It's all about the light, and the camera, and photoshop, and the classes, and the...

I love to take pictures. I really, really do. But to get the perfect lighting outside means getting up early...very early, and I really, really, hate to get up early. Since I entered "transition" (I refuse to use the word retirement) I don't "do dark." Meaning that I don't get out of bed until the sun is up.

To show you an example of taking a picture when there is full sun, look below. I took this on Hilton Head in the middle of the afternoon.

Can you see the huge shadow on the surface? When I took this shot about three years ago, I thought it was breathtaking. Sure, the color is good and the composition is okay. Maybe I should have composed the horizon differently, but the major flaw is the shadow. To get this shot without the shadow would mean opening my eyes before sunrise, and as I said before, I don't "do dark."

But there is another way and I was lucky enough to have my camera in hand. Well that's not exactly true. Here's how it happened. A few weeks ago, three friends and I were on the beach on Hilton Head just talking away, catching up, with not a care in the world, when this major cloud appeared. So, the Ansella Adams who I think I am, sprang into action. I ran, or walked briskly (depending on whom is telling this story) to the condo and grabbed my camera so I could get the shot. Truth be told, I had contemplated getting up early to get the shot but here was my chance to get it without "doing dark." As all digital photographers do, I took about 20-30 shots of the same walkway. I was in all sorts of contortions- bending, squatting, and kneeling...praying that no one would walk on the beach until I could get the shot.

As my friend Tracy would say, "Et voila." Thank God for clouds.

Company's Coming!

Since I found out that Tom's friend, Butch, is coming to visit for a day or two, I've been trying to clean the downstairs bedroom. The mess started when we began the kitchen project in October. Everything in the cabinets had to be removed and put somewhere. In the beginning, dishes, glasses, etc. were in the dining room, living room, bathroom, and the downstairs bedroom. As the holidays approached, the bedroom quickly became the dumping ground for those treasured items that I had to think about what to do with them. I really did try my best to put the stuff that I took out of the old cabinets back into the new cabinets. But there was still a lot of purging and decision-making to take place. When it comes to throwing things out, or even giving them away, I avoid it. I always think I'm going to need that Tupperware bowl that has no lid and is discolored from God knows what.

So when I found out that Butch was coming, I had to get busy. This morning I woke up, ate a donut, drank a coke and jumped right in. As I was dusting, I started rearranging. I took everything off the shelf over the bed, dusted it, and was just about to put a few things back on it when I spotted the green apples that I had used in a bowl last summer. Not real, the Target kind. As I was arranging them Tom came in and gave me the idea to take a picture of it. I needed the break, so I grabbed the camera and started shooting. Here is the first one.

I lightened this one. I think I like it darker.

Then I cropped this one. I could use it as a banner for my blog or maybe some cards.

On the blog one day, Etsy the next. I love to clean.

My New York City Adventure: Part 5, One Final Image

The night before we left New York to return home, I went to the pier located at the back of the hotel that is on the Hudson River. The pier was directly across from The World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. The sun was setting as I set up my equipment, so I was able to get images as the sky grew darker. This is one of my best images.

Thanks to my sister, Janie, my brother-in-law, Dennis, and my husband, Tom, for being so patient with me as I took all of these images. I couldn't do it by myself. Their encouragement and support continues to motivate me to delve deeper and deeper into this endeavor.

My New York City Adventure: Part 3, The Groom's Dance

Sunday morning as I was preparing to go on my big shoot of the Brooklyn Bridge, my sister called my room to tell me to go to the lobby and take my camera. I quickly finished dressing, jumped on the elevator and hopped on the escalator. Seeing the "big-girl" camera in my hand, and excitement in my face, the doorman told me to go to the pier to see the celebration. I had no idea what was going on, but I was going to find out. Here's what I saw first.

Then I went to the back of the pier and saw this man in a carriage. Someone in the crowd told me that this was a wedding celebration. Below are two images of the groom in the carriage with his young cousins.

What I and many others were observing was an Indian wedding ritual called a barat. This is the arrival of the groom and his family and friends at the wedding venue. As you can see, it is a huge procession with lots of dancing. Back in the day, the groom arrived on a horse decorated with beads and jewels, but this groom chose a carriage pulled by a horse. The procession of relatives and friends is called barati. I don't know what the plural is for barati, but this groom had lots of it!

A deejay in a van led the procession, playing traditional Indian music and shouting instructions to them along the way.

Pictured below is the groom dancing with his parents and most likely, his brother.

The procession continues. The groom is back in the carriage.

This young woman stopped and let me take her picture. She laughed and said, "right place at the right time!" I nodded and thanked her. She must like photography also, because she knew all of the color and the action helped to make beautiful pictures. Plus, the weather was perfect.

This older gentleman must have been the groom's grandfather. Bless his heart, he walked and danced all of the way with the barati. Here's Trigger! I have a feeling this wasn't his first barat.

Looks like he's had enough fun for one day.

Next, the wedding. Wasn't invited. Couldn't sneak in. Don't have a sari.

The groom entered last. Check out his shoes. I hope he got something to eat before the wedding. That was quite a workout and I bet he's starving.

The bride wasn't supposed to see him before the ceremony, but it would have been easy for her to sneak a peek. I wish I could have seen her. Bet she was gorgeous.

On to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Just Playing Around

I though I would work with this image since I'll be "hanging around" there this weekend. In May my highschool friends and I went to New York to celebrate our birthdays. While there we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. I think that's one of the best things to do in the city. We took the subway to Brooklyn, ate at a nearby diner, and then started our walk across the bridge. This time I payed attention to the markings on the bridge indicating where to walk and where to ride a bike. Tom and I made that mistake several years ago when we weren't paying attention and just wandered aimlessly going from side to side, just in awe of the view. Finally, a local on a bike mentioned in passing that we were on the bike path. So nice of him.

Anyway, here is one of the images I took without making any adjustments.

After playing around with filters, I went to "artistic," and clicked on "posterize edges." In the last step, I brightened it and worked on saturation.

Notice how the bricks are emphasized...kinda cool.

Can't wait to get that shot under the bridge with Manhattan in the background. Hope it doesn't rain. Have a safe Labor Day.

tripod or iPod?

This really isn't about a tripod, except that I did have to use it during the first part of the shoot at the beach. Instead, it's about shooting at the beach ON the beach.

I started out early one morning. That's a HUGE tip for beginning photographers. Most gurus say it's because of the light, it's not as harsh. However, another reason I go out early is because there are fewer people on the beach. Yes, I could photoshop them out, but it's a whole lot easier if the people just aren't there. I really like to shoot at the beach in October or November; the sand is smoother, and again, people aren't there. My destination that morning was an area north of Myrtle Beach where there is a pier near public parking. It's a pain lugging the equipment blocks away from the ocean. I have shot under piers before but this time I had a plan. Let me back up and explain.

About a month ago, I met this guy (20-30 somethings would call him a dude) at Sam Flax's in Atlanta. I was walking down an aisle looking at the acid-free, archival quality mats when I saw this amazing poster size image on the framing counter. The image was a pier with the ocean looking very creamy-like..not foamy. Etheral would be a good word to describe it. The two guys who were helping him with his selection seemed to be concentrating on the colors for the mat and frame, just like they should have...very businesslike. This is where I enter the picture. I ooohed and aaahhed and began the interrogation. (Read the blog posted on June 27th....I was becoming one of them.) He told me without a lot of prodding where he took the shot, when he took the shot, and the shutter speed. I knew he had a more expensive camera, but I didn't think that would make that much of a difference. I thought I had all I needed to duplicate THE SHOT.


So, off I went on my merry way to take THE SHOT under the pier with my secret shutter speed to make the water look creamy. Using my tripod, I experimented with every selection on my camera....aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. Soon the people were waking up and taking their morning walk, thus causing frustration on my part. Why did everyone want to walk under the pier this early in the morning as I was taking THE SHOT?

I planted myself under pier with my bag and tripod. Set everything up. Took the shot and this is the result. Not exactly what I was looking for. My shutter speed was obviously too slow. My aperture was good- 32, and the ISO was 100. The problem was shutter speed.

Here is the second shot. Not really the second, I took 39 and don't want to bore you. This is the second example of my shoot that morning. This time I accelerated the shutter speed, same aperture and ISO. It's getting better. But, where is the water?

The third image shows lots more color, probably due to changing the ISO to 400, the aperture to 5.6, and the shutter speed to 1/640..that's really fast. I love the color, but it's NOT CREAMY!

This is the 4th and last image. The shutter speed is .6, the aperture is 36 and the ISO is 100. I think with some tweaking in photoshop this image will look pretty good. It's still somewhat overexposed, but I like that effect. What do you think?

I want to thank Tom, my guru for so patiently explaining my questions regarding metadata. He is a genius. I also want to thank John for sharing his image with me. It's NOT EVEN CLOSE, but maybe someday.