Pearland Little League Parade

The Pearland Little League Celebration Parade took place on Saturday, September 11, 2010. It started at 10:00 AM and followed a route down FM 518 from Pearland Parkway to City Hall on Liberty Drive. There was an outpouring of support for the team that made it all the way to the US Title Game of the 2010 Little League World Series.

Congratulations to the Pearland Little League Boys!

       

Picasa Pearland Little League Parade Set

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"A good snapshot stops a moment from running away." -Eudora Welty

Photo Op: Sheldon State Park

We found a great place to take photos last weekend. Sheldon Lake State Park is located in East Harris County. I actually remember my Mom taking me fishing here when I was a kid. There is so much great subject matter in this area.

Flickr Sheldon Lake State Park Set -- Flickr Photo Stream

The park is quite a bit bigger than I remember. The best time to go is in the early morning (or late evening) for that great lighting. In a couple of the photos I took, it was actually getting too late and the Sun was starting to cause some washout.

My main warning is to watch yourself on the piers during the humid morning hours or after a rain. They can be extremely slippery. I wiped out pretty bad and was really glad I had just handed my husband my camera. Whew!

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"A good snapshot stops a moment from running away." -Eudora Welty

Photography Assignment #1

I am taking Photography for the Non-Art Major at the University of Houston to satisfy an Art credit. I spent this passed Saturday morning taking shots for my first assignment.

The assignment was to make 50+ images to thoroughly examine an area around the size of a city block. For example, swimming pool, railroad station, ship yard, library, etc. Select 10 of the best and print them. The area that I chose was my brother's automotive shop and the property surrounding it.

Flickr Assignment #1 Set -- Flickr Photo Stream

I thought there was a great deal of industrial-related subject matter both in and around the shop.

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Great Series - Becoming a Photographic Magician

I ran across a great blog series titled Becoming a Photographic Magician from Trevor Dean Photography.

• Becoming a Photographic Magician {intro}
• "Becoming a photographic Magician" pt. 1 of 3 - The Exposure Triangle
• "Becoming a photographic Magician" pt. 2 of 3 - Image Composition
• "Becoming a photographic Magician" pt. 3 of 3 - Equipment

If you are just starting out in Photography, I highly recommend giving this series a read.

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Photography Links of the Month for Aug 2010

This is my first installment of photography-related links that I have found interesting in the last month.

My flickr photo picks for the month

Links for the month

• Don’t Get Hung Up on Photography Gear
• Prevent DSLR Camera Shake With These 3 Techniques
• 8 Things to Inspire You to Keep Shooting & Sharing Your Photography
• Five Photo Ideas for Shooting Close to Home
• 10 Quick, Easy and Intuitive Tips to Improve your Photography
• Embrace the Weather with Your Photography
• Shutter Speed Numbers
• Photographing the Perfect Landscape
• Landscape Photography For the Serious Amateur
• Five Great Photography Magazines You Should be Reading
• Is Using ‘Auto’ Mode Cheating?
• Use These Simple Techniques to Change the Composition of Your Photographs
• Greenland – Beautiful photos.
• Getting Your Work Online With a Photography Portfolio
• 15 Must Have Photography Accessories Under $25*

These links are also listed as a category on my weekly installment of links on RhondaTipton.Net.

Other Photography Link Collections

• Link Roundup - Epic Edits
• Weekly Photography Links - Your Photo Tips

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Happy surfing!

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League City Photography Meet up – 08.05.10

I attended my first photography meet up Thursday night. I have to say, the League City Photography Meet up Group is a very welcoming and mentoring group with a passion for taking photos. I learned a lot and hope to participate in more events in the future with this group.

The Third-Annual Worldwide PhotoWalk took place on July 24th.

World-wide Photo Walk – Main site

World-wide Photo Walk – Kemah site

Below is the photo submitted to the next level from the Kemah PhotoWalk

  Photo by John Bielick

David Paulissen demonstrated a nice tip on using Powerpoint 2007 to create a PDF slideshow of your photos. This makes for an easy way to email photo galleries to friends and family.

Start Powerpoint and Select Insert > Photo Album > New Photo Album

Find the folder on your hard-drive containing the photos you want to share and click [Create]

Select a color scheme and add any necessary text to the slides

Select Save As > PDF or XPS

Name your PDF and click [Publish]

The end result is a nicely formatted PDF that anyone can open and enjoy your photos.

Great tip David!

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Software Suggestions

DeNoise – by Topaz Labs

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Links recommended by the group

• League City Photography Group Page
• PhotoSig
• Texas Photo Forum
• DP Review
• DTownTV
• Brazos Bend Facebook page
• SmugMug
• David Paulissen’s Site
• Flickr
• PhotoFocus
• White House Custom Color (WHCC)

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Happy shooting!

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Hermann Park Minus the Zoo

A few weekends ago we decided to check out Hermann Park to see if there were any photo opportunities there. Besides the normal Garden Center, Zoo, etc.

The park is fairly large and I was able to get several cool shots ranging from ducks to architecture. The trail around the park is long enough to get some good exercise in as well.

Flickr Hermann Park Set -- Flickr Photo Stream

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Happy shooting!

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Bokeh

 

Experimenting with my LensBaby Composer and Bokeh. Wikipedia defines Bokeh as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."

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LensBaby Composer

 

Playing around with my LensBaby Composer which comes with a single-glass optic. I also have the Macro Kit for the lens as well. This picture was taken using the +10 Macro. Fun stuff.

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Playing With Focus or Losing My Marbles

Earlier this week, I decided to experiment a little with the Auto Focus on my Nikon D90. My subject was…marbles.

The settings were as follows

• Lens: 50mm
• F-Stop: 1.8 – 2.8
• Exposure: 1/30 Sec
• AF Area Mode: Single Point
• Center Point Focus: Normal Zone
• Picture Control: Standard
• White Balance: Auto
• ISO: 200
• Active D-Lighting: Normal

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Nikon School

I attended a Nikon D90/D300/D700 seminar sponsored by the Houston Camera Exchange.

Paul Van Allen with Nikon was the speaker. He is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to Nikon cameras and accessories.

Some of the topics covered

• Metering - Matrix/Spot
• Exposure Mode Dial
• How to reset camera to factory specs (very useful) - find two green dots and hold buttons down for 3 seconds.
• Input dial
• FX versus DX lenses -
  • DX image lens circle is smaller than FX
  • DX lens does not magnify
• Lens types
  • Portrait Lens (85mm)
  • Macro Lens
• Menus
  • Setup Menu
    • Format Memory Card
    • Battery Life
    • Clean Camera Sensor
    • HDMI Capable
  • Custom Menu
    • AF Area Mode
    • Pinpoint Focus
    • Dynamic Focus - Best on moving objects
    • Timer
    • Function Button
  • Shooting Menu
• Image Size - JPEG Fine / Large is recommended if you don't use NEF Raw files (NEF = Nikon Electronic File)
• Software
  • Nikon Capture NS2
  • Nikon View
• Color Groupings - Standard, Vivid, Pastel, Monochrome

Links

• Nikon USA
• Paul Van Allen's Flickr Photo Stream
• Getting the Cool Look - Article by Paul Van Allen explaining some lighting and Capture NX2 techniques.
• Nikonians
• Strobist - Lighting resource
• Larry Wheeler Photography

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Camera Case, Filters and Galveston

This weekend I went to the Houston Camera Exchange in search of a good case to carry my newly purchased Nikon D90. The guy who helped me really recommended the Lowepro bag line. I picked out the medium size sling bag and it seems to carry my stuff quite well. I am still finding pockets to put stuff in.

I have read that it is good to have a UV filter and a polarizing filter, so I picked up both filters for both lenses. The UV filter stays on all the time to help protect the lens and the polarizing filter is great for cutting down glare for high sunlight situations.

 

Photo Tips for Polarizing Filters - A1 Photo Tips

Filters for Digital Cameras - Bob Atkins

How To Use A Polarizing Filter - Great Landscape Photography

Today, we took a drive down to Galveston. It was a nice day up until about 1:00 when the clouds rolled in and the rain started. Before that happened I was able to get a few good shots.

   

Flickr Galveston Set -- Flickr Photo Stream

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My First Photography Post

I have loved taking pictures for a very long time, so I have decided to dedicate time in my life to learn as much about photography as I can.

I have purchased a Nikon D90 with a couple of lenses.

Lenses include - 

• 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR DX Nikkor Zoom Lens
• Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens

 

As soon as the package arrived on Friday I had my husband open it and start charging the battery, so it would be ready for me to play with once I arrived home from work.

My dog Jake makes an excellent subject.

  

The Houston Camera Exchange provides classes that will teach you how to work different models of Nikon cameras. I have registered for the class on the Nikon D90 and can't wait to go.

Houston Camera Exchange - Nikon Classes

Also, thanks to a GREAT friend, I have registered for a really cool seminar that takes place at the University of Houston coming up in May.

The Versatile Travel Photographer Seminar

If that is not enough, I need an Art credit to continue my Computer Information Systems degree, so guess what I'm taking...yep. Photography for the Non-Photography Major.

So, I should have plenty of information, experiments and findings to keep this blog going for some time.

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