From the monthly archives: "August 2011"

The Fairy Orchid

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Today’s Photo: The Fairy Orchid

During my high speed visit of the rapidly closing museums in Washington D.C., I came across the Orchid collection in the Museum of Natural History.  It amazes me at how difficult it is to grow these flowers.  And then to encourage them to grow in the variety that is seen at the show is amazing.  This particular one caught my eye.  I can’t explain why it stood out against the other amazing flowers, but it did.  My first impression of this was of a hawk or some type of bird of prey with it’s beak open.  However, once my wife saw it, she pointed out that it looked kinda like a fairy.  (Don’t tell her, bu I think she may have been watching too much Barbie and the Fairy Secret.  I’m just sayin’.)  And then I began looking at it again.  And I could see the fairy.  (Good grief, now I KNOW I have been watching too much.)

While you are checking out this flower, why don’t you look at The Flower (I know; original name.)  And then visit last Friday’s Daily Photo.

The Fairy

Sunset Missed

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Now, I know I am the only one who has this problem, but wanted to express my utter frustration.  Tuesday this week I saw one of the most stunning sunsets I have seen in awhile.  In fact, it was so stunning that I had people calling me asking if I saw it, to which, I answered that I did see it.  And for the frustrating part, I was unable to photograph it.  No, I was not in a bad location for photography, but I was otherwise occupied.

Fast forward to today (Wednesday)…around two hours before sunset, the sky had those nice, I can’t wait to photography clouds in the sky.  Enter the plan for a spontaneous sunset trip.  Just because I knew it was going to be wonderful.  About an hour and a half passed and, of course, the heavier / lower clouds make their entrance.  Beautiful sunset nixed.  I still went to the location I wanted to go to, but the sunset I was wishing for never materialized.

I know no one else has this problem.  But, if I am mistaken and this has happened before, leave a comment with your experience.

Today’s Photo: Sunset Missed

I had a meeting late the other evening and decided to take another route home.  It has been a long time since I had driven that road on any regular basis.  Well, lets just say “years” since I was on it for any length of time.  This road passes by Carters Lake in the North Georgia area.  Carters Lake is the deepest lake in Georgia and the tallest earthen dam east of the Mississippi River.  At the bottom of the dam is another smaller recreation lake.  I was driving the road which has a small bridge when I saw the remnants of what had been a beautiful sunset.  The colors were still great, so I stopped and got a few shots before it went away.

Don’t miss this other photo of The Lake (not this one of course).  And while you are at it, this is last Thursday’s daily photo.

Sunset Missed

Afternoon Sky

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I have noticed that the impression which people get from a photo is very interesting.  I can change where I am standing by a few feet and get a totally different photo.  But, what I have noticed the most is that a photo only captures a small amount of what I see.  This can be manipulated in so many ways.  I can not count the number of times that I have taken a photo right beside the road and, with out knowing where it was, you would never know that, just a couple of feet away, there was a busy road.  I must say you can use that to great advantage.  I would say that 70% of my photos are this way.  How about you?

Today’s Photo:  Afternoon Sky

I have spoken a lot of the gate which I see in the morning.  I don’t talk too much of the gate I see just on the other side of the road.  I really mean, right on the other side of the road.  I have not had that much time visiting this gate lately.  This is because the angle of the light at the time in the afternoon when I go past it.  I pass by in the early afternoon and right now, the sun does not get to a good angle until about 8:30 P.M.  However, I managed to get there a little later the other day.  I just love photos like this where you can see the sun beams.

I have taken a few other photos of this gate including this old one: The Gate.  And don’t miss last Wednesday’s daily photo.

Afternoon Sky

Challenger RT

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What image editing programs do you use?  Most of my photos are HDR so my current workflow begins with Photomatix.  I love the newest version, 4.1.1.  I think it is a huge improvement over previous versions.  Then, depending on what I want to do, I pull the image into Adobe Lightroom 3 adjust it and export for the web.  This is a very simplified explanation of my current workflow.  Having used Photoshop and GIMP in the past, for me, it is easier to process in Lightroom instead of taking the photo into Photoshop.  Have you had this experience?

Today’s Photo:  Challenger RT

I have not had time to make it to any car shows lately.  I hope to be able to make it to at least one more before the summer is out.  I know there is one in October that I will make a huge effort to make.  It was great fun last year.

I was walking around the car show in Cartersville and having trouble finding cars that I wanted to stop for.  I made my way through the show just to see what was there and then began my trip back through.  This time with the camera at the ready.  I was hard pressed to get good shots of complete cars due to the number of people walking around.  However, this is not that great a problem.  There are always wonderful close-up shots to take of all the detail in these beautiful cars.

I posted this Old Roadster which was from the same car show.  And while you are exploring, this was last Monday’s daily photo.

Chalenger RT Symbol

 

Glassy Wall of Honor

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Thank you to everyone who has been reading the blog.  I hope that I have been able to provide some insightful tips and enjoyable reading to everyone out there.  In fact, over the last couple of weeks, you guys have helped get the blog as a Top Story on three different on-line newspapers with two top stories in Photography Daily.  I love to hear feedback from everyone, so please leave a comment.  Even if it is just to say “hello”.

Today’s Photo:  Glassy Wall of Honor

I had such a great time in Washington D.C. recently and had the opportunity to see many things and take a few photos of them.  I am a huge fan of flying, astronomy and generally anything in space or underwater.  So, naturally, I had to visit the Air and Space Museum.  At the Udvar-Hazy Center, they have a wall honoring certain figures in flight, including space flight.  This happens to be that “Wall of Honor”.  It was such an honor to walk along it and see all the names and think of their important contributions to flight.  I have also posted many other photos from the Air and Space Museum, including this photo of the space shuttle Enterprise.

Glassy Wall of Honor

Unwalked

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I have been trying to be active on other forums and social networking sites.  You can follow me on Twitter as @justshootitup, on Facebook as Just Shooting Memories (page) and through Flickr as justshootingmemories.  Leave a comment with the sites you belong to.

Today’s Photo:  Unwalked

The family was not too happy when it snowed real well in January this year.  We got nearly 6 inches and I made a time-lapse video of it.  I thought it turned out pretty neat and if I have time, I will share it also.  Back to the story though; they were not too happy with me because I would not let them out of the house until I got some good photos of the snow.  Was it wrong of me to do that?  I just wanted some fresh powder with no foot prints.  Is that so wrong?  But, I made it up to them by getting the sleds out and having a grand time.  I shall post a photo of that soon too.

Check out the Winter Wonderland for another snow photo.  Also, don’t miss last Sundays Daily Photo.

Unwalked

Cloudy Movement

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Update to Google+ mini review:

It appears that now, you can use a business name or other nickname.  I still am not impressed with the iPhone app.  It is okay for adding to circles, watching your stream, but not great for posting.  Maybe Google will fix this.  If you missed the review you can find it at the Google+ mini review.

Today’s Photo:  Cloudy Movement

I usually see all kinds of really cool stuff on the way home.  The daily photo today comes from one of those times.  Luckily, I had the camera that day.  Most of the time, the best stuff happens when I don’t.  I hope that I am not the only one to which his happens.  Do you have this problem to?  This is another of those drive home photos: Clouds over the Barn.

While you are looking at this, don’t miss last Saturday’s Daily Photo.

Cloudy Movement

The Little Shop

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So, I was going to wait awhile before I chose what photo walk to join for the Worldwide Photo Walk. However, I decided to attend the one in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  As I am writing this, there are 31 slots left for this walk.  If anyone is going to be in the area, join up.

Today’s Photo:  The Little Shop

I grew up in the North Georgia area and was fortunate enough to visit the mountains a lot while growing up.  One of the places we used to go was Helen.  A nice little Bavarian style village in the North Georgia Mountains.  When I got into high school, I continued to visit Helen, but not for the town, but nearby Mount Yonah for the rock climbing.  It was always a bustling little tourist spot year round.  So, this last Christmas, I decided to try it out as a photo spot.  I was extremely disappointed with the town this visit.  I guess the current economic situation has impacted some areas much greater than others.  This appears to be on of those.  However, I was able to get a few shots of some of the local shops.

I have had the pleasure of taking several trips through the North Georgia mountains.  Don’t miss the post about my adventures to Blood Mountain.  Not to mention last Friday’s Daily Photo.

Little Shop

Morning Sun

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Are you going to take part in Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk?  What a neat idea.  I am always looking for other photographers to get together with and interesting places to go.  I tend to get odd looks when I go out on a walk all by myself.  I think I may do it this year.  It is October 1 – 2 with walks all over the place.  Once I decide where I am going to go, I think I will let everyone here know.

Today’s Photo:  Morning Sun

I love the colors when the sun is just below the horizon before sunrise.  Add a few low hanging clouds to reflect the light and you have the perfect recipe for some beautiful colors.  This was one of those mornings I made it to a good location before the sun rose.  I was able to watch the sky get light and then the beautiful colors bloom on the underside of the clouds.

Morning Sun

Almost Lost (A Portrait in Flowers)

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Congratulations to @britefrog (twitter) for getting to the HDRspotting invite code first.  I have a few more and I am going to be posting them randomly until they are all gone.  For anyone who wants one, I put the post up at midnight EST.

Today’s Photo:  Almost Lost (A Portrait in Flowers)

I am fortunate enough to live next to a flower garden.  Unfortunately, I almost lost the girls in the flower garden during this photo shoot.  Do any of you have children?  Are they as willing subjects as mine are?

Almost Lost

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