Tag Archives: Nikon

Photo of the Week – Priscilla Popper

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The Exquisite Elegance of Nature

Priscilla Popper - Sea Shell on Red

Priscilla Popper - Sea Shell on Red


Question: What prompts nature to create such a perfect design of shape, symmetry, curves and texture merely to house and protect a sea mollusk? With all the intelligence that human architects, engineers and designers supposedly have and all the tools available to realize their dreams of beauty and perfection, they cannot improve or even emulate what is native to the world in which we live. One of the challenges of the artist photographer is to capture this remarkable world in a setting that offers a new opportunity to display and share this perfection. In this simple still life of a sea shell placed on a red, reflective background with natural sunlight streaming through a window, Priscilla has done exactly that.
Her camera was a Nikon D80 fitted with a 60mm macro lens. For maximum depth of field, the aperture was closed all the way to f/32 resulting in the necessity for a slow shutter speed of 2.5 seconds and the use of a tripod. She didn’t compromise on the quality or risk adding noise by staying with a low ISO of 100. The image above reflects all this careful planning.

Photo of the Week – Baron Cooper

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Exotic Creature Emerging From the Sea?

Late Afternoon on the Beach-Baron Cooper

Late Afternoon on the Beach-Baron Cooper


Not likely but that’s the impression one gets in this low, very wide angle shot by the ever creative Baron Cooper. What could have been an ordinary shot of a young boy playing on the beach is transformed into this striking image by positioning a tripod down at sand level and using the naturally warm color of the setting sun to light the scene. The deep depth of field and wide horizon is due to the use of a very wide angle 11mm lens. The various textures in the sand and the random shells help to provide an interesting foreground and lead the eye to the main focal point.
Baron’s camera was a Nikon D300, the shutter speed used was 1/50th with an aperture of f/8.0. The ISO was set at a low 200. All settings were ideal for this scene.