Playing in Corel Painter

I have wanted a different look for some of my photos, and had no luck getting what I wanted in Photoshop. I have been experimenting for a while, and have several that I used the watercolor filter on to get an interesting look. Last week I downloaded a trial version of Corel Painter Essentials and think I have found something I like. These three photos I have run through Corel, and like the look.

Al three were worked in Photoshop,before I opened them in Corel Painter. I am still playing but will probably end up buying the program.  I am still trying don't really know what I am doing, hard on an old man, I must say.

After doing the painting, I dabbled just a bit in Photoshop for the final image.

 You might want to download the fre trail and give it a go.

Peach Trees In The Fall

Sometimes you drive down the same road you drive almost every day, and then, WOW...you see something for the first time. You know it has always been there. Today was one of those days for me. I have no idea how many times I have driven from Fort Valley to Warner Robins on Highway 96, passing the Lane's various peach orchards. No telling how many times I have stopped and shot peach blooms or peaches on the trees. I have even shot bare trees against blue skies, and on occasion against angry winter skies. 

But I had never shot golden leaves on peach trees. Not until today. I have no idea why the gold in the orchards never caught my eye before, but this morning with the sun coming through the trees I was caught by the beauty. Not only the leaves on the trees, but on the ground as well. Had to shop and shoot.

I did the top photo with the 15mm, on the ground. The bottom shot is with the 300mm on Macro. Just amazing the beauty God surrounds us with every day, and the joy that comes from finally taking notice.

Hope you find your beauty for this Monday.

Ad Water and Stir

I noticed some of the leaves on our large dogwood were beginning to turn this morning. Some of them were really pretty with the sun coming through them. I got a camera and started shooting. The sun really lights that tree up in the morning, and it is so easy to shoot the leaves against a dark background.

By the time I got through shooting, I noticed a lot of stuff in the garden was needing water, so I turned on the sprinkler. After I got it set up, I noticed the water on the leaves, and decided I should do some more photos.

I began shooting at around 1/250 second, and decided to slow it down a bit. The top photo was before the water was on, the second one was shot at 1/40 second, and although the water drops make a long line, you can see separate drops.

The bottom picture was at 1/25 second, and the droplets make a solid line. I didn't use a tripod, so I was braced on the back of a chair to keep the camera steady.

A Little Motion, Please

It is not too often I shoot images with a definite blur of motion. Sometimes it happens in the course of a shoot, and if it adds to the image, cool. Last week I did two different shoots a a slow shutter speed just to have movement in the images.

The top photo was the second shoot, Friday night at the Perry-Rutland game. I was shooting the Rutland band at halftime, and decided that a shot of the flags spinning would be cool with a bit of blur. I had been shooting at ISO 3200 during the game to stop the action. I needed a slow shutter speed to get the movement, ended up shooting 1/25 second. By the way, these were shot in the manual exposure mode where I chose the shutter speed and the aperture. To get the slow shutter speed and not overexpose, I dropped the ISO down to 500.

The image below was from the Hispanic Heritage program at Hunt Elementary in Fort Valley Thursday morning. The dancers are students from Peach County High. Their twirling dresses just begged to blur.

When you are shooting motion like this, you need to have part of the image in sharp focus. If people are the subject, their faces need to be relatively sharp. I shot a bunch in both cases to have the blur with some degree of  sharpness in the main subject's face.

The dancers were done at 1/30 second. This is a fun thing to try. You can also use a slow shutter speed and pop some flash into the image. The slow shutter will give some blur, while the very short flash duration will freeze a part of the photo.

Go play with your camera.

Some Pictures From Mossy Creek

Deborah and I went to Mossy Creek Barnyard Festival yesterday. We met Tracy, Ann and Sue. Spent the day listening to some cool music, watched some neat artisians at work, and took a few pictures. My favorite pctures of the day were of Lisa Lynne and George Tortorelli. She plays Irish Harp, he plays flute. Wonderful music.

Shooting pictures at a place like Mossy Creek can be a pain. You are under trees with patches of really dark shade and really hot spots of bright sunlight. If you shoot from the sunny side, the shadows can really mess you up. Just about everything I shot yesterday was backlite.  That way, you didn't have to worry about the

difference in the light.

 

The backlight was a great help with the photos of Lisa Lynne playing the harp. The strings really jump out, and the light seperates George from the background. I did shoot this in the manual exposure mode. No way the meter could balance this one.

A Fallen Hero Comes Home

Marine Cpl. Stephen Sackalosky came home last Thursday.  He died serving his country in Afghanistan.

I rode to Warner Robins Thursday morning to stand on the side of the road with hundreds of other folks to pay my respects.  He was traveling home to Cordele.

People were gathered along the roadway from US Highway 41 all the way to the base. I rode the length of the route trying to decide where to stand.  By the time I reached Houston Road, I had such a huge lump in my throat, my eyes filled with tears. It was an emotional time. Carried me back to memories of 1968, loosing my first really good friend to war. Also made me think again about all the folks serving our country now, putting themselves in harm's way, protecting our freedom. Not only those serving in the military, but their families who have to wait at home, praying for their safe return.

It was awesome to see so many people coming out to honor someone they didn't know. Had no idea there were so many American Flags in Houston County.

Too many of us take this life and country of ours for granted. Don't think too often about our people serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places far away from home. The moms and dads, wives and husbands waiting at home. We owe them all a huge THANK YOU.

Take a few minutes sometimes to say a prayer for them all, and the next time you see someone in uniform, shake their hand and tell them thanks for what they do.

A Bit Of History

I went to Byron Elementary last FRiday to photograph some Civil War reenactors who were at the school.

I have always loved history, especially American History, so I knew I would have fun with the assignment.

I was not the only one having fun. The 5th graders who were around the campfire were having a lot of fun as well. Not only were they learning by seeing the gear and hearing the stories of Billy,Beverly, Steve and Steven Smith, but they were seeing pieces of history as well.  They had the chance to wear the uniforms, and even taste the bacon and hardtack Steve Smith cooked over the campfire.

The Smith's have a passion for this slice of history, and who better to share and teach it. More folks should take the time to share their talents and knowledge in our public schools. What a wonderful gift to give.

A Weekend of Photography

This was a full weekend of  photography for me. Friday I had three shoots, the last being the FPD homecoming game against Our Lady of Mercy. The game produced som e decent art. FPD still lays down a fog with fire extinguishers when their taem takes the field. I had to get a shot of the team tearing through both the sign and the fog.

Saturday I spent the day helping judge the Beginners Photography competition at the Georgia National Fair. Volunteers from the Middle Georgia Camera Club MGCC.ws and the Digital Imaging Photography Guild from Warner Robins DIPG.ws do an excellent job with the competition. I have judged this competition numerous times, and each time is a wonderful experience.
My fellow judges were Keaton Wynn, Assistant Professor of Art at Georgia Southwestern University and Nancy Floyd, a Profesor of Photography at Georgia State University. They were great to judge with.

Make a point to getting to the fair to see the entries. Therer were over 1500 photo entries this year, and some very good work. Take a walk through the Miller, Murphy, Howard Building and check them out.

Photo Mechanic, A Very Handy Program

I shot the above photo last Friday night at the Warner Robins-Houston County game. It was the 37,274th photograph I have shot with my D90. AS of today, I have shot 16,724 frames with my D70 and 46,241 frames with the D200.  And how do I know these numbers?  Discovering your camea actuations is just one for the many things you can do with Photo Mechanic, a software program from Camera Bits.

http://www.camerabits.com/site/PhotoMechanic.php

It is not an editing program as much as an editing aid and archiving tool.  It is a great program for looking through the ton of images you download from your camera. It is much easier to use than Windows Picture Viewer, or the varoius viewers provided with digital cameras. I use it to ingest images from my card into the computer. 

You get a contact sheet of photos, and with a click, get a larger view of a particular image. You can select as many as you want to isolate and view, then open them in Photoshop or another editing program.

 It lets you fill out file information such as photographer's name, copyright info, location ,a nd as much caption information as you choose to be added to each image when you download it to the computer. One of the bits of info you can ad to each image is the number of accuations by the camera.

You also get shutter speed, aperture, ISO, lens focal length, camera type, and a pile f other stuff. You can get really geeky with this.

You can also use it to burn discs, and to upload photos to an FTP site.

If you work with lots of images, it is a very handy tool.



Tattoos and Umbrellas

I have been shooting direct flash when shooting outside, not using any kind of light modifier.

I really like using my flashes with outdoor portraiture, the extra light highlites the eyes, gives separation, and

just gives an extra umph to the photos. The direct flash makes a bit edgier photo, due to the harshness of the light.

We were shooting under a canopy on a walkway in downtown Macon. The harshness of the light added to the ambiance, with the strong shadows. I thought about using an umbrella for this and stuck tot he direct flash.

We moved down tot he River Walk, and shot with  different outfit. This photo really had to have some fill to keep the detail. I opted for my umbrella on this one. The softer, more even light really worked well. The umbrella spreads the light across the models whole face, and is really easier to place than direct flash.

In the photo below, the shadows on her face are almost too much, in the wrong place.

The direct flash does work in this one because I didn't want the light to spread beyond my subject.

The walk area stays fairly dark.

A Visit To Back To Henderson Stadium

I shot Rutland and Westside at Henderson Stadium in Macon last night. That was a trip to the past.My first high school football game was shot in Henderson, Central against someone I can't remember.

It is a tight stadium to shoot in, not like what has become my usual Friday night homes in the fall, McConnell Talbert, Perry and Peach County. They all have a bit more space between the field and the stands.

As a photographer you have less room to move, but the light is different. The backgrounds stay lighter when shooting from the sidelines. The home sideline at Henderson is a bit elevated as well.

Henderson's home sidelines used to be like a swamp, always wet. The water is gone, but the mosquitos are stiil there. So was Robert Davis last night. Had not seen him in a while. It was good to shake his hand. He had to be wondering "What happened to my team?" Westside was not playing like a Robert Davis team. Things change.

LIke the size of the crowd. Back in the day, high school football filled Henderson's stands. Last night two Macon teams were playing, and the parking lot was not even half full

Another memory was shooting football alongside a Macon Photographic legend, Bill Meriweather, Sr. Bill was an the commercial photographer in Macon, who contracted with several local school and shot sports as

part of the deal. He trudged the sidelines with lugging a hasselblad that was worth more than my car.
He was always a joy to be around. Merry Christmas, Bill.

Don't Forget About Prime Lenses

Deborah took Garrett out to the front porch swing this morning. I was right behind them with a camera.

I shot some with the 70-200, but wanted to get a little closer. I do need my wideangle fix every day.

I didn't want the 15mm, and I really get tired of zooms, especially clunkers like the 15-30. It is a great lens, but it is heavy and a bit slow, like most of the day's wide zooms.

I came out of the house with two prime lenses(that means they don't zoom.) My 20mm and my 28. Both have been around, and are still good glass. Both are fast little f2.8's. They are small enough that the one that wasn't on the camera was in my pocket.

These little lenses are great for candids because they are small, light, and fast.  Put one on the D70 or D90 and you are carrying no weight at all. Another thing, floks don't pay as much attention to them as a bigger lens. They pay less attention to you when you are using the camera.

And you can pick 'em up pretty cheap, cause most folks don't want them anymore.

Just Two More Reasons To Keep A Camera Handy

I go very few places any more without a camera, and I find myself a lot more likely to shoot whatever catches my eye. Here are two such images. By no means earthshaking photos, but I like them both.

The top photo is our cat Milo. He is a very laid back individual. I walked out the front door yesterday, and saw him laying upsidedown in the swing.  I had to take the shot, and just as I did, he broke into this huge yawn. If I had not has a camera in my hand, I would have missed it.

Walking from the car to the house today I noticed these leaves. First really pretty ones I have seen this year, and it is a bit early. I liked the light, and took the shot. Doubt I would have gone and grabbed a camera and come back to shoot them.

You never know what you might miss.

Just Out Of Reach

I was back at McConnell Talbert Stadium in Warner Robins last night covering the Warner Robins Douglas County game. I guess I have shot more football in McConnell Talbert than any of the other stadiums ariound Middle Georgia. Henderson Stadium in Macon will be second.

McConnellTalbert has always been a good palce to shoot. Back in the day of Tri-X pushed in Accufine developer, it had the best light in Middle Georgia, making it a great place to shoot. The football has always been great as well, following Northside and Warner Robins.

The above photo was my favorite of the game, one of those "almost" moments, with the ball literally on the fingertips of Warner Robins receiver Akeem Taylor. He was wide open and had he caught the pass, and

an easy touchdown

 

But it was not to be. So far it has been that kind of season for Warner Robins, almost, but just out of reach.

Shooting Squirrels

We have lots of activity in our back yard garden. We have quite a few bird feeders, a fountain, and several big trees. Wildlife abounds.

I have been trying to get decent hummingbird photos this summer, but so far have not been real happy with the results. I have kept a camera and 300mm handy, just in case.

Last week Deborah called me to the back door to see the antics of the squirrel shown above. He was covered by the leaves of our dogwood, but would rush to the end of the branch, poke his head through, and grab some berries. I scared him away trying to open the back door.

Monday he was back. We saw the commotion in the leaves, so I was ready for him.This time he performed a new trick. Eating berries while hanging upside down from the limb.

You don't have to go far, or have really expensive gear to get some cool animal photos. Do some research, watch your local critters to learn their habits, and find a location to shoot from. You want to be unobtrusive, but have a good view. Try not to shoot through window screens, glass you can live with.

So, go forth an capture some wildlife.

High School Football Has Begun!!!!

High School football has begun for another year. Would think that after all these years I would be tired of shooting it.  Wrong.

It is so much easier now than forty years ago. The new technology: autofocus, 300f2.8 lenses, the ability to shoot at a very high ISO. Don't think there is any high school stadium in our area where we can't shoot available light.

And no rushing back to the darkroom to process six of seven rolls of film. Then we had to make prints and hand deliver them to the Sports desk.

My first game was Tattnall and Southwest Georgia. For my first game I did ok. I had usable photos. My timing was a bit off. THis past Friday I shot Houston County at Perry. The rains stopped before the first kickoff so I stayed dry. I did take my rain gear. Last week I forgot my poncho and stuff.

One thing that has not changed over the years. Every year I have a least one nice photo that I can't use because the players number is left off the roster. The top photo falls into that category. The runner is Number 17 for Houston County. He was not on the roster.

Hope that will be the only one this year.

HD Video With The D90

I have always enjoyed playing with video, but too often I would be shooting stills and think “Hey, this would be great video.” It was always a pain to swap back and forth between video and still cameras. And so often, the video camera was no where near.

Last week I was in the floor photographing Deborah and our grandson Garrett. Our living room is a bit dark, even a mid-day. I was using the D90 with my old 20mmf2.8, a fine prime lens. I was shooting at 2000 ISO. I decided some video for great-grandma would be a good idea and almost got up to get the video camera. I knew by the time I went down the hall to the office and got the video camera, cranked it up and started shooting, Garrett would be in a different mode.

So I punched two buttons and captured the attached video with the D90, HD video with sound.

Pretty handy that the newer DSLR’s can capture really good video. The ability to shoot at higher ISO is cool, so is the ability and the look you get using the DSLR lenses. I have tried doing video with every lens from my 10mm fisheye up through a 300mm. Pretty cool. I have never had a wide enough lens on a video camera, now I do.
Nikon’s newest is the D 3100. It also boosts the ISO to 12,800. Can’t wait to play with that puppy.

Politically Correct

A couple of Saturday's ago I covered the annual Sonny Perdue Fish Fry in Perry.

I needed a good Sonny photo since it is his fish fry. but I also needed to shoot Gubernatorial candidates Karen Handel and Nathan Deal. The two were facing off the next Tuesday in the Republican primary.

Photographing the candidates is fairly simple at events like this. You just wait for them to arrive, and follow them around grabbing pictures of them shaking hands and kissing babies.  Deal came fairly early and Handel was delayed. That gave me plenty of time to get good shots of him before she arrived.

I was waitong by the door when she came in and followed her as she hit the crowd. I had several nice shots of her, including the one below with Judy Smith. A few minutes later, as Handel moved between two groups of people, someone yelled, "Hey, I'm over here, I am the real Karen Handel." You never know what to expect any more. Last Saturday Nancy Grace had two armed guards standing over her during her Macon book signing. Anyway, a Handel supporter, David Bachman, was covering his face with a magazine featuring Handel's lifesize photo on the cover. I stopped, laughed, and took his picture.

I figured we need a laugh this election season.

A First Birthday Portrait

Last week I was asked by my friend Ellen Foster to do a picture of her granddaughter Raelynn.

Ellen is a very creative person and had come up with an idea for the picture, including great background and props.We did pictures using ballons, bubbles, and even a really messy cupcake. We shot with two little outfits.

I was really happy with the images. I used one flash and a white umbrella for lighting. Ellen and her daughter Casey helped position Raelynn and kept her smiling. She is a very photogenic young lady. 

When I was toning the top photo, I decided it would be kinda interesting to make the image black and white but keep a bit of color. I kept color in her hair bow and two of the ballons. I used the desaturation tool in photoshop and then painted using the history brush. 

When I got to the cupcake photos, I knew I had to give it a go as well. This one was a bit harder because I wanted to leave color in the blts of icing on her chest. Turned out pretty well.

Happy Birthday Raelynn.

The First Day of School #40?

OKay, I am not sure about the number, but I think yesterday when I did the first day of school in Houston County, this may have been Year 40. Man, that is a long time. I have done a bunch, but I still have a lot of fun covering the first day.

The best years have involved the younger kids. There is so much excitment, and anticipation with both the young students and parents. Usually the school staffs share in that anitcipation and excitment as well.  This year I was at Perdue Primary in Houston County. Principal Leslie Schultz welcomed me into her school, and let me do my thing.

I still look forward to the covering the first day of school, I am as excited as my subjects. It is a milestone in the lives of parents and kids, especially the first day of school for kindergarten kids. It is cool to be there documenting the moment.

I was a bit worried about the day, my 80-200f2.8 is away for repairs. I rely on that fast lens when shooting candids like the one above. I had no choice but to use my 70-300 zoom. It is a slow lens, a 4.5/5.6, depending on where between 70 and 300mm you happen to be. I shot at 1600 ISO and had enough light to get by. The lens is light enough I got by shooting at 1/60th of a second.

The photo above is my favorite from the morning's shoot. Amanda Williams was kissing her son Aidan goodbye. Typical little boy, kissing Mom while still involved in what he had been doing, which was coloring. He didn't put his crayon down, and I framed the shot so their kiss was between his hands.

Not bad for my 40th year.

Beauty At The Landfill

I went to the Houston County Landfill this past week to shoot the installation of two huge methane gas powered generators. Quite the cool green project. The generators will provide electricity for over a thousand homes, powered by garbage, or the gas created by the decomposing garbage.

The Houston County Landfill is not what one would expect, thinking of a garbage dump. It is literally quite green, the reclaimed areas looking more like a park.

There are always buzzards around the freshly dumped trash. They follow the tractor, trying to get a bite before the refuse is covered with earth. When the tractor gets too close, they take to the air. The view from below provided a great shot of the birds.

The sky was full of clouds that added to the scene, I wanted to capture them as well. I did my telephoto thing, but had to get a wide angle shot of the sky. That gave me the top image, a bit of 15mm action. One of the coolest cloud shots I have ever done. A bit of beauty from the landfill.

An Award Winning Writer?

Over the years I have been truly blessed to win quite a few awards for my work, all for my efforts as a photographer. God has been very kind to give me this ability with a camera, and the opportunity to use it.

When I joined the Leader Tribune staff in November of 2008, I discovered another medium of expression, I began writing. During my time at the Telegraph, I occasionally did a little writing, but the pictures were my passion. Photography still is my constant, but writing has been fun. I really got into the words, often the story being accompanied by my pictures instead of the other way around. I was doing several stories a week and really enjoying my work.

One of my favorite stories was on Fort Valley animal control officer Jessica Weidner. That is Jessica pictured above. I spent the day with her, and wrote about her passion for her job, her desire to really make a difference. This story was entered in the Trib Publications annual Better Newspaper Contest. The story won a First Place for Best Feature Story.
One of my photos won First Place for feature photos. The win for a photo is cool, always a thrill to win an award, but the writing award is special. I got a call from a reader after the story ran this week, telling me about the win. There is a real irony to winning an in-house competition after being laid off.

I have included the story below if anyone would like to read it.

                                                             Jessica's Story

She began her workday Thursday dumpster diving behind Ace Hardware in Fort Valley. Her name is Jessica Weidner and she’s a cop. Jessica is also Fort Valley’s Animal Control Officer. Ace employees called Thursday morning after hearing puppies crying in the dumpster. Six puppies, maybe a week old, were under the garbage. “They were covered with ants and fleas, yelling up a storm,” she said while she washed the puppies, ridding them of the filth and fleas.

Jessica has been in the “animal business” for eleven years. She said she just kind of fell into the field. She spent over six years a veterinary tech, then time in animal protection with the State of Georgia. Last year she received her certification and spent about six months as a police officer in Reynolds, Georgia. She heard about the animal control position in Fort Valley and applied for the job. The first week on the job she had to crawl under a house to rescue three puppies, but said Thursday was her first time in a dumpster.

Jessica, Chief John David Anderson and a couple of colleagues gathered in the Chief’s office with baby bottles of formula and a box of puppies. The four feed the starving puppies. Chief Anderson said he and his wife would look after the brood until they were old enough to be adopted. Jessica said she can’t take animals home to recuperate anymore. Her young three children get too upset when they have to leave.

After the puppies were settled in Jessica hit the streets in her pickup truck fitted with a kennel and other tools of her trade. The truck bears the same lettering as the Department’s patrol cars. She said “I patrol within the city limits looking for problem animals. When I get a call I respond. Yesterday a lady called 911 and said cats were attacking her dogs and I needed to come out and do something.” Stray cats had been hanging around the lady’s yard attacking her Chihuahuas. One was injured enough to require a trip to the vet. Jessica had set up a trap for the strays.

After checking on the trap she rode across town. “I patrol high nuisance areas where there have been trouble dogs.” There are several ordinance violations she looks for. Dangerous dogs such as Pitt Bulls and Rottweiler’s have to be registered with the city and kept in specific enclosures. Dogs can not be running at large. They also have to have their rabies inoculation. Jessica encourages pet owners to check at the Police Department for a copy of the ordinances.

She often does drive-by welfare checks, making sure animals have shelter from the elements as well as food and water. She is a sworn police officer so she is also looking for criminal behavior.

Jessica spots a large white dog in a vacant lot near College Station Drive. She says the owner has been warned twice about the dog wandering the neighborhood. She stops and talks with the owner’s son who tells her the family has decided to surrender the dog instead of trying to keep in their yard. The dog is captured and loaded into the truck with the assistance of fellow Fort Valley Police Officer Stuart Williams. She said her fellow officers had been very helpful to her, assisting when she needed a hand. Stuart followed Jessica to her next call, an area where she had tried to pick up a neglected dog the day before. The owner was able to get away with the dog.

The dog had disappeared by the time she got to the location so she parted company with Stuart and headed to the office of Veterinarian Lori Giles with the dog she had picked up earlier. The city has entered into a program with Dr. Giles to handle impounded animals. She works with an out-of-county adoption service. The animals are spayed or neutered and put up for adoption. This program has earned the city’s animal control program a Low Kill/No Kill classification. The city is now able to apply for USDA grants to help with the animal control program.

Dr. Giles said that animals that are inpounded are held for three days. If they are not claimed in three days they will be sent to a shelter of foster home hopefully for adoption. Some animals will not adoptable due to aggressiveness or severe health problems. If funds are available the medical problems will be fixed. Dr. Giles said that animals will be scanned for an imbedded identifying micro chip.

Jessica said “When I approach people they think I am going to take their dog. I want to leave it in the home, just want to see it taken care of. This is something I enjoy doing, and somewhere I can make a difference.”

Don't Know What It Is, But What A Photo Opp

We had a new bloom in the garden this past week. We are not sure what it is, but it makes a wonderful photograph. The previous owner was really into the garden, and there is no telling what kinds of bulbs are hidden under the rich black dirt. Every time we trim the huge Ginkgo tree and get more sun, we have new things pop up.

We first saw this one before the blooms opened. They finally were ready to shoot Friday. I took my flash and a light stand when I went to shoot, but the sun was hitting from just the right angle. Flowers almost always photograph better with backlight. Direct sun is usually too harsh.

Anyway, I just wanted to share these. When you photograph flowers, do one that shows it all, but try getting close, just doing parts. And watch the light.