Magnolia Dream

Bored one afternoon this spring, I pulled out my 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR that I haven’t used since I first bought it 5+ (?!) years ago to test it out. I thought, erroneously, that it would only be good when out scouting birds or taking tourist type shots that I could zoom up onto monuments and so forth. And that is precisely why I hadn’t been using it, focusing instead on my prime lens to capture a nice bokeh and shallow DOF for my translucent light studies. I have had a lot of micromovements in some of my throwaways, so I decided to play with the VR by standing 7-10 feet away. These are the shots I came up with:

Magnolia Dream © 2013 NATE METZ

MEMES

I’ve tried my hand recently are creating internet memes. I often post images on Facebook with inspirational thoughts. So, I thought why not put the text on the images and share it about!

As I see it…

Lines on the wall © 2012 NATE METZ

Lines on the wall © 2012 NATE METZ

Lines on the wall © 2012 NATE METZ

I was perusing some older images in my pictures folder with a friend this week and talking about my photography style. We agreed it was different and not necessarily the sort of images that people gravitate towards. She said it was great that I was able to see the unseen. I love to shoot the things that most of us just walk by without a second thought because those moments of light are beautiful. Much of my shooting is haphazardly unplanned: I go out with my camera and explore to find moments of beauty. These images of the lines on the wall are the perfect example. The sunlight streamed in through the shutters at this angle for but a moment before sliding onto the floor in a blurred distortion. I like the layers of different lines on top of each other.

I find our world to be amazing and interesting. I walk about with a sense of wonder all the time. And those who walk with me often see me crouching, squatting, and otherwise contorting with a camera in my hand because I saw something that caught my eye. It is a constant visual unrest, but a gift nonetheless.

Don’t forget, I have a collection of moments of beauty in my exhibit this June: SUMMER STREETS!

Crystal Vision


Crystal Vision © 2013 NATE METZ

Winter has finally relaxed its tight grip. Most mornings I’d find my car frozen over with frost, so I used the few moments waiting for the defroster to capture these Crystal Visions.

UPWARDS

Spring is not quite yet upon us. Looking to the ground I see small signs of the burgeoning life forces. Green still are the pines against the pale blue skies of late winter. With cabin fever and a temperature near 50F, away I went with my Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 to walk a new forest trail.

Around frame 24, I decided to make a left and hike further into the Pemberton Preserve. I’m really glad that I did because I started to capture better images. The landscape changed, bringing more than the faithful pines that predominated my views. In addition to upwards I went onwards. Alone with the trees I was sun-bound.

My total trip was about 5 mi hiking that lasted 4 hours with 300 shutter actions. These are 56 of my favorites:

UPWARDS © 2013 NATE METZ

Biltmore Conservatory

A month ago I toured the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. I brought my full kit (4 lenses, camera, and external flash) so that I could get some pictures, but was surprised upon walking in the front door that all photography was prohibited inside the main house, including cell phone cameras! I claim no expertise on historical preservation, but I’m pretty sure flash-less photography does not harm the subject in any way. My guess is that the Estate wants the tourists to purchase the official and professional photographs from the gift shops. While I may have taken a few of those style to document the trip, I’m more interested in colors, shapes, and textures and other more abstract pictures. I clearly disagree with the ban because I feel as though they misunderstood the type of photography that I wanted to do! So, I had to rebel just a little bit. I took this photograph in the basement with my cell phone:

I's © 2013 NATE METZ
I’s © 2013 NATE METZ

By the time the house tour was over, I caught a break in the rain and decided to check out the conservatory. I have been to Longwood Gardens several times and really enjoy taking pictures of the flora because of the soft lighting and near-perfect subjects. The conservatory at Biltmore is much smaller and had much less variety, I was able to take several interesting photographs. These all remain untitled for now. As I select a few favorites for prints, frames, entries, and so forth cleaner edits and titles will emerge! For now, enjoy an early look of spring: