Breaking the Rules - Blur Inspirations

There are tremendous amount of new skills and knowledge that I am opt for. I am retired and should have lots of time in my hand, but I certainly don’t feel so. I wish I have more time and a bit less desire to learn something new each day.  And, at some point, I will check off the items from my to-do list if I will ever wipe out the list.

Playing with blur effect is fun and satisfying. My love for close-up shots have put me through the lens and the decision making process to have my main subjects popped and the remaining hidden or at least minimized. I can hear my yell and wow when my subject is distinguished from the others. At the same time, I have often wondered how my subject will do without all the background elements.

If it is not for these minimized in the background, how would the subject stands out?  How would a lead singer get all his/her glamour if there are no background singers and the essential instrument band?  We want to capture a super moon, but moon is just a big circle if there are no trees, hilltops or other elements as backdrops.  All athletes are aiming to win, but it is the losers who make a winner. If everyone talks, who will be the audience?

Photography composition rule calls for odd numbers (three or five's). I have two flowers here that I think they balance for each other. One cannot do well without the other. The TWO combination looks fine to me in this image.

Maybe I should say that I am breaking the rule again to have two co-existant subjects although one is more stated than the other.

The texture on pine cones makes it an interesting photography subject. When I placed them together on a dead log, they become a pair of forever brothers.  Except that one brother likes to 

be on spotlight and the other is the humble little soul. At least this is how I perceive my story in this image.

Some says, rules are meant to be broken. There is a large group of youngsters is just determined to break the rules regardless what their goal is. I grow up in an old culture where rules and tradition are NOT meant to be broken. I think, a fair balance should be taken place and Confucius' moderation 中庸之道 comes practical.

I don't intend to talk like a grandmother, but I am easily becoming one particularly when eastern and western perception of value collide.....

When the background trees are blurred, the modern cowgirl and the beautiful horse stand out. I intended to allow lots of space in front of the horse because I like the blue sky through the trees. Maybe I break the rule again.

It is a Friday, how about taking a horse ride in the woods, strolling or galloping  your choice. 

behind Sunrise

Sunrise and sunset are two charming moments for photographers. I am a night owl, not an early bird. Getting up super early to get sunrise shots is not my favorite thing to do, but the temptation is big and I did it again.

Oregon is beautiful everywhere, but not many out-of-state friends know about it. Crater Lake is probably the most known tourist destination. I have been there 5-6 times and I know I won't never get tired of it. The lake is calm, peaceful and sacred.

The mirror-like lake surface looks calm, peaceful and sacred. I imagine a drop of needle will ripple the water.  Sunrise beam hits the rim and sets crimson color reflections. The reward of catching sunrise is the harmonious color combination, two shades of blue, orange, burgundy, crimson red and white. 

I was here same time last year and the shot below was taken around noon under a crystal clear blue sky.  The remaining white snow dramatized the appearance of the rim and reflections. It is sacred as always and it is glamorous.

I would say, the beauty of Crater Lake is unspeakable. You have to be there in person in order to be able to embrace its beauty and tranquility.

Take a peek through the hole framed by the old broken tree. Morning sun ray has brightened the background and I feel the lake is just a few feet away from me, so unbelievably close.

I would not notice that this fallen trunk has un-intentionally provided me a telescope for this awesome view till I downloaded the picture.

This picture frame looks so well-designed to me that I know, from my heart, it is intentionally arranged by the Supreme for our pleasure.  I adore and appreciate in awe.

I meant to take some HDR shots, but I did not remember to set up bracketing exposures. My memory card was quickly filled, but what I got are the multiple shots of the same thing. I cannot believe it, after all that work.

The good news is, we have digital camera and we have enhancement tools. My disappointment can be removed in one click OR with additional few strokes, I can inject new life to the images and transform them to something else that I may have never imagined.

Post processing is interesting and revealing.  I just began to experiment with some simple filters. The process is very fun and can be addicting.

If my images turned out to be the way I wanted and there are no further challenges, I may be happy but not excited. And, I won't have all the fun playing with filters. Thinking about this, smile comes and dwelled on my face....

Catch of the Day

As you may now, I have been chasing birds everywhere including making trips to wildlife refuges. I don't mind to carry heavy camera gears and walk for miles, just for a peek of birds. And, if I am lucky, I may capture a few shots.

I am counting the birds I have seen, a lot of them.  However, most of the time I watch them from distance. The more I am accustomed to their habits, the better shots I am getting. But, I have not been able to capture hummingbirds.  They are too quick and I am too slow.  I know if I waited long enough, they would come back.  But as impatient as I am, I just cannot sit and wait around. I have to keep my head and hands busy all the time.  Consequently, many shots were taken, but I don’t have a favorite one, until today.

I have never known that hummingbirds have such big eyes and even while it was enjoying its nectar, it kept an eye on me! That's why I have such a hard time to catch them.  Not a perfect shot, but this can be my most favorite one. It was cloudy and I had to shoot through the window from inside the house. If I had tried to open the door, it would instantly fly out of my sight.  This catch of the day has made me a very happy Friday.

Cormorants are not particularly attractive birds. They are as black as crows; however they may get better popularity because they are not as commonly seen as crows.  I have a special emotional attachment for these birds because of what I saw in southwest China where cormorants are fisherman’s slaves.  I desire to look at them close, but I had no luck for a long time until I captured this shot.  I have not studied this bird well enough and not sure what they are doing up there. Are they arguing, fighting or simply conversing? Don't know, but their silhouette certainly looks very interesting to me.

As a child, I was told that crows are bad omens.  They bring bad lucks. I don’t recall that I ever saw crows when I was in Taiwan, but crows are everywhere here. Bad omens must not be working in this country.  But their black profile seems to prompt me to think something spooky. I decided to add vignette and that makes it even more like mid-night in spooky hollow, isn’t it? 

My neighbor knows I am taking photos of everything. She came to knock my door with this little guy hanging on a stick. She thought this dragonfly was injured and could not fly. 

The rule to shoot wildlife pictures is to focus on their eyes, but I could not tell which are its eyes. This little creature looks like a helicopter to me and I can not tell where are the windows of the plane till I took another shot from the side. Now I am sure you have also found its eyes.

There are so many small creatures co-existing in our surroundings and they keep their eyes on every move of ours. Are you aware of that?

I won't never comprehend how God created their brains, tiny and yet sophisticated enough to spy on us, the supreme beings.

As a matter of fact, God teaches birds to fly first before we know how to fly in the sky. We invented airplane by first observing how birds fly. Have you thought about that?

My discovery journey continues....

Leading Lines – photography element

The way how we place these lines in a photo influences us to view an image. We can have viewer follow the line to reveal our subject or go through the lines to view the entire image as a photography journey. The lines can be straight, diagonal, curved or any other shape.

July day in Butchart Garden, a full bloom season.  It was a blast to walk through the garden. I could not help myself not to stop every step of the way.  There are just tremendous close-up opportunities.  The area shown is probably the most photographed in the garden. It is a colorful view looking down from upper level.  There are two curved walk paths with neatly manicured grass borders.  This picture shows only one of the paths which leads visitors going into the main house of the garden. It is like the story teller guides his audience into the core of his story.

There is this building with southwesten vivid coloration and architecture. The largest window on the right leads our eyes through to the last and from there we discovered the entrance, our destination. Journey is to go through all the window cases and flower boxes on the row.

The line shaped like an arrow which links me to think American Indian art, part of southwestern culture.

The shot below was taken by my husband while we were at Painted Hill.  The curved boardwalk happens to provide a leading line looking down from the hill above. Then myself standing in the end (or we can say, the beginning) of the walk provides additional interest. My journey begins from here to walk around the 'painted' dom.

The picture below has a funnel shape leading line. It also has lots of patterns, texture and lines within. When I walked by the place, my eyes were first drawn to the end of the alley. Black cast iron door was shut, so my eyes moved back to the OPEN sign stand with dried pepper strings.  Then, I noticed two pigeons on the ground looking for crumbs or food drops, perhaps?

Except close-up images, most of my pictures are snap shots. I clicked my shutter as I walked by somewhere or sat on the passenger side passing through the roads.

At times I simply recorded 'I have been here' or 'have done something'.  This picture does not look much to me at the beginning, and somehow it started to grow one me. Being the advocate for everything contemporary and simpler, every once a while I am attracted by the opposite. There is certainly lots going on in this small space at Old Town,  Albuquerque. Structure is the adobe architecture style, ceiling woods are aged and naturally textured, antique cast iron window bars, hand-paved brick floor, tara cotta flower pot and the red pepper strings....

Use leading lines to tell the story, two photography elements are hit, one stone with two birds. Good deal.

Composite - Entertain Yourself on Friday

Photography is an art. Artwork by renown artists is often under scrutiny of art critics to determine its value and authenticity. Some reputable and seasoned photographers may pursue the authenticity of an "original" photography, I mean, AS SHOT, no touchups, no post processing (it is rare). I believe that many years of experience and an abundant supply of professional equipment are required to achieve the status. For an amateur and no name like me, I have moderate quality camera and limited types of lens and accessories. And, I don't have accumulation of practice year after year. My goal is not about achievement.  It is about entertainment and sharing. Entertain myself and hopefully you are also entertained. Best of all, if we can all eventually share with one another.

I have a good-sized photo archives.  Whenever I go over them, I tend to delete some of them. One day the photo looked great and the other day, it looked terrible. Or vis versa. I am thinking, we always have a reason or purpose when we aimed our camera at something, but we don't necessarily remember that motive or emotion when we come back to view the picture. I have set myself a goal to shoot more selectively and meanwhile, I don't want to drag the pictures into trash can mindlessly.

On my after thoughts, I pulled out a few shots that they don’t look particularly interesting by themselves, but when I added something else, and the images begin to speak… 

We met these cute kids at Klamath Fall park. They were having fun sitting on a rock by the lake while their Dad was fishing. We got Mom's permission to take their photos. They remind me of my brother's grandchildren. Maybe that's why I like them. Last year I shot the copper statue outside of an art gallery at Santa Fe while strolling down the street, just for fun.

Now I moved kids away from the rock and placed them on girl swinger's legs. The siblings have brought life to the cold statue and the image becomes more interesting.

My husband and I climbed to the top floor of a car garage to take street traffic pictures. I did not get good shots that day because of light traffic.  But I snapped a shot with my husband in it for record keeping that we have done something, silly.

While I was looking at the empty blue sky of the image, I thought about a few hot air ballons that I shot in a ballon festival. So, Bingo, here is my new image.  Except that my husband was looking down and not at the balloons. I could have let photoshop to twist his neck and make it more realistic, but no, it's Friday, not worth the hassel. You got the idea and that's all I want.

This is fun. I cannot get enough of it. I came across two more images that I think they can be one.

My hummingbird originally perched on a limb. I caught it unexpected... I took flower basket rack shot on a rainy day. I like the blurred background and the waterdrops, but the image looks meaningless without a substantial subject. So I moved my hum buddy to the rack and my flower rack has now a visitor. They are cheered by each other. I have fun marrying them and have myself entertained. I can spend more time to rescale both images to make them fit better, but I think it good for this first attempt.

My conclusion for this Friday is, not to neglect simple something which may turn into something else that is beyond your expectation. 

(PS. As a general rule, it is OK to shoot something outside of other people's property as long as you don't use it for commercial purpose.)

Sunrise, Sunset, Surprise

Sunrise and sunset are prime time for photography. Light is soft and smooth. At this time of the year, sunrise is around 5:30am and sunset 8:30pm in our area.  I don’t usually get up that early for sunrise images unless I am on a photography retreat or on a vacation where we can have an ideal spot to view the scene. The dramatic rise and set of the sun from horizon happen in that five to ten minutes window. We need to have our camera gear more than ready to capture the dramatic moment. It is a luxury to be able in the right place at right time.

Morning Glory

This picture was taken early in the morning in the woods. The warm and fuzzy morning sun just began to embrace the earth and have us drowned in its glory.  In this shot, the sunlight was filtered through trees that created layers of monotone from white, gray to black. It looks to me that the trees were soaked with light and drunk in soothing pleasure.

In many cases, I was just passing through somewhere in the car. Camera is not accessible or it is ready but I am right in the middle of the freeway.  If I am fast enough to pull over at an exit, I may still get a shot if the location is open and angle of view is manageable. Sometimes, the sun was either up too high or disappeared from horizon by the time I found a place to stop.

The lesson taught me to just shoot regardless whenever an opportunity comes up and not to worry so much about photo quality.  If I don’t get a great shot, I at least have chance to examine the setting of my camera and learned from there what I can do better next time.  I am anxious to explore and to learn, but I know I cannot give myself too much pressure. I have to be carefree, take one step at a time.

On a trip back from a photography event, I was pleasantly tired and anxious to go home.  But when I spotted this post sunset sky, I was determined that I wanted to get off the next exit.  Luckily I was able to find a good angle for the shot, but it was pretty dark all around. I hand held my camera and bumped ISO up to 640 to shoot.  I could have raised ISO higher but I was concerned about the details of layers and colors.  I also did not remove electric pole and power lines as I always like them to be in the scene to be more realistic.

Sunset (Three Sisters are in the background)

I grew up in the city and now become a country folk. Believe or not, I have had very few experience taking trains. My first experience taking a train by myself was in Cologne, Germany at my 30’s. When I was young, I was gutsy. I did not speak German. I had not taken a train before by myself. I only had the address of a company that I planned to visit and talk business. I remember that I purchased a ticket and my seating was later claimed by the conductor that it is first class, and I had to pay him another $20 Dutch Mark (then about US$10).

On a trip to visit my daughter and grand children in Seattle, I took a train, my first experience (again) taking a train by myself in US. It was a 6:00am train. As I recall, sunrise was 6:42 am or so on that day. I found myself a seat on east side and started to figure out the settings. The train moved fast and the sky was dark, I definitely needed both shutter speed and ISO to accomplish the shot.  As sun started to shoot out its orange light from below the horizon, I started to shoot whenever I could find an open spot.

Train was moving and there were all kinds of barriers in front of my subject. I must have fired 30+ shots including when the sun was finally above horizon.  Most of the shots were very cluttered because of the various items existing within the distance, but I got couple OK shots. Because high ISO was used, some post processing to reduce the noise was necessary.  I was busy selecting better shots and reducing noise, and I did not realize that there were two suns hanging high in the sky, two of them. I was stunned and could not figure out why. My husband is the one, as usual, to come up the logic answer for me.

Sunrise

I was sitting inside the train by the window. Window is composed of two layers of glass panels. The sunlight was first hitting inside panel of the window in an angle (from high to low) and bounced back through outer panel of the glass (from low to high). My smart camera has caught both Suns, the reflected one was dimmer and higher than the real one.  Does this make any sense? You may have better answers. Please feel free to chime in.

I am not writing mystery fictions, I am unfolding mysteries in our nature.