Remember When ... There Was A Blizzard?

Remember when there was a blizzard?  Yeah, me too.  No?  Well, let me show you!

Nature: The Opossum

There are butterflies and bunnies in the backyard but they aren't as adventurous as the opossum that I found dangling from my porch light.  The photographer side of me had to grab the camera and get some images of this little daredevil.  

Nature: The Butterfly

A billion butterflies have taken up residence in the aptly named butterfly bush outside my window.  Okay, a billion is exaggerating but, there are a lot of them.  You would think with so many of them flitting about and in general just lounging around on the bush, I would be able to get a decent photo of one.  Well, apparently, my butterflies are anti-posing, anti-camera and outright anti-social.  I spent a fair amount of time outside in various locations and positions, snapping dozens of photos trying to capture a decent image of one. This is the disappointing result of my butterfly stalking.

Nature: Flowers

I've been experimenting with my editing software again.

On The Rocks

I was out by the ocean earlier this week and discovered this little tower of rocks.  I'm not sure who made the formation or why but, it was sitting there perfectly ready for me to photograph.

Nature: Dandelion

Weeds, they start rearing their annoying little heads come spring.  As I was sitting at my kitchen table looking out the back door, I thought to myself, I really should make an effort to tend to the lawn.  However, as quickly as that thought popped into my head it left.  Instead, I did the ultimate form of lawn care denial and procrastination.  I embraced it!  I got my camera out and set about trying to make weeds look like art. My effort is below.  All of the dandelions in my yard have lost their little white afros except this one.

From The Passenger Seat: Fog

I finally photographed some fog that I'm reasonably happy with. 

I'm fascinated by black and white images of fog.  I think black and white makes fog look more eerie.  Below is the un-edited color image, which I think is lovely in its own right, as well as my black and white edit.

The Holga Chronicles

About a year ago, I bought a Holga.  I ran a roll and well, lets just say it was a failure of epic proportions.  I tossed it in a drawer and forgot about it.  Recently, I decided I wanted to explore film.  In addition to picking up a used slr, I pulled out the Holga and ran a roll of film ... again, failure!  Well, I got some advice, watched some videos and gave it another go and... I've got photos.  

When I first bought the Holga I envisioned questionably exposed, retro looking images. While I like the heavily saturated images, I find that I have a soft spot for the overexposed and faded images.  At any rate, I look forward to using it more and seeing what I come up with.

Nature: Bleeding Heart

I looked out the backdoor the other day and discovered there are Bleeding Heart flowers in the yard.  Every week there seems to be something new and beautiful blooming.  

Nature: Rocks

For some reason, I decided I wanted to photograph the gravel in the driveway.  In color they're a mix of warm brown and sandy colors with hints of red.  But of course I didn't want that.  I wanted a black and white image with contrast and grain.  

Nature: Thorns

I am acquainted with an insane rose bush.  The thing has a mind of its own and a personality far too grand for the trellis it's involved with. Said bush and trellis are a dysfunctional couple and I have suffered the fallout on more than one occasion of their thorny battles.  

Nature: Japanese Maple

Springtime means that the Japanese Maples are regaining their leaves!  I also wanted to make them look a little funky.  This is the result!

Nature: Spring Flowers

It's Spring!  The warm weather insisted my camera and I spend some time outside. The first photo was what I was aiming for ... a simple close up full of rich color.  The second photo, was the very first photo I took on my excursion today.  Of course, I forgot to check my camera settings which were still all set up for nighttime photography! Needless to say, it turned out overexposed and rather crappy.  So, I ran it through my editing software, turned it black and white fiddled around with the exposure, tone, added some grain and other bells and whistles to come up with what you see below.  It kind of reminds me of something taken with inferred film.

Camera Phone Chronicles: Tulip

Springtime brings flowers and for a couple of weeks now, flowers have been popping up in that wild mess known as the front garden.  Today I was walking by the window and noticed that tulips have started randomly popping up around the place...no rhyme to reason, just popping up.  There are at least four different areas of the garden that the tulips have decided to display themselves.  So, I pulled out my camera phone and snapped a shot!

Fall, Nature & Editing

Like a lot of people I love fall foliage.  I love seeing the trees turn various shades of red, orange, yellow and brown.  Of course I had to take my camera out and capture a few images.  I pulled the images off my card and went into processing mode.  I like nature in color but I'm becoming more and more fascinated with nature in black and white.  Therein lies my problem.  I am still perfecting the art of black and white nature without making it look flat and dull.  In addition to playing around with the black and white, I have to reign in my latest processing addiction, copper toning!  There's something about that particular rich toning that I like ... it just feels so warm.

The above photo was taken late Summer/early Fall and as you can see, the trees were still rather green.  I was exploring the park with my camera, looked up and saw that guy meditating.  He was obviously very good at meditating as there were some children playing rather loudly on the rock right behind him.  

When I first took the photo, I saw it in black and white.  I couldn't see it any other way.  Then, I turned it black and white.  I added contrast, I took away contrast, I tinkered with shadows, highlights and toning.  In the end a photo I thought would turn out lovely, just doesn't do anything for me in color or black and white.  Perhaps I'll re-visit it with fresh eyes down the line.

The above two photos and their edits caused me a dilemma.  I love the color but I also love the copper toning and contrast of the black and white versions.  I still can't decide which one I like best.  

The above is another photo I thought would be great in black and white.  But, I just can't get it right!  I think part of my lack of satisfaction is that it's not composed the way I want it.  I know you're thinking, "well, silly woman, why didn't you compose it the way you wanted?"  Good question!  There were obstructions so I tried to get as close to the angle I wanted as possible.  This photo will drive me crazy and I'll be forced to tinker with it until I find an edit that makes me happy.

Nature: Butterfly Bush

I love the color of the bushes flowers.  But, I was curious to see what the photo would look like in b&w.  I think I prefer the color version but the b&w version isn't bad either.

When I first moved into my new four walled world, I was excited about the plants and trees on the property.  I saw the butterfly bush and thought, oh how pretty.  Well, I'm not all that excited about that blasted bush now.  Oh sure, it's lovely with all of it pretty purple blooms.  But, the previous owners planted the damned thing right by the back gate.  Yes, it looks pretty draped over the back fence but it interferes with walking!  Whenever you walk in or out the back gate, you have to duck down low, really low to avoid it and that's after pruning.  It gets even worse when it rains as the rain weighs it down.  So, beautiful bush, you're less attractive to me now but you make for a lovely picture. 

Nature: Fog & Spiders

As hurricane Irene loomed, it seemed like a good idea to take a photo or two.  Seeing as I'm not into the whole risk getting blown away for the sake of art thing, the front porch seemed like a good place for a quick documentation.  It had been raining off and on.  It was foggy.  The wind had yet to make any major visit at this point.  As I looked through my camera I thought to myself, wonder how this will look in black and white?  When I started processing it, I immediately realized that I have not perfected the art of shooting fog!  At any rate, I wanted it to look somewhat like an old postcard.  I'm into this type of look/processing at the moment.  

The above fella was bracing for the storm.  We have lots of spiders and webs in our yard and I've been saying I was going to capture some of the webs.  That's easier said than done.  Apparently there's great skill to the art of taking photos of spider webs!  I don't have that skill it seems.  No matter what I seem to do, the web doesn't show well.  Without the processing, you can barely see the web. Oh well.  But, since we have five hundred billion spiders constantly making webs in the yard, I'll be able to get plenty of practice and figure out what I'm doing wrong... eventually!

Central Park: The Beauty Of Trees

Earlier this year, I was in Central Park with my camera.  Spring buds were blooming, the weather was perfect ... not too cold, not to hot.  I had spent a good portion of my time photographing flowers.  But, there were a few trees that caught my eyes.  From a vantage point across the park, I saw a line of beautiful flowering trees.  I made my way to were they were and went about trying to capture them.  As I made my way around a curve to capture them from another angle, I noticed people in one of the trees.  I found it fascinating that the branches left a gap where the person were standing.  The tree quite simply looked like a living picture frame and thus reason this image is one of my favorites.

I find something very beautiful about bare trees.  Their limbs tend to take on the the look of long beautiful arms preparing to do a Woodstock era hippie dance.  I'm also fascinated by tree grids.  Without their blooms and leaves the lines can be seen unhindered ... the trees all lined up and perfectly spaced.  Of course, the lines are beautiful with leaves as well.  I just don't see the same dancing imagery.  I know, it's a weird thing to be fascinated by but, to see these grids at work in large areas is magnificent to me.