6.25.2007

Cooling Heat

There is nothing more refreshing on a hot day than swimming! Cooling off the heat with a refreshing dip into your favorite swimming spot. Whether it's the ocean, your swimming pool, or a local lake, it does the trick and keeps you cool.

Here is a black& white picture I cropped to truly bring out the exploratory drama in this young person's face as they wade through the shimmering cool waters of this local lake in Woodstock, CT.

I cropped this image high on purpose to utilized the dark areas of the head for the crop line and to draw attention to the damp, wet looks of the soaked strands of hair. Purposely darkening specific areas of this photo hides the identity enough so the person can remain anonymous. This is sometimes useful when you want to use public photos of people without exposing identity. Try this with your next shot!

6.22.2007

MONTHLY READERS PHOTO (JULY)

I'm now accepting submissions for the Monthly Readers Photo for July! Every month, I'm selecting a photo submitted from the readers and publishing it on the main blog page. This month it could be you!

If you're interested and have a picture you'd like to have considered for July, send me an email with the attached picture and the following information:

  • Your Name (when published ONLY your initials will be used)
  • Title of your picture
  • Location it was taken from including city/state

Send Submissions Here.

Boastful Treasures Abroad

The richness of history is told not only by historians but by the many buildings still around boasting of their long journey through the decades of time. Some buildings are kept and reserved for tours while others stand alone as landmarks. All towns have these treasures, all you have to do is find them. Consider this your next task. Seek out those treasures locally in your towns and when you find them, capture and share.

Here are a couple taken from Pomfret, CT. One is of a very old farming plow nestled under the shadows of a massive tree while the other is a weathered barn still finding time to bask in the sun.

6.18.2007

Pure Digital - Challenge Yourself!

With the release of cutting edge technology and collaborative software, there are truly no limits to the abilities and imaginations that can be released with digital images. Whether these are purely made on the computer as digital art or modified versions of your photos, it's amazing the possibilities.

Always challenge yourself and push beyond what you see as the normal photograph. Don't worry about if others will like it and view it as good. Remember, art is all within and different people will respond differently. Regardless, it's a piece of art and it's yours. Be proud of what you produce and keep on producing!

For instance, take a look at these digital art pieces I did purely on the computer. You can do these with your mouse, of if you wanted to spend a little extra money (~$80-$125), you can get yourself a nice drawing tablet that connects directly to your computer and allows you to draw with a pen size instrument!

6.16.2007

June Contest Extended to July!

I've decided to extend the June Water Reflections Contest until July 15th. We only received submissions from two individuals. Ideally, I'd like 5 or more so if you haven't sent your pictures in yet, please do so!

6.11.2007

June Contest Deadline Approaches!

Have you submitted your Water Reflection photos yet for the contest?

If you haven't, there is still time! You have 4 more days until the deadline of Friday, June 15th! Hurry and send those pictures in to be counted as a participant. We have only received a couple submissions and I'm hoping to receive several more. Remember, it's open to all ages!

If you're interested, it's not too late!
Click Here and read for further details

6.08.2007

Macro Marchers

There are workers that seem to have endless jobs. These tiny little Macro Marchers work night and day and travel miles in efforts to be providers. These Macro Marchers are none other than ants!

One day while out an about I took some time to study these wonders and captured a few entering and exiting their homes in the earthen soils all over the yard. When you get a chance, take some time and visit your own Ant Condo in your own front yard! I'm sure they won't mind getting their pictures taken either.

This one shot I applied a 20 pixel feather around it. This basically makes the cloud or fade effect on the image. Using a crop tool, you select the image and the pixels are slowly faded out from center to the edge. Also, for some effects, I applied a Sandstone filter, almost like the canvas one I did previously, to make it appear to have texture.

Where ever you are, take pictures of everything. Don't always look on what's eye-level. Look in the air and on the ground. There is so much out there.... start shooting and enjoy.

6.04.2007

Filling The Always Empty Pool

In regards to reflections, here is a pretty decent one I took a couple summers ago. This was with one of my older Nikon cameras which still seemed to capture the moment. This is our cat Sophie.

Cats are amazing animals. Sometimes they're way up in the trees, other times prowling through the grass or just lounging around waiting for you to keep petting them as if queens and kings and you're the visitor! In this case, Sophie was pretty thirsty! We were wondering why we had to keep filling up the pool!!!

Oh the joy of animals... how precious they are.

New Mystery Picture Posted

The newest Mystery Picture has been published. Since the previous two were a little difficult and went unanswered, I'm going to publish this one which is a little easier. When you know the answer, please send them in! Once I receive a winner, it'll be posted.

June Readers Photo Updated

I've selected the next June Monthly Reader's Photo and have published it on the site. I want to thank S.B. from Taftville, CT for sending in this submission and spicing up the page with beauty and such vibrant color! Thank you.

Also, June 15th is the Water Reflection deadline. So far we haven't received too many submissions so there is still plenty of time and plenty of opportunities to win! Send your submissions in now and enter to win the $25.00 Online Wal-Mart Gift Card!

6.01.2007

Water Marking Magic

A concern for many photographers, especially those who publish pictures on the Internet, is having their pictures downloaded and then reprinted or used without permission on other sites. Some even take it to the extreme of passing off a picture as if it were theirs. What can be done about this?

Well, first know your rights as a photographer. It doesn't matter if you're a professional or just one who takes a few pictures on the weekend. Knowing what you can and can't do as well as what others can and can't do is very important! Here is a good reference article that you should all read and even print. Legal Rights of Photographers (Adobe Reader PDF Format) published by Andrew Kantor.

With your own photos, there are quick ways to deter people from even thinking about using your photos. A very simple way, but not practical for those who really want to display their pictures online for sale or in a portfolio, is to reduce the image size and/or resolution. This degrades the quality of the image but is a simple and effective method.

Another way, my personal preference besides adding digital marking (another story), is by adding watermarks. In simple terms, a water mark is another image overlaid across your original image but very lightly or faded. This can be done in just about any photo editing program. As you can see in these cloud pictures, I inserted a watermark that are just the words - 'SAMPLE'. Note also in the lower right corner I also inserted the copyright image, the date, and my name. Check out your photo editing tools and get familiar with this process. In a future article, I'll be publishing how to do this in Adobe PhotoShop.

Open June Photo

I'm still pending a new photo from the reader community for the month. If you'd like to send in a photo for June to be displayed on this blog for the entire month, please do so as soon as possible.

Thank you.