September 2012 Project–Red
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Photos
August 2012 Project–Closer
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For August 2012, I decided to do a project containing close up and macro shots for a month. On most days, I did go out and take the photo. My goal was to improve my creativity and technique in the area of macro photography. Below are the photos that I received the most feedback from.
My CLOSER project on Google+ | Flickr | Facebook
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July 2012 Project–Shades of Grey
in Photo-Projects, Photos
In July 2012, I decided to do a project containing only black & white shots for a month. On most days, I did go out and take the photo. There were a couple of days that I did pull a photo from my archives and converted it to black & white. My goal was to improve at producing better tones and contrast in my b&w photos. Below are the photos that I received the most feedback from.
My Shades of Grey project on Google+ | Flickr | Facebook
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Project Idea - Colors
in Photo-Projects, Photos
I was reading a book I borrowed from a friend titled 50 Photo Projects, when I came across a project that sounded pretty cool. Shooting based on color…or gathering photos that have the same “dominant” color from your library. I used the collage templates mentioned in a previous post to gather sets of photos with a similar color set.
It is also interesting and inspiring to type different colors into the search on Flickr and explore the results.
Red – Blue – Green – Yellow – Orange – Purple – Pink
Projects are great for exercising creativity. I found that going through my library and grouping based on color was a worthwhile task.
Link Summary
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Sepia Tones in Photos
I ran across a good article from Light Stalking recently titled Why Sepia Photography Still Kicks Ass. It made me realize …there are so many ways to add a sepia tone to photos. Of course, some methods are better than others and everyone has their own opinion on what makes a better photo.
My favorite method that I have found so far is Sepia Toning action included with Photoshop. It does a pretty nice job.
Other photos converted using the Sepia Toning action
Below are other methods of converting to Sepia that I found in my research –
- Method 1 – Hue/Saturation adjustment layer
- Method 2 – Channel mixer/color filter
- Method 3 – Adjustments and variations
- Method 4 – Photo filter adjustment layer
- Method 5 – Gradient map adjustment layer
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My First Major Exhibition
Last weekend, as a part of Houston Fotofest, some of my work was displayed as Jomar Visions Studio.
The series is titled “Up a Tree”. The photos included in the theme were taken all around the Houston area. The good thing about the type of shots used is they can be taken anywhere, even in your backyard. As I mention in my series statement below, there is a unique view for every tree.
Series Statement
The photos in this series were all taken around the Houston area.
I think my interest in trees stem from childhood. My mom would always take me with her to visit my Grandparents' grave sites, and the cemetery they rested in was full of big, beautiful oak trees. Of course, as a child, she had a difficult time keeping me away from them.
I took the photos for this series in the Fall, when the leaves are saturated with color, and Winter, when there are no leaves at all. The view I see when walking up to the trunk of a tree and looking up is unique from tree to tree. The texture of the bark, the network of limbs, the sky color all play a role in the uniqueness of the photograph.
To this day, when I see a big, beautiful oak tree, I think of the days I spent with my mom as a child.
My hope is that others will also see the uniqueness and beauty of the images in this series.
My Full “Up a Tree” Set on Google+ | Flickr
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“All life is of a past nature, photography enhances this fact.” – Patrick Summerfield
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Galveston Alleys
I recently had the opportunity to photograph Galveston’s Industrial alleyway district with great friends. There is a historic feel to the area you just can’t shake. Especially, if you are into photographing such a subject.
Below are SOME of the shots from the day as well as a link to all of my Galveston photos.
Full Galveston Gallery on Google+ | Full Galveston Gallery on Flickr
iPhone shots via Instagram
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"A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into." -Ansel Adams
Check out my About.Me page for my complete web presence
Early Morning Fog
Fog was abundant in the early morning of last Sunday (1/1/12) in Southeast Texas.
I remember always being drawn to the fog, with the exception of a few years of my youth...thank you John Carpenter. So, right after breakfast I began driving around, hoping something would pull my attention. In the suburbs, you have to really search for photo opportunities because it can be difficult to find something without obscurities, such as power lines (unless you want power lines to be part of your composition). Then I remembered Bay Area Park's wooden walkway out over part of Armand Bayou. I have taken many photos at this location because I love the numerous dead trees and the wetlands themselves. Fog is one of the conditions that I had not yet photographed in this setting. Also, on this particular morning, the fog and humidity enabled water beads to form on the numerous spider webs.
I believe my decision to go back to this location was a win win.
Full Bay Area Park gallery on Google+
Fog or mist adds mystery to just about any landscape composition. Especially if it contains cool dead trees.
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“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” -Ernst Haas
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365 Project 2011 - Week 52 in Review
in Photos, Project365
This is a summary of the photos I posted for my 2011 365 Project from 12/25 through 12/31.
Sunday, 12/25 - Merry Christmas | ...to one and all.
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Monday, 12/26 - Rodent's Eye View | Dawson High School from the level of a rodent.
Tuesday, 12/27 - Illuminated | I like the illuminated keyboard on my nephew's laptop.
Wednesday, 12/28 - Over the River and Thru the Woods | I went on a photo outing in Jesse Jones Park today. This park is located near Humble, Texas and has a lot of trails to explore.
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Thursday, 12/29 - Me and My Shadow | Taken at Jesse Jones Nature Center in Humble, Texas.
Friday, 12/30 - At the Beach | I spent most of today assisting with a family shoot on Galveston Beach. The Sun was a challenge, so I am hoping I came away with a few good shots. :-)
Saturday, 12/31 - Happy New Year | A new year is upon us! Hope everyone has a prosperous 2012.
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That, my friends, is the end of my Project 365. On some days it was a challenge to post a photo, but all in all, it has been a great experience and accomplishment for me.
Happy Shooting!
"The more you understand what inspires you, the more readily you can put yourself in it’s path." - David duChemin
Check out my About.Me page for my complete web presence
365 Project 2011 - Week 51 in Review
in Photos, Project365
This is a summary of the photos I posted for my 2011 365 Project from 12/18 through 12/24.
Sunday, 12/18 - Fallen Leaves | Taken in Bear Creek Park, Houston.
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Monday, 12/19 - Dream | Trying out an app named PicFX. Used it to add a paint peeling filter to this shot.
Tuesday, 12/20 - Momma | I want to say Happy Birthday to my Mom who would have been 75 today! RIP Momma.
Wednesday, 12/21 - Network | I went to Randolph Park in Friendswood this morning. I looked up at the sky and noticed all the leafless tree limbs and thought it looked interesting. Like a network of limbs.
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Thursday, 12/22 - Joy | Took this while standing in a long line at Stsrbucks.
Friday, 12/23 - Stepping Stones | I was driving around Pearland trying to find things to photograph and thought this daycare had a nice name and sculpture.
Saturday, 12/24 - Christmas Eve | Merry Christmas Eve to all
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Happy Shooting!
"The more you understand what inspires you, the more readily you can put yourself in it’s path." - David duChemin
Check out my About.Me page for my complete web presence
365 Project 2011 - Week 50 in Review
in Photos, Project365
This is a summary of the photos I posted for my 2011 365 Project from 12/11 through 12/17.
Sunday, 12/11 - Begging | This is the face I see while eating. ;-)
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Monday, 12/12 - Holiday Bokeh | Pretty much just out of focus Christmas lights. I think it's cool though. :-)
Tuesday, 12/13 - Tree on the Horizon | A tree across the street from my neighborhood that caught my eye during this morning's fog.
Wednesday, 12/14 - Christmas Light Trails | Having fun with a slow shutter speed and some Christmas lights.
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Thursday, 12/15 - Glass Bokeh | I love this time of year! Such colorful lights everywhere! Great time to do some Christmas light bokeh shots and pull out the Lensbaby and creative aperture kit. :-)
Friday, 12/16 - Electric Skyline | I was playing around with the "Glowing Edges" filter in Photoshop and thought it would look interesting on this skyline shot.
Saturday, 12/17 - Autumn Road | In Houston, Autumn generally starts about a week before the official start of Winter. Taken at Bear Creek Park. [iPhone 4s+ProHDR]
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Happy Shooting!
"The more you understand what inspires you, the more readily you can put yourself in it’s path." - David duChemin
Check out my About.Me page for my complete web presence
Bokeh: What Is It?
Wikipedia defines bokeh as follows:
bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.
The normal shape of the out-of-focus points of light is round or octagon because that is the shape of the aperture.
The photo above is one of those lawn decorations that is in the shape of a Christmas tree. Just aim, make it out of focus and presto, you have bokeh. Now the photo would be more impressive with an object in focus in the foreground, but I like pretty lights. <wink>
Lensbaby has a set of creative aperture discs that produce different shaped points of light (ie heart, star). You can also make your own shapes using some blank discs that come in the set. These only work with the Lensbaby systems.
If you want to do creative aperture with normal lenses, Photojojo has an SLR Bokeh kit that has many more shapes available.
I conducted an experiment in which I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up one of those paper punches used for scrapbooking. I picked a leaf shaped punch. Took some black construction paper and punched it, then taped it to the front of my lens. Presto, it worked. I was able to obtain leaf shaped point of light.
Check out my full gallery of Christmas light bokeh on Google+
This is a great time of year to play with bokeh because of the abundance of Christmas lights, but it is actually fun anytime of year.
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Happy shooting.
“If you see something that moves you, and then snap it, you keep a moment.” – Linda McCartney
Check out my About.Me page for my complete web presence
365 Project 2011 - Week 49 in Review
in Photos, Project365
This is a summary of the photos I posted for my 2011 365 Project from 12/4 through 12/10.
Sunday, 12/4 - Backyard Sunrise | Cool sunrise from my back door.
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Monday, 12/5 - Straw Angel | This was a decoration at my cousin's holiday concert. I thought it looked interesting.
Tuesday, 12/6 - Viola | My cousin performed in her school's Winter Holiday Concert last night. She loves playing the Viola and you can tell. Her and her orchestra sounded beautiful.
Wednesday, 12/7 - Popular Tree | Visited Bayou Vista and the popular photo tree for the first time. I read somewhere that it may be the most photographed tree in Galveston County.
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Thursday, 12/8 – Locked | I took this while visiting Bayou Vista. HDR processing really brought out the wood grain.
Friday, 12/9 – Red & Green | I brought out my Lensbaby Scout Fisheye lens today. I loved the color of the leaves growing out of this tree.
Saturday, 12/10 – Bayou Tree | Took this today at Walter Hall Park in League City. It was a very overcast day which made all the trees look a bit eerie. Processed the photo with two iphone apps, photoshop and topaz adjust.
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Happy Shooting!
"A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into." -Ansel Adams
Find me on: Tipton Creative | RedBubble | Flickr | RedGage | Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr
365 Project 2011 - Week 48 in Review
in Photos, Project365
This is a summary of the photos I posted for my 2011 365 Project from 11/27 through 12/3.
Sunday, 11/27 - Friends | I took this at my cousin's house. I liked the arrangement. :-)
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Monday, 11/28 - Clear Day At The Park | It was also a chilly day at the park...for this Houstonian ;-)
Tuesday, 11/29 - Green & Orange | Thought these remnants from a tree looked interesting. I liked the colors, but I also like that they were laying on top of the grass, so when I focused on them it gave off kind of a 3d effect.
Wednesday, 11/30 - Fall Colors | Fall colors generally take longer to surface in Houston. I took this while on a photo outing at the Clear Creek Nature Center with some friends.
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Thursday, 12/1 - The Art Alliance of Clear Lake has an open juried exhibition twice a year (Summer/Winter). I decided to try entering the Winter Exhibition by submitting three images. I found out on November 13th that one had been accepted. Tonight was the opening reception for the Winter Exhibition and not only was I excited that my work was on display (and will be until the end of Dec), but it sold before the night was over. Woohoo! I've never been so excited about a red pushpin! :-)
Friday, 12/2 - Shelby | We spent half a day at a local Ford dealership purchasing a new car. No it was not a Shelby Mustang, but they made for excellent photo subjects. :-)
Saturday, 12/3 - Wheel Closeup | We purchased a 2012 Ford Focus, so I thought I would take photos before it depreciates. ;-)
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Happy Shooting!
"A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into." -Ansel Adams
Find me on: Tipton Creative | RedBubble | Flickr | RedGage | Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr
365 Project 2011 - Week 47 in Review
in Photos, Project365
This is a summary of the photos I posted for my 2011 365 Project from 11/20 through 11/26.
Sunday, 11/20 - Various shots from my visit to the Via Colori Street Art Festival today. All of the street art was AMAZING!
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Monday, 11/21 - Taken at the 2011 Via Colori Street Art Festival. I love how the clouds are reflecting on the building.
Tuesday, 11/22 - Took this on my walk today. A cool front came through Houston around 9:00 this morning and the temps are now delightful.
Wednesday, 11/23 - Loved the light coming through the window. The cat is always a willing participant in my picture taking. ;-)
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Thursday, 11/24 - Today is Thanksgiving Day and I am thankful for too many things to mention. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday, 11/25 - My cousin's pup is what I call a ninja licker. She licks you before you realize what is happening.
Saturday, 11/26 - Saw the sun shining through a leaf - moved slightly and got an awesome sun flare.
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Happy Shooting!
"A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into." -Ansel Adams
Find me on: Tipton Creative | RedBubble | Flickr | RedGage | Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr
A Weekend for Art
Last weekend was a busy time for Art in Downtown Houston. Both Art Crawl and Via Colori were going on.
I spent time at Art Crawl 2011 on Saturday.
Friends and photographers Jeff Narron and David Paulissen had their work on display as a part of Jomar Visions in the Hardy and Nance Street Studios.
Full Art Crawl galleries – Google+ | Flickr
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Via Colori 2011 on Sunday. Below are some of the photos I took.
Full Via Colori galleries – Google+ | Flickr
It was definitely a weekend for art. The works in Art Crawl and Via Colori were AMAZING and I totally recommend both of these events for future outings.
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“To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
Find me on: Tipton Creative | RedBubble | Flickr | RedGage | Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr
365 Project 2011 - Week 46 in Review
in Photos, Project365
This is a summary of the photos I posted for my 2011 365 Project from 11/13 through 11/19.
Sunday, 11/13 - I decided to try my hand at some night photography. This was near City Hall and it was about 5:40am. I took three exposures and merged them because I was having trouble getting the flowers to come out.
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Monday, 11/14 - Just playing with different exposures for night photography. Tried light painting a little too...think that backfired. Need to hone my light painting technique. LOL!
Tuesday, 11/15 - Thought I would try my hand at capturing light trails. so I walked to the front of my neighborhood and setup my camera to catch 5:45-6:00pm traffic.
Wednesday, 11/16 - This is the first photo from my new iPhone 4s. I think I'm going to like having 5 extra megapixels to play with. :-)
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Thursday, 11/17 - I was out with my dog and noticed how the rising sun was shining through the windows of my car. I think it makes for a cool abstract.
Friday, 11/18 - There's a darn cat behind us isn't there!?
Saturday, 11/19 - I attended the 2011 Art Crawl today. It is an annual event showcasing area artists and takes place in the area of Hardy and Nance Streets. This was my first year to attend and I had such a wonderful time that I will attempt to attend this event every year. This is a photo of some of the various street art prevalent in the area.
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Happy Shooting!
"A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into." -Ansel Adams
Find me on: Tipton Creative | RedBubble | Flickr | RedGage | Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr
365 Project 2011 - Week 45 in Review
in Photos, Project365
This is a summary of the photos I posted for my 2011 365 Project from 11/6 through 11/12.
Sunday, 11/6 - These little purple flowers are growing all over our backyard. I laid down in the grass to get the low angle on this using my 40mm macro lens. Post processing included a slight contrast boost and frame using OnOne's Perfect Effects and Frame.
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Monday, 11/7 - I decided to hop on a bus and go to Downtown Houston this morning. I walked around for awhile and had lunch.
Tuesday, 11/8 - This is just a candle I have laying around. Some storms are making their way through Houston, so I thought I might need it.
Wednesday, 11/9 - This was taken at Town and Country City Center. It was after sunset. I sat my camera on a bench to stabilize it...I thought the motion blur of the kids running through the frame while the shutter was open was pretty cool.
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Thursday, 11/10 - I took this in Friendswood, Texas. It was a part of their Veterans Memorial that sits next to City Hall.
Friday, 11/11 - I took this at the Veterans Memorial in Friendswood. Seems appropriate since today is 11/11/11, a day of remembrance and thanks for all the soldiers who have served in the US Armed Forces.
Saturday, 11/12 - This is a macro shot of one of those little maze puzzle games. Played with lighting a little.
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Happy Shooting!
"Life is like a good black and white photograph, there’s black, there’s white, and lots of shades in between." -Karl Heiner
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11/11/11 - A Day Of Remembrance and Thanks
Veteran’s Day is a day to honor military veterans and to remember those who lost their lives serving in the Armed Forces to protect our country. So again, thank you to all who served to keep our country free.
Below are some photos I have taken over the past few years that have a relay a sense of remembrance. Please visit the full galleries to view all the photos.
There is a nice man in Angleton, Texas that maintains a Memorial Fence at his residence. I visited there in 2007 (before Hurricane Ike) and again in October 2011. He had to rearrange things after Ike destroyed part of the fence and at the end of all the crosses, he has sheets of paper listing more names that he is still working on crosses for. I am saddened by the drastic change in casualty numbers between my visits.
I just happened upon a Veterans Memorial in Friendswood, Texas this week. It is a very nice homage to those who served in the Armed Forces.
This photo (and the rest in the full gallery) from Houston National Cemetery was taken last Christmas (2010) during the Wreath for Every Soldier event. I found this particular photo moving for two reasons. The “Lest We Forget” inscribed on the front tombstone and the blank tombstones.
Both of these photos were taken at the Pilgrim Knights and Daughters Cemetery along FM 1492 in Rosharon, Texas. I happened upon this because I arrived at Brazos Bend State Park too early one morning and was driving around waiting for the gates to open. Pays to be early sometimes. :-)
Full Galleries
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“To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
Find me on: Tipton Creative | RedBubble | Flickr | RedGage | Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr
Depth Of Field (DOF)
Wikipedia defines Depth of Field (DOF) as follows:
“Depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image.”
There are two types of DOF
- Shallow – Foreground is in focus and background is out of focus
- Great – Objects in the foreground and background are in focus
Examples of Shallow DOF --
Example of Great DOF --
Below is a set of shots in which I changed the aperture each time affecting the depth-of-field. Notice how more and more of the pumpkins come into focus the lower (smaller) the aperture gets.
f/2.8 f/5.6 f/8
f/11 f/16 f/22
Shallow depth-of-field is very useful when you want your main subject to be in focus and the background not in focus. This leads the viewer’s eye to main part of the photo.
I hope, after this, you have a little better understanding of depth-of-field.
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"The more you understand what inspires you, the more readily you can put yourself in it’s path." - David duChemin
Find me on: Tipton Creative | RedBubble | Flickr | RedGage | Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr