Life: Through the Lens

I have this lovely new point-and-shoot, but can't get the photos off of it!  Apparently wireless is the way to go now, so I have to figure out how to follow the directions that make no sense in order for that to happen.  This being said, I can't do my updated "comparison" post yet, so decided to focus on one of my favorites subjects - critters. The title of this post is Paying Attention, and that is what you really have a to do to find the little creatures who live amongst us.  You also have to be cautious, and quiet, and patient...and like to get up early.  Does this describe you?  I can be any of those characteristics, but it is so hard to do it all at once! There was a morning a couple of weeks ago where I said to my husband, "That's it!  I am getting up and going to take photos.  You are on dog duty.  Okay?"  I jumped (6:15) grabbed my camera with the close-up lens, tripod, a sweatshirt...and headed out to the field out ba...

I think the iPhone handled this well, though I will admit the shadows were  quite dark and I lightened them a bit in post-processing. I am in the process of putting together some materials for a workshop I will be giving next month.  One of the things I am going to cover is the difference between photographs taken on the iPhone, a smaller digital camera  (point-and-shoot), and the DSLR. These flowers were in the shadows, which I find the iPhone favors.  The  more even the light, the richer the photos are.  The color in this photo is very strong. As most of you have found, the iPhone does take good photos, and it's biggest plus is the phone's size and portability.  Very convenient and it works well in a lot of instances.   I want to see how well it works under a variety of circumstances, so I take it on walks with the dog, shopping with friends, and to work. The photos in this post are the results of my first "formal" com...

The Nina, left, and Pinta, moored in the marina. Remember the day of the eclipse?   It happened to be the day we finally had a chance to get out of town and spend some time adventuring.  We packed up Kaycee, a cooler, and headed to Traverse City to see the hand-built replicas of the Nina and Pinta. The Nina was built using only adzes, axes, hand saws and chisels, in addition to naturally-shaped  timbers from the local forest. She stands 65' long, 18' across the beam, with a draft of 7'. The sail area is 1, 919 sq. feet.  She took 32 months to build. Both ships are exact replicas of those sailed in 1492, and they are called the Columbus Ships.  They were built in Valenca, Brazil by eighth generation Portuguese shipwrights.  There is no home port for these ships, as they are moving 11 months of the year, providing educational opportunities to everyone.  There is no Santa Maria because she never made it back to Europe, she is too big to mak...

By definition a portrait is:   a painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person, especially one depicting only the face or head and shoulders.   A portrait is also  usually  considered more " formal" than other photographs. Who would have expected to run into someone you know, so far away from home? This is Allison, a young lady who grew up in our town, our families went to the same church, she was in band with my daughter,  and here she is working as a Park Ranger in Arches National Park! What a stroke of luck it was that I decided to wear my Michigan t-shirt that day.  It initiated the conversation that lead to our reacquaintance! As a photographer, I have been asked to shoot senior photos, business photos, weddings and special events. And I have done all those things.  However, I do not enjoy that process as much as I do creating portraits which show personality, and a sense of time and place. These po...

Have you noticed that the hottest topic around seems to be the weather?  The snow is melting in Sochi, it's icing in Atlanta, there is 13 feet+ of snow in parts of Michigan.  The temperatures are below zero...not just a little bit, but in the double digits!  The sun shines maybe once a week and the wind blows cold and strong.  The drive to work is dangerous, and children can't go to school because it's too cold to stand outside at a bus stop. And life goes on.  I do live in one of those states which has a reputation for fickle weather...and lots of it. I grew up hearing:  If you don't like the weather in Michigan, wait five minutes.  Or was that two minutes?  Or ten?  Not remembering exactly, I did an Internet search.  The results both surprised, and irritated me! If you don't like the weather in Texas... Just blink! If You Don't Like The Weather in Chicago, wait a minute. If you don't like the weather in Michigan, wait five mi...