Christmas Decorations

I decided to try out the camera on my cell phone this afternoon. While it is a good phone and has a 5 megapixel camera the photos are pretty grainy and smaller than I expected. But I did managed to get a few shots I liked even though they are rough.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday Submissions

I was feeling a bit better today so I decided to go on the hunt for some of this last weeks prompts. I decided to head to the Old Court House Museum to see what I could find. Here is what I came up with. 

Portrait: 
I really got lucky Spiderman was just hanging out so I was able to take his portrait in one of his classic poses. Alright, I am stretching a bit here,  but it was such a fun shot I wanted to share it.

Knowing I still needed a real portrait shot, when I got home I attempted to convince my dog Max that it would be fun to take his portrait. Well, after nearly a zillion shots of him moving all over the place I managed to get this semi clear shot. By the way I had to bribe him with Fruit Loops!

Nostaglic (Ida's suggestion)
The museum really was a great place for this series. They had this really cool exhibit on bicycles. Boy did that take me back a year or two. Although my kids may say that I was around when this beauty was first ridden, I can honestly say it was way before my time!

Time (Ida's suggestion)
Speaking of which, coming back down the stairs from the bicycle exhibit I happened to look up and much to my delight was met with this sight.

Three out of five wasn't too bad, but I was still short the following two prompts when I left the museum. I considered going in search of them but remembered that I had gotten some really cool shots at the Parade of Lights that I have yet to share. So here they are:

Full of Light (Mikayla's suggestion)
I just loved how the flames filled the dark street full of light.

 Motion (Mikayla's suggestio
I decided to zoom in slightly on one shot and really loved the forward motion that it added to the shot.

So there they are folks, my submissions for this weeks scavenger hunt.

To join the fun pop over to Ramblings and Photos

Next weeks prompts

1. Less is More
2. Holiday Lights (Exploring with a Camera Prompt - click HERE for details)
3. Ornaments (Michelle's suggestion: 25 Days of Christmas)
4. Cup of Cheer (Michelle's suggestion: 25 Days of Christmas)
5. Nativity (Michelle's suggestion: 25 Days of Christmas)

Rural Small Town Photography

Due to a nasty winter flu bug this last week I had to pass on some fun photo shoots and reschedule  planned ones. Although sick my week did turn out to be a productive one, (learn more here) yet I do not have any new photographs to share. So instead I have decided to pull a few from my archives. 

These photos are all SOOC shots taken in and around the small towns in Iowa.

Have a great week!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Waiting: I just couldn't pass up this shot while we were all waiting for the Parade of Lights to start.

Foliage (Kamana's suggestion): There really isn't much foliage around our place now so I pulled this from some shots taken last month. I did consider going to a store or mall to get the shot for this prompt but decided to be a home body today.

Candid (Kamana's suggestion): Isn't this little guy just too cute.

Knife, Fork or Spoon (Kamana's suggestion): Once again I pulled from the archives. I thought about taking something new but I just love this shot. This is a scan of the original photo I took some sixteen years ago of my  daughter.

Rules of Thirds (Mikayla's suggestion): What can I say, I like to style miniature dolls in historic clothing. :D

Next week I am going to do my best to take all new shots.

Next weeks prompts:

1. Portrait
2. Nostaglic (Ida's suggestion)
3. Time (Ida's suggestion)
4. Full of Light (Mikayla's suggestion)
5. Motion (Mikayla's suggestion)

Weekend Reflections: Tendrils of Winter

Now hop on over to Jame's Weekend Reflection meme and check out all the awesome reflections!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Photography Post Production Right or Wrong

Photography is not just capturing a duplicate of the scene before you, it is the photographers' interpretation of that scene. Just as the Masters of old added their own interpretations' to the subjects they carved or painted so too photographers past and present add their own artistic perspective to the images they capture.

I have heard people rebuke digital photography and digital post production, claiming that modern technology is ruining photography.  While yes modern technology allows a much higher level of manipulation than was previously possible this no more ruins photography than post processing techniques ruined the works of master photographers such as Ansel Adams.

Since the conception of photography photographers have been adding their own special touches from how they set up the shot to coming up with creative post processing techniques in the darkroom. Skills that became highly prized and made the difference between just another person with a camera and an inspirational photographer.

Photography is an art form and as an art form not only is it a way to record history it is also an artistic medium which should be explored and used to express the artists interpretations of the scene depicted.

Of course major alterations and manipulations would not be ethical when working with a photograph that's primary purpose is to record history. However, even such images can and should be edited, if needed in post production. Even if a camera is set to automatic the image it captures is not exactly as it is seen in real life. Post production allows the photographer to tweak the image so that it more closely resembles what they were viewing.

Take for example the following photographs:

This first is the original shot

When I came across this scene because of the equipment I had with me I was not able to frame the shot so as to place the focus on the benches exactly as I wanted. In addition to the framing; the color and lighting, although very close to what I actually viewed at the time does not impart the same depth of color and emotion that was evoked in me while viewing the scene.

Here is the edited shot

By cropping the image and adding a low percentage overlay the image now captures not only the scene that was before me but the depth at which I viewed the scene. 

For me post production is not only right but is a prized skill that I am continually striving to master.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday Submissions

Things have been wild and I have been missing so much fun. So I hope no one minds that I pulled mainly from my archives so I could play along this week.

Mainly one color: Some cool blue rocks?

Around the home: JR Scrabble is a great game to play with the grandchildren. You never know what silly things they will come up with.

Reflection: This on I actually shot today. Isn't the sunset over the icy lake beautiful?

Writing: How about a bit of writing on the wall?

Water: I took some shots of a filling a bubble bath but wasn't happy with the way they turned out so you get this little waterfall instead. :D

Have a great week!

Follow the link to check out all the great Scavenger Hunt Sunday finds

Sunday Best

I have been a bit under the weather so haven't been getting out and about with my camera until yesterday afternoon. Here is my favorite shot from yesterday.

Wordless Wednesday: Smile

Cover Photo of Garrison Keillor's New Audio Book

The last two weeks have been wild and exciting for me. In addition to launching my improved website and preparing six art pieces for the Mayors' Artability exhibit, I just found out that one of my photos I added to Morguefile's stock image site has been used by Garrison Keillor on his latest audio book "My Little Town". 
Here is the SOOC shot

When I took this photo in 2004, I was doing a series of small town main streets in north western Iowa, which were then used on greeting cards and postcards. I do offer this image on a number of products such as postcards, click here to see products featuring this image. I love the look of small town main streets and hope to put together a photo book of them in the future. Here is the edited version that I prefer to use.

Having one of my photos used is exciting all on it's own, but to have Garrison Keillor using one is extra exciting for me because I love his Lake Woebegone stories. He will be preforming locally in February and I hope to go see him.

Weekend Reflections: Around the Globe

This giant globe at the Omaha Zoo was so cool. The flow of the fountain provided the momentum to keep the globe turning very slowly just like the earth. The reflection in the globe fell in the ocean on the globes map.

To see some great reflections visit Jame's Weekend Reflections Linky.

Autumn Leaves

We are so blessed that this year Fall has decided to stick around a bit longer than it normally does. Here are a few shots of the beautiful colors.

Wordless Wednesday: Redneck Wine Glass

Scavenger Hunt Sunday Submissions

What a wild week! I had to pull a few from my archives for this weeks challenges. So without any further chit chat here are my submissions.

Abstract

 I just loved the way the shadow of the railing looked on these stairs.

Round (Paper Heart Camera prompt)

 Found this cool looking skylight at the mall Saturday.

Fire (Pieni Lintu's suggestion)
This fire shot is not mine but is my daughters. She went with me one day and was looking for faces and came across this one. I thought it was pretty cute. She wanted me to use it in this post for the face prompt. But since I didn't manage to get a single shot I liked for the fire prompt and don't have a single fire shot in my archives, I figured I would throw it in here and share her work.

 
Seeing Faces in Strange/Unexpected Places (Pieni Lintu's suggestion)

 Hope you can see the two faces I saw in this reflection of the kiosks in the mall. One is in the upper right corner and the other is center bottom.

Stars (Pieni Lintu's suggestion)

For this prompt I chose to pull from my archives of completed photographic artwork. This collage is made up of photographs I took of my 'Star', my grandson.

Well there you have it. Visit Ashely's Scavenger Hunt Sunday to join in the fun. 

Next weeks prompts are:

1. Words
2. Under (Paper Heart Camera prompt)
3. Orange (Shades of Autumn prompt)
4. Fly (Abby's suggestion)
5. Always Look on the Bright Side (Anika's suggestion)