Bird time

Most of the pictures I have been taking this year have been with my iPhone. However, with birds, I needed my Cannon R5 for the longer lens. I looked for great light and food for the birds to come. Found both and came up with this picture.

Woodpecker

After looking at this, I wonder two things. What would it look like on a magazine cover?

Last, I wondered what it would look like as a painting. Using Photoshop AI I came up with the following.

What you can do with a single bird. I am thinking about having on canvas the painting of this bird. I like it as a painting. I'm looking forward to getting out more this year for more pictures.

Creativity

I always felt that I lacked being creative in my photography. I love the technical side of photography, and my brain moves that way. For the past year, I have studied others' work and why I like it or am not too fond of it. I have joined Facebook groups to help, Instagram to get ideas, and so on. The best I found is doing compositing and understanding art. All those things that I was taught in High School are now making sense to me today. One person who is helping with the fundamental of art is Rikard Rodin. Richard makes compositing fun, and his teaching process has been great for me. Not only am I learning the basics of art but cool tricks in Photoshop.

The Woods

I watched a session on silhouettes. After watching, I went to stock photos and downloaded a wood scene. Now to make a silhouette. With the help of brushes, I came up with the idea. Now to make it look natural. That is where art and photography help. We know to get a silhouette, you need light. Light needs to be the backlight. Ok, it is done. Next was the shadow and shadow color. To make it real, you need to see what the scene gives you. Last, I wanted to add something to make it memorable: a bird, fog, and shadow of the horse. Yep all fake but fun art. How does this help my photography? First of all, it helps improve my creativity; second, understand what you are looking for. Last, it helps with your photoshop skills and knowledge and why you are making changes.

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.

The Wild Turkey with the Babies

There is an expression; the best camera is the camera you have in your hand. So true. While walking in the woods, I came upon this mama turkey and her little ones. While I did not have the camera that I would like, I did have my iPhone and video this experience. One thing about these little ones, they move fast, and trying to keep up with them was challenging for me. (I need some practice) After filming for about 3 minutes, it was time to take in Adobe Premier and make something that I could share. Sit back and enjoy.

Having fun with Composite

Having fun playing around with compositing. Composite is when you take two pictures or more and make it look like you intended this picture. I like to keep practicing. In this case, I took a stock photo of the lady. Then I looked at what I was thinking and found a stock picture of the woods. One thing that is important that light is coming from the same direction. It makes it look natural. Once I blended the two photos and matched the color. I thought it was missing something. Out came the brush and made some butterflies. Again matching color with the scene and light, the butterfly was next. Last, I felt it needed type. That was it, and I came up with something that I liked, but more importantly, I got some more practice using Photoshop.