Tag Archives: Photography

Hello There, Sunrise!

Posted on August 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s rare that I wake up in time to capture the first light of the rising sun.  On Tuesday, August 7, I managed to catch it.  Granted I didn’t wake up early for it.

Wait, how’s that possible you ask?  Simple.  I didn’t go to bed the evening of the 6th!

I was up all night playing a game.  Don’t laugh.  Those of you that play video games know how easy it is to lose track of time.  You get busy searching the virtual country side for treasure chests or get involved in a quest and all notion of time goes out the window.  Well that’s what happened.  In fact, I was so engrossed in this game (if you want to know what I was playing, ask and I’ll share) that I probably would have missed the sunrise completely if my stomach hadn’t started trying to devour itself in hunger.

As I paused my game and shuffled out into the kitchen, I looked out the window and saw the beginnings of an awesome sunrise.  I decided to forgo my breakfast for a little while longer, much to my raging stomach’s displeasure, and picked up my camera.

So, kids, the next time one of your parents yells at you for being up all night, just say you were waiting to photograph the sunrise!  I doubt that will work to get you off the hook, but it sounds better than “Get off my back, ma! I was playing a game!” [^_^]

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Lighthouse Adventure!

Posted on August 6, 2012 | 2 comments

This past Saturday (August 4, 2012 for those of you not paying close attention [-_^]), my parents and I decided to attend an open house at the Little River Lighthouse in Cutler, Maine.

Interesting point number one:  The only way to access this particular lighthouse is by boat.

Now, I haven’t been on a boat since I was a kid and I used to get sea sick so I wasn’t looking forward to that part of the journey.  Luckily, I think I outgrew my sea sickness because the boat ride to and from the island didn’t affect me too much.  Yay!

Interesting point number two:  Before we could even get on the boat, we had to sign waivers releasing the volunteers and the boat captains from any liability should something happen to one of us.  Yay!

Once at the island (which is only 15 acres in size, fun fact), we walked along a wooden boardwalk across the island to the lighthouse.  We toured the keeper’s house which brings me to…

Interesting point number three:  A direct descendant of the lighthouse’s last civilian keeper was there to tell us some history of the lighthouse.  That was pretty cool.

Interesting point number four: During this open house, visitors weren’t only allowed to tour the keeper’s house, we were also able to climb the lighthouse tower.

Not many functioning lighthouses allow visitors to climb the towers unless it’s during a special open house like this or during Maine Open Lighthouse day (September 15th).  Again…Yay!

Right before we headed back to the dock to return to the mainland, we went up into the tower.  Thank goodness I’m not afraid of heights!

I managed to take a few interesting shots during this little adventure and it was awesome to travel to a lighthouse that’s only accessible by boat.  That was a first for me.  I didn’t want to just snap a few shots of the lighthouse head on like you see in postcards (although I did take a few of those…just because I could!).  I wanted to take an interesting shot of the inside of the lighthouse tower.  So I did.   YAY!!

The only downside to the day was the fact that I got a slight sunburn in spite of slathering on sunscreen before I left home.  [-_-]

If you ever have a chance to visit a lighthouse and climb the tower, I would highly recommend you do it.  It’s awesome.

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Posted in Photography, Travel

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Imagining the Emerald Isle

Posted on July 30, 2012 | 2 comments

I’ve said for a long time now that I want to visit Ireland.  The rolling hills, the amazing coastlines, the castles, the leprechauns.  That‘s right, I said leprechauns.  I’d love to catch a glimpse of leprechaun in its natural habitat.

But seriously now, I would love to visit the Emerald Isle.  Unfortunately, travel (especially abroad) isn’t in the cards for me at the moment.  So, I’ll just have to console myself with the landscapes of my home state of Maine.  I’ve come across a few places here in Maine where I can pretend that I’m wandering the Irish countryside.

Here’s a perfect example.  One day while my mother and I were taking a walk along the Sunrise Trail between Machias and East Machias, we came across this misty vista that immediately made me think of a place I’ve never been.  Awesome how that happens sometimes, isn’t it?

 

 

I will go there someday.  Oh yes.  I will go there someday.

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Posted in Nature, Photography, Travel

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Awesome Things That Happen in Nature

Posted on July 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

There’s no doubt that nature is awesome.  Well, at least to me there’s no doubt.  If you have doubt, then you’re probably not an outdoorsy type person!  I guess that’s ok, but it’s kind of limiting, do you think?  Oh well, to each their own!

Where was I?  Oh yeah, nature is awesome.  But, what’s also awesome are some of the things that happen in nature.  Naturally, that is.

While surfing the site Buzzfeed.com, I came across an article called “10 Amazing Naturally Occurring Phenomena You Need To See To Believe.”  Long title but awesome article.  Check it out.

I have yet to see the Aurora Borealis, but I know I will at some point in my life.  So far it’s always seemed to work out that the sky is cloudy every time they say the Aurora will be visible in my neck of the woods.  What luck I have, huh?

I would also love to see Foxfire sometime too.  That looks really cool.

Now, obviously this is just a very small list of some of the awesomeness you can find in nature.  To experience more, you’ll just have to pack a lunch, get outside, and get into the thick of it.  Just remember your sunscreen on a sunny day, your umbrella on a rainy day, and never ever leave home without your camera!

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Post Production

Posted on July 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Depending on who you ask, post production can either be a photographer/artist’s best friend or evil incarnate!

Photographers will tell you that the best thing to do is to get the image right at the time of capture so there will be little to no need for post production.  It’s a good rule to follow, especially for nature, wildlife, and portrait photography.  It’s good to be able to take photographs that have a true-to-life feel straight from the camera.

Sometimes however, even if you’re camera settings are spot on, the resulting photo might still need a little tweak in brightness, color, saturation, etc. before it’s satisfactory.

Of course this “get it right in camera” rule, like all rules, can be bent or even broken completely.  Sometimes heavy post production may actually be desired from the start of a project.  Several photographers out there just cringed at that, but let me explain.

Say, for example, you want to take your shot of that pretty sunset, that cool moonrise, or that neat portrait and turn it into something completely fantastical and artistic.  It’s still a good idea to strive for true-to-life images as a base (you never know when you might want or need that true-to-life image for something in the future) but Photoshop can be your friend when it comes to making art.

I’ll show you an example of this.  For a photographer, I’m not personally very photogenic (that and I’m my own worst critic!).  Like most photographers, I‘m more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it.  So, after much deliberation, I took one of the best shots from a series of self portraits (with a shameless plug for my favorite musician, Celldweller!).

It came out alright, but I wanted to do something more to it.  I wanted to make it less life-like and more…well…artistic.  So, I engaged in some heavy post production, adjusting levels, color, and especially contrast.  I’ve been told by many people that my eyes are my best feature, so I wanted to showcase them by making them the only part of the image in color.

Art (and beauty) is always in the eye of the beholder.  It’s completely subjective.  The same is true for post production.  Whether or not to do post production and how much of it to do is a personal preference.  However, I do agree on one thing with the anti-post production team….Post production should always be a tool of photography, not a crutch.

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Posted in Art, Photography, Photoshop, Portraiture

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