Red Amarylis Photo

Big change in this bud in just one day.

Emerging Amarylis Photo 2014

I received an Amarylis bulb from my sis for my birthday in December and when I took the bulb out of the box it was already growing! Yesterday I noticed the red starting to show so decided to document the emerging bloom for this blog. It is so lovely and sculptural; I love nature's artwork! In the foreground is my 22 yr old grape ivy.

Available breakfast light Canon T3i w/ Canon 100 mm macro L 2.8 IS, edited in Lightroom 4.

Look at the Sky

Branches lace with sunset imminent behind, Lr edits.

Oh One, Oh Two!

The sky is fun to shoot, always different. And with winter's bare trees you get an additional dimension.

I used the 17-55 lens and spent some time on cropping this one; there were some distracting roof protrusions.  What I liked was the contrails framing the tree so I removed what wasn't that story. Hey, I found words for it!

Day One, Oh One

Yay! I took a photo and edited in Lightroom.

Just the top of that tree was in sunlight. I saw it as a nice warm and light contrast to the dark tangle below.

Tomato King

Sometimes when using Photoshop I forget the simple approach, like adding a layer and painting 40% black over some distracting elements.

I like the speckles and green-ness of  this "Tomato King".

Fun with Filters

A sweet filter effect from Filter Forge, a plug-in for Phtoshop.

Realistic Unnatural Color

I added the yellow to the grass at the bottom of this photo in Adobe Camera Raw just to add some interest to the photo. Another empty lot shot from earlier this year.

Natural Lens Flare

The empty lots scattered around Lake California are great spots to practice photography or painting. This is a shot from last spring that caught the wildflowers and a nice lens flare.

Sunflower Variation

My dslr, Photoshop cc and Lightroom 4 are providing me with endless photo variation entertainment. I created 4-5 versions of this sunflower crop in as many minutes!

Lake California Landscape

Looking west from the clubhouse parking lot where there's a bit of a rose garden.

A recent photoshop effort. There are so many choices of paths and tools and styles and brushes and textures and filters that The digital artist can almost endlessly restyle every project. I bought some wonderful brushes from creative market today, by artist Kyle's Pro Design Tools. They are actually presets that make inking, drawing, painting, and coloring easy in photoshop. Totally worth the few bux he's asking!

Have been compositing in Photoshop CC, yes, decided it is worth it for $20 a month.

Also taking a class online here which has been sooo helpful. Plenty of tuts on youtube as well. Hours of fun for the digital artist.

Dragonfly on a (Barbed) Wire

On the way to Davis to pick up my (college student) son, I stopped at a rest stop I had never stopped at b4. There were a lot of dragonflies and it was breezy; a bunch were hanging onto the barbed wire fence. Only had the 17-55 so I couldn't get very close; this is cropped in. It looks so fragile as it delicately holds onto the barb.

The Moon in June

A color photo of the weekend moon. Looks like it's gonna roll down that hill! I love raw files and non-destructive editing.

Big Moon in Black and White

I went out last eve to shoot the supermoon, as tonight's forecast is cloudy. Editing in Lightroom 4, the pros make it look easy, but it's a complex program. In this version I removed color and some foreground trees; it looks a bit otherworldly to me now. I used the Tamron 70-300 vc to bring the moon in close.

Fuschia Hollyhocks

Some pretty fuschia hollyhocks from the backyard. Photo taken a month or two ago; it's too hot for hollyhocks now.

Close up Granite Column, UCDavis

Another example of the 50mm reverse macro (granite); there is a lovely refraction near the center of this shot. I hadn't realized b4 that granite has a crystalline structure.

Reverse Macro 50mm lens

 

Using my Canon 50mm 1.8 lens reversed to get an interesting and up close look at a cracked granite slab @UCDavis. I went to Davis yesterday to see the last DAS plays for the year. My son wrote one and directed one; everyone raved about the one he wrote! It was awesome! Contemporary and funny and imaginative. The actors and director were  awesome, too.

Macro with 50mm lens

I have learned so much from videos on youtube; it is truly an internet treasure! For example, today I learned that it is possible to use the 50mm lens in reverse to take macro shots.

Viola! I like it when art is FUN, and bends the rules.

No Detail in the Blacks

I removed the detail in the blacks for a strong and simple graphic image.

Morning Sunshine

A vibrant squash blossom in early morning backlight. Canon 100mm f2.8 L IS macro lens in my own backyard. My sis is a wonderful gardener, all I have to do is enjoy!

Macro Raindrops Photo

I am thrilled with this photo of raindrops on an iris leaf!  There are teeny tiny drops all over the leaf if you look close; that is not image noise. The Canon 100mm f2.8L IS macro is the hero lens on this shoot. In Lightroom when you check the lens correction section, there are no corrections needed for this lens; it is that good.

Oh Orchid of Mine

A year or so ago I bought myself a beautiful orchid; and tho I have taken photos of these flowers, this is the first one I love. I used Lightroom 4's light vignette, which is really appropriate for this. Also I put the plant in my bathtub so it had a nice neutral surround.

Send Back the Clouds, Photo Landscape

Yay! The great clouds came back on Friday and I found some shooting time. This one is looking east over the Sacramento River from Riverview Drive in Lake California.

Landscape Looking East

There were magnificent clouds this afternoon, but I was working and by the time I got out to shoot they were dissipating. Still I like this landscape shot looking east in Lake California; the haze contributes nicely to the aerial perspective. I used the Canon 100mm L 2.8 IS lens, which is a macro but shoots everything beautifully.

Skinny Depth of Field, Pincushion Flower

I love the delicious blur around the delicate focal flower in this photo, even if I took it myself! Used the Canon EF 50mm 1.8 lens and Lightroom 4.

Evening Shoot

A sweet shrub with solar lights, early evening. I went out in the front yard @ sunset and played with my gear. And further played in Lightroom to make a pink duotone. Fun! Canon 50mm 1.8 lens.

Fire Season Sunset 2013

Already fire season here in California. Shot with the Canon EF-s 17-55 f2.8 lens, near the office in Lake California.

KT's Leaves Poem Duotone

My daughter, Katie, wrote this poem when she was about 10; it was included in a nationwide children's poem antholgy. Purple was KT's favorite color so I used it in the color scheme; she died of leukemia in March,1999 when she was 15.
The photo is a duotone created in Lightroom 4. The tree is a curly willow in our backyard.

Self-amuse with a Camera

I had some time to experiment so tried moving the camera during a long exposure at sunset; pretty streaks emerged. This woman just wants to have fun!

Black and White Flower

Tried a flower in black and white; this is a blue Love in a Mist. AAck! Now the crop looks awkward to me. Going back to Lightroom...

Clouds over the Sacramento River

I shot this thru some trees while perched on a steep hillside overlooking the Sacramento river. Luckily I was wearing my hiking boots as it was a bit of a scramble to get back up the hill! Taken about 6 pm, 1/100 sec @ f/16 iso 100, 21mm with Canon EF-s 17-55.

Here's Lookin' at Moo, kid!

This little cow was quite interested in what I was doing. Or perhaps she was simply enjoying the lovely early morning golden light!

A DSLR camera is the best toy!

A view of Mt Shasta from the airpark in Lake California. Shot from a low angle, used the Tamron 70-300 and edited in Lightroom 4. It was very windy, but I figured that if my foreground was out of focus, the wind blur would not be too much of a problem.

A pretty one from this eve. edits in Lightroom 4 which I am gradually learning to use.

 I recommend Phil Steele training videos. He gets it!

Wildflowers

I have forgotten about blogging for months. "The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." quoth Robert Louis Stevenson.
Working on learning my camera and Lightroom and having much fun!

 Some wildflowers across the street. I really like this low point of view with background trees and sky holes.

spring shooting is the best!

A view of Lassen from Cottonwood Creek via Lake California.

Taken with my Canon EF-s 17-55 f 2.8 lens, recently purchased from the used dept at Adorama Camera online.

#WWPW Foto Fun!

A real barber pole in downtown Redding, Ca, one shot from my feet during the Scott Kelby #WWPW worldwide photo walk event on Saturday, 10-14-12. I went with members of Shasta Photo Club at 8 a.m. and we walked the downtown area for a couple of hours.

Birdbath Roses taken with Canon 50mm 1.8

Surprised to note I haven't blogged since August; have been very busy but still taking pictures. I recently bought a 50mm canon 1.8 lens from a young guy on Craigslist and have been shooting quite a lot with just that lens. It is small and light and easy to carry around; will be using it next weekend for the Scott Kelby Worldwide photo walk with the Shasta Photo Club in Redding.

Cattle Pond Smokey Atmosphere

Smokey day at the cattle pond in Lake California, soon after the Ponderosa fire roared to life. Another photo shot with the Tamron 70-300. I like to shoot landscapes in portrait orientation so I get a greater feeling of distance.

Red Sunflower with Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6

A red sunflower shot at the community garden here in Lake California. There are a lot of fires in northern California right now so the sky is actually hazy gray. This photo was taken with the Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 vc lens. I am enjoying the reach of this longer lens; the picture quality is "good enough" for me.  The lens seems well-built, Tamron offers a 6 year warranty and with rebate the cost was only $350.00.

Cutie with the Tamron 70-300 mm f4-5.6 DI VC lens

From the backyard this a.m., I love the pose of this dragonfly! Might have benefited from a deeper dof but always choices to make.  The Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 DI VC lens is "good enough"  better than I expected and I will get a $100 rebate which makes it inexpensive, too. I am not a pro photog nor can I afford the pro quality gear for the most part. But I do like background blur and dslr image quality and the ability to shoot RAW cuz that gives me more creative freedom as an artist.

Tamron SP 70-300mm F4-5.6 VC on Canon T3i

After much reading of reviews, I purchased the Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6 VC lens and here are a couple of images I took this a.m. So far I am quite pleased with the quality of the pix and the lens as well. Many review sites are maintained by pro photogs with pro gear and it is a little hard to find recommendations for a "good enough" lens for an amateur with the entry level dslr.

Skyscape in Lake California

Smoke is good for adding some atmosphere to a sunrise landscape photo with clouds. I got up early ;^) and enjoyed the morning.

Log and Thistles in Red Bluff

Got a chance to photograph  some of my favorite things this morning, like an old log with dried up thistles. Slight cloudiness and smoke in the atmosphere made for a more delicate light than is usual in August in northern California.

Game Trail Distant Hills

I like it when the big things look little and the little things look big, as in this wide angle/portrait orientation shot in the pasture. Also I see an advantage to batch processing those raw files to keep the look consistant (which I did not do). Slowly working thru the mountain of info available re: photography today. Might keep me busy for the rest of my life...

Deer on the way to Water

Another from the Sunday walk; the river is to the right. I saw two does and their two fawns heading toward the water. One of the fawns was limping. Not many predators around, so hope it will be ok.