Tag Archives: Photography

Sunrise Through The Fog

 

I always stop for a moment to take a look outside when I get up in the morning to feed my cats.  Once, I’m sure loyal readers will remember, I was rewarded when I saw a deer saunter into my yard.  A while ago, while I was feeding my cats, I looked out the window to see a dense morning fog shrouding my house.  While my little furry friends ate, I watched as the sun began to rise through the fog.  It was a cool sight.  So what did I do?  What every photographer does when they see a cool sight.  I grabbed my camera, stepped outside, and took a few shots.

 

This is what I came away with.

 

Autumn Sunrise

 

Don’t let things like cloudy days and fog deter you from getting outside and photographing the world around you.  Make a hindrance into an opportunity.

 

I’d like to wish everyone a happy, safe, and fun Halloween/Samhain.  And to my Spanish friends/readers, on November 2nd, Happy Dia De Los Muertos!

 

Until next time…

 

[^_^]

 

~A.M.

Abstract America

I wish I could say all my plans for my birthday last week worked out, but alas they didn‘t.  I did manage to have a picnic at the beach and a fire in my backyard fire pit on the day of my birthday.  But, my plans to go camping the week before my birthday were ruined since the state park I always go to when I want to go camping was closed due to the idiotic government shutdown.  On top of that, the second picnic I had planned for the day after my birthday, sadly didn’t go according to plan either.  [-_-,]

 

But, speaking of the idiotic government shutdown, and to celebrate the end of it, I thought I would post this image I took of some embers from my little birthday bonfire.  There was no manipulation involved of either the embers or the photograph.

 

Abstract America

Doesn’t the shape look a lot like the United States?  It was completely random and you all know I like random!

 

Until next time…

 

[^_^]

 

~A.M.

What’s Today!?

Today is a special day!  We all have one.  Every year.  What is it? (Yes, this is the lamest riddle ever, I know)  It’s a birthday!  And yes, today is mine!

So, even though it’s my birthday, I’m going to give you folks a little gift (aww, how generous)!  What’s the gift (I’m not telling you my age so forget that)?  I’m posting of a new photo, of course!

Ok, that’s not the greatest of gifts, but it’s all I can manage so enjoy this image I shot on one of my recent visits to the beach.

Surf

Now, I’m off to celebrate!

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

Photo Seamstress

What happens when you want to make a panoramic image but using a camera’s “panorama” mode won’t help? You take several shots and stitch them together in Photoshop or your image editing software of choice.

 

For example, I wanted to make a panoramic image of my four cats, but getting them all to do what I wanted, at the same time, and hold their poses long enough, was impossible. Therefore, I had to photograph each of them individually and stitch the four images together in Photoshop. This really isn’t as daunting as it may seem. You just have to make sure your in-camera settings (like aperture, shutter speed, and focal length) are the same or as close to the same as possible for each image. Using your camera’s manual setting is the best way to go. Then, you just create a canvas in Photoshop with the same resolution as your original images and enough space (height and width) to accommodate all your images. Copy and paste your original images into this new canvas and make any adjustments necessary to get them to line up. I had to overlap a few edges to get things to work right as well as adjust the levels of an image or two. Once your images are lined up, you can use either the clone stamp tool or the healing brush to get rid of any glaringly obvious seams, crop if needed, and make any adjustments to levels, brightness, and contrast that you want.

 

And voila! You’re a photo seamstress!!

 

Here’s the end result of my project. Four images manually stitched into one panorama.

 

 

Four Cats in a Row

 

Until next time…

 

[^_^]

 

~A.M.

Nature’s Humor

As a photographer, it’s always important to develop your creative eye.  To look for the things in your environment that other people don’t notice.  To be on the lookout for new and interesting subjects to photograph.  Sometimes nature can help you out.  With a little humor to boot.

For example, last week, I took a trip to the beach near my house and I came across a rock with an unusual pattern that had seaweed clinging to one side of it.  I’ll admit, I giggled before I took this shot.  This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a face in a pattern in nature, but I think this is one of the more silly ones I’ve come across!

Silly Rock Face

Keep an eye out for Mother Nature’s little spurts of humor!

 

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.