Daily Image - Apr 2015 Archive

April Fools. My current camera was purchased as a replacement for the previous one for a single reason; it can record video. And the video I wanted to record was that of the geese on Fir Island launching because my writing about them just doesn't do justice to their lift off scenario. I made this video about 3 years ago and am just finally getting around to sharing. Sad. On our return from shooting tulips yesterday we made a stop on Fir Island and were amazingly treated to one of their launches just minutes after stopping to observe them; a rare treat. What I'm sharing isn't from that visit yesterday, but is the same material. What is really amazing about these creatures is that while grazing you hear this total cacophony of honking that simply seems to surround you, and this flock is roughly 10,000 birds strong. When something scares them, let's just say a bald eagle started flying close, they ALL launch simultaneously, but for perhaps a half second prior to launch, ALL honking ceases at the exact same instant, and that is something eerily strange, and they are off. The lift off itself sounds like an explosion it is so loud! The image for today was taken post scare and is of the birds landing back on the ground. The video above, is of the birds as they are flying en mass and here you have the 10,000 flying back and forth yet they never collide. That is another amazing aspect of these birds. Do watch the movie as it is what this entire submission is about. I apologize for the audio, turn yours up so you can fully appreciate the birds, but the mic in the camera is not a unidirectional mic and so it also picked up the road noise. While I was making the movie I was literally standing on the edge of the roadway so the passing cars were within 5 feet of me. Which translates to loud background noise of passing vehicles. The original image was severely cropped into the somewhat square format I'm sharing today, given a small amount of micro contrast enhancement, and adjusted for max tonality. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200l aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

02 Apr 15 . Not far from where we saw the geese on Monday is a location that used to be open to all until last year when the state decided to add it to its ever growing list of take-overs requiring a fee to visit. In the past one could drive down the road to the end and walk out on a dike to look at wildlife and, at the far end, hunt if you were a local gun club member. Hayden Farms Preserve was a place for the geese to winter over and the farmer who owned the property adjacent to the gravel road used to plant it with grain to feed the birds. Since the state took over the road and parking lot at the end I haven't seen it planted any more. Perhaps the farmer shares my feelings about what is happening. At the end of the road mentioned above you can park, walk up a very slight incline for perhaps 8 feet, and be on the top of the dike. One of the first things you will see is the small body of water running diagonally across the frame in this image. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it is full of water at high tide and empty at low tide. It looks like a stream feeding the sound but I'm rather certain that can't be the case. Regardless, at high tide and sunset it provides for some truly lovely reflections and at times they can be simply breath taking. This was taken one evening when the sunset was nice, but definitely not spectacular. So I chose it for a creative approach and this is what I'm sharing for today's Theatrical Thursday's offering. In actuality, there are sunsets that are quite close to these colors, so what I've done isn't all that over the top. The base image was adjusted for max tonality, the brought into the creative plug-in and the colors adjusted to give what you see. Nothing very creative actually, just the adjustment of a few sliders. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/80 sec @ f / 8.

03 Apr 15. Since this is the Good Friday / Passover edition I likely should have gone with a lily, and I did have a few shots I could have shared, but to be honest it didn't dawn on me that I should have chosen a lily until I started to write this. So we will use a tulip instead. Truth be told, the presentation I'm using for the tulip is the same as I would have used for the lily, so in reality the look of either would be very close to the same. While we were visiting the tulip fields on Monday, Jan couldn't resist purchasing a few bunches, which we brought home and put in the fridge over night to keep them from rapidly opening. Tuesday morning we took them out, put them in a couple of vases, to let them open which they did to a certain degree. Overnight they closed up again and then barely opened on Wednesday. Thursday morning it was much the same but as I write this Thursday night they are hinting, but nothing more than that, that they might open fully tomorrow. This shot was taken on Tuesday while they were partially open, and I got it by standing on a chair looking down over it and lighting it with a hand held supplemental flash connected to the camera by a long cord. The petals are far from fully opened which provided for a nice container for the flash to fill. This is one of a hundred plus shots I took playing with the flowers to see what I could come up with creatively; I'll share several more before we leave for our annual Spring Yellowstone trip the first two weeks of May. I took the original capture, cropped for a tight shot, painted out with black paint everything but the yellow flower, added a bit of micro contrast enhancement globally, then a small amount micro detail enhancement to the stamen, and then a dodge and burn layer to add a bit of finishing touch here and there to make the flower my own. Nikon D300sl 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/60 sec with fill flash @ f /11 all underexposed by 2/3 of a stop to control for burnout of the closest petal edges. Camera tripod mounted.

06 Apr15. Having made perhaps a dozen trips to see the tulips in the Skagit Valley since we returned to the PNW in 2006, my goal in going this time was to specifically work on both macro and creative images of the flowers. I had hoped to do some stuff like what I sent out on Friday, but in the "wild" with lots of color in the background as opposed to the black backdrop I use in the studio setting. We we fortunate in having small crowds and those that were there cooperative with photographers of which there were many, lots of lovely color, and nice light, all of which would have made for the perfect opportunity had it not been for the 12 - 14 knot wind which insisted on giving us a lot of dancing and swaying tulips. So I shot what I could and decided anything creative would have to be done as homework. I might have attempted more than I did, but a couple of those in attendance got tired quickly and were spending their time just sitting patiently waiting for me to quit, so I elected to finish a bit sooner than I had originally planned and was heading back towards the exit when I spied a trail of flowers leading out to a distant field. I set up, got everything framed, and then waited for the group of people walking along the path distant to the flowers to dissipate. After about a 15 minute wait most of the folks had passed when a family group decided to plant themselves directly in my shooting path and take over a goodly portion of the frame. There was no doubt of what I was attempting to do, but they simply insisted on taking over more and more of the picture. Finally, in disgust, I fired off a couple of shots and left for home. Today's submission is the best of what I got and it required a bit of work to remove the "distractions." Probably wouldn't have even cared had it not been for the fact that this was the best shooting opportunity I had all day! I took the base image, cloned out all the irritating elements, and then brought out the texture in the sky. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/250 sec @ f /10.

07 Apr 15 . While joining friends on Saturday for a Easter/Resurrection Egg hunt, I was watching the clouds as they rolled off the Olympic Mountains and across the sound to where we were sitting. I probably wasn't as good a guest as I might have been, because the clouds were really holding my attention and I found myself taking a snap every so many minutes, meaning every time they appeared to have changed substantially. Looking at the clouds one might have been concerned about the potential of eminent rain, but I was more interested in both how they were moving and changing their appearance. If you look critically you will observe several different types of clouds, including those at the bottom of the shot which were dropping rain at several locations. I've added in a little grain at the bottom of the shot to emphasize that rain. While the naked eye could not see what I'm sharing, the use of a circular polarizer made it all very evident. Fortunately we were spared the rain but did get to enjoy the wonderful show in the sky. The base image was given a small amount of contrast enhancement and then a wee bit of grain added to the lower portion of the frame only. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 8.

08 Apr 15. Three weeks ago I shared with you a B&W photo taken from Ox Bow Bend, likely THE most photographed spot in Grand Tetons National Park. At the time I took it I had no idea about the popularity of the location, nor any knowledge of it in general, other than it had a sign in front of the parking lot and that there were perhaps a half dozen other photographers there with me. As it turned out my timing was pretty good in that most of the trees were in full color, it had finally quit raining, and Jan was patiently waiting for me to get the shot I wanted. That never did happen as the clouds simply refused to leave the mountain tops in the time I had to shoot, the group of which we were a part was forming up for the next portion of the trip, so I took what I could and promised myself we'd be back again to try our luck. Still waiting to time it correctly. If you still have the B&W version, you might find it interesting to look at them side by side. I'll wager that seeing this by itself you'll undoubtedly say the color is the better of the two; perhaps that opinion may change it you look at them the way the optometrist has you identify which correction is better . . . this..or.. this; this..or..this, coda. The base image was given a hue and saturation adjustment, then adjusted to give it max tonality, then run through a color zone system to individually tweak each color. Finally I gave it a tiny amount of micro contrast boost to replace that lost in the digital capture. Nikon D200; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 125; 1/500 sec @ f / 8.

09 Apr 15. We went for a walk in the woods today with a small group from our "local" camera club. Anderson Landing Preserve is a 68 A Kitsap County park located near Silverdale, WA and is easily accessible for most folks. The trails meander throughout the park and some are a little steep as they wind their way down to the sound. There are several areas from which to see the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound, as well as trail(s) that take you to the tideland areas. We spent most of our time in the elevations looking for small things to shoot as I thought it would be fun to exercise the macro lens a bit. So for this week's Theatrical Thursday we have a shot of a trillium that was about mid way in its color change from white - when the blossom initially opens - to purple - which is the color as the blossom dies off. I have of course altered this some, just enough to let the flower strut its stuff. If you are not familiar with the flower, it gets its name for the fact that everything is in groupings of three. Some of that will be obvious in the image. This specimen was a bit up on a hillside, so it was shot with my standard zoom lens. The base image was cropped and cloned to remove all the distractions, then given my normal amount of micro contrast enhancement. That was then taken into a filter to give it some dramatic color enhancement which was then modified with a multiply mode blending layer. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/10 sec @ f / 14 on a tripod.

10 Apr 15. Of all the alpine flowers, the Pasque Flower ranks among my very favorites. While Jan was browsing through a local nursery's offerings yesterday I was taking photos of them. She picked a lot for her taste and one for mine, which of course was a Pasque Flower. I took it up into the study/studio and placed it against the standard velvet backdrop and took a few shots to see what I might achieve. The plant was very dense in its foliage and the flowers somewhat crowded amongst the leaves. As a result I couldn't get a sufficiently clean shot of the flowers, so I had to eliminate all the clutter and go with just a couple of blossoms. This isn't my preferred approach to showing off this lovely plant, but for now it is all I can do. Hopefully, as a few more buds open, I'll get a chance to show off the entire specimen. For now, we'll go with just a pair of the flowers. At first glance you will probably think that I've provided one blossom with a mirrored image, but look closely and you'll see that the two blossoms are different. It is a somewhat hairy plant, and I was able to record some of that, but not as much as I would have desired. Next time around I hope to show all of the characteristics of this beautiful plant. The base image was duped, and on the duped layer I painted out all the distractions which were a number of leaves and one stem coming up out of the top middle of the two blossoms. Then I gave it my standard amount of micro contrast, and followed that up with running it against a filter to give it just a hint of a glow. That was it. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/60 sec @ f / 18 with fill flash hand held. Hope you enjoy, dave

13 Apr 15. The garden display area at Roozengaarde's display center is hand planted with over a half million bulbs, so you can imagine that they have a somewhat more challenging time gardening than do most of us. One section of the garden bordering the road on the west and their fence on the south is reasonably well protected from the wind, so that even in windy times it is possible to get some relatively nice shots of the flowers, primarily tulips. This shot was taken while it was quit windy, but as you can see the wind was having minimal affect on the flowers. Inside this protected area most of the people are taking photos, so it isn't too difficult to get the shot you want although it may take a couple of minutes simply due to letting others get their shot so thy can move out of yours. This part of the display is assembled with different types of flowers as well as colors to "paint" a picture. I'm certain this representation will be immediately obvious. I took the base image and individually adjusted each color and then applied my standard tiny amount of micro contrast adjustment. Nikon D300s; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/80 sec @ f /11 on a tripod.

14 Apr 15. One of Seattle's best known photographers in my youth was a gentleman by the name of Josef Scaylea. He was a Seattle icon and his photography appeared daily in the Seattle Times for which he worked. I grew up drooling over his photographs wishing that I could be that good. In my mind, he was every bit as good as Adams, and in some ways, better. Ansel dealt only with static items in wonderful settings and published when he pleased. Josef dealt with both static and dynamic images, not always in the pristine settings, and had to produce on a daily basis. Bet you might conceive of why I might identify with Scaylea. Josef worked almost exclusively in B&W, although he did do some color work of which his image of Mt Rainier that was a two page cover spread for Rainier Bank on one of their stock holder reports is among my favorites and one of which I kept the print. Ever since I first saw that photo I have wanted to capture something similar. As such, each time I see the mountain in favorable light I grab a shot. This one is of an evening with a pinkish-orange sunset but we both thought it looked the very best as a B&W. The base image was first adjusted for complete tonality, then adjusted for the best color on a color-by-color basis, given a touch of micro contrast adjustment, followed by a global contrast adjustment, and then converted to B&W. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/160 sec @ f / 8.

15 Apr 15. A combination of events today all involving people in one form or another kept me from preparing the image I had planned to share, so we'll go with this one as a fallback. Of the 3 bunches of tulips Jan purchased while visiting the Roozengaarde show gardens, two were of a mixed group of colors and the third just purple. I played a lot with the colored bunches working them as a classic still life, trying all kinds of macro shots with differing kinds of lighting situations, and finally working with them as they aged and began dropping their petals. Each approach had its rewards, and I'm still doing a lot of work with the several dozens of images I took, along with all the field stuff collected in the Skagit. For today we have a partial still life, meaning I shot to capture all the petals and just a portion of the stems. Lacking the vase and table on which they would typically be setting, I don't believe I can truly call this a pure still life, but I'm sure you get the idea. I've applied a painterly look to it to at least make it lean in the direction of a still life. The base image was first adjusted for max tonality, then each color individually adjusted to achieve the color balance I wanted, and then run through the filter to get the desired painterly look. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/ 60 sec @ f / 9 with fill flash.

16 Apr 15. So today we'll go with what I was planning on sharing yesterday and as it is something I've done a couple of times before but this time with a twist, and as it is comprised of more than one image, I think I'll say it qualifies for Theatrical Thursday. I'm rather certain all of you are familiar with the cultivated varieties of Bleeding Heart if for no other reason than I've shared several images of them. But perhaps not as many of you are familiar with the wild variety which I would imagine is where the cultivated forms got their start. Along side the roads around here as well as lining our drive you can find hundreds of these plants showing off their lovely little flowers. However, they are quite different from what you see in the nurseries in that each plant normally has a single stock and on the stock are just one to three blossoms. Additionally, the plants are quite diminutive and do not grow in tight bunches, but rather, spread out at a respectable Scandinavian distance. Must be why we have so many. I've incorporated three separate images to make the composite; the result is a "modified" triptych, modified in that I used three different images as opposed to the standard approach of cutting a single image into three parts. Today's submission began with a blank canvas 46" x 11" in size. On top of it I laid down a gradient of color going from left to right of green and red. I then added three pictures of Bleeding Heart onto the canvas placing reddish-pink flowers on the pink end, white flowers on the green end, and the wild variety in the middle. Each image was individually adjusted for max tonality and desired color, given a tiny amount of micro contrast adjustment, and placed onto the canvas. They were then moved around to get the desired placement and then the entire grouping flattened into a single image. I didn't think to copy the shooting data, but the pink one was shot in a nursery setting at ISO 200 and the other two on the property at ISO 400. Nikon D300s; Aperture Priority.

17 Apr 15. Another close up of a tulip but this time the image you are seeing is a composite of 12 shots, each focused a fraction of an inch apart form another. The total set starts at the very tip of one petal, you can even see the fine hairs on it, and progresses to the very bottom of the base of the flower. In this composite you can see all the way down likely getting a bug's eye view. This approach can be achieved in at least two ways of which I'm aware, the first being that you layer the stack of images one of top of the other and then mask away all but the sharpest portion of the first two frames and then blend them together. Then, do it again and again until you've used the sharp section of each frame giving you the final sharp composite. That's the hard, manual, way. The other, automatic, way is to use a software program that is made to do all the work and that's the approach I chose. If this sort of thing interests you, consider looking at Helicon Focus, Zerene Stacker, or Image Stacker. The first two are more expensive options, the last quite cheap. All 12 images were initially processed in a stacking program with the resulting image adjusted for max tonality and color balance. Then I then painted out a bit of distracting material and finally I gave it a wee bit or micro contrast enhancement. Nikon D300s, 105mm Macro; ISO 200; 1/15 sec @ f / 9.

20 Apr 15. So you're wondering, where's my Monday picture. Well, here it is, courtesy of our wonderful ISP who decided we didn't need a DSL connection from Friday evening until late this afternoon. Between having the connection on Friday and not, we were visiting in Hansville and had an opportunity to see a very red sun preparing to disappear beyond the horizon. By the time we were made aware of what was transpiring, I didn't have time to get into a decent position to shoot, so I shot from a neighbors porch accepting the fact that something was better than nothing, or then again, possibly not. In any event, this is pretty much what we got to see. This morning in the local paper was a photo of the sun setting above the Olympics but it was far less red although the rest of that capture more than made up for it. Putting my sun in the paper's photo would have made for a very nice composition. Under the picture in the paper the caption said the the red color of the sun was due to wildfires in Siberia. Interesting how small our world can be at times. The original capture, as in the moon shots over Seattle I do, required two different exposures, one for the sun and another for the foreground. Since I hadn't prepared for something like this, I didn't have the necessary equipment to do it, so I just took the shot for the moon. That left everything else VERY dark which required that I adjust each component separately which I did with individual brightness and saturation layers. Finally, I added a small amount of micro contrast to give the image some character. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9 spot metering for the sun.

21 Apr 15. Having a few minutes to kill a couple weeks back while in the Port Orchard area we went on a drive to see where the road would take us. Out first surprise was coming upon a farm with two camels in the pasture, a Bactrian under a tree and a Dromedary out in the open. Didn't quite believe our eyes at first, but it was so. I'll share one of those images later. Continuing on our drive we came to a detour which dropped us immediately into a park we had visited prior, but one which we had found coming from a different direction. The weather was quite nice, although a bit chilly and windy, but the light was perfect, the clouds enticing, and the view of Seattle very nice and different from any perspective I've previously encountered. So I took a few shots. This view is almost parallel with the Seattle waterfront and if you look closely you can see straight down the center deck of a ferry. Look even more closely and you'll find two birds, one with floats and another approaching SEA-TAC. This image has complete tonal range, but the city has been left somewhat flat so that it doesn't compete with the sky. Push back 4-5 feet from your screen to view it properly. The clouds should project forward as in a 3-D type image. The original capture was a bit dark, so I first adjusted for full tonal range, then further adjusted for individual colors. Then I adjusted the micro contrast for the clouds to get that 3-D look and followed that with individual grain adjustments for the sky, cityscape, and water. With all that completed, I then converted to B&W and made a few small adjustments to achieve the exact look I wanted. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 13 with a one stop under exposure compensation to handle the clouds.

22 Apr 15. A little color today to contrast with yesterday's monochromatic shot. This is another from the Roozengaarde display garden in the Skagit Valley. The garden is divided up into several different sections, and this is from a roughly 3 foot wide band that parallels a lovely wooden fence that marks two sides of the garden. On the other side of the fence is located one of their larger growing fields and it can be seen as a band of yellow tulips on the right side that joins a thin strip of a set of white plastic "greenhouses" in the middle. The tree at the left marks what I'll call the NE corner of the display garden. The layout of the tulip groupings changes continuously along the fence with both color and petal structure coming into play in the design. You name a color, except for black, and I'm certain you will find it somewhere in the display; likewise, describe a petal shape, and it too is likely to be among the groupings. Bring your camera, your easel, or your sketch pad with you and consider making a day of your visit to see the tulips next year and record, in some fashion, every color imaginable . Or, if you prefer, come a few weeks earlier to see just yellow, daffodils, or a couple months later for purple and yellow, iris. No matter when you visit, the fields are certain to grab your attention and hold it for quite a while. The base image was adjusted for max tonality, given a wee bit of global micro contrast enhancement, and that followed by a local contrast enhancement applied only to the sky. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/320 sec @ f / 9.

23 Apr 15. Over the last 4 years I've shared a few images taken from the street of a neighbor's pond of either the water lilies in the pond or of reflections on the pond. I've admired this pond since childhood, always wondered exactly what all it contained. The current owners are known by my cousin and I've been waiting for an opportunity for him to introduce me so I might go shoot close up on the property. While returning last week from a visit to his farm I turned the corner onto Eglon Road only to have the neighbor who owns the pond motioning me to slow down, I was doing maybe 15 at the time, pointing to a loose dog on the road. I stopped, we chatted, I mentioned how much I would like to be able to get on the property to shoot the pond, and she gave me carte blanche to come anytime. So the next day we did just that, and while I was shooting the pond, Jan was making friends with their steeds. So we both had a good time and now I can go shoot whenever I want. I took lots of water lily shots and a few of the reflections on the pond. Looking through them, I decided my favorite from that shoot was one of the reflections so that's what I'm sharing. Only it's a creative version of the reflections because I really liked the way it came out. The base image was adjusted for max tonality, given a small amount of micro contrast boost, and then run through a painting filter. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/250 sec @ f /13.

24 Apr 15. Another tulip image for this macro Friday, this time just a single yellow flower set among several purple ones and fully backlit. It is among the many I took in the studio a couple weeks back and is from a grouping with very dramatic lighting. This one is best seen in a dimly lit setting to be appreciated fully. Your screen brightness will greatly influence this shot so it may or may not have the effect I want it too. If it is appearing brightly lit turn down you screen brightness to experience the effect I was attempting to create. The base image was cropped to remove a couple minor distractions and that was it. This is as close to a RAW image as I can share with you as other than the mild cropping I have done absolutely nothing to it except to save it as a jpg file. Nikon D300s; 105mm macro; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/320 sec @ f /10.

27 Apr 15 . The second major exhibit you encounter as you walk through the Seattle Aquarium is primarily a child's play area, the touch-me intertidal zone display. It is low to the ground, has lots of stuff for children to touch and hold, and lots of guardians to make sure you don't do anything wrong. Some are very considerate of the visitors and go out of their way to be helpful; a small number think they own the display. For the most part you are allowed to take photos with the only real restriction, and an acceptable one, that you don't interfere with the enjoyment of others of the experience. It happens to be my favorite part of the aquarium, and I can literally spend hours, just ask Jan, working with this one exhibit. For me however, to get the images I want, it takes an assistant, as I like to use flash to illuminate the subjects. But on camera flash means bright spots in the middle of the picture from the flash bouncing off the water, so to get around that problem, I have the flash on a 10 foot cord placed at the level of the subject which can be several feet from the camera. This way the subject is lit at its level from an angle that does not bounce light into the camera but fully lights the subject. The display in the aquarium mimics the local tides and wave action, so by staying for a few hours you have the equivalent of taking under water photos just as if you were out SCUBA diving but without the cost, exposure, or equipment required for doing it Au natural. The base image was adjusted for max tonality, then each color individually adjusted for the balance I desired, and to that a wee bit of clarity added. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/60 sec @ f /11 with full flash.

28 Apr 15 . As you head north from Norris Junction to Mammoth Hot Springs, you leave a lovely meadow, take a sharp turn to the right, and immediately find yourself on the edge of a mountain side with rocks all around you. Depending on the timing of your visit, you may get to see some wonderful storm clouds forming to your right over a vast valley. The rocks are a great attraction to me in that they resemble, at least in my mind, some of the landscape that Mr Adams liked to photograph. Each time we drive past them on the way to Mammoth and/or the Lamar Valley I feel the need to stop and play with them some. Occasionally I get material that works out well, other times not so well. We have one shot of these rocks hanging above our bed in the condo and I've shared that image with you before. This is another capture of those rocks and the surrounding countryside. When I look at this I get the feeling that Mr Denver might have been observing something similar when he penned "Back Home Again." We should be visiting there again in about a week. The base image was adjusted for max tonality, given some micro contrast enhancement, and then brought into a B&W plug-in where I tweaked it some to achieve what you are seeing. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

29 Apr 15 . Like just about anyplace in the world, you can visit and miss some of the best shots if you don't take the time to chat with the locals. They don't need to be photographers to have an appreciation for local beauty and it is amazing what jewels you can find if you just take a few minutes to converse with those who reside in the area. Or, if you are going to be in a location for a period of time, it is amazing what you can find if you just take the time to do a bit of road following. I have been coming to the Eglon area all of my life but it wasn't until about a year ago that I ventured down a different road on the way to visit the home of another photographer and came upon a location to shoot the Kingston ferry area that I knew had to exist from images I had seen but had no idea where it was. Now I do and go there frequently to take in the low tides, stormy weather, or just to see what might be available on any given day. This is a shot on a low tide day accompanied by a bit of weather that made for a nice view. You can see the ferry approaching the terminal which is located on the other side of the breakwater. This shows a moderately low tide but on a real low tide, say a minus 3 or greater, all the water you see directly in front of the sail boats will be gone and you can almost walk to them. The marina area has apparently been dredged to make a sufficiently deep harbor for the marina. When my grandfather first came to the area, this area housed a sawmill. You'd never know it today! The base image was adjusted for max tonality, then the individual colors tweaked a little, and that was it. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f /10.

30 April 15. With 6 hours of digital editing training class, scanning and cleaning up several photos for a community book in which I'm participating, a community center meeting, dinner guests, and an oil change in the SUV all today, there wasn't much time for creating an image for this Theatrical Thursday, so I'm going with something rather simple, that wasn't too difficult to create, yet still has some degree of elegance. This is another tabletop shot of a tulip, this time manipulated a bit to give it a different look while at the same time showing off a lot of the texture that might otherwise be missed in a normal casual look at the tulip. This is a combination of light and color adjustments to get the desired effect. It is not hard to do this, but it does require a special filter and is fun to do. Although it can be done without the filter, it would require far more work than I would be willing to do so I elect to use the easy method. The base image was cleaned up to get rid of a couple of distracting elements, then the individual colors adjusted for max impact while still looking realistic, then run through a creative filter and that effect moderated some. Finally, I added a small amount of micro contrast to really show off the texture in the petals. Nikon D300s; 105mm macro; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/3 sec @ f /18 on a tripod with natural light.