capture that remarkable image.

Have any suggestions for things I could do to improve these photos? Or have any questions about the things I did right or wrong with my shots? Or just want to commiserate about the struggles of macro photography? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

- Bill