Winter Imagination

One of my favorite Holidays is coming. (I think I inherit this from my mother) At the beginning of the year, I had a few goals that I wanted to do in my photography. I wanted to be more creative and better with Adobe software. Well, this whole year, I have been working on both. I got inspired by this composite by watching a Holiday Special by Adobe.

It started with 3 adobe stock pictures that I blended into the main scene. The castle was one, and I cut it out. The snow with the trees and hill was the second, and third was the sky after blending everything in. I added one more cut-out. I needed a deer in this picture. I did a lot of color blending, and my final picture that once again was in my head.

I enjoy compositing and look forward to doing more. Regarding Adobe products, stay tuned; I have some more Holidays with different software coming this week.

Happy Mother's Day

I want to take this time to thank every mother out there. A job that is so hard but so rewarding. Happy Mother’s day.

Mother’s Day

I recently purchased a 15-35 wide-angle lens and wanted to get out and practice with it. So going to a local park, I went out to practice and came up with a photo for this day. The picture I came up with was the one I wanted. It is a composite because it was a cloudy sky that day, and the sky was boring. So I added the sky in Photoshop. Cloudy was great for the picture because it's a giant softbox of soft light that I like. Now onto the next picture.

Working with what you are given when it comes to travel photography

I love to travel and all of the places I have been to. Most of those have been on vacation—most of the time, it's on a cruise when I am on vacation. When you cruise and arrive at the islands and take a tour, it's not in the so call best light. Take, for example, the island of TORTOLA in the Caribbeans.

The Island of Tortola

My wife and I signed up for an excursion to one of their popular beaches. We are in a van and heading to the beach, looking out the window. Taking what was given me, I was able to pull off some pictures that I felt summed up the island.

The Beach

While not in ideal conditions, I took pictures that I liked. I always want to take something that is not a snapshot. Maybe someday, we may go back and spend time on this island and get those pictures that we all love. Sunrise and Sunset. Until then, I will enjoy the vacation and what I love. Photography.

Rain in the tropics

Beginning to End

Everything has a beginning, and everything will have an end. Nature has away with this. I bought my wife back in December a Poinsettia Plant. The plant is doing great today, but leaves are starting to fall off and thus the end. I looked at the light shining on this leaf that fell and thought, “I wonder what this would look like as a closeup.” The light shining on the backside showed me the life of this leaf. I know, crazy, but sometimes I think this way.

I made a choice to make it black and white because the color did not help or add to the picture. I wanted to show the life of this leaf at one time. Using a macro lens, I set up using window light and then took the picture. It's incredible how we walk past this beauty, or in some cases, it's a dead leaf, throw it away to a photographer, and its documentation ends with a memory.

Videography?

I love all aspects of photography and now including videography. I felt like a commercial photographer; this was a must to learn and understand videoing. I have been playing with this last year on and off, but I am taking it to another level this year.

Just like photography, it takes practice and again more practice. First, I have been learning different camera moves for other effects. Next, understanding the light and now learning audio. Next, we learn post-processing and why something works, and something doesn’t work.

It starts with practice, and the following video is of that. I am an actor, director, producer, special effects, yes you guess it, I am doing everything, including filming. The idea was just to go for a walk in the woods in the winter. I like these woods and have taken a lot of pictures of family, seniors, and some wildlife in these woods near me.

It was fun playing with different camera views and thinking about A shoot and B shoots. Next was to put it together. Using Adobe Premiere, I was able to put it all together. The sounds you hear are all sound effects for interest. While this video was fun doing. It won’t make the Oscars, but you need to start somewhere.

2022 is going to be fun for me. I am looking forward to adding videography to my portfolio.