Day 84

Posted by Mike on

Wow, I have been home for over four hours and just worked my way to my project picture.  To be honest I grabbed a few pictures of the birch tree at work because of the sunlight illuminating it against some great clouds but was anticipating going for a walk when I got home.  As I’m pulling in the driveway the freezing rain was just beginning.  The birch tree was going to have to be the picture.

My 4 hour distraction started when I spotted the ‘Hack This Photo’ post with a picture of the Portland Head Lighthouse.  This is a lighthouse I have visited a few times and photographed myself.  I haven’t participated in this photo editing challenge before but couldn’t resist the subject.  I worked the picture through processing a couple of different ways and ended up learning quite a bit more about Photoshop Elements and processing possibilities.  I have included the two pictures at the end of the post.

The birch tree picture I used for my project is very simple but has great detail within the tree and nice colors provided by the blue sky showing through the white/grey clouds.  The processing on the birch tree was done completely within Lightroom and kept fairly simple.  I think I managed to get quite a lot of it right in camera.

For comparison, here is the SOOC picture:

The first of my distractions for the ‘Hack This Photo’ page was processed very normally for me.  I minor adjustment of the levels, a pass through DeNoise 5 and then a final pass through Adjust 5.  I selected the Dynamic Brightness preset from the HDR Collection to get me started.  I needed to tweak a few of the settings to achieve the look I wanted.  I like what I ended with, but as I mentioned earlier, very normal for me.

I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and try something new.  I decided to edit the picture again this time learning how to apply a texture and create a picture that looked more vintage and aged.  I had just read a post from Melina Ilieva on how to add a texture and create a vintage look for the picture.  This is the article I followed: How to make a photo look like an old photograph.

I am really happy with the way this second picture turned out and I was able to learn a few new things about Photoshop Elements.  This gives me more options when I’m out exploring with the camera.  I have a new trick in my bag…

Day 83

Posted by Mike on
There is a new theme on The Hobby Photographer’s Photo-Theme Page for reflections.  I’ve taken quite a few pictures where the reflection is the subject or the picture involves a reflection so this will be an easy theme for contributions.  Also, Monday’s are usually the day I get to contribute the most pictures to the daily photography themes on G+ with Mirror Monday being one I have no trouble finding subjects to photograph.
The barge canal is an easy subject for me because I have to cross over on my way home.  Making my choice to stop even easier is the location of a parking area and nature trail right off the road I travel.  Today was no exception since I noticed the warm weather had melted some of the ice and snow on the canal providing a fairly nice surface for reflections.  I knew as I walked up to the overpass that I would be processing the picture as a monochrome image due to the overcast sky and lack of foliage to provide any color.

I first tweaked the picture in Lightroom to get the best color picture I could.  I then passed the picture through Topaz Labs B&W Effects to help bring out the details in the picture.  The results are a little more pronounced than I usually produce but I think it works well for this picture.

Day 82

Posted by Mike on

I was still on a macro/bokeh vibe for today and I knew exactly what I wanted to photograph.  Yesterday as I was walking around the yard I grabbed a few pictures of some tiny red berries.  I liked their color but the angle and composition of the pictures I had were not what I wanted.  I got home a little later than I anticipated and walked straight out to the back yard to get my picture(s).

The wind was blowing just a little more than I would have liked but I managed to get the top down view of the berries that I wanted.  The background winter grass was a better color than the white snow, trees and grey sky I used yesterday.  I was able to play more with the depth of field on the top down view which suited what I envisioned.

Just for comparison here is the picture from yesterday that got me interested in the berries but just didn’t work for me.  To be fair I haven’t processed this picture yet.

Day 81

Posted by Mike on

I challenged myself to find a picture without leaving my yard.  It’s easy to see the grand landscape or the beautiful sunset but there are pictures everywhere.  Granted, not all of them are worth hanging on the wall or showing everyone you know but they are out there.  That really is what I wanted from my 365 project.  Learning to see the little pictures as well as the big ones.

Day 80

Posted by Mike on

I woke this morning realizing old man winter was trying to get his groove back.  It wasn’t a heavy snow but there was 4 to 5 inches that needed to be removed from the driveway.  Early in the morning I usually tuse the shovel over the snow blower as not to annoy the neighbors too much.  It has the added advantage of giving me some needed exercise.  All went well and I thought it was going to be a nice day.

When left the house for work it was a clear morning but by the time I arrived 12 miles to the southeast it was practically a white out.  We haven’t seen snow like this all winter.  I continued for the better part of the day.  Around 2pm it once again cleared u and I had some great conditions for pictures.  The only obstacle in my way was the snow in the driveway again that needed to be removed.  I was a little over half done when I decided to grab the camera before all the light was gone.

To be honest the amount of snow wasn’t as bad as I make it out to be in this picture.  We probably had another 5 to 6 inches of the fluffy stuff.  I liked the look of getting the camera low and exaggerating the amount of snow.

The sun was low and I might have had the white balance setting incorrect but by processing this as a B&W the picture actually works for me.  I’m including the original and would appreciate any advice on how I could correct it.  There was some interesting colors in the sky but I didn’t capture them in the original picture.

This is a good learning picture for me.  I struggled with it while processing before settling on a B&W process.  I learned what can and can not be corrected with Lightroom and/or Elements.

Day 79

Posted by Mike on

I was fortunate enough to get the Sunday errands done before the sun slipped below the horizon.  That good fortune allowed me to venture out into the fields across the road to explore with the camera.  I had a nice hour long walk before the snow started to fall.  Of course, as soon as I returned to the house and put everything away the sun pushed the snow back and had one last light show before ending the day.  It didn’t matter, I think I managed to get a few nice pictures and I know I had a good time exploring.

I selected this picture from the few I really liked because of the colors.  Currently my world is a mixture of browns and whites, so a little red and green brightened my outlook.  Another reason for this picture is the definition in the leaves.  I liked the saw-tooth edge and the clearly defined veins visible on each leaf.   And then there is the amount of effort I put into getting this picture.  I was moving a few branches out of my way and practically held the camera above my head to get this view.  I had to work for it and I think it turned out how I saw it in my head.

This is another picture from my walk today that I liked.  I know I over exposed the sky but I was intrigued by the condition of the apples.  The few that remained in the upper reaches of the tree were full of texture and stood out with their faint red color.  I could see evidence that the local deer had finished off any f the apples within reach or those that had made it to the ground.

I still have pictures to look through and process.  It might be worth the effort to process my favorites and write up another entry unrelated to my 365 project.  We’ll see if I can make the time later in the week…

Day 78

Posted by Mike on

I looked up the word ‘fickle’ in the dictionary.  I think it best describes my feelings toward my photography lately…  fickle: given to erratic changeableness.  Yesterday and part of this week I had the blahs, but today with the sun actually making a showing I am feeling better about it.  It also could be due to finding a nice picture on my walk this morning.



We had quite a mixture of rain and snow over the past few days which has the little creek down the road flowing pretty good.  I walked down to see if there was any good pictures involving the water and ice but stumbled upon this little guy.  The sun broke through the clouds almost on cue to provide enough light and make the colors more vibrant.


I need to talk to my neighbor and ask if he would mind me walking up the creek through the woods behind his house.  He owns most of the woods and I think there is just the right mixture of snow and open ground to provide me with some photographic opportunities.  I’ll have to check the weather first to see if the sun will agree to my plan.

Day 77

Posted by Mike on

I’m beginning to think there is a downside to returning home after a relaxing, enjoyable vacation.  The scenes around me just pale in comparison to the views and pictures I had a couple weeks ago in Florida.  I need to put those behind me and start looking for the pictures here back home.  They were here before I left and they are still here, I’m just not seeing them.

I tried a few different images for my project picture but I’m not really happy with any of them.  I processed one from each attempt and settled on an interesting railroad bridge.  I end up going under this bridge whenever I need to stop in town after work.  I believe there is a cool picture to be captured, I just didn’t quite get it yet.

As you can probably tell from the picture the weather was just starting to make that turn to the nasty.  It had been raining most of the day and just before dark it started snowing.  I wish the weather would just make up its mind and pick one so we can deal with it and get it over.

I’m going to include the other two options I had for my project picture.  The first I thought was interesting because the sign for the handicapped parking space was knocked down.  It had me wondering what the story is behind this scene.

This last picture is the corner of my office.  I was waiting for an installation to complete and was pointing my camera around the room.  I think it would take me numerous trips to clean out my office if I was asked to leave…  I’ve collected way too much junk over the years.