More Flip n Blend, Abstract Wonderfulness.

So I have been spending a lot of time photographing lately, but most has been for 'competition' so I haven't been blogging as much as I would like.  A team event is starting on DPChallenge and I am on a team, so I've been getting to know my team and working really hard on submitting better photos.  (Now by the end of this blog post, you'll wonder what I'm talking about "better photos".  Haha.  I have had a couple of duds recently.  But I am putting in extra effort and I assume it will show any day now.)

I am feeling the pressure of this team thing since I'm a novice, I don't want to lose it all for my team.  But everyone seems very nice, and teams are made up of folks with all different skill levels.  I have noticed that I'm trying a little harder.  Plus the team is able to review images and make comments. So there is more trying something, then going out later and trying again.  

Bonus - I've already learned new settings on my camera.

We have had a number of 'expert' editing challenges, and you're shocked, I'm sure, to learn that I am not an expert at Photoshop.  But I did, however, try.  One exception to my lack of skill involves "Flip n Blend".  You've seen a few of my flip n blend's before, and it's quite a bit of fun to play around with.  My entry even did quite well - another personal best unless some 'mean voters' show up in the next hour.  

Here is my newest 'winner'.

I also entered the 'winged' challenge.  I had a fabulous opportunity to shoot butterflies at a Butterfly House, but my focus was off just a bit.  (I suspect I was just too close for most shots.)  I had one shot I really liked, and in hindsight I should have entered this:

But instead I took on the challenge of doing some 'expert editing'.  I took a neat gargoyle my mother has and shot him at dusk.  

And then it all went horribly wrong.  

In my defense, there were folks on the site saying they really wanted to see effort at the 'expert editing' and that they would vote lower any "regular" photo.  Well, I suspect they were exaggerating - but I also figured it was high time I try inserting an object from one photo into another photo.  I really do not know how I decided that blue and fluorescent green were the best idea.  I think it just happened.  I was mentally tired from all the work getting one gargoyle into a different photo that apparently I lost all sense.

But what's done is done.  (And I didn't even get last place, so there's that.)

The bonus is that I did learn a new photoshop task - I'll have to work on it - but I did it!

See on,

Julee

Spring.

Finally we have some green leaves and lovely flowers to enjoy.   I have been busy working on submitting photos to challenges, so again have neglected my blog some.  (It's frowned upon to post photos while a challenge is going on, but by the time voting is over my brain forgets about the finished photos and is on to new photos.)

But today I ran out for a bit just to capture one of the few spring days we get in South Dakota.  I did not venture far, just walking around the blocks near my house.  But the new, green leaves seemed nearly fluorescent after today's rain, and two flowering bushes I noticed had some wonderful colors.

I wanted to see how a photo turned out with everything intentionally out-of-focus, that light coming through the leaves was just beautiful.  So here is my abstract 'spring tree'.

And then there is my second flowering bush shot.

I had a 50 mm 1.4G lens on for all of the shots.  Since it was cloudy and nearing sundown, perhaps I should have used a tripod because my focus on the flowers was not quite right.  (Although I also was playing with the F:1.4, so perhaps that depth of field was just too shallow.)  Proper focus seems to be my biggest stumbling block in taking pictures, although I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this.)

Finally, here is a leaf shot put through the Photoshop 'Flip N Blend' process.  Perhaps not a real winner, but I liked the colors and that there were still some leaves that could be identified.

Flip n Blend is extraordinary fun.  It's a complete mystery what a mash-up will look like until it's tried.  While today's attempt wasn't all that fabulous, I did have some luck last week.  (And one photo is still in voting, so you will just have to wait for that wonder - but here are two from last week that I thought were quite lovely.)

See on,

Julee

Looking for symmetry.

Two photo challenges in one week have dealt with symmetry.  It was a topic I was fairly excited about, although I was a little unsure where to start.

But here is where I ended up:

I love it!

This photo came about because I happened to glance up at the mantel while watching TV tonight.  The mantel is where we put cards we get over the year.  Last week a cat had knocked all of the cards off, and I had picked them up and just stacked them flat, back up on the mantel.  A Valentine's Day card had the ribbon hearts that you see, and they were dangling from the mantel and all of a sudden I saw this beautiful symmetry.  (I have learned that the trick to great pictures is often beauty and fabulous lighting.)  So I spent about an hour playing around with those hearts.

Unfortunately, for the DPChallenge crowd there is too much processing in the photo I posted, and since the sharpness of the front heart was not quite as nice as I would have liked, I'll have to do a little more shooting tomorrow.

My first shot with symmetry was at the lake.  I guess all I can say it that indeed there is symmetry.

This next shot was my attempt at some abstract symmetry.  (The stripes are a stair rail.)

This last shot is of part of a sign at a park.

See on,
Julee

Eggs outdoors.

As Easter came and went, I tackled a challenge on photographing eggs.  I had previously had some success with this topic, but those eggs were photographed indoors.  How would I do taking them outside?  (Which despite a late cold spell, was feasible since all of the snow was gone.)

This was basically my first shot, but since the Lego chicken-man was not in sharp focus, I wasn't sure it was the best. Here are a few more outtakes from my shoot.  (I actually went out two days in a row - trying to duplicate the pleasing photo from day 1, but with improved sharpness.  Unfortunately it was much windier and my lego guy kept falling over.  I never did capture exactly what I had in mind).

See on,
Julee

One bloom.

Spring is coming.  Here in South Dakota it is making a S-L-O-W entrance, but it will arrive.  The greenhouses are stocked with flowers, and those few days that get above 50 degrees get me excited.

It is, however, too soon to plant gardens and pots.  Evenings can get down to freezing, and it's only been a little over a week since our last snowstorm.  (But poor northern Minnesota had a snowstorm just yesterday - we just got rain - so I do know it could be worse.)

But the coming of flower season has me longing for colorful blooms, so I bought myself a calla lily after work on Friday. They are so pretty and soft.  I had a black and white photo challenge coming up, and I thought that this lily, with its delicate stripes of color with lovely waves in the petals, might make a pretty black and white image.

I was ever so delighted in my results.  We had just enough sun that I was able to photograph in natural light, and I played with an 85mm and 105 mm lens.  Both gave me just beautiful results.

I am ever so excited for summer!

See on,
Julee

Finding wildlife. Also playing with a rubber duck.

So I have been loving the DPChallenge challenges lately - but as a result I have been neglecting my blog.  Sorry.  My efforts did earn me my first top 10 finish - so wahoo!  (Although there were only 27 entries in the challenge, so while it was still a higher score than usual for me, it is not really all that impressive of a finish).

So to catch you up with my photo activities...

A few days ago I was tromping around a bird sanctuary looking for wildlife and I had some unexpected luck. (This bird sanctuary typically has surprisingly few birds, but a few trees fell down last fall - so it was much more difficult to get back into the area - I thought perhaps I would find something somewhat unusual.)

And jackpot.

This little guy popped up just 15 feet in front of me and kept heading right towards me.  I furiously shot photos, but was a tad concerned about him getting too close, so I never dropped to his level to get a truly good shot.  But still pretty unique.

I suspect this is another mink, but that black bit on the tail has me unsure.

Here is my 'winning' shot from a rubber duck/toothbrush/rubber band/wrist watch/potato challenge.

Thank you DPChallenge.  Where else can an adult justify hauling plastic toys out to the high school track and then laying on the track for an hour moving everything around trying for just the right photo?  (I had fun!  That is pretty much the whole point of a hobby right?  If so, I am succeeding.)

See on,
Julee

Photoshop Flip and Blend.

I was reading a DPChallenge community forum a few days ago.  In that forum discussion thread a technique of 'flipping and blending' in Photoshop was explained.  I am not very strong in Photoshop, but am interested in learning and improving.  Unfortunately I tend to be fairly impatient when sitting at the computer - so learning new things, especially complicated new things, often does not end in complete success.

(I try to pretend that I am not very interested in those 'expert' Photoshop skills like putting things and people in and out of different photos.  I probably would enjoy it, if only I had the patience to sit and practice.)

But baby steps.

This flip and blend technique was only about four or five steps.  Surely that was manageable.  (I use Photoshop Elements so I usually have to google to figure out how to match the 'real' Photoshop steps to the Elements program - but usually I can find what I need.)

So here were my first attempts:

This first shot was a colored bead.  Pretty neat effect.

Next up a tree.

And a few more trees.

The same trees - but different.  I am not yet clear on how the color effects work when working with these layers.  But I did like the "lightening" between the trees. 

Finally, here is a wild combination of one of my windmill pictures.

So kind of a successful evening.  I am not sure when this effect might be useful - but maybe flipping and blending today, inserting Godzilla into the South Dakota landscape tomorrow eventually.

See on,
Julee

The failure with fences.

I have been feeling creative lately, and for the recent photo challenge on 'fences', I thought I had a great idea.  At the zoo near our house are some buffalo that you can see from the bike trail behind the zoo.  I thought perhaps I would be able to capture something interesting from there.

But I also had a back-up plan if that didn't work.

I would go into the zoo and surely I could capture something creative with fences from there.  (Our zoo is a small zoo, but for some of the displays that works in favor of getting closer to the animals.) 

A few minutes outside of the zoo and I knew I was not capturing what I wanted, so into the zoo I went.  I had a great time wandering around, and even got a few shots I liked.  But it became clear after the first day of voting that I had not chosen the right image for the challenge.  (I felt the photo I entered was my most creative shot, but in retrospect it probably really was not executed all that well and probably had at least one fatal flaw.)

Here is some of what I captured:

 

Which would you have submitted?  Are any of them any good?  (I submitted the last tiger photo, but I suspect I would have done better had I submitted the second buffalo shot.  The fence in my tiger shot is just too black, not visually pleasant at all - although I'm not sure it should be.  And that darn twig, bad.)

Live and learn.
See on,
Julee

The great train saga.

So I spent an afternoon photographing to the topic of 'trains and railroads'.   It was quite fun, my husband even chauffeured me around.  What a treat that was.

I captured one beauty of a train shot.

But then I captured what I thought was a more unique and interesting shot at the end of a line.

The red thing was nice and sharp, the cars were nicely blurred.  I thought it was great.  Not everyone agreed.  I got my usual place in the bottom third of the photo challenge.   I probably would have done better had I entered my first shot, but you know, I tend to go for the unusual and/or abstract and my brain just prefers those. 

But I still have fun.  Taking photos keeps my brain creative and happy.  (And with the blizzard-every-three-days weather we're having, I need all the help I can get to keep my brain happy.)

See on,
Julee

The mink and the fish.

So this started out as the story of me looking for a landscape photo that contained no sky.  I figured I would try one of my favorite spots on the Big Sioux River, there are three trees I just love.   Well I was photographing away then glanced down and saw a great sight.

This fabulous little guy (a mink is my best guess) was walking on the ice on the river carrying a large fish.   He was maybe 15 feet from me and did not seem the least bit disturbed by my presence.  Eventually he found an opening in the water and dove under, taking his fish to the far side of the river and off into the trees.

So I came home with no sky-free landscape picture, but I was enormously happy.  Here's to being at the right place at the right time!

See on,
Julee

A day playing in the trees.

Despite a beautifully bright sun, the day was still cold.  But the snow has nearly melted which means I could once again walk into the grassy areas of the wilderness around Watertown.

Hip, hip, hooray!

For my efforts I found a treat in these two dancing trees.  I rarely title my photos, but this one easily became "The Dip".  Do you see it?

During my walk I also found a few more wild looking, crazy with bare branches, trees that I have become a bit obsessed with this winter.

Then I captured a nice image of a peaceful prairie view.

Spring feels so near, and yet we likely have another two to four weeks of winter.   One thing I have realized about myself this winter is that although I do not love the cold, I do love the all the golds that we see in the fields all winter.

See on,
Julee

Thawing pond.

So I went out this afternoon with the intent of capturing a photo for a most complex DPChallenge event yet.  You were supposed to choose three camera techniques from a list of about ten, things like blur, bokeh, centered composition, deep depth of field, high key, leading lines, rule of thirds, tilt, etc., then capture your photo.

I thought there was a whole 24 hours left on the challenge, and it took until today for me to plan a shot.

Long story short, the deadline was yesterday.

I was aiming to capture a photo that would have been titled "High Key, Rule of Thirds, Tilted Angle".  (Titled as such because you had to title your photo the three techniques used in alphabetical order.)

And since I missed the deadline I changed my photo to a watercolor.  Because I like it better that way.

Okay, so there are two versions of my "Thawing Pond" that I had to post.  In the first photo I lightened the shadows just a bit in Photoshop and got much deeper blues.  In the second photo, the original capture with a watercolor filter, the colors are more muted.  I liked the more muted photo myself, but the richer colors of the top photo are quite lovely so I asked my husband's opinion.  He likes the top photo better.

This next photo was my second attempt at that complicated challenge.  The high key came out better, and I liked the moon in the background, but the focus isn't great.  Still one good shot from the day counts as success.
   

See on,
Julee

Bald Eagle. From a distance.

It was a busy weekend at my house.  My husband and I visited Sioux Falls both Saturday and Sunday, seeing family and taking a visitor from India skiing and tubing.  (My husband took care of hosting the skiing part, after Terry Peak a few weekends back, I was done skiing for the year.)

But I had heard a news story that around twenty bald eagles were making Sioux Falls their home for a few weeks as the weather warmed and the river melted.  So, it's probably needless to say, but my eyes were glued to the skies over Sioux Falls as we drove around.

And luck came my way, I got to see one.  (I've seen a few in my life, and I probably have a few pictures from eagles in Alaska, but this was my first successful photo capturing an eagle near home.)  So it was exciting to me.

My longest telephoto is 300 mm, which was not really long enough to get me any great shots.  But nevertheless you can tell it's an eagle - and that had to be good enough for today.  (I peruse the 400 and 500mm lenses on Amazon.com regularly, but am just not ready to spend the money.)

One note, don't try to zoom on these photos too much, I struggled to get the focus just right and the poor bird is never terribly sharp.  But I had this guy in my sights for about a minute, so there was not a lot of time for improving my technique.  Live and learn.

See on,
Julee