Project 64: Sepia Fence 09.18.11

The color for Project 64 this week was Sepia. I thought the fence outside of my house was not a perfect match but it was full of sepia tones. I waited for the rain to let up a bit and then went out to shoot. I am still without Lightroom and learning Photoshop. I first warmed up the white balance and adjusted the basic settings. Then I used the healing brush to remove some of the spots on the fence. I kept some as I liked the imperfect look. Finally I ran Pioneer Woman's Lovely and Ethereal Action to soften the overall look. I think it added a bit of magic :o). I can see myself becoming addicted to actions. If you have any that you love I would love to hear about them!

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts and suggestions. Don't forget to come back on Tuesday for the Tones on Tuesday first ever link up!

Settings: ISO 200, 55mm, ss1/13, f/5.6 (full manual on tripod)

"The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be." - Robert Fulghum

Linking up with Project 64. Go show some love for the other sepia shots!

Favorite Photo of the Week: Seattle Skyline at Night 09.10.11

I am going to keep this post short as I just got home from work not too long ago and I am exhausted. My favorite photo this week is an edit I did for the Shoot and Edit: Good to Wow Challenge. The theme was night and the tutorial was about reducing noise. This photo was taken from Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill looking at the Seattle Skyline. You can read more about my experience capturing this shot here. I love the perspective of the Space Needle from this vantage point and I love how this edit warmed up the shot!

One more thing...recently one of the link ups that I love was discontinued so the owner could pursue a new link up. Lisa at The Long Road to China used to host Black and White Wednesday and now hosts Favorite Photo Friday. When I found out Black and White Wednesday was ending I contemplated starting my own link up. In an effort to respect what Lisa created I emailed her about my desire to start this. I also wanted her to know that she was the one who inspired me. The outcome of all of this is a link up to start on Tuesday called Tones on Tuesday. A place to show off your black and white and sepia toned photos. I hope you will come back on Tuesday and link up! And finally, here is my photo :o)!

Settings: ISO 400, 74mm, ss3.2, f/6.3 (full manual on tripod)

"Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Linking up with the sites below and learning from amazing photographers! Be sure to check them out!

Favorite Photo of the Week: Lily Pads of Beaver Lake 09.03.11

This week I have been thankful for the escape and fulfillment my photographic journey provides. Even though I don't get the chance to take pictures during the week I do get to edit and share my photos and that gives me such joy. Hearing from you what you think about my photos and how I can become better gives me such joy. Being acknowledged by amazing photographers for my work gives me such joy. I am filled with joy and I can definitely use it!

My favorite photo for the week is from a shoot at Beaver Lake of lily pads and flowers. I first posted it here and then again with the before and after here. It is my favorite because it was an unexpected find when visiting this new park and because the edit I did had a purpose that I achieved. I love discovering new parks, but you never know what you will find there. These lily pads and flowers were just sitting there waiting to be photographed :o). When I opened this photo in Lightroom, though, I was a little bummed because the colors were a bit washed out and some of the reflections in the water were distracting. I was able to correct both of these issues and I think the end result is beautiful. I am seriously contemplating printing this and framing it on my wall. 

I would love to know what you think of this photo. Thank you for adding so much to my journey to photograph my world!

Settings: ISO 100, 250mm, ss1/6, f/6.3 (full manual on tripod)

"The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer." - Author Unknown


Linking up with Fabulous Friday and Favorite Photo of the Week, the new Favorite Photo Friday and Better than the Best. My photo last week was chosen as top 5 by Jennifer. I am honored and humbled! Be sure to check out the inspiring and beautiful photos from this week!

 

Before and After: Lily Pads of Beaver Lake 09.03.11

There is no denying the power of editing and I have been using it this week to take my photos to a different place. I did some selective coloring yesterday and a creative color enhancing edit on Tuesday. The before and after I chose for today is from my color enhancing edit. While I love both of the edits I did this week, they are both creative edits as opposed to clean edits. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, but I do think it shows me that I have a ways to go in developing my photography skills. I love that I can take a picture that did not turn out amazing SOOC and make it an artistic representation. But through experience and more learning I hope to capture photos SOOC that leave me feeling the same way I feel after these edits. 

With my edit my main goal was to remove the tree trunks in the reflection of the water. This ended up removing all of the lines in the water which I do miss a bit. I am not sure how to accomplish both in Lightroom. I would love any tips or suggestions and I would love to know what you think of the original versus the edit. Thanks for stopping by!

Before 

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel Ti1 

Settings: ISO 100, 250mm, ss1/6, f/6.3 (full manual on tripod)

After

Edited with Adobe Lightroom

"It is only by loving nature, and going to her for everything, that good work can be done; but then we must look to her for the materials for pictures, not for pictures themselves. It is nature filtered through the mind and fingers of the artist that produces art, and the quality of the pictures depends on the fineness of that filter." - Henry Peach Robinson

Linking up with Pixel Perfect Blog Hop. Head over and see the other before and afters!

Lily Pads of Beaver Lake 09.03.11

Long, long day of teaching followed by a dentist appointment followed by work at home. I rewarded myself for finishing my work by editing one of my lily pad photos (the long awaited ones :o). This photo was taken at Beaver Lake Park near Issaquah. A corner of the lake is covered with lily pads and nestled among them are a few gorgeous magenta flowers. The whole scene is very zen and editing this photo brought me back to that feeling. My goal in capturing this photo was to communicate that zen feeling and showcase the contrast between the lily pads and the flower. In post processing I did a creative edit to make the colors pop and to minimize the reflection in the water under the lily pads as it was very distracting. I am really pleased with how it turned out. I would love to read your thoughts or suggestions. Thank you for stopping by!

Settings: ISO 100, 250mm, ss1/6, f/6.3 (full manual on tripod)

"If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water." - Loren Eisley

Linking up with Sweet Shot Tuesday. Head over and check out the other sweet shots!

Project 64: Melon Dahlia 09.04.11

The color this week at Project 64 was melon. I thought I had the perfect match with the dahlias in my backyard. When I went out to photograph them I noticed that they were nearing the end of their summer blooming. I tried to photograph them in their natural state but the lighting and the imperfections were too glaring. I decided to attempt staging for the first time. I tend to stick with natural shots and shy away from staging as nature usually does a better job than I can do :o). In this case, though, I gave it a shot. I removed the flower from the stem, pulled off the dead petals and placed it in a vase of water. I moved the vase around a bit to find light that wasn't too harsh and photographed it from above. 

In post processing I adjusted all the basic settings and played with the orange and yellow hues to bring out the melon color. I really like how the imperfections in the petals turned out in this shot and how the melon color is found in the gradation of color from dark to light. The water and vase also add to the overall effect and I think my first attempt at staging was somewhat successful. I would love to know what you think is the most important thing to keep in mind when staging still life photos and as always any other thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

 Settings: ISO 100, 55mm, ss1/30, f/5.6

"All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites." - Marc Chagall

Linking up with Project 64. Be sure to head on over and check out the other melon entries.

Project 64: Blue Wheelbarrows 08.28.11

This week's color at Project 64 was blue and was the most challenging for me to find so far. 

When I go out to shoot I am drawn to nature and can see compositions and framing in natural elements. The color blue is not made in abundance by mother nature. I have discovered it to be more of a man-made color. This presented a problem as I had to work harder to see shots with the color blue in them. This is purpose of this project, though, to expand my eye and photographic abilities. 

Today we went to Olympia, the capitol of Washington State. We were able to go in the Captiol Building, which is beautiful and will be the subject of some later posts this week :o). We then went to Capitol Lake Park and on the way there we drove past a True Value store. Sitting outside the store was a line of wheelbarrows in various colors, one of which was blue. I would not have noticed it if I wasn't looking for the color, but when I did there was something visually interesting about the shapes, colors and lines. In post processing I upped the temperature and tint, upped the saturation and contrast and decreased the brightness. I ran a lens correction and finally added a bit of a vignette (my first!). I really liked how it turned out. My first man-made subject photoblog post!

Thoughts and suggestions are always welcome!

Settings: ISO 400, 50mm, ss 1/640, f/5.6

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for." - Georgia O'Keffe


Linking up with Project 64, go check out the other blue entries!

Project 64: Green Yellow 08.18.11

Another shot from Chasing the Light shoot in my backyard. This is actually what I was shooting right before turning around and spotting the deer. I was looking for the color green yellow for this week at Project 64. 

I found this leaf in between all of the green leaves on a large plant. I think it is more yellow than I would have liked, but with the other green leaves I feel it works. My goal was to frame the shot so that it showed how I found the leaf - peeking through what was around it. I did this by having the depth of field be small, which is why I used a lower aperture. This is pretty much a straight out of camera shot with just lens correction done in Lightroom. There is something simple to this capture that I really like. 

Settings: ISO 100, ss 1/10, f/4.5

"The secret of living in peace with all people lies in the art of understanding each one by his own individuality." - Friedrich Ludwig Jahn

Linking up with with Project 64 for this week's color: Green Yellow. Head on over and check out other green yellow finds!

Daisies and Grape Leaves 08.14.11

Today has been a busy day with lots of errands to get ready for the unofficial and official start of the school year. I unofficially start tomorrow with a camp to get students ready for school and officially start in a couple of weeks. After all the errands I came home and watched Soul Surfer, which is an inspirational and heartwarming movie. It inspired me to head outside in the back yard and take some photos. This picture is the first area of the back yard I was drawn to and the first picture I took. My goal was to showcase the contrasting colors of the daisies and the grape leaves. In post processing I did some very minor work with color levels, brightness and contrast. There is a simplicity to all parts of the photo that I think works well. 

Settings: ISO 100, 1/15, f/5.6

"Don't hurry, don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So be sure to stop and smell the flowers." - Walter Hagen


I plan to have Mr. Hagen's advice be my motto for the school year and for my photography. I look forward to the journey!