In Retrospect - The Alternatives

A bit less than two years into posting my blogs, I recently have been pondering why I am doing it and what is my short term or long term goals.

I post my blog every Wednesday since I started and I have not broken once. I have been faithful to maintain the integrity of my content, i.e. to tell the true stories behind. Either I share exactly what comes to my mind or where my imagination takes me to. I can sometimes wander and roam without an end, but most of the time, truth comes and it brings me freedom and ease to simply talk about it.

Grab a bit of sunshine in this autumn day.

It has something to do with my family trait and my personality. If I am onto something, I want to do it right and good. The consistent posting forces me to take more pictures and the process has gradually and greatly helped me to unfold the mystery behind the camera, one layer at a time. I am learning every day and there are still mountains of knowledge to be explored. Foremostly I am getting fresh prospective for life through the lens and that is priceless and unspeakable.

In the end of last year, I looked at the pictures I took throughout the year and smiled at considerable amount of them. However, when I am re-examining my efforts one year after, I found less images make it to my faves list.  I realized that I am not as easily pleasing myself any more. I desire to be better, but I have not been devoted and patient enough to follow the steps recommended by the pros. My tripod still looks new and I barely used my remote release. I am always too much in a hurry and I want to change that. I need to yell out each day, patient, patient and patient.

Rainy day? Play with rain drops.

Every once a while, when my inspiration did not flow, but I had to keep up my routine and so I did. In other words, on a few occasions I blogged because I did not want to break my blogging schedule, inspired or not. I did not feel good when that happened. In my whole life, I swear to myself to be truthful, faithful and (close to) perfect in whatever I do. Once I gamed, I was in for excellence and results. That occasional unease bugged me a great deal.

I have not taken enough time to shoot each image like many other great photographers do.  I should assure that I am using the right lens, pre-visualize the shots, take time to compose before I trigger a shot. But I seem to always fire one of too many shots and take too much time going through hundreds and hundreds images afterwards. Greatness does not come by accident. I have repeatedly told myself that I cannot continue doing what I have been doing. I don’t want to shoot many and hopefully some of them will turn out. I want my mind and soul in before I pull the trigger. 

Frosted hay field? I saw morning glory gradually fading out to night solace.

I also like to spend more time working on certain images to add artistic touch or enhancement of any kind. My interest in black and white photography is growing and I want to attack that area as well.

In my weekly practice, I found it easy to write when the images are in place. It is easy to speak the truth and from the heart. At this stage of my life,  I don’t have to think about product designs or business strategies. It is a simple leisure and it is easy to bring pleasure. I enjoyed it immensely whenever my inspiration flows and my pen flies. 

Taking all above into consideration, I may begin to experiment a less frequent posting. Instead of weekly post, I may start to do it bi-weekly. I am not particularly happy with the layout of my blog, but I am not software savvy and preset format does not seem to give me enough freedom to play with. I am bored to post my images in the symmetrical manner (one to the right and the next one to the left :-<) and I plan to look into other options and make changes.

No dramatic sunburst? How about dainty sun sparks?

When there is no way, there will be another way. I cannot remember who is the singer, but her voice seems to stick in my mind. No cozy sunshine, rain just stopped, cloudy and hazy, but there is still Light and rain Drops are sparkling on the leaves. Murky water,? no problem, just Texture and cover it up. When reality is not as pretty, make something for yourself. This is exactly what photography does for me. 

Blogging has forced me to write and daringly, write in my second language. Blogging has provided me the means to share my images and my thoughts. The impact is unmeasurable and I gratefully embrace it.

Simply Tulip Magnolia

Looking at ten days weather forecast, I know it will be my week of shooting around the house. At my attempt to keep it Simple, I have very limited home decors.  I don’t have the habit to collect nicks and nacks, no crafts, no antiques, no acquisition of famous paintings.  I guess I can pull stuff out of kitchen and bathroom to shoot, but that will be my last resort. I can always put on my rain gear and shoot in the rain, but I would rather keep my camera dry.

My bird buddies have not come around much lately. I have cleaned up and refreshed all my feeders with new goodies, but they must be still sheltering somewhere to stay warm and out of rain. I saw little bit of blooms from my flower pots, but they are just barely surviving in the rain… Am I making lots of excuses here? But really, it’s time for rain to go away.

People walking down the street have often stopped in front of our house pointing at this tulip magnolia tree during its blooming season. Though it's packed with countless flowers, they are mostly hanging high. I have circled around the tree with my camera, but not much luck. Deep pink color and curvy petals are quite pretty, but I could not shoot anything worthy to share.  Strange enough, large showy flowers tend to have less interesting details.

My life trained me not to take No as an answer. Find a way if there is no way. If there is only one option, utilize it and make the best out of it. I want to be faithful and forceful to myself to shoot something new every week. My mind is set. I want to shoot these magnolia flowers regardless !

A blink of light flashed through my mind. I got a stepper to reach up and cut 5 limbs from the tree. Cut flowers were brought inside the house.  The flowers are very fragrant that I have never noticed prior. This little discovery makes me happy. However, the blossoms are big and twigs are thick. I could barely find a vase to fit. Finally they were managed to hold together. Examining them from all angles over and over, I had no idea where to start.

They are large, colorful, curvy, but no intricate details like most of the flowers. Couple flowers were in full bloom. I tried some Marco shots, but they look redundant as what I have done many times. Less is more, but not in this case. Rainy day, not enough light and I did not want to use flash. I was bombed. I buried myself in magazine piles the rest of the day...

And, I wowed when I got up next morning, guess what? All flowers were opened, I know it is the warmth inside the house, but I was still a bit jaw dropping. The boring bunch is now turning into an array of beauties, my favorite kind, gorgeous but subtle. I was so thrilled. They have just made my day.

Mr. Weather was moody in this day. Sun went up and down within 2-3 minutes window. By the time when I had my setting adjusted, light condition changed. A bit of frustration turning the dials from one end to the other. But, luckily, I was able to nail this shot sitting flowers by the window and the sun happened to shine through at that crucial moment. Background is the magnolia tree outside, bathed in the sun.  There is no doubt in my mind, the light has dramatically blown in new life to the flowers.

This shot has given me a lift. I grabbed the beauty bunch, went around the house, sitting on the floor, lying down, stepping up, snap, snap and snap. I tried to single out the flowers and minimize the content, but it simply did not work. They are just meant to be together.

Imagine you are out in a tropical resort. You wake up in the morning. Bright and clear outside, cozy and relaxing inside the room. You don't feel like to get out of the bed. You just want to have your aromatic cup of coffee and fresh croissant in bed. Watch a bit of 'Good Morning, America' and rolled back to doze off... At least this is how I felt when I had this image taken. I forgot the ground was still wet outside and the cloud would move in again anytime.

Otherwise, thinking that you just checked into a Victoria boutique bed and breakfast. You walked by intricate decors in the lobby, hall way and entered your room, here it was, an oil painting on the wall... I took this shot when the sun was down. Could not get a shot with good exposure, so I 'painted' it, might as well.

Often times I lamented that I did not take any single landscape, architecture or street photographs (only product shots) while I was traveling intensively worldwide, throughout Europe and North America, Australia, New Zealand and even made it to South Africa. From photography point of view, how exciting it will be if I have brought home something from these places. But I have Zero in stock and more than likely, I won't go back.

Now I am plowing through Oregon, Eugene and even my house.  My map is getting smaller and smaller. I missed out lots of landscapes and now I am making macros. How life revolves and transforms! My big wave is long gone and I am now playing with bubbles. Different but still enjoyable.

In my previous blog I have gone through the secrecy of flowers talking about perfect and imperfect flowers, and that boring pistols and stamens. Hold on, I found pieces of stamens left on my patio table, socked in rain water. Not sure what I was getting into it, but I snapped a few close-up shots with my Macro lens and extension tubes, and here they are. If I want to caption this image, I would use 'whimsical'.

I think they are dancing in the rain, but not in Spain. The texture of my glass table, the color of glass and the reflections. I hear the music and the beat in the party, do you?

Writing to this point, I realized that I was drilling down and discovering a living thing, the tulip magnolia tree, from a magnifying glass to a microscope. My mood swings with the weather and with the images I took myself. The process is revealing and I feel energized in the end.

My grand daughter has just turned One. A simple birthday cake I made and a toy guitar have brought me many good photography opps. I don't care for little children to pose or have cheesy smiles. I love everything natural from them just as they are, simply pure and utterly sincere. 

A bit texture is added to my window flower shot and the tint was tweaked for a warmer tone as backdrop. And, I invited my precious Star here to make the image pop. My Pop Star has concluded a great Magnolia day for me. Life is good and I believe we are the builder of our own happiness.

On the Road

Down in bay area California to visit my siblings and run some errands.  Bright sun was shining on me the moment when I stepped out of the airport.  Instead of fog, it was sun ray, bright and cheerful. I had lived here for almost 8 years before I moved to Oregon. It is a familiar environment and all that warm and fuzzy feeling immediately came back to me. I sucked in toasty air and exhaled hoping the chill from home was being neutralized and get out of my system. I love fog, but I have had enough cold weather.

It was a nice change that I did not need a heavy jacket for a morning walk.  There were certainly more houses than trees down the streets, but backlit sunlight has cast beautiful tree shadows on rooftops. Trees are not timberline high, but they provide nice backdrops for rows of contemporary houses. Day was just about to break, these trees showcased a dramatic sky. The blue strip is the blue sky and it also resembles a coast line now I am looking at it. Nature is magical.

It has been above 65 most of the time since I got here.  Should not be a surprise, but it still was when I saw colorful pansy and poppy in full bloom. I expected to see some greens, certainly not full bloom flowers.  My urge was to take some close-up shots, but I did not bring my Macro lens, no polarizer either. Weight concerns, I often did not bring extra lens... When will I learn the lesson?

Just a few days before I left Oregon, I had a little photo tour myself shooting frosted plants. Except that most of the plants were distressed by the snow storm in December. The environment was as bare as it could be.  I was not too successful coming up something resembles what I did last year.  But I need to bring home something.  So I pick up a frosted leave and placed it on the pointed leaves of a dead tropical plant .  We tend to praise and portrait the beauty and the best, but I think reality ought to be addressed as well.

  

It is dead, dry and lifeless. I need to inject a bit of life to it and I thought about Orton effect. It is the Orton sandwiching technic that I used to make the image looking creaming and softer. Now desolation and bleakness are replaced with a hint of dream and a flare of art. And, The image starts to grow on me.

A yellow leaf is the first article that I had to write in a summer camp writing class back in middle school. I did not have any experience writing prior and had no clue what I can write about one yellow leaf.  We were given 45 minutes to write, but I simply could not write anything till the instructor announced, "20 minutes left". I then jumped off and wrote three pages. In the end, I was in tears because I had mourned for the dead leaf for 20 minutes. How many silly things I have done in my life? I just began to count.

Taking enough winter images, I had intention to bring home something green, sunny or colorful.  Though there are some flowers, most of the vegetation is just gradually on its way out of winter. Evergreens are always there but they tend to be a mono green tone.

Light was beautiful. Though in multi colors, this massive grass plant has created distraction from all directions. I could not find myself a good angle of view.  So I decided to practice vertical panning and the result looked so orderly and not flexible that bored me to death.

I approached the same plant three times and took at least 50-60 shots from different angles and pan it from various orientation. I was determined to come out something. And this one finally caught my eyes. The white lines are the transformation of sunlight shooting through. All colors of the plant mingled and intertwined. I cannot paint bare-handed and my camera has given me a color paint brush to paint. Fun.

 

If I take this image at home in Oregon this time of the year, it won’t have the same effect, not enough colors.  But Oregon has the beauty of its own.  I could not get a decent thistle pictures for a long time and I managed to shoot this one that I like OK. I should have done some post processing to clean up the background, but I did not. I know I need to work on my DOF and focal point. While trying to get exposure right first, I often overlooked depth of field and lost track of my focal point. Practice, practice and practice.

I am ready for some warm weather.  I pray that we will be getting an early spring like we had last year. 

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.