Photo of the Week – Don Kimmer

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“The Eyes Have It!”

Don Kimmer's Granddaughter Gia

Don Kimmer's Granddaughter Gia

What does it take to make a great casual portrait? A combination of good light, unobtrusive background, sharp focus on the eyes, a relatively long focal length, a wide aperture, a natural pose and…. maybe a little luck. The background here is a sidewalk (the blue tint indicates the shot was made in the shade). The lighting is soft and diffuse, not direct. The lens was zoomed in to 135mm and the f stop chosen was f/5.6 to blur the background. The pose is natural and perfect with the two hands on an apple which is about to be crunched.

This image was captured when Don was having lunch with his granddaughter at a local elementary school during one of those “grandparents’ day” invitations.

Photo of the Week – George Rembert

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Nature’s Quiet Fireworks.

George Rembert - Bursting Milkweed Pod

George Rembert - Bursting Milkweed Pod


This image goes back to November 1980, a Canon A-1 35mm SLR and color print film. A dry milkweed pod was brought into the house and placed on a table covered with a piece of dark green wool. The camera was mounted on a tripod and two flash units were connected to fire simultaneously. The shutter was set to 1/60 sec (the standard flash sync speed) and the correct aperture determined using a flash light meter. It would be the flash duration, not the shutter that would stop the action. The focus was set. The seed pod was then opened, the pressure inside the pod quickly forcing the seed out and the room air currents moving the seed away. There was time for only one shot before the scene was a jumbled mess. Fortunately everything worked as planned to produce this image-with an added good shot of luck.