Saturday, April 19, 2014

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

Friday, April 18, 2014

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

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

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

Thursday, April 17, 2014

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.


 
 

Monday, April 14, 2014

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

Sunday, April 13, 2014

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








Saturday, April 12, 2014

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/

Friday, April 11, 2014

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.




Thursday, April 10, 2014

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.


The Box - How To Build, Light & Shoot A Photography Set On A Budget
https://www.facebook.com/RichardTerborg.Photos


The Box - How To Build, Light & Shoot A Photography Set On A Budget

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.



broken-mirror-title

Sunday, April 6, 2014

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?