Weekend Reflection

One of my favorite aspects of newer architecture is the uninterrupted use of large panels of reflective or tinted glass that allows for fabulous reflections like this one.

Linking up with:

 Jame's Weekend Reflection.

Caught My Eye

Today is a Random Caught My Eye post. These individuals caught my eye while I was out and about.

Helena Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek at yesterday's session with the lovely Helena. 

The weather turned out to be very hot and humid but Helena was great to work with. I am looking forward to our next session which will be a couples session for her and her husband.

Hot Days

Living on the coast has a major advantage that on hot days there is always the ocean to help you cool down. The main drawback is the HOT sand.

 Linking up with Photo Theme Thursday

Converting to Black and White

While converting to black and white can be done in one step in Photoshop using any of several methods, the results are not always satisfactory.

While the deep blue skies in the photo above were nice for the color photo when converted to black and white the dark sky was not very appealing. This first conversion was created by simply desaturating the photograph.

Although the leading lines are still pointing to the people who were an important part of the image this method all but made them invisible. On my next attempt I decided to use the black and white setting in Image Adjustments. Here I was able to tweak it so that my focal subjects where still visible, however this resulted in a lot of noise in the sky.

 So I decided to go back to the start and adjust the levels on the original photo thus lightening the sky and then going into the black and white setting in Image Adjustments and tweak only the yellow and red. While the sky is smoother my focal subjects once again have faded into the image and worse yet the boardwalk is blown out.

Since I was happy with the sky in this last conversion and the foreground in my second conversion I decided to merge the two images to achieve the effect I desired. Here is my final image.

As most of my photography is done in color and I am not often  called upon to convert to black and white I thought taking part in Black and White Wednesday's would give me some needed practice. Any and all critique is welcomed so please let me know what you think and do hop over and check out what others are sharing.


  And at 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday on Tuesday

I had almost given up participating in this weeks scavenger hunt. This weeks prompts were very challenging and I had not gotten out to hunt for them until today. I found all but one prompt. For that prompt I will be pulling from my archives. Here are my submissions:

Meet me on the corner:

Mother nature meets technology:

I shot this photo last week during OpSail 2012. The plain in the photo is the Hawkeye. The satellite on the Hawkeye records all possible dangers including storms and relays that information to naval ships.

One step at a time:

When I was thinking of this prompt the first thought that came to mind was a baby's first step. Having no baby's to photography I changed my train of thought. It occurred to me that going off to college is the first step to independence for many. So here is nearby Old Dominion University.  

What's wrong with this picture:

This is a two for one. 

While some may think the 'hats' are the wrong part of this photo they are not the reason I chose this for this prompt. When I took the shot we were obviously goofing around and I didn't set the angle up correctly, thus the two eyes framed in one lens of the glasses.

Standing tall:

Every time I see old growth trees I am impressed by how long they have stood tall against the elements and man.

So there it is folks, my submissions for this weeks challenges. Now please be sure to click the button to hop over and check out what others have found.

Macro Monday: Albino Spider

This little guy must like going for rides. He sat on the lawnmower the entire time my son-in-law was mowing the yard, and even stayed for me to take his photograph.

Japanese Garden: Norfolk, VA

Always on the lookout for beautiful spots to take photos, I was very happy to find a Japanese garden not far from our home.

 The garden is tucked away to the side of this fabulous pagoda restaurant.

 Stone benches allow for one to sit and soak in the soothing environment.

 There is a coy filled pond with refreshing fountain.

A picturesque path leads past gentle waterfall fountains and over a bridge as you make your way around garden.

 The water Lilly's were so pretty I couldn't pass up taking their portrait.

Weekend Reflection Submission

If you enjoy reflections stop over at Jame's Weekend Reflections for more.

Wordless Wednesday: Caption This

Okay, I know it is suppose to be wordless but I would love to hear your ideas of captions for this photo.

Patriotic Tuesday

I hope you aren't tired of shots from this years OpSail/Harborfest. I promise though after these patriotic shots I will give it a rest and be back to posting photos from new adventures.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday on Monday

Spending all of last week so focused on OpSail and Harborfest I thought I would have to forgo taking part in Scavenger Hunt Sunday. I am happy to say though that while going through the photos taken I realized that I did find all but one of the prompts. For the one I didn't find I will be pulling from my archives. So without any further delay here are my submissions. 

Travel

One day I would love to travel on a ship like this.

Silly

Black and White

Spots

I do wish I had been lower when taking this shot, as it would have been so much better with the sun directly behind Blackbeard's head. Although I was pleased with the sun spot around his hand.

Paper

I sure hope that digital books don't replace paper. This shot is from my archives. 

Please be sure to click below to visit Ashley Sisk's and others as they share their finds for this week.