Lately, I was feeling antsy to tried out a creative image. My first thought was that I did not want to do a flower composite but as you can see I did. I bought an art review magazine and liked some acrylics and watercolors. Some of the images were very loose and gestural which I liked. So, I sat down with my laptop and started experimenting…
Went with C and CRF up to Point Reyes. The idea was to shoot the full moon (aka the Beaver Moon) from Mount Vision with a side of sunset. Well, it seems shooting the moon is very elusive. The top of Mount Vision was fogged in. We never saw the moon except for a little glow behind the clouds when we got home. Instead, we ended with a nice visit to the Beach and sightings of the Tule elk.
Took a short trip over to Sunol while CRF cooked Thanksgiving dinner at home. I thought I would have the park to myself. Instead, there was a ranger on duty and parking lot was about half full. When I arrived, the day was overcast with a little fog at the top of the hills. By the time I left, there was full sun.
Had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner. Afterward, I took a long nap. It was a peaceful day.
Many times, I have wanted to shoot a scene only to discover that the dynamic range is well beyond the range of my digital camera to capture. For my Canon 20D, the range is somewhere around 4 stops of light. Using the following Photoshop recipe, you can extend your camera’s dynamic range considerably. One caveat is that this recipe only gives good results about 50% of the time for me.
Went with C to Point Lobos. This is my first visit to the park. It is spectacular. Ironically, we had a perfect sunny day with no clouds and blue, blue skies. That is the worst possible weather for taking photos. However, I want to go back many times and keep trying.
Rented a Canon 24mm tilt shift lens for the weekend. I had heard George Lepp speak so highly of the lens and present his amazing results that I needed to try it for myself. Therefore, I had plans to shoot some tree shots looking up the trunks and various macro shots. Reality was that I never quite figured how to really use the lens. May try again at a later date. For now, no plans to try out a tilt shift lens again. Sigh.
With the Christmas season rapidly approaching, decided to try my hand at shooting a Christmas card. Went to Michaels for a few “Christmasy” things, the store was packed with Christmas stuff and shoppers. This makes me wonder if I am already too late to be ready for Christmas and we have not had Thanksgiving yet.
Trying to stage a shot taught me a few things.
Whenever I call my Mother, it is always an adventure. I called her a few days ago. She was very talkative and started a steady stream of conversation right after I said “Hello”. Her monologue goes like this…
I recently purchased the new Canon 20D. I love the camera and am very pleased with its 8 MP of resolution. However, I have been curious about the resolution of the new Canon 1DS Mark II, which is a 16MP camera. Good news, you can use Photoshop to piece together a very high resolution image from multiple images. Here is an example image using this technique.
I recently attended a Photography Workshop in Jackson Hole, WY. The teachers were Vincent Versace, Moose Peterson and David Black. During the course of the workshop, Vincent provided demostration of how he moves a viewer’s eye around his image. Earlier, Vincent had presented a slideshow of his images and they were compelling. However without Vincent’s explanation, I would have been clueless to his technique.
The technique of moving the viewer’s eye provides a subtle but powerful improvement to your image.
Spent a lazy weekend. Started Friday nite with a migraine. On Friday evening, took dogs for a short walk in Don Edwards near the fishing pier. I had never noticed the pier before!
On Sunday, took a trip over to the coast south of Half Moon bay. The tide and surf were very high. I was planning a long hike in Butano. Instead, just made a few quick stops at Bean Hollow Beach and Butano State Redwoods. Headed home for a long nap.
DorothyPhoto 