VPW April - Glow

Welcome sign

We will leave the light on for you!

Not a Motel 6 here but you are welcome

just the same!

Would really be neat to be able
to see the filaments in the bulbs.

VPW April - One

One last bloom remains

This beautiful tulip tree flower remains

all alone.  Just this one is left from what

was a glorious blooming season for the tree.

Wish it would last longer but there are

so many things in bloom just now!

VPW April - Blooms

Blooms are everywhere in Alabama

One of my very favorites...dogwood

SOOC at sundown

This tree will be beautiful very soon!

Addition to the Light Assignment

A time consuming project (and a followup)

So this is early morning (7am) with light but

no direct sun.  The subject for the light study was the

pot, not the flowers.  I was surprised at the difference in the

early one without distinct shadows in how soft it appears.

I don't have a tripod and the 'shakey hand' was blinking so the

flowers are not very sharp.  There was not much light according

to the camera for this time of day but very light to my eyes.

As an aside, in the full photo the larger pansy

at top left has a redish edge as you can see here

at pixentral. 

Does that relate to the light, camera movement

or is this another study coming up that will

be revealed by our leaders later?

Ok, so the idea was to take a subject in different light during the day and

here is what happened.

I'm not happy with the results and don't know if I learned anything from this

other than how much difficulty I had trying to get three photos

resized to about the same size.

Sun is rising from the right side and first shot at 9am.

Noon is in the middle and 3pm on the left.

All are SOOC (with cropping/resizing).

I can see how the shadows moved from right to left

but can't see much difference in colors.

Maybe a different subject would help or a

better fill the screen object.

Weekend - Happy Things

Things that are good for happiness

while the weather remains cold

and wet.

An early morning in the kitchen

with the smell of coffee in the air

and sunshine coming through the windows

to brighten the room.

VPW March/April - Circular

Circles come in many forms

Assignment from my wife was clean out the garage.

A beautiful little blonde used this bike when visiting and

riding around the neighborhood.  Little brother really didn't

care for the color and had his own ideas of travel.

The trash men were happy to get the bike and several

other toys (fire trucks, tanks, ninjas).

My garage is less cluttered, my baby grandchildren gone.

But I have a Topaz adjusted wheel among my memories.

Weekend Photos

The weekend went very well for it to
still be cold weather.

We had a bit of seafood as usual.

This shot from the Oyster Bar at Perdido.

Love their sign when it gets dark.  Just looks distinctive to me.

We got to do some shopping

or wishing.

And walked the beach each day.

Weekend are nice even when retired. 

VPW March-April - Stacked

Two entries for 'stacked' and the

beginning of the week-end assignment.

Nothing special, just more beach time.

I found the above at the start of a morning walk

along the beach.  Brrr!  Cold (about 65 degrees) and a

gentle breeze from the west.

But knowing there was an assignment, I took time to

get a picture of these chairs stacked up to keep the

wind from blowing them away.

As the journey continued and the weather warmed there

was a nice furniture arrangement and a beautiful table was included.

This is also my first attempt with Topaz Adjust and it gives

me a feeling of 'this isn't my shot".

I started this walk to learn about using my camera and

how to make improvements using Elements 8.

Not sure this can be called photography because

the software made most of this shot.

To thy own self be true!

Either be a photo taker or an artist!

VPW March/April - Metal

Nice metal and a start of my week-end

This is a nice touch for the seniors.  Most of us

need a rest stop, however, I don't think I have

ever seen anyone using the bench.

Maybe we are more durable than we think.

I did pass this way starting a beautiful week-end

at the beach.

VPW March/April - Unexpected/Blessing

Point of view!

Is it really 'unexpected' to find this visitor?

OR

Maybe to him it is just a blessing!

Still to early for the humming birds but

the winter guys are having a ball with

this squirrel and the sunflower seeds.

VPW March/April - Blue (re do)

Original 'tilted' horizon

Reworked image below

Straightened image and some of the rocks

were lost but I think enough remain so one

can still get a feel for the area.

I should have done this to start!

VPW March/April - Blue

No doubt blue!

(and I have two entries)

Cliffs of Moor (Moher)

County Clare Ireland

One of the most photographed scenes in Ireland

so I failed the "don't take a picture like all the tourist do".

However, it's one of my favorite places.

#2

Same water (Atlantic Ocean)

and just as blue!

I believe all water in Ireland is blue.

So, composition error number 2 has to do

with the horizon not being horizontal.

But changing it seemed to screw up the rocks.

Probably should have just cropped out the sky now

that I am posting and talking to myself.

A Friday Assignment

A lazy (busy) way out

but maybe the bricks can be

classed as stacked.

Vowels A and O

better seen in color

A busy week-end with important stuff!

Golf

Soccer

Basketball

Softball

and then Softball again.

But I really did think about the assignment!

VPW March/April - Conspicuous

Is this conspicuous or what?

La Rumba, Barcelona

Conspicuous -  1."easily seen or noticed; readily visible or observable",

2. "attracting special attention, as by outstanding qualities or eccentricities".

Nothing more needs said!

Fill Your Frame

I see this fruit stand at every meal and so glad

to get to share it with someone else.

It is about 1 and a half feet tall but this

shot was made close up to fill the frame.

It really does give a different look.

VPW #12 - Kitchen Utensils and White

More experimenting - after meals

This started as only kitchen utensils and quickly became

another place to experiment with white balance.

The colors are pretty close to matching the real dishes but

it almost seems some of the blue from the racks is bleeding.

Also used a couple of clicks with the sharpening unmask.

And as a real learner, overlooked documenting most of my efforts.

Self-shot assgimnent

The self portrait assignment

Tried a lot of things and got this one when the camera went off in my hands.

I show up as john, johna or jrandlib when posting comments and may understand all that someday. Now I am just trying to learn something about PSE 8 and my Canon SD1100.

I was born in a train station on the Missouri Pacific line in a small Arkansas town many years ago. Moved on to a larger town which we thought was a city and there met a beautiful young girl who had come to town to do her 'practice' teaching with the mother of one of my friends.

Short version is a wedding and two boys later we moved to Mobile, Alabama and there I developed my love for seafood and began commutes to New York (where I learned to appreciate Broadway plays). Lived in the city for a year before moving to Connecticut where I learned to appreciate the Cos Cob power plant which keeps the trains running into the city.

Finally found my way back to "my kind" in the south and have retired in a university town where I stay busy with volunteer work, golf and travel. It's a great life for sports fans and warm weather people.

We try to have one overseas trip each year and have visited all US states but one.  Enjoy taking pictures as a way to re-live the wonderful trips.

Thanks for having the Virtual walk and for letting me be part of the learning experience.

Weekend Photos

For the weekend assignment, here are a few snaps of my trip to the river.

Today we have 70 degree weather with nice sunshine and very little wind.

Perfect February day in Alabama.

A very social setting for bikers along the way.

Then as we pass one of the 'nicer' homes it
was necessary to get this shot.

Once at the river, while sitting in the sun, one of

Mr. Parker's tugs steams past and

appears to be in a hurry.

Maybe more coal is needed in Mobile.

While wandering the river bank a beautiful

pine shines through its own frame.

VPW #11A (Big and Small)

My purpose in having a camera is to snap photos while traveling so I can enjoy the trips again while sitting home. I have a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS with a built-in flash and a wonderful setting of AUTO. Being digital means that I have alot of "not so good" photos on my computer and I purchased PSE 8 as something to occupy my inside time this winter. Now I sense I'm getting sucked into a time consuming venture by this dynamic "D" group and some have even suggested reading a camera manual!

There are no plans for me to be a "photographer" or to carry around anything larger than what fits so easily into my pocket. However, I am on track to learning how to use what I have thanks to you Ds. Really hung up on WB as we speak. (even learning the names of the various light bulbs) Val had some really good examples of the effects of lighting which stirred my interest.

From your earlier comments most of you don't really like using flash and now I understand some of your logic. None of these was shot with a flash and WB was automatic. While re-creating the setup I discovered how difficult it is to find natural light without creating strong shadows. These photos were made in the morning and the lighting is from sunshine light as the room has east facing windows. Another discovery from this exercise, "why am I taking this picture?". The background color has a significant effect on the two objects and depending on the purpose each color is appropriate (I think).

The above is auto and I thought everything was just fine until I took a look at the background on my computer. It came out f/2.8 and ISO 100 and shows good detail but it's now really the true white that was present.

Same photo with an adjustment layer (screen at 50%) and the brightness from the sunshine really comes through from the right side. Much like the real life view. A good example of what I failed to do with the camera can be corrected with Elements.

I think this is my favorite because of the details that can be found. This was a digital macro shot and came out f/2.8 with ISO 200. It is the same green background used in the prior post but this one has a levels adjustment of softlight at 50% which makes the green almost black and increases contrast of the other colors.

And a funny thing happened along the way. Most apparent in the green background photo, the larger pitcher has horizonal lines running across the flowers. So as I am wondering how this got screwed up, I discovered what a beautiful detailed shot I just created. I just took two pitchers out of a nicknack cabinet and set up this situation. The cabinet was from my grandmother and she started collecting pitchers from all over the world when she was young (early 1900's). She always liked the smallest ones and was so proud of her collection. As a child I would visit her and always got to clean out the cabinet, rearrange them and see what was new. Sometimes by size and other times by country. Many must be over 100 years old and I sure most are hand made. So the horizonal lines must be from the potters tools as the pitcher rotated on his stand. It really is a photo with great detail and would be sufficient for a "true" posting on E-Bay.

Another 'learned thing' from an experiment. Thank you Ds.

VPW #11 (Big and Small)

Big and Small can be relative (to something)

Big is about 3 inches

Small - about 1/2 inch

Almost afraid to post something this bad but I did come here to learn from you.

Sometime back the discussions were about white balance and I began to learn why some of my photos looked so sad, tungstun lighting with auto setting. The first photo with white background was an experiment with light and different settings for WB.

The second with the green was to see how a different background would influence the subject. Also added flash and look how the colors appear much brighter. Amazing what happens when light comes in at the appropriate place. And notice the difference in the white color of the pitchers in the two photos.

And I'm learning that straight items on backgrounds without trash would look better. (Sounds like a PSE exercise, but how much can one learn in a day?).

Val helped "turn on the light". Thanks

VPW #10 (Alone)

Empty (Alone) Hummingbird Feeder

The morning sunshine peeps through a

southern pine upon an empty feeder.

Where are my friends?

When will there be food and birds?

VPW #9 (Mini - Cropping)

A bit more grass

Definitely not a shot for short range cameras

but maybe ok for a cropping assignment!

and

a crop with one of my favorite subjects.

Trees

VPW #8 (Texture/Pattern and Warning)

Pretty slow at the beach in January

and many of the cars that are here have

licenses from 'the north'

A bit self created but..

texture/pattern

just the same.

Warning sign going unnoticed today

VPW #7 (Pink) and a crop

A garden in Venice

I was going pink with a crop on this

but when taking out the canal

the Venician "feel" was lost.

f4.5, 1/100, ISO-200

So a pink crop was found

f/2.8, 1/100, ISO-80

digital zoom 2.0

VPW #6 (Looking down, Meditative (?))

f/2.8, Exp 1/60, ISO-80, Focal 6mm, Aper 2.96

Mini assignment depth and cropping

Added adjustment layer with multiply blend at 50%
then sharpness at 50%

Many world problems solved on this afternoon in Tuscany

VPW #05 (Arc)

Thanks Val, the crop was a good idea.

Process was copy background with blend mode - color dodge 56%

Adjust sharpness 50%, Radius 10px, remove gaussian blur

Crop out sky to deepen the gorge.

Suggestions from "D" group?

This was to be my "Arc" and now I am looking at the mini-assignment as well using the rule of thirds and crops (as well as experimenting).

This is a massive and impressive bridge being build to bypass the Hoover Dam and is very close to the dam as I made the pictures from top of it. I have spent a couple of days working on (photo #2) removing the wires from the sky, and then thinking maybe I am using the wrong photo.

#1

I eliminated this one because of all the

electrical equipment.

#2

The one I have been working on.

However, the sky is difficult for me.

#3

About the same as #2 but it does

show both sides of the bridge.

If the gorge is cropped out then the height is lost. However, the bridge is not emphasized as it is.

Suggestions on which photo to use.

What to do for improvement.

Or should I just do something else.

Thanks for all the help I have already received from this group.

John

VPW #04 (Doors and windows)

The frame is actually a view from under

a walkway overlooking Lake Mead.

You can see the brick supports on each

side and the bottom is a concrete walk.

VPW #03 (Looking down)

From the top of the Hoover Dam

Arizona on the left

Nevada on the right