Saturday, March 30, 2013

Shadow Shots: Something New

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It's my first day as a retiree!  I celebrated by hunting shadows and frittered away the rest of the morning at Picmonkey.

I've been green with envy at the cool, awesome, and generally amazing images other photographers are producing with special effects and layers, and now's my chance to get in on the fun.

Below is the image straight out of the camera, which I kinda liked too. Above is the heavily messed-with version. Which do you like better?

(P.S. The secret to the the frosty-looking bottle is on Havenwood.

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See More Shadowy Goodnesss at Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Shadow Shots: Sugaring Season


My husband's family makes maple syrup every year, and these are some of the shadowier shots from our visit two weeks ago.

They collect sap from about 300 taps and the boiler runs night and day. Family and friends gather in the sugar shack to visit, to enjoy the sweet scented steam, and to down the occasional "maple shot" - a blend of Crown Royal and thin, hot syrup fresh from the pan.

Sugar Shack: The Fire Within

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See More Shadowy Goodnesss at Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Shadow Shot Sunday 2: Rest Stop

Passing Through

Shadows of travelers, just passing through.


See More Shadowy Goodness at Shadow Shot Sunday 2.

Saturday, March 02, 2013

Shadow Shot Sunday2: Losing Focus


Photography was a lot more fun before I knew stuff.

In the beginning, I just set my little Canon Powershot G9 on Program or a preset and snapped away at whatever caught my eye. The occasional lucky shot was enough to keep me happy.

These days, I try so much harder and accomplish so much less. I get frustrated and discouraged by focus that's never sharp enough, exposure that's never quite right, "The Shot" that happens a split second too soon or too late or too far away.

So I decided to put away the DSLR for a while, dust off the G9, and get back in touch with my dumb old snap-happy self.


Sleet Street 3


I took the camera to work, shooting from the car at snow-covered roads, tail lights after dark, trees, whatever. No effort at all, just literally point-and-shoot. Predictably, the results were mostly garbage. But since I was just playing, the results didn't matter; anything good was a nice surprise.

I did like this one of the parking lot at the office, taken through my sleet-covered side window.


Sleet Street 2


I experimented with it in Photoshop, cropping and straightening. In the first one, I tried adjusting the color. The second has an "artistic filter" applied, though I have forgotten which one.(Photoshop is still very much an unexplored territory for me.)

It's been a long time since I've actually enjoyed just taking pictures. I plan to do a lot more of it.


Sleet Street


See More Shadowy Goodness at Shadow Shot Sunday 2.