Nanette B. Stephens's Classic Photo Gallery

Mushroom In Creek
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My husband and I were walking in our forest preserve and came across this wonderful mushroom in full bloom in the creek. I took this with my Nikon D300 with my 18-55 lens at F 5.6, 1/80s in manual mode. I really like how full and open this mushroom looks.
Textures
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We have a bike path across the street from our house and there is a big cottonwood tree that has a section of the trunk missing which left a big opening. I took this close up of the exposed trunk section to show the various textures that make up the trunk. I took this with my Nikon D300, F6.3, 1/13s. manual and it was cloudy and lightly raining. I love how the textures can look like so many different things. Just use your imagination.
Stretching My Wings
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This was taken while on my lunch hour (12:00-1:00) at the local park in Geneva, Illinois on a cloudy day. There were several ducks there and I wanted to capture one of them while their were spreading their wings, and caught this female.
I took this with my Nikon D300, 55-300VR lens at 300mm, Aperture at F-6.3, Shutter at 1/1000s, Aperture Priority, Matrix, and ISO at 320.
Frozen & Not Frozen
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I took this with my Nikon D300 with 55-300mm VR lens in aperture priority, F-4.8, 1/3200s ISO 320, matrix metering, WB cloudy, focal length 140 mm.
I took this shot Jan. 30, 2014, at 12:26 pm during my lunch hour. It was a little cloudy but still bright enough for great pictures. I love how part of the dam is frozen up and part is still flowing. The tall ice forms below the dam also caught my eye because they are frozen straight up. This dam is in the park I usually go to daily in the warm weather for my lunch hour.
Blossomed Thistle In Plastic Wrap
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I took a photo of a thistle that was totally bloomed and had what looked like little white stars surrounding it while on my lunch hour. I took this with my Nikon D70s with VR 50-300mm lens set at 300mm, ISO 250, 1/60s, F11, and OEV at auto. I adjusted my contrast and saturation in Photoshop7 and went under Artistic and added the plastic wrap over the image. I intensified the plastic wrap to make it look like ice on the thistle. I really like how the photo turned out. This is the first time I tried using some of the features under the filter tab in PhotoShop7.
Dad & Mom & Baby Swans
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This is a follow up picture to my earlier one of the mother swan checking her eggs. I took this on June 5, 2012, while on my lunch hour which was very sunny day.
I cropped the photo in Photoshop 7, adjusted my brightness and contrast and then sharpened. I really like the looks on their faces as they were swimming right at me while the other little ones were off to the other side.
I took this with my Nikon D70s with the 55-300mm VR lens at 120mm, focus mode AF-S, AF area mode single, aperture F/8, 1/1000s, ISO 320, aperture priority, exposure compensation +0.7EV, and metering spot.
Swan - Head Shot
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My husband and I went to visit the Swans at the retention pond at the hospital where I took this head shot of the male swan, who is a big ham when it comes to having his picture taken. It was sunny and early evening (5:00 p.m.). I took several different head shots as he posed for me and I really like how detailed this shot turned out. I did some slight post processing of the shot in Photoshop 7 (adj. brightness & contrast & sharpened),
I took this with my Nikon D70s with VR 55-300mm lens at 300mm, focus mode AF-S, AF area mode single, aperture F/8, ISO 320, shutter speed 1/500s, aperture priority, metering spot, and exposure compensation +0.7EV.
Thank you for looking.
Just Watered
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I went to the little park in Geneva to take my lunch and the park maintenance guys just finished watering the plants in their little garden where I took this shot. I took this at 1:15 pm in the afternoon and it was sunny and breezy. Instead of taking a shot of a plain leaf with the water droplets, I took this one because it something which I thought added a little interest to the photo. My focus point was the center of the plant where the majority of water droplets where. I took this with my Nikon D70s with VR 55-300mm lens @ 300mm, Focus Mode AF-S, AF Area Mode Dynamic, Aperture F/8, ISO 320, Shutter Speed 1/125s, Aperture Priority, Exposure Compensation +0.7EV and spot metering.
I really like how you can the detail of the water droplets and the detail of the leaf as well. Thank you for looking.
Mother Swan Checking Her Eggs
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There is a hospital in Geneva, Illinois by where I work where they put a pair of Swans in the retention pond every year to mate and hatch their eggs. I took this on May 10, 2012, during my lunch hour on a nice sunny day just as she was checking the eggs and switching position. I took this with my Nikon D70s with 55-300mm VR lens @ 300mm, Aperture Priority @ F11, 1/550s, ISO 320, exposure compensation +0.3EV and metering at spot. I took several shots as she was checking the eggs and adjusting and was lucky enough to get this shot where you can see the eggs. I go back every other day to check and they haven't hatched yet. I will keep you posted when they do. Thank you for looking.
Worms Crawling
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I took this shot while walking in the Otter Creek Forest Preserve on April 25, 2012, at 7:01 p.m. My husband and I were walking our puppy and taking various shots of the worms and their cacoons and while I was taking the picture, I took this shot of the three crawling down the tree. I took this with my Nikon D70S with 50-300mm VR lens at 240mm, F16, ISO 320, 1/8s, AF-S, AF Area Mode Single, Aperture Priority, Exp. Comp. +0.3EV and metering at spot. I processed this in PhotoShop7 using sharpen and adjusting the contrast and brightness slightly and like how that brought out their body colors and how you can see their little body hairs.
Bird at the Park
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I took this while at the little park In Geneva at noon time while on my lunch hour. It was an over cast afternoon and while I was walking along the Fox River, I came across this little bird flying around in the tree and took several shots. I took this with my Nikon D70s with a 50-300mm VR lens at 165mm, AF mode at single, AF area single, aperture priority at F16, 1/25s, ISO 320, exp. comp. +0.3ev, metering at spot. I adjusted my contrast slightly and used sharpen to bring out the colors of the bird in PhtoShop 7 and I am pleased with how the photo turned out.
Rocket Ball
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This was taken at the litte park in Geneva on a nice sunny day during my lunch hour. I waited until the ball was sucked under by the current, and when the ball was shot back up, I took several shots. My goal was to freeze the water trail as the ball shot up into the air. I took this with my Nikon D70s with 50-300MM VR lens at 300mm, ISO 320, 1/1250s, F8 and +1.OEV. I processed the photo using PhotoShop 7 and cropped the photo to bring out the water trail.
Pigeon on the Deck
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I took this on a bright sunny afternoon (March 13th) while on my lunch hour. I was walking on the ramp that wraps around the Fox River, and when I was walking back to my car, I noticed this Pigeon on the edge of the deck looking for food. I took this with my Nikon D70s, 50-300VR lens at 155mm, ISO 320, 1/250s, F/5.6, +1.O EV, and Auto 0. I took this with the sun to my back and shining on the Pigeon which brought out the colors and processed in PhotoShop 7.
Sterling in the Park
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I took this picture of the Sterling while I was on my lunch hour at the little park in Geneva and the sun was shining. The bird was hopping around the grounds looking for food and I was able to catch this shot with the sun shining on the bird and bringing out the colors. This was taken with my Nikon D70s, 50-300mm VR lens at 300mm, ISO 320, 1/125s, F/16, +0.3EV with auto at 0 and cropped in Photoshop 7.
I See You
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I took this on Saturday, April 7, 2012, with my Nikon D70S, 55-300 VR lens at 300mm, ISO 320, 1/25s, F20, +0.3EV -Auto O while at Cantignay Park while my husband was taking pictures of the army tanks. The squirrel was running around on the tree and when he stopped, I was able to catch this shot. Post processing in PhotoShop 7.
Yellow Lily Close Up
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This was taken while on my lunch hour last Tuesday (3-20-12) which was a nice sunny day using my Nikon D70S with VR 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 lens at 300mm, ISO 320, 1/800s, F8 and OEV - auto. I was reading an article on close up photography and how to blur your backgrounds, and that is what I was shooting for. I focused on the center of the flower so the outer petals would be softer and slightly blurred with the background being totally blurred and was very pleased on how the photo turned out. I did some light post-processing in photoshop 7.
Squirrel Walking
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This was taken on July 2011 while I was at lunch in the park in Geneva. I was on the bridge over the Fox River watching the ducks & Geese and when I turned around, this little squirrel was walking towards me. I took seveal shots with my Nikon D70s, VR 55-300mm lens, at 300mm, ISO 320, 1/400s, F-13 and OEV Auto and post processing in PhotoShop 7.
Welcome Home Daddy
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They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I feel this picture says it all. This picture was taken by my nephew's girlfriend which she emailed to me. This is my nephew 1st Lt. Jeremy Jensen of the United States Marine Corp. hugging his son Hunter after returning September 9, 2011 from a six month tour in Afghanistan. This was taken using his Canon EOS Rebel at 1:01 a.m., September 9, 2011, F-Stop F/5, Exposure 1/60 Sec., ISO 400, Focal Length 45mm, Metering Pattern, and Exposure Bias 0.
Ladybug Gathering
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After we finished an early afternoon training session with our new German Shorthair Pointer puppy, Stone IV, as we were leaving my husband's hunt club property, we passed this opened milk pod with all of these ladybugs crawling all over it. I took this in October 2011 using my Nikon Coolpix L100, 26.8mm set at auto, ISO 80, 1/246.9s, F/5, and OEV auto at 0 and post processed very little through PhotoShop 7. I like how the color and the detail of the ladybugs turned out and how soft and silky the insides of the milk pods look.
Coming In For A Landing
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I took this while at the little park in Geneva, IL, while I was at lunch while it was a nice sunny day. I took this with my Nikon D70S SLR Digital Camera, Nikon VR 50-300mm lens at 300mm, ISO 250, 1/1600s, F-6.3, and OEV-Auto.0. I call this coming in for a landing as that is what the bird was doing. I like how I was able to freeze him in flight before he actually landed on the log. I processed this using Photoshop 7 using the curve feature and slightly adjusting the saturation.