Traveling East...

New Gadgets Are So Fun...

I recently bought a shutter release cable, and I love it! I have been wanting to photograph fireworks like this for so long, and I was finally able to. These were the first few shots of the SeaWorld fireworks, I actually have some that were even better exposures of the fireworks, but unfortunately the smoke from the explosions was in the way of the shot. I learned to pay attention to wind direction and position yourself accordingly!

 I am quite excited that SeaWorld does fireworks every night, so I don't have to wait an entire year to try this again!

I also shot one of the bay while I was waiting for the fireworks. I did a really long exposure, and I actually love the way it turned out!

New Flash...

Watermark Worthy...

I encourage you to click a photograph to enlarge and view the entire slide show against a black back drop!

Critique Corner...

Last night I uploaded my sunset photograph to The Critique Corner on the Cannon Forum website. After  reading all of the feedback, I have edited my photograph again and here is the result...

Serenity...

Last night I was wondering aloud how to spend my afternoon today, when I was told, "Do something that will make you happy baby, do something that makes you happy." Well I think I succeeded, since I managed to take one of my favorite photos yet!

 I was driving home from work when I was compelled to turn into the parking lot and watch the sunset. I sat for quite some time in the grass, watching and waiting. I was feeling disappointed because I couldn't capture the serenity of the sun setting over the bay, in a way I hadn't already done.So, I stood up and began to walk back to my car, when with one last look over my shoulder at the sunset, this is what I saw. 

Thank you to the wonderful couple that participated!



Just for fun I decided to once again play with some filters...

Solarize

Craquelure

Ocean Ripple

Rainy Days...

 Week Theme ~ Tired

All Too Often...

When it comes to New Years Resolutions, I have come to conclusion that they fail because all too often we give up the minute we break stride even once. It is called a New Years resolution, so no matter how many mistakes we make, we should spend the entire year working towards our goal. We are not perfect, why do we expect ourselves to get it right the first time? So this is me, not giving up. I skipped an entire week, not a single photograph. In fact I have only taken  pictures today for this weeks theme, but here I am fessing up and not backing down!

Week Theme ~ Macro

Springing Through Winter...

As I arrived home from work today, I had high ambitions. I quickly replaced my drab work attire with tennis shoes and a camera, with intentions of getting exercise while scouring  for "newness." Three feet out the door I was captivated by all the "new" flowers. Here it is, the beginning of January, and I am finding my rose bushes blooming, and bees pollinating. Long story short, I never made it past the front gate. I wandered from flower to flower trying to capture the magic of spring in the middle of what should technically be winter.

I like these two photographs of the flowers but I feel they are missing something small and I can't pinpoint it. 

I loved the way the sunlight was only lighting up this particular section, which happened to be the area with the most definition between old and new. Kind of reminded me of a waterfall of flowers as well.

I know I promised to stop taking pictures of the pets, but I couldn't resist on this one. I loved how he was lounging on the bench and his eyes were lighting up in the sun. Meet Circle.

I really liked the original photo as well but as soon as I filtered out the color, I fell in love.

I feel like my exposures are really beginning to improve now, I could still use a bit of work, but I am much more confident that my exposure will not be what ruins my photographs anymore. What I need to work on now is my composition, which is another reason I uploaded the photograph of Circle. I feel that I really nailed the composition on this photograph. I started to take the photograph from almost directly in front of the bench, and then realized that angling the bench through the photograph might add leading lines that would draw the viewers eyes to the focus of the photograph. 

New Year, New Resolution...

My New Year's Resolution is to jump back into photography. My goal is to take one photograph a day for the rest of the year. In addition I intend to follow a photography challenge, in which every week will have a theme. The theme for this week is Newness.

Some Editing 

I went in search of newness today, and found myself by the bay, watching the sun fall as the first day of the new year came to an end. So my photograph of the day depicting "newness," is simply a silhouette against a setting sun, a style of photography that I have never attempted until today. Something that was new for me on the very first day of the new year!

I also decided to download a trial version of Photoshop CS5 today and dabble in a bit of editing.  Two are just filters for fun artistic effects, and two are me actually attempting to learn technique. Here are the results...

Glowing Edges  Filter

Selective Color

Stained Glass Window Filter