National Walking Day

Today was National Walking Day.  I participated in a local event over my lunch hour.  I brought my camera and explored the area where I work.

Louie - before the show

I took this photo of Louie right before we were going to leave for a "dog show" - agility trial.  He was so excited to go that he didn't want to "stay" for a picture.  I was able to get this quick one before he raced for the door. 



He qualified that weekend - was 20 seconds under course time.  Not bad for a dog who is almost thirteen years old.

Louie's Agility Run

Windy Westie Photo Day

Yesterday, during the super windy afternoon, I was able to spend some time with my friend Dawn and her West Highland White Terrier, Einstein, for some photos in the park.  We were able to get a few good ones where it didn't look like he was going to blow away to Oz!  (That's a different kind of terrier that does that.)

And here's Einstein showing off how smart he is (he lives up to his name, of course):

It's been a while since I have posted to the blog; I need to share more often.

Self-Portrait

I worked on creating a self-portrait for this challenge on Two Peas in a Bucket.  Since it's pretty much dark by the time I get home from work, I decided to take a try at using my "cheapie" flash - not a Speedlite and not the camera's built in flash.  Better than nothing?  I'm not sure!

I also got a reflector for Christmas, so this was my first attempt at using it.

I set the self-timer, grabbed Teddy and gave this a shot!  (Pun intended!)

Kit lens with flash and reflector.  f/3.5, 1/125 sec, ISO 400

SOOC - You can see where the reflector was place.  I'm assuming that it should have been closer to actually done any good?

EDITED, COLOR -  I removed the stray hair on my forehead and cloned out the shadow on the vase.  Warmed it up too and ran a vintage action.

EDITED, B/W - Wasn't sure how I liked my silver cardigan up against the tan sofa and wall, so I converted the image to black & white.

Spare Change

This photo was from my photography club's monthly photo challenge.  It was the first time I've submitted an entry.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the meeting which included the photo judging ... so I don't know how this photo did.  I am pleased with how it turned out.

Photo of the Day

Another beautiful evening to go outside and have some fun with the dogs and the camera.

Teddy demonstrated how he likes to "twirl" for treats.

Annie - who only has to give "the look" to get her treats.

I Heart Faces Challenge - Pet Week

It's PET WEEK at I Heart Faces!!!!

This is my oldest Shih Tzu Louie - caught mid-yawn.

Be sure to visit I Heart Faces to see more adorable pet entries!

Photo of the Day

Shakespeare Festival - Romeo and Juliet

Last night, we went to see Romeo and Juliet.  I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy it, but I loved it!  I read it in High School, but seeing it on stage really made me understand it even more than when I read it.  Plus, they threw in some modern elements - such as playing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" song and having some of the characters wear jeans and Chuck Taylor's.

The theatre is outdoors on the grounds of a beautiful mansion.  (I'm sure the original actors in Shakespeare's time didn't have motorcycles and train whistles in the background!)  It was pretty warm last night, but they gave us paper fans, which helped a bit.

I took some pictures on the grounds before the show started.  Here are a few of my favorites.  I used my 50mm lens with all of them.

As you can see, I'm working on different types of editing.  I'm trying to reduce that "neon" green I've been getting lately and experimenting with other types of looks.  I need to get my monitor calibrated; I'm sure that will help me too!

Progress Report - 2009 - 2011

Last Sunday, at the start of this heat wave we decided on taking an outing - to the local ZOO!  Not as crazy as it sounds - it wasn't quite so hot as it is now.

The last outing to the zoo was in early 2009.  I was able to compare what I shot then to what I shot now.  The zoo here hasn't changed much, so I have a lot of very similar shots from each outing. (It's a pretty small zoo - especially considering that I grew up going to Brookfield Zoo and Lincoln Park Zoo.)  Overall, I had a lot more "keeper" shots from this trip.  I'm pleased with my progress.

Here's an example.  I used the same camera body (Rebel XTi), but different lenses for this shot - 85mm in 2009; 50mm in 2011 - I didn't have the 50 back then.)  The 2011 outing was shot in RAW; 2009 in JPEG.

NOW:

The meerkat exhibit is pretty nice - a glass enclosure lets us get pretty close to the little guys.  I added a gaussian blur to the background to help him stand out more.

THEN:
Before sharing this, I'm going to say - at the time, I liked it.  Really liked it.  But I didn't yet have enough knowledge to know better.  This is SOOC.

My apologies to the meerkat for chopping off one of his feet.

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Things look good until we see something even better.  
• There's always more to learn.  
• Practice makes perfect.  (Or as close as we can get to perfect.)

I hope that two years from now, my future meerkat photo will look even better.

Evolution of a Photo

Getting ready for the State Fair, I've been working on selecting and editing a photo for my submission into the amateur photography division.  I finally decided on a photo of Teddy, the one I have used for the I Heart Faces challenge they held for pets.  (You can see the original submission here.)  I also submitted it to one of Pioneer Woman's photography challenges.  (Note to self: I wish I would have submitted something for her camera phone challenge!)

It has not won anything.  (Except for being pinned a few times on Pinterest ... which I admit, is flattering.)  That sounds promising for the fair, right?

It is.  I have gone back and re-edited the original image and made it better.  (At least I hope I made it better.)  The subject itself makes me say "awww" every time, but the image needed some polishing to make it stand out even more.

Here's how the photo has morphed:

Original: How I have been submitting it before.

Played with the colors a bit and sharpened it a bit and came up with this.  Also cloned out the stray hairs on the left near his ear.  Still needed something.

FINAL image: Re-worked the exposure so that there weren't blown white areas on his head and body.  Re-cropped it using the Rule of Thirds.  That's better!

 Here they are side-by-side.  (Now you don't have to keep scrolling up and down.)

The image has been submitted for printing and will be framed. (I'm putting my framing skills back to work!  I worked in a frame shop in college.)  Looking forward to getting the finished print back.

I don't expect to win anything, but entering has pushed me to create something that I feel is worthy of sharing the wall space with many other talented photographers in the state.  I will also give me a nice framed print to hang in my home when the show's over.

And to tell you the truth, I've paid for professional portrait sessions for my dogs where I didn't get a photo as sweet as this one.  It really captures Teddy's laid-back personality.  Can't ask for more!

Photo of the Day - 7/2/2011

Another flower from the yard + a texture ...

Photo of the Day - 7/1/2011

WELCOME JULY

I took some pictures of the flowers in the yard, and played a bit with this one ... for good or for bad, I'm still not sure.

SOOC:

Selected the background using a quick mask and added a Gaussian blur.  Ran an action on the flower called "Pure Pop" - the result is this:

Then added a texture to the image, using an action called "Golden Dream" - erased the texture from the flower.  The result is:

This was the first lily bloom of the year!  Should have many to look at soon.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge - May Flowers

Visit I Heart Faces by clicking here.

While this is a non-competitive week, I still wanted to share a picture ... here's hoping this will help spring return for a little while longer!

Photos of the day - 4/17/2011

No ... I didn't get a puppy!  This is Autry, who belongs to my friend Pat.  Autry came to visit our agility practice this morning, and I got a few pictures.  What a very sweet puppy - all of the noises from the agility practice didn't bother his nap at all.  I did quite a bit of Photoshop work on the first picture - there was a mirror right behind his head.

Picture of the Day - 4/2/2011

Played with a texture on this photo of Louie.  Picture was taken in October 2005 along the river in Peoria.

Photo of the Day

Had some fun transforming a photo in Photoshop.  Directions are from the Two Peas in a Bucket photography message board.  You can find them here: TwoPeasMessageBoard

Before:

Transformed: