Blog

Photographing Fireworks
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Photographing Fireworks

Last year, on the 4th of July, I made my first attempt at photographing fireworks. I had no plan, did no research, and just went for a walk and tried to take photos of some fireworks in the distance. It was a complete failure. This year was different

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New Headshot Gallery
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

New Headshot Gallery

I had the privilege of photographing the 2023 cast and crew of Wylie Acting Group’s production of Something Rotten. Photos from my headshot session with WAG are now available in my new Headshot Gallery.

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Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival

My wife and I came to the Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival for an evening out, and received much more than we expected. I’d love to say we came to see the performers, but we didn’t, at least not specifically. We came to get out of the house, spend time together, and live a life beyond work and home. We had a great time, ate good food, experienced great live performances, and stepped out of our usual routine.

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Mahler Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Mahler Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”

I had a birthday recently and one of the gifts I received was the photo book, Ernst Haas: New York in Color 1952-1962, published by Prestel. I’ll post a more comprehensive review soon, but for now, I wanted to post one of my favorite photos from the book.

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Ernst Haas - One of My Favorite Photos
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Ernst Haas - One of My Favorite Photos

I had a birthday recently and one of the gifts I received was the photo book, Ernst Haas: New York in Color 1952-1962, published by Prestel. I’ll post a more comprehensive review soon, but for now, I wanted to post one of my favorite photos from the book.

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Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D

This gorgeous 85mm prime was produced in the mid to late 1990s, and in order to autofocus this lens, it requires the camera body to have a focus motor, which the D780 does.

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Onion Blossoms
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Onion Blossoms

Unlike many other flowering plants, onions, when they blossom, are unpredictable. Their shapes are whimsical, and at times, chaotic.

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Black and White Nature Photography
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Black and White Nature Photography

In my previous post, Fields of Gold, the thing that drew my attention, pulled at my heart, and made me long to take those photos, was the color; vast fields of yellow. In this post, color did not draw me in. It was the sparkle of fuzzy stalks of grass and the serenity of a black and white moth alighted on a white flower.

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Fields of Gold
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Fields of Gold

A field of yellow flowers stretched out over a quarter mile! How can you resist?

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Ladybugs and Onion Blossoms
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Ladybugs and Onion Blossoms

I took a wander down and into a new location today, fields of yellow flowers drawing me in. Those photos will come another day, but in the meantime, a different kind of wonder and beauty caught my eye - ladybugs and onion blossoms.

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Dallas Arboretum with the D780
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Dallas Arboretum with the D780

My wife and I spent the morning at the Dallas Arboretum. It was the first time I’ve been able to get out and shoot with my D780, and I’m very happy with the quality of the images coming out of the camera!

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The Last Nikon DSLR - A Jewel of a Camera
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

The Last Nikon DSLR - A Jewel of a Camera

After the release of the Nikon Z6 Mirrorless camera, Nikon pulled one last DSLR hurrah, the D780. It is a DSLR photo/video hybrid that enables DSLR shooters to shoot how they are used to, but when switched into Live View, it acts like a Z6, at least in speed and functionality.

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Bees At Work
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Bees At Work

A lot of people are afraid of bees, but I have always found them fascinating. Bees, when working in an abundant food source, like in the photos below, have little interest in people unless those people are trying to harm them. For these photos, I was perfectly safe with bees buzzing happily all around me. Respect the bees, and they will respect you.

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Motion Blur
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Motion Blur

Inspired by Juan Fernando Arboleda (@jufarbol on Vero), who is starting a motion blur project, I took an opportunity while waiting for an appointment, to try my hand at it. The photo above is by far my favorite of over 200 taken on this day.

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Yellow, Black, and Grey
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Yellow, Black, and Grey

I would like to say, thank you, to the architect responsible for this building design.

I won’t tell you the purpose of this building because when it comes to photography, that is immaterial. I will say, however, that number of photographic opportunities this building provided was disproportionate to its usage, and it just proves that things can be both functional and beautiful.

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Simon d'Entremont, Thank You.
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Simon d'Entremont, Thank You.

I’ve been convinced for a long time that my “old” camera had a limitation that I could not overcome, which is poor low-light performance, an issue that specifically manifests itself in grainy, unusable photos at high ISO.

OK, so, I’ve been wrong this whole time.

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Dried Roses
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

Dried Roses

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and I rescued these roses just as they were about to make their way into the waste bin. There is still a lot of beauty left in them.

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70mm Bird Photography?
Stiles Watson Stiles Watson

70mm Bird Photography?

Not having anything close to the kind of money it takes to buy serious bird photography lenses, I do the best with what I have, which is a 24-70mm f/2.8G on an APS-C crop sensor camera. In a similar situation? Read for tips on photographing birds with “short” telephoto lenses.

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