Doin’ The Hokey Pokey

An Announcement

I think I’ve lost my mind.  Like I don’t have enough to do, I’ve decided to start a third blog.  I know I’m no expert in the field of photography but I do tend to have the occasional “how did you do that?” comment and the “I wish my photos looked like yours” comments so I’m going to try something new…

I’ve started a new blog called, “Hey, Jules, Teach Me How To Take a Better Photograph.”  I’m starting with the very basics of digital photography and I’m going to try to explain it to the people that don’t want to be photographers - they just want to take a better photograph.  It’s going to be plain talk about cameras and their settings, simple instructions on where to stand and how to frame an image in the viewfinder, a little Q&A and some simple at-home assignments.  As the readers progress, so will the topics.  If you’ve got an Aunt Susie or an Uncle Joe that has a simple point-n-shoot camera or a DSLR that they have no idea how to use and are always bugging you to teach them, send ‘em over to the new place and get ‘em off your back!

The first post is up with more to come by the end of the week so slide an email over to anyone that complains about their lack of photographic compency and let’s get them learning how to be happy with the camera they have.  

 

     

Daisies, Daisies, Everywhere!

Both Sides Now

There’s just something about reflections on water that totally intrigues me.  This was taken last Friday when the blue sky and big, white clouds were floating overhead…

Bubble Bath

Caught some bubbles making their way across the surface of a pond today.  This one just begged to be on display.

The Beginning and The End

Finally!  The baby geese are starting to show their faces!  Here’s my first beauty - caught her on a short trip out to Englewood Lake today.  Life…it just keeps rolling on.

 

Lights! Camera! Actions!

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve talked quite a bit about a group of actions that I’ve started using to help me get some really cool effects into my photo repertoire using Photoshop CS3.  Actions are kind of like a macro is in Microsoft Word - it is a list of things that runs automatically to help you apply different effects to your end result. 

There are two places where I have found some real gems and all of them are FREE.  The first place is “Action Central” and they have more free actions than you can shake a stick at.  These are some of the ones I’ve found myself using over and over again:

A2D Infrared – gives images an infrared effect

A2D Lomo – gives images a lomographic (highly processed/urban feel) effect

Aly’s Vintage – six different “vintage” effects

Gothic Glow – gives a glowing and feathering effect

Midnight Action Collection – a set of four midnight effects that darkens and deepens your images

Paint with Light – Helps you lighten or darken very specific areas of your photo like you were painting them on with a brush.

Rich Color Landscapes – takes your outdoor photos up a couple of notches.

Tracy’s Fill Flash Action – Forgot to use fill flash?  Here you go!  This is a lot like Paint with Light but a little more white whereas the PWL action is a little more “golden”.

Urban Acid – Very high key, contemporary look

Thomas Niemann’s Tones – I adore this one!  It converts your photo to black & white and then lets you choose which finish to add: silver, silver gelatin, platinum, etc.  You can really take your b&w conversions up a notch with this action. 

Rule of Thirds – Not sure where to crop your photo?  Apply the ROT action over the top and let it help you make the best decision.  Then finish the photo and the grid goes away like magic! 

The other place I found a set of free actions was over at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman.  She recently put together a set of Actions and they really rock.  They come as a set and are free for the taking:

Fresh and Colorful: Clean & crisp; works great for shots with skies and color.

Lovely and Ethereal: Just like the name: soft, with a slight boost of color/contrast, and pleasing.

B&W Beauty: A nice, straightforward black & white conversion. Fine on its own, or combined with other actions (”Boost”, for example).

PW’s B & W: A black & white with a little more contrast, with some burned edges at the end.

Soft and Faded: Mellow, slightly desaturated, effect. Tends to give photos an overall yellowish tone so I don’t use this one as much as the others.

Vintage: Old-time, weathered, aged look. It makes a pretty strong statement, so it’s usually not right for everyday snapshots. But used on the right photo, this action can be really dramatic.

Boost: This is an awesome “pop” for just about any photo.

Define and Sharpen: Adds crispness and definition.

Flatten: Wish this was available for my tummy area…

Slight Lighten: Give everything just a bit of brightening.

Slight Sharpen: A mild unsharp mask action.

Quick Edge Burn:  A really nice vignette.

Start All Over! Hate where your image went?  Try again with a click of the button!

There are lots more wonderful actions out there - even some for Photoshop Elements if you do a Google search.  These are some of my favorites, though, and thought it would be nice to share the wealth that is out there for the taking.  

If you have any questions, give me a holler at Heyjules.mwg(at)gmail(dot)com. 

Here’s a photo I did last night using some of the PW Action set ( Lovely & Ethereal & Slight Lighten.)

Call Me Old-Fashioned

I remember the first time I realized what a lilac bush smelled like.  I was around nine years old and playing baseball in a friend’s backyard with all the local kids.  I was at home plate (a.k.a. a large rock) getting ready to take my first at bat.  I kept getting distracted by the most intoxicating smell and finally had to turn around and ask someone “What IS that?” 

“It’s the lilac bush,” my friend said, pointing directly behind me.  I was forever changed.  I didn’t realize, up until that point in life, that anything could smell that intoxicating.

Now I have a house of my own and one of the first things I did was ask my mom to buy me a lilac bush.  We went to a local nursery and picked one out and I spent the next couple of years waiting for it to grow and reach maturity.  Last year would have been the first year of rampant blossoms but right before the little buds opened, we got a late snow and the entire bush dropped its buds.  I was almost suicidal…

We are currently on the cusp of lilac season and I simply cannot wait.  I check the buds daily to see how they are progressing along, wishful that I’ll wake up in a few more mornings and the entire bush will be lit up with that smell that takes me back to the spring time of my youth.

It’s Over When I Say It’s Over

Two nights ago this was the last image I snapped as I walked from a nearby lake to my car.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again:

NEVER TURN YOUR CAMERA OFF

UNTIL YOU’RE KEY IS IN THE IGNITION.

 

The Mask

Once again, I’m caught up in the fun of taking an image of water running through a creek and totally blowing it into something else entirely.  This time I took this photo:

 

And ran it through Harry’s Filters (free download…you have this, right?) to get this:

 

And then took just the upper left hand corner and cut the rest away. 

 

Can you see why I call the final image “The Mask?”

(There you go, Ankush…this time I showed the “before” images, too!)