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Green Leaves

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I know it’s fall, and there are lots of places where leaves have really turned color, but not yet on our street. I was sitting at the kitchen table after dinner tonight when, all of a sudden, the sun came out, striking the leaves on our red bud tree. I ran up and got my camera and took some shots. Looking at the LCD display, I didn’t think I had anything worth saving, but once I uploaded them to the computer there were a few I liked. I had my 50mm 1.4 lens on  the camera, set between 1.6 and 2.8 for all of these shots.

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Right under the tree is a hydrangea bush, so while I was there . . .

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Here’s a very similar shot, but on this one I use the Pioneer Woman’s Boost action.

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Although I decided not to take Picture Fall, I have decided that October will be Improve My Photography month. I just bought a new tripod and have ordered the Tamron 60mm macro lens since there is a huge rebate offer now until October 10th. This is the last of the lenses I’ve been wanting, and I almost ordered it this summer when the rebate was half what it is now. So glad I waited. I got an extra discount at Beach Camera as well, so I’m very pleased.

Through Lee’s blog, I found Darcy’s blog. Darcy is doing a 31 Days to a Better Photo series, which started today. Kim Klassen is also offering a free e-class on Photoshop Elements. You can find out about it and sign up here.  I’m going to do both, as well as finish watching the instructional videos on Lynda.com.  I also have a list of things I want to learn or relearn or practice this month. I’m going to post it as a way to hold myself  more accountable.

  • learn to set up and focus the camera quickly on the tripod
  • review and practice using Auto Exposure Bracketing
  • learn how to use back button focusing
  • try out Photomerge and Recompose on Photoshop Elements
  • learn how to use Gradient Maps on Photoshop Elements
  • practice using my neutral density filter which Tracy gave me over a year ago, but is still in the original packaging
  • practice using the circular polarizer
  • read Bryan Peterson’s book Understanding Close-up Photography and get out a try some of the techniques

I’ve also signed up for a “Day of Fall Photography” with two local professional photographers on the 31st. It was very affordable and includes a day of photography at Conesus Lake and Stony Brook State Park as well as  pre-trip and post-trip gatherings. I figure that will be the icing on the cake. I’ve really felt like I’ve been treading water (so to speak) with my photography and this all seems to have come together to encourage me to step it up for awhile.

Just Playing Around

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I had some time today to play around, and started with some photos I took recently. I love the textured photos I see on some of the blogs, but haven’t come up with a lot I like when I try myself. Today I did. I’m quite happy with this photo.

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I bought this bouquet at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market on Saturday. I added Kim Klassen’s Light Paper 4 with a soft blending mode. Here’s the original:

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It made a nice card as well.

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There’s plenty of room to add a message directly to the photo, so I think I’ll try that as well. I purchased Kim’s e-book of Photoshop Recipes, and this texture was part of a preview pack she sent. I realized that I need to learn about Gradient Maps in PSE which I have never used. Tracy has a subscription to Lynda.com so I’ve started watching the PSE instructional videos there. I haven’t gotten to gradient maps, but I’ve learned quite a few new tricks in just a half an hour or so. The videos go for nearly 7 hours!! PSE 9.0 is coming out in November. They’ve added some very nice new features, so Tracy is going to upgrade it for me as a late birthday gift. He offered to buy the full Photoshop, but I know the learning curve there is greater than the time I want to spend on it. Hopefully, Lynda.com will do a video series on the new additions when 9.0 comes out.

I also got inspired to make a card with some supplies I’ve had around for ages.

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I’ve had a pack of these Happy Day journaling cards from Webster’s Pages for ages, as well as the floral rub-on and gems from Basic Grey. The papers are also Basic Grey, the Origins line. I scored the card in the wrong place, but instead of starting over I just went with it and rather like the two layers. The sentiment is from Papertrey (Simply Stationery & Take Three: Summer) and the ribbon is from Paper Source.

Fall Excursion #1

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We have several short trips planned for the fall. This week we spent three days in the Adirondacks with good friends. Bob and Tracy spent two days backpacking to Phelps and Tabletop Mountains. Cathy and I dropped them off at the Adirondack Loj on Sunday about noon and picked them up late Tuesday morning. Their views were much more colorful than ours. Here are two of the many photos of the stunning scenery Tracy captured on their hike.

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Cathy and I had much nicer accommodations than a backpacking tent, but we didn’t have views like this.  We had a great time, nonetheless, shopping, eating out, and a wonderful visit to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

 

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The Wild Center is a natural history museum of the Adirondacks. They have wonderful interpretive displays,  several river otters, and a collection of birds that are being rehabbed. We enjoyed seeing this small falcon and hearing about the falcons in the area.


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We also listened to a talk on loons . . .


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and took a walk with a naturalist down to the Racquette River.

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I loved the details on the bridges.

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About a year ago I saw (but wasn’t able to get a good photograph of) a Wood Duck at a local pond. They are so beautiful and I had no idea why they’re called Wood Ducks. Now I know. They actually have claws that allow them to climb into trees and to find food on shore. It’s hard for me to imagine these ducks sitting in a tree.

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When we picked up the guys, I walked down to Heart Lake by the lodge. In the two days we were there the colors became much more vibrant (though not to the extent they had changed at the higher elevations). Here are a few of my favorite images.

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Tomorrow we’re off to the Finger Lakes and the Ithaca Farm Market. We’re meeting Tracy’s cousin and her husband at the market, hope to visit Cornell’s ornithology lab, and then do a bit of antiquing on our way home. It was very hot here today, nearly 90°, but tomorrow’s high is expected to be only 62°. Fall and its erratic temperatures is here!

Sunday Creative: Timeworn

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I’ve wanted to participate in the Sunday Creative challenge  ever since it started, but this is my first contribution. I’ve always liked this photo of the barbed wire, and it seemed perfect for the theme “timeworn.” It also seemed like a good candidate for playing with textures. So here are three versions. I’d like to hear which of them you like best.

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No editing here except to sharpen.

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With Kim Klassen’s new texture, “Nutmeg,” with Soft Light at 100%.

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Same texture, at 58% Soft Light.

Camping at Filmore

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Tracy and I have been camping with our friends, Bob and Cathy, for many, many years. There used to be eight of us before our kids grew up. During the teenage years we began a long hiatus when all four of the kids had busy schedules of their own in the summer, but about eight or nine years ago we started getting together for a few days of camping each August. Next year, the four of us are booked for a cruise to Alaska, so there’ll be no camping, but I’m quite sure we won’t be complaining.

This was one of the first years in many that we had perfect (no rain) weather. It was a little hot, but we managed to spend the hottest hours on Monday doing some wine tasting on Cayuga Lake. The rest of the time we spent at Fillmore State Park. It’s just east of Cayuga and south of Owasco Lake near Moravia. I had never been there before but it was a great spot.

Warning:  this is a heavy photographic post!

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This was our camping spot, and after the first night there were no other tent campers in the park, so we had the place to ourselves. There were a lot of trailers and RVs, but they were in a different section.

There’s a lovely gorge and a 5 mile trail through the gorge which then loops up a ridge and circles back to the trail head. We hiked the trail early Monday morning before the heat got too intense.

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I always try to remember to turn around as we hike and look back. As we started up the trail I turned around and saw these wonderful reflections.

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One of Filmore’s “claims to fame” is its waterfalls. They are lovely and so is the stream we walked along.

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I love the way the water falls here–back and forth.

And a few other favorite images from the park.

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All my photos on this trip were taken with my point and shoot which has a fisheye effect option which I used here.

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I really liked how this mushroom stood so straight and tall–and all alone–among the trees.

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Light was a problem all along the trail especially later as the sun rose in the sky. But I liked this shot with the sun streaming through the trees.

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And you can’t have a camping trip without a good fire to sit around. We cook our dinners over the open fire each night, and then sit around chatting and enjoying some good red wine.

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It was a perfect way to end a beautiful summer. I can’t believe Labor Day is upon us, but that certainly signals the end of summer for me.

Botanicals

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Last week was the final class for Botanical Drawing. I could have well been intimidated by my fellow classmates as many of them have been coming for years, and some of them are professional artists. Their work is stunning. Mine, however, slowly improved and because it was such a supportive environment, I’m planning on returning for the fall semester. No, there are no drawings on this post, although there are a couple I’ve been willing to share. What I do have are some photographs from a brunch our instructor had at her home the last week. Deb lives right on Lake Ontario and her gardens are spectacular. So here are some botanicals, photographic style.

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Deb’s dahlias are huge and so beautiful.

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I’d love to know what these are if anyone can identify them. I didn’t ask or take notes which turned out to be a big mistake. I have several photographs of flowers I can’t identify.

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Here’s a view of one of many gardens.

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And the view from Deb’s screened-in porch.

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And, finally, the beautiful table she set for our brunch.

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Tomatoes and Moving

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I feel like my life is consumed by tomatoes and moving. Little by little we’re getting my studio moved to the bigger space. We’ve just about done as much as we can now until the desk and new lateral file cabinet arrive,. Hopefully tomorrow, more likely on Friday. I found new valences for the studio, and like the pattern, but they need to be shortened. For now I’ve left them up and will take care of it when the rest is done. I think I have everything I need for the studio, but I’m quite sure we’re going to need a bookcase and perhaps a table for the den. It’s so hard to tell until my current desk is out of there. I’m hoping the hutches on the current desk will fit and look OK on the new one. The hutch that could have been ordered with the new desk was too wide for the wall space I have.

As for tomatoes, we picked another 17 pounds yesterday and canned more sauce today. Tomorrow we’ll need to go back to the garden again, and I’m going to try another batch of salsa–a little milder this time.

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When I went out on the patio to take a photo for tomorrow’s Team-up Thursday post, I saw that our hibiscus was blooming again. It’s such a beautiful plant and blooms pretty continuously all summer.

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I did get a layout completed today, but haven’t had a chance to photograph it. But here are a couple of cards that I haven’t posted. The first is for a friend whose husband passed away recently.

Sympathy 

Cardstock: WorldWin Colormates; stamps: “With Sympathy” Papertrey Ink; ribbon: Impress; gem: Michaels; ink: Encore Metallic

And a real quickie for the card box:

SuperStar
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); patterned paper: Basics Manila (Basic Grey); stamp: “Star Prints” (Papertrey Ink); stars: Small Details (Basic Grey)

Team-up Thursday: Morning

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This week’s prompt was “morning” and I knew what I wanted to do, but it was a struggle. I ended up with three versions of my photo but settled on the one with the texture from Kim Klassen. I’m still trying to perfect this technique. It was taking so long, I finally had to just quit and live with it.

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My breakfast on the left; Nancy’s take-out window on the right.

It’s taking a couple of days to get readjusted after all the traveling I’ve been doing. There have been lots of appointments, unpacking, jet lag to overcome, and serious efforts at organizing for moving my office/studio. I have another post to do after dinner but wanted to be sure this post was up–late as it is.

Photo Cards

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Right before I left for Chicago, I needed to create some photo cards. A few weeks prior, I had picked up some Museum Parchment inkjet paper for just such a project. I’m very happy with the way they came out. I love the texture of the Museum Parchment paper. I’ve had the embossed photo cards for years and have no idea where I got them or who manufactured them. I wish I knew because I’d like to purchase some more.

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These were all taken this spring in Highland Park where there is a lovely collection of magnolia trees.

Team-up Thursday: Up

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For the first time Nancy and my photographs really couldn’t be fit into a diptych so I made a little canvas for them. The top one is mine and was taken on our boat before I left for Chicago. I’m not sure where Nancy found this beautiful umbrella.

Up

Team-up Thursday: Doors

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This week’s prompt was Doors. Mine (on the left) is a photo of a local garden store’s front doors which I have always loved. Nancy’s shot is from her trip out west in June of an abandoned house in Two Dot, Montana.

Doors

Photographic Challenges

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First of all, our Team-up Thursday post. The prompt this week was Where We Live. Nancy and my interpretations couldn’t have been much different. I considered the house, the front door, the new light and house number, but finally decided on the mailbox. I liked it with the Vintage action from Pioneer Woman so settled on it. Nancy’s bright, summery photo taken on her deck is about as opposite as it could be!

WhereYouLive

During Picture Spring, one of the prompts was “The Grass at Your Feet.” I took a photo I liked a lot of tiny blue flowers, but I wanted one of the grass with dew on it like Cheri took during the class. Yesterday’s prompt from Shimelle for Love Your Photos, Love Your Pages was pretty much the same. So off I went again. I started out with my DSRL set on aperture priority mode. This is the setting I used for nearly two years, but for the last year I’ve shot in full manual almost all the time. I also wanted a shallow depth of field. Let me just say with a sunny sky, it’s a very bad combination. However I took two of the shots into PSE and used the Pioneer Woman’s Dim the Lights action on them. I ran the action twice and although these were certainly not the photos I intended to take, I find them pretty interesting.

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Then I pulled out the trusty point and shoot and got what I was looking for during Picture Spring.

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Love Your Pictures, Love Your Pages: Skies

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Today’s photos are a bit of a cheat. It was a busy day. I went to Essential Stretch, followed by my first Aqua Zumba class. Then I spent some time trying to get organized for a trip to CHA in just two weeks. I’m really excited to have an opportunity to go to the trade show. I got my airline ticket last night, and today Laura sent me the bar code for my vendor pass. I’ll be staying with Katie who oversees the design team at Scrap-Mart as well as meeting Eva. I’ve met Laura and Howard, the owners, but haven’t had the chance to spend much time with them. I’ll be there five days. I’m sure it will be exhausting, but I think it will also be a lot of fun! This afternoon I had two appointments and by the time I got home we had a downpour so extensive streets were flooding. I do like to take photos that feature skies, and I knew I had several
from the last couple of weeks. So here they are.

These were all taken with my point and shoot, Canon Power Shot SD3500 IS, that I bought before our trip to California in March. I love this camera, and it’s almost always in my purse.

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We were on the NY Thruway enroute to Ithaca, NY when I took this shot through the front window of the car. I just loved the look of the clouds.

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Taken the same day on the Cornell campus.

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This was taken about 10 days ago on my first venture out on the sailboat this year. It was rough on the lake and the spray from the lake water was so chilly, we decided not to put up the sails and to motor down the river instead.

Love Your Pictures, Love Your Pages: Three

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The third photo prompt this week was to photograph a group of three. My mother died when I was only 20. She didn’t have much jewelry, and I have very few things that belonged to her. My favorite is her sterling silver thimble which I have used for sewing for the last 40 years. The scissors also belonged to her as did this wooden spool of thread. I thought I had several of the spools of thread from her old sewing box, but I can only find this one. It just occurred to me that the needle might count as four objects–oh, well.  I decided to try some different arrangements, all with different light.

The first one was taken in my craft room on a piece of white foam board that I use when taking photos of paper craft projects. The daylight florescent lights were turned on. I always have to do some color correction and levels corrections because the light is very poor here even in the morning. Other than that, it’s SOOC.

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The second photo was taken in our bedroom which has light from the same direction as my craft room, but there are three large windows rather than just one. Nonetheless, I had to turn on the lights to get a good exposure here as well, so I set the white balance on tungsten. Our yard is almost completely shaded and light is always at a premium in the house. I set the three objects on an old hymnal that belonged to my grandmother. She inscribed it in 1881.

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The last photo was taken in our den which is in the front of the house and has two small windows. Since one window faces east I didn’t have to turn on any lights here. I arranged the three objects on my sewing machine, and except for sharpening didn’t make any adjustments to the photo.

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I’m quite sure I’ll be scrapping one of these photos this weekend.

Love Your Pictures, Love Your Pages: Photographing Florals

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I was away for the first four days of Shimelle’s class, and it will take awhile to catch up. It was a lovely morning here and rain was forecast for later (and did, indeed, arrive) so I decided I should get the outside photo prompt of florals done. My Shasta daisies are beautiful right now so I decided to work with them. Shimelle suggested taking the photos from different angles and perspectives so that’s what I tried to do. None of the photos were altered in PSE except to sharpen them. All were taken with my 50mm 1.4 lens. I’m including the aperture settings for my friend, Nancy, since she and I had a discussion about them earlier today. As always, I’d be interested in hearing which ones you like the best. Here are eight of them in no particular order:

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1.  f/1.8

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2.  f/8.0

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3.  Having the bee arrive was truly a lucky accident!  f/8.0

 
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   4.  f/1.8

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5.  f/6.3

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6.  f/8.0

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7.  f/1.8

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8. f/2.2