The Meal of the Day

It happened so fast once we spotted it that I didn't have time to get the camera and take a video of the action.  There was a struggle for survival but the spider with its venom got the upper hand real fast.  All I could get then was the paralyzed dragon fly and the spider going back into hiding while the meal ripened.  His loss however, shortly there after a broom was taken to the outside to get rid of the spider webs and the meal went into the flower bed.

A few shots, probably more than anyone wants to really see.  Blow 'em up if you so desire. 

Green Before the Storm

We had a July thunderstorm come thru yesterday afternoon.  Temp dropped 10 to 15 degrees in seconds.  I know, they always say in minutes but while standing on the deck, watch these clouds move in the weather was warm and humid but when the gusts blew through they were still humid but very very cool feeling if not down right cold sometimes.  The people in this area wear shorts at zero degrees, I guess to prove something.  At 70 degrees I'm in long pants and looking for a sweat shirt if it's windy.  And to think I wanted to move to Maine.....yea, in the summer.

Black and White With Some Color

Most of the work done here is with OnONe Perfect Photo Suite 8 software.  Started with a color photo but went to the black and white page to change the image.  When you open a selected file folder you will see your photo and then as you go down the list to be selected from you image will change, both the working image and the thumbnail.  Control Z pulls last change back and you can continue hitting this selection of keys to get all the way back to where ever you want to go.  In most cases, once you have made a choice you can then enhance it further as a stand alone piece.  You can work in Layers, Masks, Black and Whites, Portraits, Enhancements, Effects and Resize.  The last being really neat in being able to enlarge a photo and not effect the pixel ranges.

 

 

So, this is with a little color that was in the stem where the flowers were attached.  I just blended it into the whole thing while pulling most other colors out.  There is a tad bit of blue in the darker shadows.

 

Conversion

I'm not sure which of these two photos I like best.  Of course the one in color is the original and the b/w is converted.  I'm trying to learn more about b/w, I think there is a definite place for it in art and in photography.  We always seem to get real interested in photos of the "old" days where the pictures were inevitably in b/w.  I believe one had to really understand the camera more where today the camera will do almost all the work for you. 

This colorful picture is pretty much right out of the camera so I guess you would say, so is the b/w, but there was a lot of LR5 and a tad bit of CS5 work done to get the b/w to look like I wanted it to look.  Lighting from the lower right, lighting through the center from lower right to upper left.  Highlights and contrast to bring out a more metallic look with a splash of color, can you guess what it is?

You make your choice, color or black and white.  As usual, click'em and they will get larger for better viewing.

                                             

After the Rain

We had a very late day summer rain today....weather people called it a storm....and after it passed the sun came out very intense.  These photos are just something I tried without worrying about anything other than the exposure mainly.  I have one were I was looking out through the sliding screen door, one through the stationary patio door and one through a widow.  I believe my favorite is the one with the lens flare that I was able to pick up and then number two would be the window scene with the screen door being the last.  Your choice, just click any one of them to enlarge.

 

A Visitor on a Cloudy, Stormy Day

We put out a humming bird feeder, one of those standard size feeders that are 3 or so inches in the jar and 8 to 10 inches tall.  It is located in a tree where it swings in the air and empties itself.  I have seen a humming bird on it late in the evening.  The other day I found a feeder at Lowe's for $1.98.  Only one place to feed from and no perch.  It was called a garden feeder or flower box feeder.  Well, I stuck the little wire that came with it in a joint of the deck rails thinking that maybe this would work.  It works better than the other more expensive one.  Had to go back to Lowe's and thought about getting another one or two.....SOLD OUT!  Yesterday the wife was refilling the little one and the humming bird flew all around her wanting to eat.  It finally perched in a tree, waiting patiently.  I tried but couldn't catch the bubble in the container like you see in the office drinking fountain jugs so often.  It was raining, and the wind was blowing pretty hard. 

This was shot at 1/60, f~10, 270mm, ISO3200 full manual.  It was 8:56 PM, very overcast and raining.  Very difficult shot.....she wouldn't stand still.  Yes, it is a female.

Morning Light in the Hills of Hocking, Logan County

As the sun comes up it warms the hills after the rains from the night before. 

 

Repainting in Photoshop

 

Not sure if I like this but I did a simple three step of a fairly even exposed photo and made it an HDR in three simple steps but not in the camera.  Simply +2 over exposed, even exposed, and -2 under exposed.  Saved all three and used the HDR Pro in CS5.  The picture really came out crappy so I decided to try taking it in a direction from there by painting it.  

 

 

 

Well, this is what it turned out to be.  Looks a little more like pencil coloring to me.  The leaves are too speckled for my liking but then had I had the original in a split screen mode I may have done better.  It came out washed out, should have saved a copy of that as well.  I turned it into a b/w before painting the colors back in.  Some dodging was done but not much.  Mostly a paint brush.  

Simple Instructions, No?