Jerry Rauser
Closer To Home
To view photo gallery, click the photo or title.
Herons - Minnesota
This gallery shows photos of Great Blue Herons. They were photographed on a small island in the Mississippi River near Minneapolis. Each spring, male herons bring small branches to their mates to build nests. Hopefully, they will raise four chicks. In the winter, when the water freezes, they all migrate south.
Nature's Tiny Artistic Masterpieces
Here are macro photos of exotic beetles, a butterfly and orchids. They were taken on my desktop with camera connected and controlled by my computer. The technique is call stacked focus. As many as 50 images were captured at different focus distances from the nearest to farthest points of the subject. They are then merged together with photo software. Before this technical advance was developed, these highly detailed photos were impossible to capture. The subjects are truly artistic masterpieces of nature with their bright jeweled colors and interesting features. They have all evolved to earn their living in their natural environments. Camera was Canon 60D, Canon 100mm macro lens and bellows extension.
These are artistic renderings of photos from the Minnesota Renaissance Fair. Effects used were oil paint, water color and impasto. Texture was then applied with a variety of multiple overlays.
I always take a camera on bike trail rides along the Mississippi River. The flowers and insects shown are native to Minnesota. Their beauty is stunning in close-up view.