etee's Photo Blog

While the gallery is still not working yet, I have decided to resume (to a limited extent) posting of photos I want to share with others.

Today's photos are the start of a series I am going to post from the Japan Festival, held in Hermann Park by the Japan America Society of Houston. This festival celebrates the rich cultural heritage of Japan with activities that represent traditional Japanese entertainment, sport, food and art.

One of the traditional art forms is known as 'bonsai'. Literally translated as 'tray planting', bonsai is an art form where a miniature tree is developed into an aethsetically pleasing shape. The Houston Bonsai Society holds their spring show in conjunction with the Japan Festival, and the following pictures were taken of one of the many trees that were on display.

I took this particlar shot using my Lensbaby 2.0, a selective-focus lens that produces an interesting perspective where part of the photo (the 'sweet spot' is in focus, and the rest of the photo is not. I then adjusted the image in Photoshop Elements 3.0 using the Exposure from Alien Skin Software. The first image was adjusted using the settings for Fujichrome Astia 100F.

The shooting data is as follows:

• Canon EOS-5D
• ISO-100
• 1/320 sec
• F/4.0
• sRGB color space
• LensBaby 2.0
• Photo adjusted in Photoshop Elements 3.0, using Exposure from Alien Skin Software, using the settings for Fujichrome Astia 100F

And, here is the image:

Bonsai at Japan Festival, April 2006
(click on image to view full size)

The second image is the same shot as the first, and it was adjusted using the settings for Kodak Tri-X 400, long a favorite film of mine for black-and-white shooting.

And, here is the image:

Bonsai at Japan Festival, April 2006
(click on image to view full size)

Photographs copyright © 2006 E D Truitt. All rights reserved.