The Dusty Cellar Shoots

Prassville Mill, NJ

2012-01-27T09:00:00.002-05:00

Weekend Reflections

Blue Heron Silhouette at Sunset

2012-01-26T07:19:00.000-05:00

Down the Hall

2012-01-24T19:26:00.000-05:00

Had some fun here with a photo friend.

To help capture the light coming through the windows,

we blew the dust off the windowsills!

Amazingly, we didn't sneeze.

My husband would have thought I was a nutcase,

that's why I love my photo friends.

Moravian Tile Works Kitchen

2012-01-19T10:02:00.001-05:00

This place is 100 years old this year!
You can see more photos here.

Is It Spring Yet?

2012-01-18T10:57:00.005-05:00

This old window is 100 years old.
It is part of the Moravian Tile Works building in Doylestown, PA
More of my photos from this place can be found here.

The Weekend in Black and White

How Much Do You Pay for Gas?

2012-01-17T11:55:00.001-05:00

On Saturday I paid $3.39/gallon

and then I saw this sign...

How long do you think it has been since we've paid $1.38?

You can check your guess here.
Submitted to Signs, Signs

More from this gallery here.

Tire Heap

2012-01-15T19:40:00.000-05:00

hdr
F 22
500 ISO
18mm
Canon 50D

Moravian Tile Works, Doylestown

2012-01-15T02:18:00.000-05:00

HDR

Bleach Bypass

Red Riding Hood

2012-01-14T06:59:00.000-05:00

Made of Stone

2012-01-13T12:20:00.000-05:00

The Mercer Museum

in Doylestown, PA is built entirely of concrete.

Henry C. Mercer

was keenly interested in preventing the loss

of his collections to fire which made concrete

his building material of choice.

The museum is full of wonderful nooks and crannies.
I just LOVE it.

I have spent much time getting to know the late Henry C. Mercer

in preparation for an article I am writing.

So you'll be seeing more of his life and collections...

If you'd like to see his Cigar Advertising Collection

on my other blog, click here.

Eventually I will have museum photos here.

But as of this post, I am still working on that.

Hills of Grasses

2012-01-12T06:39:00.000-05:00

In the Meadow

2012-01-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

Printer, Mercer Museum

2012-01-10T07:15:00.000-05:00

A Little Gift

2012-01-03T09:52:00.001-05:00

I received this candle as a gift...
and turned it into another gift for you!

It is a desktop background.

You may download either version of the background here.
One has a calendar, the other does not.

(To download, click on the link,

hover over the photo,

click on the file icon with the green arrow.)

My little winter gift for you!

Happy 2012

Festive

2011-12-22T12:47:00.000-05:00

I used a 4 pt star filter with this shot.

Playing with the Christmas Lights

2011-12-21T06:21:00.000-05:00

For me it is Christmas lights,

but any lights will work!
Here are some things you can do with lights.

You can make lights seem to twinkle
by using a higher aperture setting.

f25, ISO 400, 30sec on tripod

If you can attach a filter to your lens,
try using a star filter for this effect.

f 2.8 ISO 1250, 1/60 sec on tripod
using a 4pt star filter

Below is an outdoor tree

covered in blue lights.
If you have a zoom lens you can do this one.

My camera was on a tripod,

I selected a slow shutter speed

and turned the zoom on my camera while

the shutter was open.

1/6 sec, ISO 100, f2.8 on tripod
rotating zoom.

And of course, everyone's favorite these days...

bokeh!
The out of focus lights in the background create bokeh.
Use a wide aperture
and add distance between your subject and the lights.

f1.8, ISO 640, 1/200

Do you have any tips for shooting lights?
Please share them,
I'd like to try something new!

My First Camera

2011-12-16T07:34:00.000-05:00

Today, it sits on a shelf.

HO HO HO

2011-12-15T07:13:00.002-05:00

Hey, y'all!

Guess who stopped by

for his Christmas portrait this year?

And look!
There is a spot on his lap for you!
:)

Fonthill Castle at Christmas II

2011-12-13T09:44:00.000-05:00

Fonthill Castle at Christmas

2011-12-11T19:51:00.000-05:00

The historic Fonthill Castle
was constructed for Henry Mercer
1908-1912.

The Comcast Building, Philadelphia, PA

2011-12-10T15:14:00.000-05:00

The Comcast Center at

1701 Arch Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103
is the building on the right.

The Comcast Center is the

tallest building in Philadelphia

and also the tallest green building in the US.

Philly City Scape

2011-12-06T09:03:00.002-05:00

November Rush Hour

2011-12-03T08:24:00.001-05:00

Slow shutter speed from a tripod.

Philly Skyline from South Street Bridge

2011-12-02T09:33:00.000-05:00

It is so nice to have a fellow photographer friend

to do night time city excursions with!

I would never go alone and do this.

Submitted to Weekend Reflections.

Panning Tutorial

2011-11-30T02:42:00.003-05:00

No, I am not referring to panning for gold,

but that would be exciting!

I am referring to capturing the feeling of motion

in your still photo.

Definition

Here is the Wikipedia description:

In still photography, the panning technique is used to suggest fast motion, and bring out the subject from other elements in the frame. In photographic pictures it is usually noted by a foreground subject in action appearing still (i.e. a runner frozen in mid-stride) while the background is streaked and/or skewed in the apparently opposite direction of the subject's travel.

Example:

I took the photo below from a ferry.

I steadied myself along the edge of the ferry

and using a slower shutter speed

I followed the jet ski as it passed

with my camera.

You can see the splash is blurred

as is the water -

caused by the slower shutter speed,

Yet the action of the

jet ski seems stopped -

cause by following it with the camera.

If I had a second chance,

I would have slowed down the shutter speed some more.

But they were not aware of my pleas to circle around again!

Practice:

Here is a great way to practice...

as long as you don't get too dizzy.

Go to a playground with one of those spinny rides.

I don't know what they are called,

but you push them and they go round and round.

Sit on one side,

have someone sit opposite of you.

Keep your camera steady by bracing your elbows against yourself.

Spin the ride and snap your photos.

Here is an example.

Note the blurred background from spinning.

Technical:

So how do you achieve that slower shutter speed?

Option 1:

If you shoot in manual (M)

or shutter/time (S or TV) priority,

you can set your shutter speed.

How slow depends on what you are shooting,

how fast it is moving, and how far away you are.

In the above photo,

the speed was 1/25.

But if it was a race car I was photographing

and I was relatively close

I might have used 1/125.

The great thing about digital is you can experiment

and see which way you need to adjust.

To control shutter speed

Nikon users select M (Manual) or S (Shutter)
then use the appropriate dial on your camera to select the shutter speed.

Canon users select M (Manual) or TV (Time Value)

then use the appropriate dial on your camera to select the shutter speed.

If you select S or TV the camera will choose the other settings.

If you select M you will have to make those adjustments yourself

until you achieve proper exposure.

Option 2 (Possibility):

I am not sure if you can trick a point and shoot

that does not have manual (M) or shutter priority settings (S or TV)

into doing this or not.

I would start by choosing the landscape/scenery preset on the camera,

usually indicated by the Mountain icon.

That will let less light in the camera

forcing a slower shutter speed.

But the camera might outsmart you and

raise up the ISO too much

and not achieve a slow enough speed.

But you can always try!

Inspiration

For examples or idea inspiration

do a Google search of Panning and select Images.

I hope this gives you something new to try.

Red

2011-11-23T13:13:00.002-05:00

Adoption Reunion

2011-11-22T07:12:00.000-05:00

This is such a heartwarming story!

And I am so happy that as part of the re-union

of the children,

I was asked to take their photos.

The text below is from

Adoption Associates Newsletter, November 2011

I interspersed my photos throughout the text.

A Sibling Reunion

Kelley and Andrew were having a fairly uneventful and positive experience with their Russian adoption. They were on course for adopting Ulyana and Irina in early January of 2008. But when the couple arrived back in Russia for their second trip, suddenly their journey became even more of a miracle.

The consultants in Russia informed them that the two girls they were planning to adopt had a brother. They received no further information at that time; however, on their third trip, they learned that the brother had been adopted from the same orphanage from where they were adopting their girls. Unfortunately, he had been adopted before the girls ever arrived there. They never had the chance to meet each other.

After bringing Ulyana and Irina home there was much celebrating with first meetings with family and friends. It was a joyous time! But when things calmed down, Kelley contacted Adoption Associates to see if she and her husband could gain further information about where the girls’ brother had been placed. They found out that he had been adopted by a family from the U.S., which was promising since trying to find him would have proven very difficult if he had been adopted anywhere else. AAI did some research and discovered which agency he had been adopted through, and then sent the family contact information for that agency. Once they contacted that agency, the caseworker contacted the little boy’s family with some of the biological information the family had received for their girls. It took several months, but out of the blue one day, the little boy’s adopted mother emailed Kelley.

“It was a leap of faith on their part,” Kelley shares, “and I will always remember the day that I sat down to check my email, and found one with an address I didn’t recognize. I was so relieved that it didn’t go into my spam folder! I was pleasantly surprised and ecstatic to find out who it was from!” Ulyana and Irina’s brother’s name was Nicholas. Kelley began corresponding with Nicholas’ mom, exchanging the small amount of biological information they had on the children’s family, and found that the names they had been given matched. Over time, they sent pictures of their kids to each other and saw that there was a family resemblance.

Nicholas’ parents told him about his sisters just before the following Christmas, and Kelley and Andrew told Irina and Ulyana about their brother at Christmas. They showed the girls a picture of Nicholas and it wasn’t long before they were talking about a meeting sometime in the future.

Both parents loved the idea and planned a summer meeting. Everyone was a little nervous as each set of parents were unsure how the kids would receive their newfound sibling(s). In preparation for the trip Nicholas sent the girls a hand-drawn picture of him waiting in his front yard to meet his sisters. After weeks of preparing, the big day was upon them. At first the girls were a little shy, but it didn’t take long and they were playing together in Nicolas’ backyard on his swingset. Both sets of parents couldn’t imagine it having gone any better.

Both families hope their meeting opened the door for a lifelong relationship. Both sets of parents feel as if they are one big family. Nicholas has an older brother (his adopted parents’ biological son) and he was equally excited to have two new sisters (and vice-versa!)

Kelly shares, “I truly believe this was a gift from God to be able to allow these children to meet. We are so very fortunate and blessed that his family took that leap to contact us. What came of our initial ‘push’ with Nicholas’ adoption agency was truly a wonderful thing. I can’t say enough about AAI’s wonderful Russian consultants who shared with us that the girls had a big brother. Our lives were blessed exponentially by their honesty and sincerity!”

I love this story!

Daddy's Boy

2011-11-21T13:12:00.000-05:00

Just loved capturing Daddy's interaction with his little baby boy.

A Bundle of Cuteness

2011-11-17T21:35:00.002-05:00

Curtis Arboretum, Cheltenham, PA

2011-11-13T16:16:00.001-05:00

I think this tree is heavenly!

You'll find it at Curtis Hall Arboretum
1250 W. Church Road
Cheltenham, PA 19095

Blue Heron, Lake Galena, Chalfont, PA

2011-11-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here is another shot

with my friend's super duper lens!

Blue Heron, Lake Galena, Chalfont, PA

2011-11-10T09:49:00.001-05:00

My friend let me borrow her 500mm lens
with 2x extension tube.
Sweet!

Hope Lodge, Ft. Washington, PA

2011-11-09T07:04:00.002-05:00

The Medicine Cabinet

2011-11-05T21:38:00.000-04:00

I visited Hope Lodge in Ft. Washington, PA

for their annual Revolutionary War Encampment.

These bottles belonged to the field doctor who said

that the doctors actually received more training

and were therefore more respected than the surgeons.

Scary if you needed surgery!

Toad Lily, Hortulus Farm, Newtown, PA

2011-10-27T11:06:00.000-04:00

It may be fall,

but there are still blooms to be found!

Baked or Raw?

2011-10-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

I wrote this tutorial for my friends at
Friday My Town Shoot Out
and am sharing it here for you!

Did you know a photo is like a cupcake?

If you shoot in jpg,

which all cameras can do,

then your finished photo is like a baked cupcake -

with all the processing decisions being made

by the camera.

You can ice it,

add sprinkles,

and maybe cut off some burned edges if you need to,

but you can't go back and adjust

the ingredients that made the cupcake!

Your camera is very smart

and often makes good decisions for you,

but not every time or in every situation.

Shooting jpg leaves you little latitude later on.

That's where shooting in raw

comes in.

If your camera has the ability to shoot in raw,

it will collect all the raw ingredients

needed for your photo to

give you the power to

make adjustments to the recipe

before baking...or printing in this case.

All images begin in raw...

it just depends on who

makes the processing decisions:

you or the camera.

jpg - Your camera decides

raw - You decide

Here is a diagram from a helpful link

at The Lightroom Lab website:

Most dSLR's will shoot in raw,

and many point and shoot cameras will as well.

You can check your camera's manual

to learn about its settings.

Check under image quality options.

Shooting in raw has upsides and downsides.

One downside is

your file size will be much larger

and eat up space on your camera card

and computer.

One upside is

your file size will be much larger

and you have more information

to work with saved on the card and computer!

So, I consider it a win-win!

You can always buy a larger card if you need to!

You do not need to feel like you are cheating

by adjusting your raw photo.

A raw photo comes out unprocessed

and therefore looks kind of muddy.

It is expected that you will

play with the ingredients

to get a recipe

that captures what you saw creatively.

You will need software to read a raw image.

But most photo software including

Picasa, Photoshop and others

(including any software that came with your camera)

will read a raw image.

After processing,

you can save the image in jpg

and share it with others.

Back in the day of film...

the same thing happened.

A photographer could buy specific types of film

and use different darkroom techniques

to get the creative look they desired.

It was a more difficult process,

but there was still a creative process involved.

That being said,

I do not always shoot in raw.

I shoot in raw when

being able to control white balance

or exposure is important.

When someone pays for portraiture I shoot raw.

When I am taking snapshots, fun shots,

or rapid shots I use jpg.

I shoot my son's soccer games in large jpg.

If you don't shoot in raw...

at least shoot in the largest file size you can

(shown below.)

A large file size collects more pixels

and will give you a better looking photo,

especially if you plan to enlarge it.

I hope that helps.

Happy Shooting!

News Flash on Flash....

2011-10-24T14:49:00.000-04:00

I just love when I grasp some new concept.

Recently, I have been studying off camera lighting.

That means you use your flash off of your camera -

you could hand hold it or use a light stand*...whatever.

The reason you would want to do this is the quality of light you get.

Instead of straight on, flat lighting,

you get side lighting which creates shadows,

giving your image a sense of depth.

Here is what I learned...

When you use your flash,

set your shutter speed where it should be to

get the background exposed as you would like.

Then use your aperture

to minimize or increase the amount

of light the camera picks up on the subject from the flash.

In detail...

If you want more background exposed,

slow down the shutter speed.

If you want less background exposed,

speed up the shutter speed.

If you want more light flooding on your subject,

open up your aperture. (Smaller number=larger opening.)

If you want less light on your subject,

close down the aperture.

It works like a charm!!

Here is a test photo.

The background is cluttered with flash gear

on a piano bench in front of a piano.

In the past I would have put up a black board to hide it.

Today, I just sped up the shutter speed to hide it!!

Isn't that great?

Especially if you are a little lazy like me.

Now, I am not saying this photo is perfect.

HA...far from it.
I am just happy you can't see my clutter.

If I wasn't a little lazy I would have tethered the camera to my computer

and seen that the shadows were a little to strong.

I would have then added my reflector opposite the flash

to fill on those shadows with some light.

But nooooo, I didn't tether.

And instead of shooting again with the reflector,

I am going shopping.

See ya later!

*Note: You do need some way to trigger your flash when you shoot. There are lots of ways in all price ranges. You just need to find what works for you.

Credit:

I didn't get this revelation all by myself.

Three sources have helped me immensely:

Creative Live 'Exploring the Light' webinar with Rick Sammon

Understanding Flash Photography book by Bryan Peterson

and

Improve Photography online class with Jim Harmer & Dustin Olsen

Ramon in Black and White

2011-10-21T16:33:00.000-04:00

I had the privilege of taking Senior Portraits

for Ramon.

Of course,

I took them in color,

but I love his look converted

to black and white.

He is very handsome,

isn't he?

He is waiting for his gallery...
which is so close to being ready,
I promise Ramon.
I am just tweaking.

Red Leaves

2011-10-21T10:55:00.000-04:00

Autumn Burns

2011-10-19T09:00:00.001-04:00

Power Sources

2011-10-18T09:00:00.003-04:00

From the Horse's Mouth

2011-10-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Leni Lenape Man

2011-10-15T09:00:00.006-04:00

The local Native American Indian tribe
was known as the Leni Lenape.
This man is descended from that tribe.
I met him as he was about to dance
at Historic Fallsington Day.
He certainly retains the majestic look
of a Native American man.

Pond Reflections

2011-10-14T09:00:00.002-04:00

Weekend Reflections

Still Time For A Rose

2011-10-13T09:00:00.001-04:00

Green Apples

2011-10-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

Dancing Feet

2011-10-11T09:11:00.002-04:00

This man is an award winning Native American Indian Dancer.

He had all the moves!

Another Web

2011-10-07T20:24:00.002-04:00

Fall Reflection at Green Lane Park

2011-10-06T09:00:00.001-04:00

The leaves are changing color...

Weekend Reflections

Web in the Field, Green Lane Park

2011-10-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Green Lane Park

2011-10-03T07:57:00.000-04:00

Welcome Fall

The Web

2011-10-02T17:10:00.001-04:00

New York, NY

2011-09-21T09:52:00.002-04:00

Sunset from the Tribeca Rooftop

Sushi

2011-09-19T16:36:00.000-04:00

I do not care for sushi,

but I LOVE these colors.

And I love Wasabi sauce.

Lansdale Bike Night, Lansdale, PA

2011-09-14T09:26:00.000-04:00

No, I don't smoke.

But this biker,

at the Lansdale Bike Night does!

More Lansdale Bike Night photos are here.

Watkins Glen Falls, New York

2011-09-06T08:07:00.000-04:00

The falls in Watkins Glen State Park

are amazing.

There are so many sets of falls

to view as you walk through.

Bring Your Skin

2011-09-05T09:00:00.001-04:00

This one is just for fun,

because I like the name of the business.

National Hotel, Bath, New York

2011-09-04T09:00:00.001-04:00

Colored Pencil at 11-10-50; 100 Opacity

At the corner of the historic section of the town of Bath,

right across from the town square

is the National Hotel.

It doesn't look like much,

but if you are willing to step back in time

it has the best reviews around.

FYI: I did not stay there.

Windows

2011-09-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

Duplicate Layer>Find Edges>Hard Light 100%

Seating for Two

2011-09-02T09:00:00.007-04:00

Found this little spot in an alley

in Bath, Steuben County, New York.

Bath, Steuben County, New York Collection

Linked to

Steuben Bowling, Bath, New York

2011-09-01T09:00:00.005-04:00

Bath, New York is located in Steuben County.

Loved this Brick Art there.

The above photo is 'fixed' in PSE 9 using Correct Camera Distorion
and the Spot Healing Brush/Content Aware.

The next photo is 'pre-fix.'

Wow! Look at that lens distortion!

Lens distortion is a real easy fix in elements.

Go to Filter> Correct Camera Distortion.

It is pretty easy to figure out.

And the new Content Aware feature worked really well on this photo.

Not so well on the next photo I edited.

Oh well, that's what the clone tool is for!

Bath, Steuben County, New York Collection

Central Hotel, Bath, New York

2011-08-31T10:35:00.000-04:00

Here is a hotel with a room for you!

It should advertise 'Well Ventilated.'

Bath, New York

is old time Americana.

But this hotel has seen better days.

Picture Window

2011-08-28T17:58:00.000-04:00

Seneca Lake, New York

I have been without a computer for two weeks

so I have not been able post here

or visit many blogs.

But I finally decided what I will buy...

I just have to go pick it up.

Once I get everything purchased

and loaded on the new computer,

I will be back as usual.
Thanks for your patience.

Signs of the Times

2011-08-11T16:17:00.000-04:00

A corner store for rent in Ambler, PA.

Ambler does not appear to have been

hit too hard by the US economic woes.

Just a couple stores are empty.

The Night the Sky Was Ablaze

2011-08-07T22:48:00.000-04:00

From 55th Street in Avalon, NJ.

Colors are not enhanced.

I zoomed in on a section of sky

that looked ablaze.

Fishing Boats at Fisherman's Warf, Cape May, NJ

2011-08-05T10:42:00.000-04:00

Weekend Reflections

Stormy Skies

2011-08-04T14:27:00.000-04:00

There was a thunderstorm on the beach the other night
in Stone Harbor, NJ.

I couldn't contain myself...

I had to try and catch some lightning shots!

I think this is the best shot of the night,

the rest are here.

Sorry the logo is on top of the lightning.
It is put there automatically by my photo host.

NJ Balloon Fest

2011-08-01T07:40:00.003-04:00

There were many photo ops

at the New Jersey Balloon Fest

this past weekend.

This guy is checking out his catches.

I think this is my favorite shot from the whole festival.
My full gallery is here.

Sunset in Avalon NJ

2011-07-31T14:26:00.000-04:00

I watched a beautiful sunset last night in

Avalon, NJ.

Night Juggler

2011-07-28T09:33:00.001-04:00

Last night my daughter, her fiance and I

went out and experimented photographing with glow sticks.

We just started to get the hang of things...

here are some pointers:

Use more than one glow stick in your hand - it is brighter.
Blue glow sticks are weak, and don't light up much.
Dress in black as much as possible.
Remember a flashlight, tripod, and bug spray.
Use a slow steady movement or the light is jerky,' - we are still working on that one.
Use the bulb setting on the camera. My settings were ISO 100, F5.6 to 8, bulb

It was fun!

Night in Valley Forge

2011-07-24T21:58:00.003-04:00

I recently took a photography class with Ken Hubbard,

and one of the aspects covered in the class was

photographing at night with slow shutter speeds

while using a light to paint a subject.

ISO 400, F 5.6, 30 sec, shot in RAW on tripod.

In this photo, I placed a flashlight inside the cabin for the entire exposure.

My friend used another flashlight to 'paint' the cabin

to add some light to it.

To paint, take your flashlight and
shine it over the subject evenly,
in this case, the cabin.
Back and forth, or up and down,
so you get even light on the subject.
We experimented a bit with both
exposure times and 'paint times.'
In this case, the person painting,
walked into the photo to paint,
but because he kept moving
you can't see him in the photo.
Here is a video that might help.
http://vimeo.com/22776262

In post processing,

I changed the white balance to Shade

because it added that awesome warm sky.

(Which I like, but also recognize you may not.
And that's OK.)

I also ran it through a Noiseware Plug-in

to get rid of that nasty digital noise.

Now that I have some basics down,

I can't wait to try this again!

Who's with me?

Cairnwood at Night

2011-07-23T19:50:00.002-04:00

This is just a fun photo.

I took the photo of Cairnwood

in Bryn Athyn, PA with a star filter.

The moon was full that night,

but not in the right location.

So I moved it. :)

Gotta love photoshop!

A star filter is simply a filter with cross hatches on it.
The light travels along those hatch lines
creating a star like look.

Replacing the moon was relatively easy.
I cropped the moon from a separate photo
where I had darkened the sky to black.
Then, I placed that moon photo on top
of this photo in the location I wanted it and re-sized it.
To make the crop marks disappear
I changed the moon's layer opacity to screen
which removed all the black and just left the moon.

Path of Doors

2011-07-20T23:23:00.000-04:00

Valley Forge National Park

Oldie But Goodie....

2011-07-19T16:36:00.001-04:00

I could be talking about the car,

but I am not.

I just like this photo!

Red Flower

2011-07-18T20:00:00.001-04:00

Photo was treated with two textures and

the Colored Pencil effect in PSE 8.

Colonial Cooking

2011-07-18T00:56:00.000-04:00

A colonial cooking demo in Bethlehem PA.

Notice the fire...it was a hot summer day too!

Pretty Pink

2011-07-16T20:48:00.001-04:00

I took time to ~~smell~~ shoot the ~~roses~~ flowers today.

Found at Temple U., Ambler Campus.

For my directions for adding a texture, click here.

Corn Crib

2011-07-13T15:40:00.000-04:00

Valley Forge National Park,
Montgomery County, PA

Valley Forge National Park

2011-07-10T16:48:00.000-04:00

View From the Ferry

2011-07-06T20:34:00.001-04:00

I do not know what this is a photo of,

but I couldn't resist taking it.

The flag, the sunset, the silhouette...

taken from the Staten Island Ferry.
To capture the richness of the sky,
I metered off the sky away from the sun,
then used my meter lock
and recomposed the shot.

If the sun is included in your metering,
it will lighten up the sunset and you'll lose those
luscious colors.
Another option might be to over ride the meter,
and underexpose the photo from what the meter
is telling you.

Happy Independence Day

2011-07-04T08:55:00.000-04:00

To see more fireworks from

the Ambler Kiwanis show at Wissahickon High School

click here.

Dr. Seuss Blossoms

2011-06-27T09:41:00.000-04:00

I do not know what these flowers are called,

but I like them.

The blossoms remind me of something

you might see in a Dr. Seuss book.
So that's what I call them.

Cupcakes

2011-06-13T22:25:00.003-04:00

Get Followers...Get Comments!

2011-06-09T18:54:00.000-04:00

I have a few suggestions for making it easier for people to visit your blog

and let you know they stopped by.

I am writing this because I love to keep up with your blogs,

but it does take quite a bit of time

and I often get behind.

So, it is sort of a selfish set of suggestions.

Comments:

First, do you require word verification

for someone to leave a comment?

If you do, you will likely get less comments.

I confess, when I am crunched for time,

I often skip leaving comments on blogs that require word verification.

And if I do, and I make a mistake with the word verification,

it is extremely unlikely that I will try again.

So 'poof' there goes the beloved comment!

If you love comments,

consider becoming comment friendly!

In blogger to adjust your word verification settings:

You need to do this for each of your blogs if you have more than one.

Dashboard>Settings>

Show word verification for comments?

Yes No

Instead of using word verification to prevent spam,

prevent anonymous users from commenting.

Dashboard>Settings>

Who Can Comment? Anyone - includes Anonymous Users
Registered Users - includes OpenID
Users with Google Accounts
Only members of this blog

And I find the easiest way to leave a comment for someone

is with a pop up comment box.

Dashboard>Settings>

Comment Form Placement Full page
Pop-up window
Embedded below post

Readership

To increase readership of your blog,

make it as easy as possible for people to follow your blog.

The Follow This Blog tool in blogger is lovely

for people who refer to their blogger dashboard for updates.

But, you want to get your blog read, right?

So get it out there where anyone can follow it.

That means you want to provide

a way for anyone to follow your blog.

In blogger go to

Dashboard>Design>Add a gadget.

Add gadgets that provide following options:

Here are a few:

Followers

Follow by Email

Feed

Subscription Links

I can tell you I never miss a post by

Wayne or Heather.

Why?

Because they make it EASY for me to follow them.

Wayne and Heather both use Networked Blogs.

By using Networked Blogs,

I easily follow them through my Facebook feed.

I use my facebook feed for everything.

From local event feeds, restaurant feeds,

photogroup feeds, etc, etc.

And if I can't add your blog to my feed,

I will get behind, way behind!

You don't need to use facebook to let

other people follow you via Facebook.

Just set up a facebook page for your blog to update to -

which is what Wayne does.

The only thing on his FB page are blogger updates

which go directly to my FB feed.

I would really like to follow your blog

via Networked Blogs...

If you add the feed to your blog,

please let me know!

Here are some other suggestions for

getting your blog read!

Ambler Alley Cat

2011-06-09T12:16:00.002-04:00

This is the most beautiful stray cat

I have ever seen!

I did not adjust the color of her eyes.

That is their true color!

Poor thing was starving

and ate an entire hamburger

from Finn McCool's in Ambler.

She looks like she could use a visit to a vet too.
She apparently makes the rounds to the
various eating establishments in Ambler.

Camouflage

2011-06-08T17:06:00.000-04:00

I was kind of fascinated with this camouflage
set up at the WW 2 Airshow.

The complete gallery is here.

A Tribute to the Marines

2011-06-04T21:24:00.001-04:00

This re enactment was a tribute to the Marines

at the World War II Air Show

in Reading, PA.

Friday My Town Shoot Out

Complete photo gallery is here.

Breakfast

2011-06-01T09:59:00.001-04:00

This is my son.

And yes, you can give me Mother of the Year Award

as he IS having ice cream for breakfast.

He is at that age...

when doing things with Mom and Dad is not so cool.

So ya have to do what ya need to do...

I think it is called bribery.

Some Like It Hot

2011-05-27T14:46:00.002-04:00

How to Add a Texture to a Photo

2011-05-23T11:15:00.003-04:00

My friend, Mersad, asked if I would elaborate on how I edited this snowdrops photo.

I am starting from the beginning,

you can select which aspects you are interested in.

Taking the photo.

I picked the snow drops and put them in a small bottle.
I spritzed the flowers with water.

I set up a white board background on my table

and photographed them using natural light

coming in from the window to the right of the photo.

I probably had the camera on a tripod to steady it.

Here is the original photo.

Next I 'cleaned up' the photo.

I opened the photo into Photoshop (I use PSE8)

I often use an action called Wonder Quickie from Paint the Moon.

An action is a tool that saves you time in editing

by repeating a set of steps someone did and saved into an auto process called an action.

You can purchase actions or take

advantage of the many free actions out there.

The steps, which are called layers, can usually be edited to your liking.

Wonder Quickie quickly adds the following adjustable layers which are turned off:

I turned on and adjusted 3 layers as follows:

Sharpen Details (Turned on, 53%)

Lighten (Turned on, 48%)

Darken

Contrast (Turned on, 69%)

Color Boost

Warmth

Cool It Down

The action is installed in my Effects Folder for photoshop

so it will show up in my Effects tab by the red dot.

The square shows the icon for the action I used.

Click on it twice and it will "run."

The arrow shows a layer I turned on.

See the eye ball in the little box? That's on.

The rectangle shows where to adjust the opacity

which effects how strong the effect is applied on the photo.

When finished adjusting go to Layer>Flatten Image

(You don't need an action to do any of this,

it just saves time.)

I opened a texture in Photoshop.

Here is a texture:

A texture is exactly that...something that adds texture to your photo.

Again, you can buy textures or take advantage of the many free textures out there.

This texture is by Anna Lenabem.

(I do not recall which textures I used on the original photo

so I am just starting over.

I have since started coding textures I use so I can add the code

to the file name and always know which ones I used.)

How to:

Open the texture.

File > Open > Wherever you keep your textures.

Drag the texture on top of your photo.

Once you drag it you do not need to keep the original opened.

Resize the texture to cover your photo by pulling the edges out.

Click the green check mark when your have resized the texture over the photo.

Next, go to blending modes for your layers.

Make sure the texture layer is the active layer. (Click it)

Choose a blending mode.

I chose soft light -

that is usually my 'go to' blending mode.

You can adjust the opacity to your liking right next to the drop down box.

Now you see your photo with a texture on top of it.

You likely will not want the texture on top of the subject.

So select your eraser, adjust the opacity of the eraser a tad down,

erase the texture from the subject.

On this photo I added two textures.

The next texture added the bokeh, or circles.

Here is a bokeh texture by Ashley Sisk.

I followed the same process as I did on Anna's texture above,

only this time I used Overlay as the blending mode.

I erased the texture from the subject at a much lower opacity

because I like the brightness it adds to the flowers.

Here is the finished product.

If this were the finished product I was keeping I would have tweaked

the upper right corner that appears washed out

and I didn't erase the first texture off the stems for time purposes.

For free resources of actions and textures go to the sidebar on my photo blog

and scroll down to the section "Online Resources I Love and Use."
Please don't copy the textures here,
rather go to the designer and download them from their site.
Be sure to read any usage requirements.
Some have limitations,
some have none.

Walking Buddies

2011-05-18T06:39:00.000-04:00

And the winner of my little title contest is announced.

Click here to see!

The Love of Spring

2011-05-16T05:26:00.000-04:00

The Watcher

2011-05-15T12:57:00.001-04:00

Sometimes my brain goes blank

and I just cannot come up with a title.

So how about suggesting one for me?

I'll pick a 'winner' in a few days.

And the winner is...
James!
I like his suggestion of 'The Watcher'
I think everyone knows James,
but if you don't, pop over and check out his
AWESOME photography.

This photo brought to your minds the words
memory, wisdom and watch.
Suggestions were given via
my facebook page and here on the blog.
Thanks for playing.

Green and Lavendar

2011-05-10T08:04:00.000-04:00

I came across these at a garden center.

I guess I should have looked

at their tags to see what they are!

Pots and Pans

2011-05-07T12:56:00.000-04:00

The Cavalry Horse

2011-05-04T11:54:00.000-04:00

The Yellow Sunglasses

2011-04-28T15:10:00.001-04:00

This is just a fun shot
for the yellow challenge at

Magnolia Blossoms

2011-04-20T20:39:00.001-04:00

Dance

2011-04-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

Is it bad to love your own work?

Cause I LOVE this.

As in... I am going to frame it and hang it

kind of love.

And I don't do that often.

More shots from the

Cherry Blossom Festival.

So Many Choices

2011-04-14T10:37:00.001-04:00

My photo friend Linda inspired me
to make the original of this
photo a little more interesting.

Here is the before shot.