NATURE & WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP ON CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND VIRGINIA: DAY 4 MORNING

Day 4: Sunrise Shoot at Taylor's Landing VA

I seriously cheated on this photograph. I wanted just the house on stilts. I tried taking the shot from a variety of angles, but nothing felt or looked right. 

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I jokingly call my 'bad' photographs the raw material from which a much better photograph can be created. I wanted the house on stilts, but how to get what I wanted from what I had. With an enormous assist from Lightroom and a couple of creative editing programs from Topaz Labs, I got that photograph.

I cropped the photograph to get rid of the pickup and backhoe. The telephone/electrical wires were distractions that had to go as well. 

According to the histogram, the exposure was right. (A big THANK YOU to Jim for teaching us how to use the histogram in camera. Now I need to master spot metering...) I didn't want the house in silhouette, so I opened up the shadows all the way. A couple of nifty filters enhanced the sun coming up behind the house and added a bit of nostalgic texture.


House On Stilts, Taylor's Landing VA

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NATURE & WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP ON CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND VIRGINIA: DAY 3

The morning of Day 3 found us in a lovely state park in Maryland. 

Many of the trees hadn't leafed out yet, but the dogwoods were in bloom. Seeing dogwoods blooming in 'the wild' was a treat for me. Most of us are familiar with ornamental dogwoods, covered in the spring with big, showy flowers. Wild dogwoods are more delicate, softer in appearance. They get your attention without the need to shout.

One of our goal was to take photographs of reflections. Jim Clark, our instructor, also said, for those interested, that a nearby pool was home to toads. Hmm... Photographing dogwoods or reflections versus toads? Tough decision. I headed toward the water while the rest of the group made tracks to see toads.

I am not entirely thrilled with this photograph. It doesn't feel quite right. I think I should have shot it in 'portrait' aspect rather than 'landscape'. As every photography instructor I've ever had has said, "When shooting your subject, always use different exposures, apertures, angles, aspects, etc." 

Canoe Reflection  

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Original photograph. 

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Nice reflection, but a bit dull. What can I do to make the photograph 'pop'?

Voila!

April Morning At The River

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I really wish I could paint. Yeah, I know it's never too late to learn. Thing is, I don't think there are enough years left in my life to become a truly proficient painter. There are, however, amazing editing programs that convert photographs into 'paintings'. So with a bow of deep admiration & respect to my friends who are genuine painters, I give you my 'painting'.

April Morning At The River: A 'Photographic Painting' 

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NATURE & WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP ON CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND VIRGINIA: DAY 2

During my week on Chincoteague Island, the weather was lovely. The days were mild & sunny. After a long, wet, gloomy Seattle winter, a taste of spring was delightful. 

On the second day of the workshop we were in the marshlands of Chincoteague Island. We shot from a road crossing the marsh. This was the view to the east.

Sunrise Over Marshlands, Chincoteague Island, Virginia

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This was the view to the west.

Moonset Over Marshlands, Chincoteague Island, Virginia

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After a couple of hours shooting, it was time for breakfast in the field. I had taken my camera off the tripod when someone in the group noticed elk crossing the marsh. The elk were moving at a brisk pace, so I had to shoot from the hip. 

Here is one the original photographs. Way overexposed. In the rush to get the shot, everything I ever learned about photography flew out of my head. The composition, surprisingly, was not too bad. 

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Fortunately, I was shooting in RAW. In Lightroom, I was able to salvage the photograph. It is not perfect technically. That said, I had my first wildlife photograph! Yay!

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NATURE & WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP ON CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND VIRGINIA: DAY 1

In April I participated in a weeklong nature and wildlife photography workshop on Chincoteague Island, Virginia. The workshop was through Road Scholar.

When I was in elementary school, I read Misty of Chincoteague Island by Marguerite Henry, a book about the wild ponies of Chincoteague Island. As a kid, I was crazy about horses. I hoped during my week on Chincoteague Island I might see some of the wild ponies I had read about so many years ago.

The workshop began at 5:30 AM when we boarded a bus which took us to a site to do sunrise photography. Jim Clark, our instructor, warned us the first day would be a tough one. We would fight our equipment and wonder what the hell we were doing. He was absolutely right. I fought with my camera, wondered what the hell I was doing, while managing to lose a lens cap & an expensive polarizing filter.  

At the end of the workshop, everyone participating in the workshop presented their eight photographs.

Here is my first photograph. Sunrise Over Atlantic, Assateague Island VA (Assateague Island is the barrier island that protects Chincoteague Island.)

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I never thought I had much interest in nature or wildlife photography. A week with Jim Clark shifted my thinking. Jim shared with us a wealth of information about the birds of the mid-Atlantic coast and marshlands gathered from a lifetime of study & photography. Bird calls, mating plumage and behavior, etc.   

Unfortunately, my bird photographs left much to be desired. Jim, however, successfully planted a seed of interest about wildlife photography. 

I was much more pleased with my photographs of inanimate objects. 

Chincoteague Island Lighthouse

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I used an filter to give the photograph an faded, aged look. Remember that trip to the beach with your family back in 1967?

I'M A 'PAINTER'

When I was growing up, I loved to draw and color. In elementary school, I was as fond of 'art time' as I was of history and geography. Math and science, uh, not so much.

My mother, while thinking art was beautiful, really didn't think an art education would result in a career that paid one's bills.

Another road block happened in 7th grade. I can't begin to describe how excited I was by the idea of having an art class. A whole hour every day devoted to art! The class, unfortunately, was a soul-sucking experience. As an adult, I have come realize the gentleman who taught the art class was probably a deeply frustrated, deeply unhappy individual. He did very little to empower me. Rather I became terrified that I wasn't doing an assignment just right. I dreaded showing my work. The teacher crushed my budding art aspirations by making it clear who the artists were in the class. I wasn't one of them. 

I never took another art class until I was a freshman in college where I was required to have three art credits. I took a history of art class. The instructor was a passionate woman who loved art. By that time, however, I felt quite the 'fish out of water'. Most of the students in class were artists who knew so much more about the subject than I did. 

My next hands-on experience with art came many years later when I volunteered to help the art docent in my son Matthew's 2nd grade class. The docent, an accomplished artist in her own right, was the mother of one of the students, . She radiated with joy about art, as though teaching art to a roomful of wiggly 7 years olds was the greatest thing she could be doing with her life. One day the docent presented a slideshow featuring works of art about the weather. She showed this painting. 

Another volunteer, an artist, leaned towards me and whispered, "The left leaning lines in that piece give off so much urgency. You can feel the movement." My response... "Uh, yeah, sure." I really had no idea what she was talking about. I just found the painting gripping.

So, here I am, almost two decades later, trying to be an 'artist'. I have little confidence in what I am doing, but I am having a great time doing it. I feel like a preschooler finger-painting, making the grass orange under a tree with bright blue leaves.

There are wonderful programs available that allow one to convert a photograph into a 'painting'. Oh, yes, I know it is never too late to learn a new skill. I fear, however, it would take me many years to become a truly proficient painter, if ever. And, honestly, I'm too impatient to wait anymore. So today, I gave myself a photography assignment. 

Here is the raw photograph, taken with my iPhone 6 using only light from a bright window, 

    
Now, first finished/edited photograph. I cropped the photograph, warmed up the temperature, opened up the shadows, reduced the highlights, and desaturated the colors a bit. 

Looking at the photograph above, I was struck by the feeling of calm I gave me. I wanted to take that feeling one step further, so I converted the photograph to a 'painting' with a soft, dreamy monochromatic color scheme.

NEW YEAR'S EVE 2013/NEW YEAR'S DAY 2017

Was a bit under the weather on yesterday. Definitely not how I planned to welcome the New Year. Housebound, I spent the day in my photography playground. 

In 2013, my son John and I traveled to NYC. We were there for the week between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. We had a wonderful time. Ate way too much New York style pizza. 

New Year's Eve found us wandering around Central Park where I took the photograph below, using my little Nikon point-and-shoot camera. 

Hardly a pretty picture. However, when I examined the photograph more closely, I realized I had caught two people standing close together on the bridge, looking at the pond. There was my story. 

Dorothy Parker's quote "Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye" is my new motto. From that quote sprang Winter Wonderland. 

Wish I could say I had a plan in mind when I started, but I didn't. The final photograph came about after a lot of trial and error.

The original photograph has two weaknesses, in my opinion. One is the very dull, but very winter color scheme. No crystal blue sky or sparkling snow to make the photograph pop. The other is the tangle of bare bushes in the foreground.

I opted to play off the winter color scheme rather than fight it. The lack of color reminded me of old, faded photographs. I cropped the photograph and added a fog filter to give a hazy, dreamlike quality. I removed a number of twigs and branches in the foreground. Eliminating those distractions opened up the area around the bridge a bit and brought more focus to the couple on the bridge. The underbrush in the foreground served very nicely as a background for the Winter Wonderland caption. Lastly, an aged border for that final old time photograph touch.

A gentle reminder: All Rights Reserved

ELECTRIC ANEMONE

I have discovered that one of the things I like best about photography is taking a photograph and making it something different. 

I balk at calling what I do 'art' because I really don't believe I have earned the right to call myself an artist. A 'creative exercise' feels much more comfortable.

Here is today's creative exercise.

Last spring, I took this photograph of an anemone. When I look at it, I think of white linen and pearls.  

A couple of years ago, a meme appeared on my Facebook feed asking what I would buy if someone gave me $50. Books, of course! I have to modify that response now. Extra $50? Books and photo editing software! 

Today, I purchased Topaz Lab's Glow 2. (It was on sale!) I had to take my new toy out for a spin. I rotated the photograph, cropped it a bit, and reduced the exposure of the background to get rid of distractions. Then it was time to release the lovely anemone's inner wild child!

Still lovely, in my opinion, but now with just a bit of attitude!

'Electric Anemone'

FLOWERS IN MOONLIGHT

Last week, the moon was gloriously full. I arrived home late one evening to find bright moonlight streaming in through the large glass panel in the back door, creating a long, sharply etched pool of light on the tile floor.

Capturing the effect would be a wonderful opportunity for me to practice night photography techniques. I crossed my fingers, hoping the next night would be clear, and began thinking through 'the shoot'. 

Initially, I thought to only shoot the moonlight on the tile. Simple, dramatic.

Dramatic, yes, but maybe too simple. The composition needed something. As sunset approached, I gathered white nicotiana from my garden and placed them in a clear glass vase. 

Backlit by the moonlight, the petals of the nicotiana glowed. The stretched and slightly smudged shadow cast by the flowers provided an interesting contrast to the straight lines on the floor.

SUSAN VERSUS HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE

In the post prior to this one, I wrote about taking photographs of the waterfall where the buildings and sky in the background were too bright...

...or the waterfall was too dark, but the buildings and sky looked better.

I went in search of a solution and learned about high dynamic range. (What did we do before the internet?)

• Read the online article HDR: A Beginner's Guide to High Dynamic Range Photography  http://www.digitaltrends.com/how-to/what-is-hdr-beginners-guide-to-high-dynamic-range-photography/#ixzz4AuCyvzLV
• Watched a video by Canon on HDR photography          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP8MRjxY86w
• Studied the manual that came with my camera (not much help there, really) 
• Upgraded my copy of Lightroom to Lightroom CC
• Played with the settings on my camera
• Shot a few practice photos
• Played with the settings on my camera
• Shot a few practice photos
• Played with the settings on my camera
• Shot a few practice photos

Finally it was time to load up Enzo and head back to Bellevue Downtown Park. I was ready to tame the high dynamic range beast. 

Golden Hour √

Tripod √

Camera √

Memory Card S**t!

The next evening, I returned, memory card inside my camera. 

Golden Hour √

Tripod √

Camera √

Memory Card √√

Bellevue Skyline √

Waterfall... wasn't operating... Noooo..... followed by S**t!

I tell you all this in explanation as to why the final photograph doesn't include the waterfall. What you see in the foreground is the pool at the top of the waterfall. 

There was no way I was leaving the park without my prize, so I took this photograph. Not what I was hoping for, but not a bad beginning.

PHOTOGRAPHY FUN WITH A PHOTOGRAPHY FRIEND

We've been blessed with temperatures in the 80s in the Seattle area the last few days. Saturday evening, my photography buddy Joy and I headed out to enjoy the early taste of summer and practice our newly acquired knowledge about shutter speed. 

Our destination: Bellevue Downtown Park. The centerpiece of the park is a waterfall feature, the perfect place for a shutter speed exercise. 

Shutter speeds allows the photography to depict motion in her photograph. In the case of a waterfall, a fast shutter speed stops the fall of water in its tracks, so to say. A slow shutter speed, on the other hand, smooths the falling water, giving it an ethereal, hazy quality.

(When doing photography with Joy, you can be certain she will chronicle the endeavor.)

After reviewing my photographs at home, I wasn't thrilled with the results. We took our photographs during the Golden Hour, the magical hour of golden light before sunset. The light was indeed gorgeous, but the waterfall was in the shade, while above and behind the waterfall, the shining glass and metal buildings of downtown Bellevue were in bright sunlight. To make a long story short, I had issues with the exposure of the photographs that showed the waterfall against a backdrop of buildings. The waterfall was too dark; the buildings too bright. The exposure issue called for additional study, followed by a reshoot.

I did, however, get a couple of good shots of a Mallard duck and her drake at ease in the pool below the waterfall. I liked how the slow shutter speed had smoothed out the waves of the pool. The stillness of the ducks, the reflection of light off the softly rippling water gave the photograph an air of cool serenity. I added a filter to fade the color of the photograph, further enhancing the sense of restfulness.

PHOTOGRAPHING A PHLOMIS

I gave myself the following challenge:

1. Photograph the phlomis blooming in my garden
2. Take the photograph in situ
3. Use my Nikon Coolpix point-and-shoot camera, without a tripod
4. Take the photograph in the bright light of midday

Behold the phlomis...

I am a big fan of this plant. I love its unusual form, boldness, quilted leaves and whorls of fuzzy flowers. It's like a cheerful yellow exclamation point in my garden. That said, I found it a difficult subject to photograph. Should I try to capture its statuesque beauty? Or should I zero in on the flowers?

I decided to go close up, taking the photograph at a bit of an angle. I converted the photograph to black and white so the wonderful form and texture of the flower took centerstage.

PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE 40: PIECES

CaptureYour365 
Week 5: Inspiration Week
Day 40: 'Pieces'


It's been a busy week. Today's post is actually a challenge from last week. It is also from my archives.

The photograph is a close-up of a small section of a lantern, usually lit with a candle, but in this case, placed in a sunny window. Small pieces of colored glass arranged in a rough herringbone pattern create a glowing mosaic.

PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE 37: 'DUAL'

CaptureYour365 
Week 5: Inspiration Week
Day 37: 'Dual'

This post sort of harkens back to Day 14: Black & White. If you would like to take a look at that post, here is the link... 

http://susanthroughtheviewfinder.blogspot.com/2016/01/captureyour365-prompt-14-black-and.html

Perhaps not the most imaginative photograph, but a fun still life to do.

In keeping with the prompt 'dual', everything in the photograph is in pairs, even the colors: black & white (OK, more like shades of black and white). Added a filter to give the photograph an aged, scratched appearance.

'Salt & Pepper'

FRIDAY FOTOGRAPHY FUN

Last Friday, I shared the second assignment from the iPhone photography class I took in November. 

Today, I want to present the last assignment for that class.

I was to take photographs for a magazine of my creation. Those photographs were to include: 

• Cover photograph
• Two-page spread photograph
• Inset photograph

*****

Before proceeding, I need to acknowledge the help of the following individuals.

• A big THANK YOU to Tracy who does my nails and allowed me to take photographs in her shop. 
• A big THANK YOU to Tracy's staff for letting me follow them around as they did their work.
• A big THANK YOU to Tracy's clients who allowed me to photograph them and use those photograph in my assignment.

*****

The photographs shown were all taken with my iPhone and edited with iPhone applications.

All Rights Reserved

Original photograph for cover shot

Final photograph for cover shot: All color removed except for reds to focus attention on color of toenails. Text added for the name of my fictitious magazine.

Original photograph for two-page spread

Final photograph for two-page spread: Cropped to two-page spread dimensions and filters used to intensify colors.

Original photograph for inset 

Final photograph for inset: All color removed except for browns to focus attention to face and hands.

PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE 35: 'ROCKY'

CaptureYour365 
Week 5: Inspiration Week
Day 35: 'Rocky'


Lovely morning here today. Before the sun disappeared behind the increasing overcast, I headed down to Lake Washington to get a 'rocky' photograph.

'Rocky'

PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE 33 & 34: 'FOLDED' & 'COARSE'

CaptureYour365 
Week 5: Inspiration Week
Day 33 & 34: 'Folded' & 'Coarse'


It took me a couple of days to figure out how to approach this assignment.  In the end, I decided to combine two prompts into one photograph.

I used my Nikon Coolpix point-and-shoot camera to photograph an anthurium flower in natural light. Keep in mind the prompts 'folded' and 'coarse'. 

Anthurium flower unedited

Personally, I found photographing an anthurium flower a bit difficult. Everything about this plant is BOLD: its foliage, its flowers, the color of the flower.

So, I decided not to fight the anthurium's boldness. 

I cropped the photograph into a square and added a filter to intensify the color of the entire flower to a screaming tropical orange. I like how the color and the flower's shape now give a borderline abstract quality of the photograph. 

Then, I decided to go the other direction.

I did a little different crop and added a filter that removed the color. No color allows the 'folded' and 'coarse' qualities of the flower to pop. Now, the photograph reminds me of an old botany print.

PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE 32: 'FROSTY'

CaptureYour365 
Week 5: Inspiration Week
Day 32: 'Frosty'


Seattle really isn't known for it's frosty winters. Rain, yes; 'freeze-dried rain', not so much. If you feel the urge to make a snow angel, you'll need to head for the mountains.

Right now it's 43° outside. Wasn't even cold enough last night for frost. Brisk, yes, but definitely not frosty. It's off to the archives I go...

I took the photograph below last July in Norway, high up in the mountains of the Jotunheimen. This is, according to Norwegian folklore, the home of the giants. I didn't see any giants, but I did see members of the Norwegian Olympic cross-country ski team. 

Of course, one could argue, when it comes to cross-country skiing, Norwegians are giants.

This was an excellent photograph to work on my white balance skills in editing. The original photograph has a distinct blue cast. It feels cold, lonely, isolated. If that was effect I was going for, I would be happy.

  
But, what if I didn't want such a strong blue cast? What if I wanted the snow to be whiter? I have to adjust the white balance. Bring more yellow into to offset the blue.

After adjusting the white balance, the snow in the photograph above is much whiter. 

I thought it still a bit too much on the blue-gray side. I up the whites for the final photograph below. It looks like a black and white photograph except for the exposed ground in the middle of the frame showing a hint of color.

'Somewhere in Jotunheimen'

PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE 31: 'TEXTURE'

CaptureYour365 
Week 5: Inspiration Week
Day 31: 'Texture'


I decided to add another level of 'challenge' to today's assignment by using my Nikon Coolpix 'point and shoot' camera. 

With Enzo, my dog, in tow, I headed out on my photographic safari. 

Today's offering: 'Sedums on Rocks'

A nice photography. Lots of texture, for sure. I wanted something with just a bit more punch.

A few filters later, I had this result.

FRIDAY FOTOGRAPHY FUN

Last Friday, I wrote about the iPhone photography class I took and how I was inspired to use the wonderful editing apps available.

Today, I want to share with you the second assignment for that class.

For the second assignment, I was to photograph the following: 

• Sky
• Portrait
• Night

The photographs shown were all taken with my iPhone and edited with iPhone applications.

All Rights Reserved

Original Photograph: 'Sky'

And turned it into this...

For the second part of the assignment, I went to my favorite model, Joy.

Original photograph: 'Portrait'

And turned Joy's portrait into this...

I love how the photograph of Joy turned out. There is something about it that makes me think of a Renaissance-era portrait, updated, of course.

Unfortunately, I wasn't pleased with any of the night photographs I took. I am, therefore, substituting the photograph below. A wonderful sunset shot and a very lucky one at that! Taken with my iPhone and edited to intensify the color.

'Seattle Sunset'