Lily



 



This is a photo I took of one of the Tiger Lilies at work. I like the colors of the orange and yellow lily with the green foliage in the background. I like the way the sun is shining on the flower and how it is opened up fully. Also I like the shadows created on the flowers below the main one by the sun being up high in the sky when I took this.

 

 

 

 

Waterfall

Seljalandfoss waterfall at sunset in HDR, Iceland. Iceland is so beautiful and this photo really supports that. It has beautiful colors and the waterfall in the foreground and the blue sky and gold sky in the background really make this a nice photograph. This mist form the waterfall make this photo almost look like a dream.




http://photographymagazine.com/seljalandfoss-waterfall/

Poet Portrait

This is a really nice portrait of John Cheever taken by Nancy Crampton. Very sharp detail, good depth of field and the gray tones are really well done. This is a sad picture to me it kind of reminds me of the Miss Betty photo where John Cheever is contemplating life and not in a good way. Even the dog looks sad. She really captured the subject and the emotion with this photo. I can't imagine it in color at all since it is so perfect the way it is.

 

 

http://www.popphoto.com/gallery/i-photographer-poet-portraitist-0?i=429690&s=4

Depth of Field

Here is another photo from Shutterbug in the Depth of Field category. This is the London Tower Bridge on a stormy day. This photo is fantastic in so many ways. It has extreme depth of field. It is crisp from the boat in the front to the buildings in the back. The clouds are interesting and the towers have so much detail it is really a great shot. It was taken using a Nikon D7000. Nikon 18-200 lens at 18mm. 1/125. f5.6. ISO 800 Saturation, sharpening and highlights in post-processing. Hand held but braced on the river wall.




http://www.shutterbug.com/content/london-tower-bridge-stormy-golden-light

Parallel

This is a good example of a literal parallel. The lines are sharp and go on forever. This was taken somewhere in Texas and was posted in the Shutterbug website under the category of depth of field. I like how sharp this picture is especially the road texture that is captured for a great length in this shot. This photo also has a nice blue sky but it's not boring because of the parallel clouds.





http://www.shutterbug.com/content/speed-bump-0

Purple Flowers

Here is a picture taken by me. I was playing with macro or close-up photography last year and took these flowers from my garden. I like the color of these flowers and the contrast between the purple and the green foliage in the background. I like the blurred background that helps the flowers stand out in the foreground. The foremost flower is a slight bit blurry but there was a breeze and I was hand holding the camera. I took this with the macro setting on my telephoto lens. If I were to specialize in one thing in photography it would be macro. I really enjoy showing unexpected things in a different light. It's fun to have people try and figure out what the picture is really about.

Common Ground

This is a picture of my favorite subject, my son. He is playing guitar and singing at the gazebo at Common Ground on the Hill in the wee hours of the morning wearing his kilt. I have no idea who took this photo but I like it because it captures the moment and the expression of him being into the song. The spotlight in the back is really bright and somewhat distracting but I kind of like it too because I know what the feeling is at that moment, late at night, with only a spotlight.

Utah

I've been here myself and decided this is where all the other planet scenes were filmed on Star Trek. This place is so start and alien and beautiful. This photo has nice color on the ground and some good gray clouds in the sky. The overcast sky is probably what makes the land look so orange. I like this photo more for it's content than for anything else but it's still a good picture.

Delicate Arch
Photo By Ted Forman

http://www.dpmag.com/your-best-shot/north-america/united-states/utah/716001-delicate-arch.html#gal-img

Smile

Why are they always smiling? For some reason I don't trust this guy. A good close up of the alligator catching his sinister facial expression. I don't have too much to say about this photo except it really captured the character of the gator. The background is nice and blurry so it emphasizes the look on it's face.

The Look
Photo By Frances Jackson

http://www.dpmag.com/your-best-shot/north-america/united-states/florida/444971-the-look.html#gal-img

More Baby Pics

Another Shannon Leigh photograph that I know  a lot of people will relate to. This is a really cute and funny baby picture from photographymagazine.com but I found it on pinterest. This baby is definitely the chosen one. I like how the baby is central in the photo and his face is clearly defined. There is good lighting and focus on all the characters in this picture. Too funny. I need to find one with Ninja Turtles now.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27584616442268032/

Farming

This is a photo I could have taken at work or more likely Heather took it on the farm. You can see the horse peaking around the corner of the building at the photographer. This is a nice picture of a water hydrant. It is well used and the picture is clear and focused so it can be seen. The rest of the farm is blurred in the background and doesn't take away the attention of the main object. The fact that it is red helps it stand out also.

Water for the Horse

By cjcombsphoto • Posted: Apr 16, 2014

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/water-horse

Abstract

I really like this photograph that was taken at sunset. The photographer liked the abstract look of the composition and I agree. The bold yellow background and the striking black branches make an interesting photograph. You can see the ball of sun barely showing through what looks like haze or clouds it would be interesting to know exactly what was going on with the weather when this was taken.




Black and Yellow

By SandraFelt • Posted: Apr 16, 2014

 

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/black-and-yellow

Sepia Train

I like the use of the duotone on this old steam engine. The effect is really nice and looks vintage. It's a very powerful image with the steam coming out everywhere and the clouds in the sky and even the other train in the background. The train looks powerful with the steam and the cloudy sky getting ready to rain at any minute. It seems like we are really seeing a train in that time period. This photograph was taken near Scranton PA by Rich Walter.

Engine 2317
Photo By Rich Walter


http://www.dpmag.com/your-best-shot/north-america/united-states/pennsylvania/441381-engine-2317.html#gal-img

Budville

I really like this photograph of Budville on Old Route 66. As a thumbnail size it almost looked black and white but I am pleased with the deep blue of the sky in New Mexico. The blue sky contrasts with the new Route 66 sign and the oldness of the Budville Trading Company sign and building.

Naturally I've traveled Route 66 so this brings back nice memories of our family trip out west.

Budville
Photo By Julie Rybachek

http://www.dpmag.com/your-best-shot/north-america/united-states/new-mexico/6547-budville.html#gal-img

Microscopic Photos

Rotifier under the microscope. I chose this picture of an example of microscopic photography because we have tried to take pictures of this same organism at work with our iPhones to send to someone over email. It would be a good thing to know how to do this is my business. It comes up more often than one would think.

FYI - A rotifier is an organisms that lives naturally in wastewater and is an indication of older sludge. It is good to have a mixture of organisms in the wastewater sludge because the better your "bugs" the better your plant runs.

 

 

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=14&topicdays=0&start=150

Lighthouse

I like this photo because I have one myself. My grandparents used to have a house a few blocks away from this lighthouse and we spent our childhoods watching the light go around and shine in our windows. Cape May is a very emotional place for my family my dad was in the Coast Guard there and is buried at sea there. I have many pictures of this lighthouse and I have to say what I like about this one is the active sky. It must be winter because there are no cars in that usually crowded parking lot.

Cape May Point Lighthouse
Photo By Patricia A. Munson-Siter

More Portraits

This portrait called Little Boy Blue By Brian Morris is a very striking picture. I like the pose of the child and the way the face stands out the most from the plain background. This photo is anything but boring. It has movement and it is engaging. Of course it's the facial expression that drew me to it the most. All children should have this innocent and excited look on their faces.

http://www.dpmag.com/your-best-shot/north-america/united-states/new-jersey/512771-littleboyblue.html#gal-img

Black and While - revisited

I came across this black and white of corn kernels by Mike Cable on the Digital Photography Magazine website and really liked it. It not only has good tone but makes the corn look a little scary and not edible at all. Of course I am a big fan of the close up photo especially one that makes you stop and think what it is or at least makes you consider maybe it's not as it seems.

Corn Kernels
Photo By Mike Cable
http://www.dpmag.com/your-best-shot/north-america/united-states/maryland/743431-corn-kernels.html#gal-img

Portrait

This portrait is by Karl Kjeldgaard called Last Cookie. I found this on the Digital Photography Magazine website.

I really like this portrait because of the facial expression on the little girl, the way he zoomed in on the face to catch the expression and the way her eyes pop and the small bit of her pink sweater. The paleness of the rest of her face and hair accentuates the eyes and pink sweater.

 

Last Cookie

Photo By Karl Kjeldgaard

http://www.dpmag.com/your-best-shot/north-america/united-states/maryland/419751-last-cookie.html#gal-img

Shannon Leigh

This photograph is from Shannon Leigh Studios in Atlanta Georgia. Shannon Leigh specializes in newborn photography. This picture is so cute with the 1+1=2 and the school setting. Photographing babies is a challenging specialty but this picture proves she is good at it. I love the sleeping faces, the clothing, and tiny desks. You can tell how small these babies are by the width of the floorboards. This photo has nice overall tone and theme.





http://photographymagazine.com/shannon-leigh-studios-6/

Peggy Sirota

This is a great model shot of Goldie Hawn done by Peggy Sirota. This is a really appealing model shot because of the active pose, the texture of the clothing in black and while and the overall tone of the photo. Goldie Hawn is so fun and this captures her personality.

Goldie Hawn, Vanity Fair, 1997.

© Peggy Sirota

http://www.americanphotomag.com/?page=5

Mary Sheft

This photo of the silhouette of a Giraffe at Dawn is by Mary Sheft. It is on the Shutterbug.com website: http://www.shutterbug.com/content/giraffe-dawn. I really like this fun picture of a giraffe with his tongue out in silhouette. At first I thought maybe it was a dinosaur maybe giraffes are close cousins. It really makes you look at them differently when you can't see their bold color and pattern to identify them.

Angela Cartwright

Angela Cartwright wrote a book I am currently reading Mixed Emulsions Altered Art Technologies for Photographic Imagery.

I have always been interested in hand painting photographs. I like the vintage look it gives photos. Also the way you can make an image that thousands of people have photographed before you become your own work of art in a unique way.

I go to Cape May NJ for vacation and have been since I've been born and there are a lot of Victorian houses there. Probably 10 years ago I took my film camera and took several rolls of black and white photos for the purpose of hand painting them and have yet to do it. Mainly because of developing and enlarging costs and the cost of transparent paint came into it I'm sure. Probably time too. I think this year I will take some digitals and take a try and working on a few pieces.


http://acartwrightstudio.com/home.html

 

 

Model Shots

Richard Terborg has an interesting way to do model shots. He wanted to shoot models in different environments so he decided to make these boxes in his studio. This is a really cool idea to shoot models as seen here in the rain but also with the ability to control the environment.



https://www.facebook.com/RichardTerborg.Photos




I found this article on  http://DIYPhotography.net

Bing Wright

These are a few pieces from Bing Wright's Broken Mirror Evening Light Project.

For this project he broke mirrors randomly and projected sunset pictures onto them in the studio. A really cool effect. There are 16 of these available to view on his website http://www.bingwright.com/ along with several other mirror photography pieces.

I like these because first of all they are beautiful and secondly they are very inventive. These are photos that could not be reproduced exactly the same because the mirrors could never make the same pattern, kind of like snowflakes.

Scott Markewitz

Photographer Scott Markewitz



This photo is from PopPhoto.com website in an article featuring taking action shots with interesting backgrounds. I like this photo because it is obviously an action shot but the aspen trees are so straight that it's really hard to judge how high this bike rider is. He could be 10 feet up or 20 feet up who really can tell?

Product Photos

As we get into the commercial photography section I started looking at product photographs on the internet. The photo below is from the Eddie Bauer website . Like most of the product photos I have seen it uses a plain neutral background so the product being sold stands out. I don't know much about lighting techniques but they are all pretty similar using lighting that draws your eye to the product and isn't harsh or blown out. Of course the models are made to look as nice as possible but Eddie Bauer is an outdoors tore so they are not overly made up. They actually look pretty natural with their hair down and the casual clothes.

http://www.eddiebauer.com/catalog/product.jsp?ensembleId=45715&prodsearch=6&cm_cg=T95&cm_sp=REC-_-PDP-_-45708

 

 

 

Group Photo

Michael Chojnacki took this photograph of men from India. I love this because the looks on their faces looks like a bunch of business men. Of course they are not dressed the way we would in America but it's not America so it doesn't matter. The black and white works for this because the tones are so well done.

This photo came from Popphoto.com under the group photo challenge category.

http://www.popphoto.com/gallery/photo-challenge-finalists-group-portraits?i=397448&s=6

Paul Simon - Colorization

Paul Simon has a colorization technique that is really pleasing. Normally I don't enjoy colorized photos but his are all done with good taste, in my point of view. This particular photo is somewhat subtle compared to some of his other works but I really like it. The active gray sky over the aqua water really makes the water pop. The adding the color to the sand with the break with the foam between the water and the sand makes this a really nice photograph.


www.PaulSimonPhotography.net#sthash.Lnu3JFYm.dpuf

More Macro - Dragonfly

More macro photography. This was taken in Tampa, Florida. The photographer wasn't named but I found it on a macro blog. http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21828

I love they way this dragonfly looks like he has a fencing mask on. I really love dragonflies but am not second guessing my love after seeing one so close up. The photo is nice and detailed in the foreground and the background just fades away, as it should, to keep the subject matter the most important.

Product Photography

I love this photo of the engagement ring in the grass. There is contrast in the subject matter as well as the colors. This shot is from ThePrettyProduct in Lexington, Kentucky off of Etsy.com. I was poking around looking for product shots and came across this one. I like the texture of the grass and how the darkness of the grass and the color really make the ring pop. A very creative idea.

Tyohar Kastiel

This is a photo from Tyohar Kastiel  of Costa Rico. I love the way only the tongue is colorized. It really makes the point of the photo stand out. The mother washing the baby. The black and white works for the rest of the photo because there is so much texture in the fur. The baby looks annoyed by the grooming like he would rather be playing.

https://www.facebook.com/TyoharWildlifePhotography?ref=hl

Quantrell Colbert -Selfie

Quantrell Colbert took this selfie while on a movie set he was working on. It is a typical selfie using mirrors and everything already there. I really like it because he is not posed in a strange way and it looks really natural. I could maybe do a selfie that would turn out half decent this way. There is so much else going on in the background the person isn't the main focus.

Zev Hoover - Selfie

There was an article on the Pop Photo website on taking selfies. http://www.popphoto.com/gallery/how-to-take-selfies-pro-0?i=420834&s=8

Zev Hoover was one of the photographers featured and his ideas were interesting. He came up with this whole concept of making himself a littlefolk. He is doing a book "Adventures of the Littlefolk". It will feature him in various positions as a littlefolk. I think this is an interesting way to address the selfie and certainly is a test of his Photoshop skills. Some examples are below:

xristos sallas - Macro

Xristos Sallas, https://www.facebook.com/pages/XSallas-Photography/206561852717036, is another macro photographer from Athens, Greece. I don't know why I am critiquing creepy bugs this morning but look how cool this photo is. This is a Thomisus onustus female in extreme close up. It's face looks cat like and the entire thing looks metallic. He had to use a 90 mm lens and extension tubes to get this shot and of course a tripod. This is a great shot that not many people will even be able to get and that's why I like it. I love the colors, metallic quality and the creepy factor.

Chris Ross - Macro

Chris Ross http://www.aus-natural.com/ is a photographer from Sydney, Australia. He took this picture of the Jumping Spider in his backyard. What I like about this photo is it is so creepy. I am such a fan of macro photography that is mostly what I shoot when I am shooting on my own. I like that, because of the position on the page, the spider looks like it is going to jump right on you. The detail of it is really sharp in the foreground and then gets a little blurry in the background bringing the focus onto his creepy little face. The green leaf he is sitting on really contracts with the browns and grays of the spider making it stand out even more.

Howard Millard

Howard Millard http://howardmillard.com/index.htm is a digital artist. His work is mainly consists of Photoshop manipulation. Some of his artwork is really interesting but I have trouble considering it art since it is mostly done in Photoshop. I think that I have a brain block that if I can do it it can't be that hard and I don't always realize that there are many people out there that can't use Photoshop.

Joe Farace

Joe Farace http://joefarace.com/ocmx_gallery/personal/ is a photographer that has a varied portfolio but of course I am attracted to the more natural works. He has travel, people and fashion also on his website but I am interested in the personal photos. I love the colors in this one and also the subject matter. It reminds me of my long lost friend summer.

I also love this black and while photo of this old barn with the active sky. It looks like it's all alone with a storm getting ready to strike.

Jim Zuckerman

I ran into Jim Zuckerman http://corporatefineart.com/-/corporatefineart/galleryindex.asp?c=14624in a Photo Magazine. He does a lot of Photoshop manipulations and some of them are really cool but some others I'm not too crazy about. I can appreciate the artistry of them but they are still Photoshop manipulations and I guess I don't appreciate them as much.

 

 

 

 

He also has a huge portfolio of other work that I love mainly because they are nature photos and I know how hard it is to get some of the shots.

 



Tom Gillespie

Tom Gillespie http://www.fotoblur.com/portfolio/dalriada50?p=1 is a photographer I ran a cross in a photography magazine. I like his work because he uses subject matter that is identifiable but also photographed in an unusual way.

I like the barn door latch because it is just a good picture of something other people take for granted and would think is ugly.

 

 

I like the car bumper really for the same reason. Plus I love all the chrome.

 

Tom Bol

Tom Bol is a very versatile photography and covers many topics. This particular photograph is one taken a night with all the stars seemingly in motion. I am really drawn to night photography and would like to take some photos of the moon. I have tried in the past without much success but really need to break out a tripod and have a better understanding of the camera when it is not on auto mode.
The things I like about this photo is the subject matter, the beautiful blue night sky and the stars in motion.

http://www.tombolphoto.com/index.html
 

Mac Stone

Wow! I have been doing research on photographers and found Mac Stone. http://www.macstonephoto.com/artists-favorites I may have to buy one of his photos they are so amazing. You can't copy and paste most of the photos off his site but this is one of my favorites I got off his blog. I feel like this owl is going to attack me at any moment.

Ian Shive

I really like this piece by Ian Shive. I like the way it looks like all the trees are leaning inward toward the road. It almost looks unreal with the colors and somewhat unnatural way the trees are growing. Pretty interesting photograph.



Below is another example of his wok I think what I like about most of his work is that it seems to have a dramatic feel.



as does this one....