Award Winning New England Fine Art Photography by Greater Boston photographer Juergen Roth. This photo blog provides photo tips, stories behind photography images, and plenty of inspiration.
Every week I choose one of my favorite photographs of the week from my fine art landscape, flower and macro photography collection and offer it throughout that week at a discounted rate. This week's photo of the week on sale is First Light displaying seconds before the sunrise in Maine Acadia National Park.
This Photography Artwork Collage shows some of my recent fine art photography artwork sold online. Selling art online is no picnic. It takes a serious time commitment and it most likely will not make you the next Peter Lik of photography who sells photos for up to 1 Million dollars. However, it surely presents on opportunity for exposure and additional sales. Some tips that worked online and offline for me:
In this flower photo of a purple Iris I used a black cardboard as the backdrop. I like dark backgrounds because it really makes the colors of a flower pop. I usually choose a large enough black cardboard from Staples that I position behind the floral photographic object using the backrest of a chair for support. As a base I use the chair itself that I place in front of a window. The set up of my Close Up Photography studio next to our dining room window provides exceptional and beautiful lighting conditions in the morning. White cardboards are used to enhance the light and direct the light towards the floral when it is facing away from the window. I always use a couple of hardcover books to stabilize and minimize any unwanted shaking or movement of the flower. Additionally the books make it easy to adjust the height of the flower when a different perspective or angle is more desirable. I often adjust the white boards to explore the impact on the lighting and better control the light on the flower. Adjusting the light with the white boards is a great learning experience for us photographers and often leads to more inspirational and beautiful fine art photography artwork. In the final macro photograph of the purple iris I positioned the flower in the best possible way so that there were no other distracting branches or flowers in the composition. The light provided a beautiful illumination of the iris that keeps the viewer captivated. The aperture of the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro IS USM lens was set to f/25 providing maximum Depth of Field and an exposure time of 4 seconds. An ISO100 setting minimized noise. In the post processing steps I removed dust, minimally adjusted brightness, contrast and color saturation before sharpening the final image of this Iris over Black.
Sinister was taken at Turner River in Florida Big Cypress National Preserve. I noticed the American alligator at a crossover when exploring the area. Excited about finally coming across what I was looking for all morning I set up tripod and camera. I then started composing around the gator and its Reflection, keeping my eyes on the ball, or better on the gator. Although my goal was to get as close as possible and as low as possible, I was not ready to be eaten alive by this predator. It did not take long, perhaps a couple of shots when I suddenly felt a bunch of burning bites on my feet. When checking out what was going on I realized that I was standing in the middle of a colony of nasty biting ants. I immediately left tripod and camera behind and jumped backwards on one leg whipping the ants off and then switched to the other leg to work on the other foot. Needless to say that I had to take my sandals off to get rid of them all. During this endeavor I kept one eye on the gator which did not move a bit and probably enjoyed the stupid photographers' pitfall or was hoping for an easy breakfast. Turned out to be quite the painful morning but after all so worth it ... because it's not all about the next pic, it's equally about the outdoor experience ... and I sure had my dose for the day!
Every week I choose one of my favorite photographs of the week from my fine art landscape, flower and macro photography collection and offer it throughout that week at a discounted rate. This week's photo of the week on sale is Ardea Herodias showing a Great Blue Heron at a small southwest Florida marina in Bonita Springs.
Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve along Tamiami Trail (US41) and Turner River Road are two of my favorite Wildlife Photography locations in Southwest Florida. US41 and the area is easily accessible within an hour of Naples or Fort Myers and provides plenty of photography opportunities for the nature photographer and enthusiast. A 400+ mm lens provides sufficient reach to capture frame filling wildlife from the comfort and safety of your car. I usually stop the car, turn it off to minimize camera shake and take a few pics while using the car window sill to stabilize camera and lens. A Beanbag provides further stability and enhances Image Quality. Once I secure my shots out of the car, I make my way into the field and explore different perspectives and angles. The main goal is always to cut out any disturbing distractions in the background and arrive at a better composition. When stepping outside the car and getting into the field make sure to watch your step and not accidentally step on a snake or scare the wildlife. Alligators love to hang out at the sunny spots on the edge of the Turner River, so be sure you not getting to close and be extra cautious when looking and photographing straight on ... they are extremely fast and probably won't hesitate to come after you. If they are hungry, you look tasty!
Besides your long lens you also want to bring a Polarizing Filter to minimize glare on the river water and boost colors of the wildlife and surrounding nature. Make sure to select the right amount of Depth of Field so that all desired parts are in full focus and show acceptable details.
A large aperture (small f/numbers such as 5.6 and less) will minimize depth of field and is mostly desired when capturing birds. In these types of wildlife photos we strive for a quiet backdrop that beautifully isolates the main subject from any distractions in the background and solely lays the focus on the main subject. Stay safe and keep in mind: It's not only about photography and the one shot, it's also about the Outdoor Experience!
Because of the exceptional and beautiful morning light bouncing off my neighbors walls into our dining room, I prefer to set up my close up photography studio next to our dining room window. As a base I use a chair that I place in front of the window. I then use a large enough black cardboard from Staples that I position behind the floral photographic object using the backrest for support. White cardboards are used to enhance the light and direct the light towards the floral when it is facing away from the window. I always use hardcover books to stabilize and minimize any unwanted shaking or movement of the flower. Additionally the books make it easy to adjust the height of the flower when a different perspective or angle is more desirable. I often adjust the white boards to explore the impact on the lighting and better control the light on the flower. Adjusting the light with the white boards is a great learning experience for us photographers and often leads to more inspirational and beautiful photographs. In the final macro photograph of the pink orchids I positioned the flower in the best possible way so that there were no other distracting branches or flowers in the composition. The aperture was set to f/11 providing sufficient Depth of Field and an exposure time of 1/5 second. An ISO100 setting minimized noise. In the post processing steps I minimally adjusted brightness, contrast and color saturation before sharpening the image of the Butterfly Orchid.
During my last trip to southwest Florida I dedicated a visit to the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. This wildlife sanctuary is located just east of Fort Myers and rewards the photographer with a pristine habitat for nature photography. The water in the slough is always on the move although visitors often think of it as an area of small lakes with surrounding swampy areas. In fact though the water always flows like a shallow, slow moving river.
The 1.2 mile boardwalk guides one through different areas of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. Pine woods lead into the cypress slough that is made of the hardwood transition area, flag ponds area in the center of the preserve and small islands of higher elevation called hammocks. The most visible and beautiful forms of wildlife found in the slough are permanent residents such as raccoon, grey squirrel, five-lined skink, red-shouldered hawk, woodpecker, heron, wild turkey, turtle, southern black racer, branded water snake, cottonmouth and alligator. Visitors that may pass through the slough are bobcat, river otter, deer and even black bear. During my short visit I encountered alligator, turtle, ibis, anhinga, blue heron, green, heron, black crowned night heron, egret and many other birds. Lots of the forest floor is covered with beautiful swamp ferns. Sage old cypress trees tower above and cypress knees that provide the cypress trees with additional support in the wet soil are everywhere.
Gator lake at the beginning of the boardwalk is spectacular in the evening hours. On my way out I stopped at the lake because of the rookery left of the overlook. I again was awarded with a spectacular nature setting. Flocks of egrets and other birds were flying in and landing in the one area of shrubs and trees opposite of the overlook. There were probably a hundred birds looking for a good night sleep.
On my last photo tour I explored the parks and wildlife along US 41 in Florida. US 41 borders Big Cypress National Preserve to the North and Everglades National Park to the South. Its abundant wildlife is a feast for every visitor, not just for nature and wildlife photographer. One of my last stops in the area was Kirby Storter Roadside Park. The park consists of a 1/4 mile boardwalk that first winds through saw grass before quickly emerging into a beautiful cypress swamp. The atmosphere is quite magical when one enters the cypress swamp; trees are overgrown and birds are peeping, egret, wood stork, heron and ibis are immediately noticeable. The boardwalk ends at a gator hole where I made out an American Alligator that unfortunately was to far away for a frame filling capture. On my way back out of this oasis I stumbled upon a mature White Ibis that was perching on a tree branch. This was Bird Photography made easy since the ibis was not disturbed by camera and my close distance. I tried various compositions to eliminate any distracting smaller branches of the tree and to get the best possible composition and image. Once I found my Photography Composition I manually focused on the blue eye of the bird to obtain the maximum detail and color of it. Camera aperture was set to f/4 resulting in an exposure time of 1/160 second. During post processing I removed dust spots, minimally adjusted contrast, lighting and color saturation before sharpening. 
The other day I ordered a Photo on Canvas of Teary Rose Leaf from Easy Canvas Prints, an online printing provider offering various sizes for your photos on canvas at competitive pricing. Turns out selecting an appropriate image to print on canvas was more challenging then ordering the print from Easy Canvas Prints. The online shop is set up with the customer in mind. All functions and canvas choices are well designed and easy to navigate which made it a pleasure to upload and order. Upon ordering I instantly received an order verification via email. Two days later the canvas was ready to ship and I received another notification implying that the canvas was on its way. The process from ordering to delivery at our doorstep was extremely fast and I was looking forward to accessing the packing and quality of the canvas. The canvas was very well packed protecting it from any shipping damage. Bubble wrap may have provided further protection but the clean plastic wrap was just fine. The canvas turned out exactly like I viewed it online. The quality of the canvas itself is outstanding. Colors are vibrant and the detail is incredible, showcasing my Photography Artwork at its best potential ... thumps up for Easy Canvas Prints!
