Sometimes the weather just cooperates. Today was such a day at FILOLI, Lurline Roth's garden estate in Woodside, California. The coolness of a late February afternoon, with the sun behind the clouds, made taking images fairly easy. No flash or modifiers were needed. I purposefully did not bring my tripod; I wanted to practice my technique with my 80-200mm zoom. I placed the D200 mode on Shutter priority, so that I would take pictures at speeds I could hand-hold. Why do that with flowers, leaves and landscapes? I wanted to see if I could consistently hand-hold my camera rig for practice before an upcoming wedding ceremony in Hawaii next month.
Yes, I found out that if I kept the speed 1/125 and faster, placed my elbows into my body, and slowly exhaled as I shot, my pictures were sharp. Depth of field had to be controlled, of course. But I accomplished what I set out to do. More images can be found here.
We have been to FILOLI to take stock pictures for a year now. So it is nice to see how the grounds start off--as barren grounds, just before the plantings begin in March. Will be back there for the manicured patchwork of color that will sure to brighten my spirit.
Next Post: Filoli - A Week Later
