I love sepia photos as well as black and white. One of the great things about photo editing is it allows you to shoot in full color and then convert your photos later if you think they would make nice monochrome pictures. The first picture I am posting here was actually shot in black and white and not edited. I think it does make for a sharper image. The others were all shot in color and then modified in one way or another. I love how the black and white effect allows the old church to take on a sinister appeal.
Winter Colors
Here are a some photos from a long drive we took on Sunday. We basically just stopped at anything I thought would make a nice picture. I posted them on Flickr and someone actually identified the area we are in without any clues from me which I thought was kind of cool.
Can you count the birds, there are actually nine in this photo. They were so happy in the sun with all those berries just chirping away.
I know the black horse is lacking in detail but I didn't know how to fix that against the bright white snow.
Love the color in the photo, especially for a winter shot.
Industrial Photos
I am going to preface this post by saying there is a "bad" word showing on one of the photos. It is unfortunate because I really like the texture and color of the photo and I didn't even notice the graffiti when I was taking the photo. What I find equally funny is even when I downloaded the photo I couldn't see it, it wasn't until I corrected the exposure in Lightroom that it popped out.
I think sometimes industrial type of buildings and equipment can really be interesting subjects. I found a couple of these photos a little boring until I edited them but I am kind of happy with the results. I am still really just learning when it comes to editing so they are still far from perfect.
In Flight
There is a place just outside of town where you are almost guaranteed to find bald eagles in the winter. Photographing them isn't easy because they are on private property so you can't just hike in and they like to hang out just far enough into the field that with my simple equipment I am not able to get truly good photos.
The one eagle flew directly over my head but when I looked at the shots I had taken in my camera I was disappointed because it didn't look like I had gotten any decent shots despite how close he was. Given that I was quite happy with the way the photo turned out once I edited it. It isn't as sharp as I would like but given my limited skills and equipment I love this shot.
The second shot was a surprise as well, it also looked like nothing when I reviewed it in my camera. But I actually like how the fog creates negative space and how the barn is so bright. I also think it is great that without trying I happened to get two bald eagles sitting on the fence in the bottom of the frame.
Two lucky shots of an elusive subject.
Who Knew!!!
A Long, Dark Day
I find myself longing for spring. For the bright colors, the spring blooms and the blossoms in the orchards. While we live in an area that is world renown for it's beauty it really can be very dull and gray here in the winter. We don't see a lot of sun so everything can appear monotone and almost dirty. To cheer myself up from the winter blues I sent some time looking at photos of flowers and thought I would share a few of my favorites here.
A Whack with a Measuring Stick
I have been taking the Mondo Beyondo Dream Lab workshop. It is based on the book, "The Gifts of Imperfection", by Brene Brown. The course got off to a slow uneventful start, but last night my copy of the book arrived.
This morning while on my treadmill I was reading the part about a talk Brene had been asked to participate in, basically she felt completely overshadowed by the other speakers and the high level of audience for the talk. This overwhelmed her and made it impossible for her to prepare for the speaking engagement. She talks about how she spoke to a friend who told her to "put away the measuring stick". She needed to stop measuring herself against the audience and the other speakers.
It may seem like a small statement but they both might as well have been there in the room with to hit me with that stick for how it impacted me. For the first time since I started the Dream Lab workshop I broke down. I am constantly measuring myself to other people and constantly finding myself falling short. I also realized that one of the reasons I have issues confronting my staff (I manage an insurance office) about the areas they need to improve is that I don’t feel like I can because I am so far from perfect. This realization hit me like a ton of bricks.
I ran upstairs poured it all into a journal and still sat there crying. I can’t convey how hard this hit me. After almost an hour I didn’t have myself together so I called a friend just to tell them of my experience because I felt so overwhelmed. I still do. Right now I see the problem, I haven’t yet seen the answer, but I have faith that it will come. I think finally seeing the issue for what it is will push me to seek the answers. Because somewhere deep inside I do believe that exactly who I am is just enough.
A Different View
I have been working really hard at learning how to use various photo editing software programs. I have an ancient version of Photoshop already and I have downloaded a 30 day trial of Lightroom 3 and I have also been using Picnik. Picnik is by far the easiest out there but I find it best for adding effects and not real editing. Lightroom is definitely easier to use than Photoshop but so far I have not been able to add much for special effects I have mostly been using it to clean up photos. I thought I would show below some of the edited photos and explain how I got these effects and what program I used to create them.
For both of these pictures I used Lightroom. These photos were taken from a moving vehicle so I didn't have much time to adjust the camera so the original photos are too far away and somewhat over exposed. In Lightroom I cropped the photos and lowered the tone curve slightly to lessen some of the over exposure. Then I added a slight vignette to both photos.
I just love this cute little guy, I used to drive by him everyday on the way to and from work and one day stopped to snap his picture. I didn't do much to this photo I simply used Auto Tone in Lightroom to deepen the color and again added a slight vignette. I find I add a vignette to most of my photos as I seem to prefer a slightly darkened edge.
I think I actually like the original photo better than the edited one because the bird stands out more, but it still gives you an idea of what you can do, again with this one I simply used Auto Tone in Lightroom and then added a slight white vignette to the photo.
Again I am not sure if I like the edited photo better. This is the Golden Gate Bridge encased in fog. I used Picnik's Cross Process effect to add the color then moved it over to Lightroom to add vignette.
This is Alcatraz Island. I find the original photo of this one a little boring, in Photoshop I used the fresco filter to add the effect and then lowered the opacity to about 60%. I think it makes the photo look a little more creepy and interesting.
I am certainly no expert, there may be simpler or better ways to edit photos, this is simply a sampling of effects that I have learned in the last couple weeks.
Chores are such a chore
I was cleaning house this morning, hurrying along trying to get it done when my husband asked me if I was mad and if he had upset me. No I wasn't mad and he hadn't done anything to upset me but I realized that I was feeling resentful. Here I am doing laundry and cleaning house when all I want to do is grab my camera and head downtown and take some photos and it was pissing me off.
The sun is shining today, which is rare here, the skies are usually quite gray in the winter and I want to get out and take advantage of the sunshine. So he said why not just go then, leave the housework until tomorrow, or heck, don't even do it at all this weekend. But I can't, I won't enjoy my day knowing I have the house to clean tomorrow and if I leave it and don't do it then all week long it will bug me. We have two dogs and a cat, they create a lot of hair which then turns into dust bunnies which taunt me all week long if I don't get them. So just leaving it isn't an option for me.
I know my new little blog doesn't have a lot of readers yet but if anyone does happen to read this and have some insight into how a person should better handle this I would love to hear from you. It is so hard to balance work, life and hobbies. I wish there was a simpler way.
You-Shaped Hole
One Little Word
For most of my life I have been a very closed person, I didn't let anyone past my wall. I can even envision my wall in my imagination if I want to. I can remember specifically being this way when I was as young as seven years old. For most of my life I simply assumed that people didn't get me, or were intimidated by me or just didn't care enough to understand me. I don't even know how I came to the realization last summer that the problem wasn't likely other people it was me. But when I really looked back with an open mind and heart I realized that even as a seven year old I had a wall between myself and the rest of the world.
Honestly I have no idea what causes a seven year old to build that kind of wall and why through to adulthood I felt I had to maintain it but back at the beginning of December I decided it was time to start taking down the wall. I saw how the wall was preventing me from truly becoming the person I wanted to be because this closed off person simply could not communicate what she really needed to even to the people she loved. I realized that a wall built that long ago and reinforced regularly would be difficult to move so I sought help from a counsellor who has helped me see that in part my wall is there because I don't feel I am good enough. I don't feel that people will like me so I put up a wall so that I don't have to care if they like me. The issue with this is that no one ever gets to know the real you...and you live a very lonely life.
So I am happy to report, slowly but surely the wall is coming down. My relationships with everyone from family to co-workers are deepening. I'm am far from having this mastered, but I am trying. I am committed to being open to vulnerability, intimacy and deep, true fulfilling friendship. It is difficult to lay bare your soul, but it is the only way to truly live. So I chose...open.
Love Walks on Four Furry Paws
Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. ~George Eliot
I absolutely adore my pets, they are such an important part of our lives. I think it is simply the unconditional love and acceptance they give us. Where else can you find that? Perhaps it is due to their short memory span but I also find animals show us the perfect example of "being present" and "in the moment". When I scratch my dogs ears all he is thinking about is how good that feels, he isn't worrying about work, house cleaning, grocery shopping or any of the day to day things that clutter our brains.
The truth is I too could curl up in a sunbeam and have a nap, the problem is most days I simply won't let myself do it.
This is Sam, my cuddle buddy. He is an overweight Shit Zhu who still manages to be perfectly content with his physique and who doesn't ever beat himself up for eating that extra Milkbone.
This is Trixie, a more recent addition to our household. She is a sweet and gentle 12 year old lab/rotti cross. Her ambitions in life are the pursuit of breakfast, supper and a 15 minute walk. If she gets that she is at peace with the world and everyone in it.
This is Lexi my part-time dog. She means so much to me that my ex-husband and I share custody of her. She comes for sleep overs and often goes to work with me. She is happiest on a hot summer day when she has her kiddie pool full of water to play in.
Now I am not sure this guy has the unconditional love thing mastered, his love seems to be contingent on his food bowl being full. But this is Max our asthmatic Siamese cat. We adopted him when he was 8 months old because no one else wanted him because of his health issues. I still say now he saw us suckers coming a mile away but we love him and while I don't know anyone else who would put up with a cat that sneezes all over their house we love him.
The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude. ~Robert Brault
I also wanted to acknowledge that I have my first follower on my blog. Thank you for taking the time to look at my photos and read my blog. This is a very new venture for me and somedays I really wonder if I have anything to say or post worth someone's time but I certainly do appreciate you.
Frozen Lake Trek
This afternoon we grabbed the camera and our snowshoes and went for trek across Echo Lake. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful area, people from all over the world want to live here and yet sometimes it is so easy to take it for granted. I was trying to follow the advice of the inspirational Irene Nam and this weeks assignment for the Simple Soulful workshop to see the beauty in everyday things. With that in mind I snapped the following photographs of our afternoon.