Happy New Year 2016!

To my (few) followers and casual readers - I wish you and your families a wonderful & happy New Year, and my best wishes for 2016, may it bring a lot of beautiful lights, lenses and other accessories to make great images!

Thanks for your support. I'll try and be more active in the new year with this blog.

Gilles

Petite Fleur Bleue

We have a whole pot of those little blue pansies, and they are so delicate, yet I hadn't managed to get a good shot of them previously. But I am quite happy with this one - I like the composition, the sharpness all through the flower, as well as the blurred background with other little pansies providing some nice blue hue

I'm also still very happy with my new D750 body - so fast, and great focus, exposure, etc. Coupled with my trusted macro lens (the Tamron SP AF 90mm 1:1, 1st generation) images keep piling up in my LightRoom library!

"Petite Fleur Bleue" (c) Gilles Royer 2015

As always, this image is also posted on my +500px page: https://500px.com/photo/123923427/petite-fleur-bleue-by-gilles-royer

And one my FaceBook page, here: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianLightSeeker

Thanks for your visit

Droplet on Pink

I haven't posted for a while here, so here we go. This is my latest photo. Taken in the garden, a few droplets on a new pink daisy plant. 

I kept a very shallow depth of field, to keep the focus and clarity on the foreground droplet, that acts like a magnifying glass to reveal the texture of the flower's petal. I didn't crop the photo to leave the yellow heart of the daisy in the image, I think it creates a balance in colour, and is soft enough not to be too distractive

"Droplet on Pink" (c) Gilles Royer 2015

As always, this photo is also available through my +500px page, at the following link: https://500px.com/photo/123716041/droplet-on-pink-by-gilles-royer

And now you can also look at my new Facebook page (and share a like or comment) at: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianLightSeeker

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring is here!

With Spring (officially but not technically) kicking into gear here in Melbourne, the garden offers growing opportunities for my macro / close-up shots, with buds, blossoms, flowers and trees all enjoying the warm rays of the sun.

So this is perfect time for more in-the-field testing of my new camera, the Nikon D750. Full frame and as light as my (9 year old) D200! 

Below are a few shots that I've taken over the last few weekends.

"Peach Blossom" (c) Gilles Royer 2015

"L'Arome" (c) Gilles Royer 2015 

"Purple Cornflower" (c) Gilles Royer 2015

"Splash of Pink" (c) Gilles Royer 2015

These have also been published on my +500px portfolio: https://500px.com/groyer

And please also Like my +Facebook page dedicated to photography: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianLightSeeker

Thanks!

"Looking Back"

Today was such a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne, I just can't wait for Spring to be here, with its warmth, longer days, and plenty of beautiful flowers and bugs in the garden!

But whilst we wait for this, the gazanias in the garden still give me plenty of opportunities for macro photography - it's amazing how many shots I could take from the same flower, yet very different angles provide different backgrounds, colours, and light reflections

This one taken from the back of the flower, with a few water droplets on the petals. The colours under the flower are darker and more purple than the front (pink) of the same - look at my previous posts for other variations.

(c) Gilles Royer 2015

As always, I've posted this on my +500px gallery: https://500px.com/photo/119106251/looking-back-by-gilles-royer

as well as on my (new) Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianLightSeeker

Have a great weekend!

"Elegance in Pink" posted

I've taken those flowers many times before - they are beautiful pink gazanias and grow in a pot in our back garden. I've shot them across seasons, in different lights, different times of days, but the difference with this one is that I'm testing my new toy - a Nikon D750. 

I'm really excited about it! I also went during the week to take photos of Melbourne city by night - but more of that in a future post. 

The camera is really good (as expected!) and it's amazing when I compare it to my (old now) D200 - about the same size, yet the D750 is a full frame camera, packed with twice the number of pixels, a bigger and tilting screen, better sensor and AF system, etc. Plus I get to use again all my old FX lenses, especially my 28-70mm f/2.8 and my 50mm f/1.4

Anyway - enough about the camera. I hope the skills of the photographer also play their part in getting a great image :-)

"Elegance in Pink" (c) Gilles Royer 2015

As always, I've posted the photo also in my +500px gallery at the following link:
https://500px.com/photo/118305531/elegance-in-pink-by-gilles-royer

And you can also now discover my Facebook page dedicated to all things photographic: http://www.facebook.com/AustralianLightSeeker

"Moss & Flowers" posted

I'm still going through my stock of photos taken during my last trip to Europe, so keep looking for them! This one was taken in my parents' garden, a combination of moss and wild pink flowers, creating an interesting vegetal microcosm.

I've edited brightness and saturation, given I shot in RAW format. The shallow depth of field also created a more interesting image, creating a blurry foreground to anchor the photo, and a dark pink uneven background, to enhance the central pink flower (yes, there's nothing like breaking the rule of thirds I believe and put you key subject near the centre!!).

"Moss & Flower" (c) Gilles Royer 2015

The photo is also available in my +500px page: https://500px.com/photo/117524571/moss-flower-by-gilles-royer

And now on my new +Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AustralianLightSeeker