You have a good chance of encountering bins of goods for sale when you’re traveling. They often make interesting subjects for a pocket camera photo. The photos are colorful, make interesting texture patterns, and provide something to ponder when you return home and have the time. There is more to see in the photos than you had time to contemplate on the spot.

Spring flowers are slowly appearing on the California coast. On the beach near Monterey recently I found purple sand verbana. (There is also a yellow variety.) The purple variety it quite striking close up, but the flowers are so small it can be missed. Each flower in the cluster is about a quarter inch (6 mm) across. As the season progresses the flower becomes common in the sand along the coast.

Larger version “here”:http://quickshotartist.com/blog/images/250.jpg

Spring flowers mean close-ups to photographers. Close-ups mean problems with getting the subject in focus. The best way to control focus is to use a single-lens reflex camera on a tripod and accurately preview the focus while making adjustments. That’s a good approach if you are not in a public garden with your wife saying “Are you done yet?” There is a strategy for getting the job done quickly with a pocket camera.

The effects of light on a subject depends upon the the positions of the subject, the camera, and the light source. I am fond of strong back lighting, which depends upon getting subject, camera, and light source carefully aligned. Set up correctly, back lighting has the potential of giving subjects the drama they deserve. Subjects like scrambled eggs or sorbet, for example. With a lightweight pocket camera and a small subject, the camera can be held in one hand and the subject in the other to very quickly get the lighting aligned.

One rule of close ups is that they can be taken as well in a shopping center as a botanical garden, because the close up excludes the surroundings. Another rule for close ups is to try an extreme closeup. Here is such an experiment: