Style Tips and Tricks: What Have I Been Shooting Lately?

I thought for my tips and tricks post this week that I would share what I have been shooting lately - a mix of sunset shots, landscapes and macros - and what I have been pondering. Lately, I have been wondering a lot about my style. I must say that I have a great deal of learning and growing to do before I am specifically able to define my style. However, I wanted to share a few things I have discovered about it so far.

1. True to Life - Don't get me wrong, I love presets, textures and other techniques that drastically change a photo from what was seen. However, I feel most accomplished and fulfilled when I am able to produce a photo that is as close to what I saw in reality as possible. 

2. Vibrant and Saturated - I love for my pictures to have vibrant and rich colors. At times I over saturate and use the vibrance a bit too much in my editing, something I am working on, but I feel that the world is full of such amazing color and I want my photos to show that. 

3. Details and The Big Picture - With the new addition of a macro lens I now find myself wanting to capture not only the big picture of the landscape, but also the little details. A variety of perspectives is something that is important to me in life and in photography. 

4. The Feeling of a Place - My goal has evolved as I have taken more and more pictures from capturing what I see to capturing the feeling of what I see. One of the things I love about travel is that each place I visit leaves me with a lasting feeling, whether it be the serenity of the beach or the awe inspiring beauty of a sunset, I always walk away with something. I strive to communicate that feeling in my photos. 

The concept of style has been elusive to me and I have only started to understand it as I have discovered photographers who inspire me who have a distinct style - something that makes me know a picture was taken and edited by them. I don't think I have that yet, but I am moving in the right direction :o). 

I would love to hear how your search for your photography style is going. Feel free to share in the comments or on the Facebook page!

Settings: ISO 400, 50mm, ss1/125, f/16

Location: Astoria, Oregon Riverwalk

Settings: ISO 800, 50mm, ss1/400, f/16

Location: Astoria, Oregon Riverwalk

Settings: ISO 400, 100mm, ss1/400, f/6.3

Location: Fort Stevens State Park

Settings: ISO 400, 50mm, ss1/640, f/10

Location: Fort Stevens State Park

Settings: ISO 400, 100mm, ss1/250, f/6.3

Location: Fort Stevens State Park

Settings: ISO 800, 50mm, ss1/1250, f/14

Location: Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

Settings: ISO 1600, 100mm, ss1/400, f/2.8

Location: The Summit at Snoqualmie Pass 

Settings: ISO 1600, 100mm, ss1/320, f/2.8

Location: The Summit at Snoqalmie Pass

“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.” – Steve McCurry

Coming up in the next few weeks for Tips and Tricks - 

1. My favorite iPhone and iPad Photography Apps (I will also be hosting a giveaway for the apps I feature)

2. My favorite photography blogs and photographers

3. Is there something you want to know about? Just let me know!

Tones on Tuesday #34 05.22.12

Please link up your photos for this week on last week's linky. 6 showcases will be featured next week. I look forward to your photos!

Shelly at Foto Shelly

I love the soft tones with the hints of yellow and pink. Delicate, ethereal and simply beautiful! Thank you for sharing with us Shelly!

Rural Revival

The selective focus is lovely, the soft greens and whites are beautiful and I LOVE the quote. What a stunning photo, thank you for linking up!

Nancy at A Rural Journal

This little guy looks like he is the picture of curiosity. The colors are amazing, the texture is beautiful and this photo is such an impressive capture. Thank you for sharing Nancy!

Shelly, Rural Revival and Nancy please go HERE to grab your showcase button.

Now it's your turn to share your photo with altered tones. Here are the guidelines for Tones on Tuesday:

• The basic idea is to share one photo where you have altered the tones. Such as a black and white, sepia toned, selective coloring or colored photo. Feel free to share the original and edit, or just the edit.
• Please share a photo that you have taken and edited yourself.
• One photo per photographer please. If you have more than one photo in your post please indicate which one if for Tones on Tuesday.
• Please link up with your permalink and not your blog address.
• Attach the Tones on Tuesday button or a link back here to your post.
• Leave comments for at least 3 other participants, share the love :o)!
• Have fun!

<center> <a href="http://scatteredhorizons.blogspot.com" target="_self"><img border="0" alt="Scattered Horizons" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_U2oqLh1UmXZMxfX_WPVaPVWJYh_HuiqvmOJi2frJOmTvsFe8rQPCPuzZfqD9Rm5Lz1E9ijR7i5_09GjPNDZeIcGNOwpU1VlkboGqGPGHxc0q-s28fzb99utdKzU6TvONWyodJtseQ/s1600/tonesontuesday2.jpg"></a> </center>

Disclaimer - By participating you give Scattered Horizons permission to share your photo on this blog. Photographers will be given credit for their work.

Spent the weekend at the beach, recharged my batteries and spent some quality time with my camera. With the rapid descent to the end of the school year now in full swing, I am clinging to moments such as those this weekend to keep in my mind as I move forward. This is a photo taken at Fort Stevens State Park, one of my favorite beach parks in Oregon. This is of the dunes on the walk to the see the sunset. I wanted to capture the soft colors and with a bit of tweaking in Lightroom to the basic settings it conveys the dreamy quality I felt when seeing it.  

Settings: ISO 200, 32mm, ss1/100, f/9.0 (cloudy wb)

"Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Joining the link ups below. Be sure to check out the beautiful shots and join the Tones on Tuesday link up found further down!

         

I Clicked it Up a Notch - February

Even though I love I Clicked it Up a Notch hosted by Courtney, I was a little nervous to participate this month as I have stumbled quite a bit when it comes to my photography goals. However, as I mentioned in my Tones on Tuesday post I plan to start fresh and to do that I need to reflect in order to grow.

While I didn't do too well on many of my goals in February, there was one that I really tried to commit myself to...

Goal 12. Take a 10 minute time-out during every photo shoot - As I mentioned when I made this goal, I often get caught up in taking pictures and finding the shot and then I miss opportunities and moments. Therefore, I have been purposefully pausing to put my camera down and just be in the moment and in the beautiful places I go to photograph. More often than not, this is when I stumble upon a favorite shot from the shoot. An unexpected image or perspective that I would not have seen within the viewfinder. It also allows me to experience a place more fully as I open my other senses beside sight to the space. 

The photo below happened as I was sitting in the dunes on the Long Beach Peninsula taking my 10 minutes. My main focus when on the beach is the sun, sand and waves. I love shooting through beach grasses, but my aim is usually to frame the beach and ocean. As I was taking my 10 minutes I was fascinated by the way the light played in the grasses, cast shadows on the sand and how well the colors of the grass and the sky and the water worked together. I am very glad I took my time-out and was able to "see" this shot :o). 

Settings: ISO 200, 50mm, ss1/4000, f/3.2 

(full manual, sunlight wb, clean edit in Lightroom)

"The best things in life are unexpected - because there were no expectations."
- Eli Khamarov