North Point Tree

North Point 111708-23, originally uploaded by RJIPhotography.

It was a spur of the moment decision but I ventured down to the lakefront to visit North Point yet again. It was a cloudy but not really stormy day. I shot with my IR converted camera to capture this scene. While not you're traditional IR shot, I really like what IR can do with moody scenes such as this. When I first converted my camera to IR, I figured I would be shooting nothing but green foliage. My opinion has now changed . . . and I think I'll be using this all winter long.

Reversing a Lens for Super Closeups

I've always been a fan of macrophotography . . . getting real close to show pattern and texture. I have a Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro lens which does a wonderful job. I've taken my share of floral macro images but I've always been intrigued by images that get super close. Most commonly, you see this with images with insects. There are several ways to achieve this. One way is through the use of extenders. These are nothing more than barrels that fit between your lens and the camera, extending the focal plane of the lens further away from the camera allowing the lens to focus at closer distances than the minimal focal distance specification of the lens. They are typically sold in kits which can be combined.

However, another way is taking a lens and mounting it backward! An adapter is needed to convert the end of the lens to something that will attach to the camera. Well I stumbled upon such an adapter from Haoda while looking for an adapter for a Zeiss Planar 50mm lens to mount on a Canon EOS camera. They have a reverse lens adapter that converts the kit lens (18-55mm or any lens with a 55mm thread) commonly sold with Canon digital Rebel cameras. The adapter is only $15 so since I had this kit lens lying around doing nothing, it seemed like something fun to try. It's interesting in that the 18-55mm lens, being a zoom, has a macro range on the lens, so you king of get two zoom ranges to work with. It takes a little getting used to and if you can shoot handheld, it's a little more flexible and somewhat quicker to compose and shoot. On a tripod, obviously, you can shoot at lower shutter speeds but the set up is a little more tedious due to how the lens focuses in a reverse configuration. The shots shown here are not necessarily works of art but examples of what can be achieved. More are located on my Flickr site.

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When Will Winter End?

It's officially Spring now but you wouldn't necessarily now it. The call today is for some snow yet again in the Milwaukee area. Mind you, I actually don't mind the snow but we're trying to build a new house in downtown Milwaukee and we can't seem to get started. We need three days of dry weather in order to start the dig but it's March and this has me worried.

Our plans are to build a house within Kane Commons, a small community being developed by Julilly Kohler. The development will include 13 single and multiple dwelling Condos including three 'bluff' homes overlooking the Milwaukee River. Our home will be on the street (East Kane Place) and will look like a traditional free standing home consistent with the period of the original 'Polish Flats' of the area. However, inside, will be a more contemporary feel (more on that in the future). The most exciting part of this project is that the house will be 'green' with a focus on energy efficiency. This will include a geothermal heating system, biobased foam insulation, energy efficient windows and much more. We are planning to have the house certified under LEED for Homes, a green building standard of the US Green Building Council.

To build the house, we've contracted with Pragmatic Construction, an upstart builder whose primary focus in on green construction. They've won several awards for their green builds and are a fun bunch to work with. Check out their website, they will be also be documenting the build of my home there. Now, we just need to weather to cooperate so we can get started!

Today's photo brings us a bit of summer. It's an infrared photo from my converted (by Lifepixel) Canon 20D. I'm still in experimentation mode but I like what it can produce so far. This image is from Deerfield Beach, Florida. At least I can imagine the warm sun on my face . . .