Going home again

This week I had an opportunity to visit home again. I grew up in a small town in NC. If you have time and a camera, there are some very picturesque spots. Downtown has that small town feel with some more "hip" businesses (coffee shop, wine bar, restaurants, etc.). It has changed a lot since I moved away almost 20 years ago.

I took some time during lunch the other day to take a brief stroll down main street and took a few pictures. Perhaps one of the most photographed and picturesque things from downtown Sylva is the Jackson County Court House.

Historic Jackson County Court House

The court house sits atop a hill on Main Street. From the top, you can get a very nice view of downtown Sylva. It has been a few years now and the old courthouse has been refurbished into the home for the public library.

Once the library moved, the Sylva Police renovated the old public library space and moved in. I would have to say the new space is certainly much larger than where they were located previously.

Looking down the main street, many things have changed since I lived here. Traffic patterns have been updated, sidewalks modified, light poles "updated" to reflect a modern historic look and feel, etc. A lot of changes.

Looking downtown.

Another courthouse view.

The updated Sylva Police Station. Formerly
Jackson County Public Library.

Coneflower and Butterfly

I am taking some time to revisit many of the pictures that I have already taken and perhaps just haven't given a lot of time or focus to. Looking back, I seem to have several pictures that are decent, but I never did anything with them. At the same time, I also have a lot of, well, just plain yucky shots, but that's what you get as you are trying to learn to take better pictures.

I stumbled across this one today and thought I would share it with anyone who stopped by my site. The park where I shot this had a section of wildflowers with all sorts of bees and butterflies flitting about. I managed to get one while it was still, but I had to be ready and fast!

Thanks for stopping by!

Working my way back

Life happens. Things happen. I have been away from my blog for a while and slowly working my way back into it. Hopefully I can begin doing more frequent postings as time goes on. I am not hitting my goal of posting at least once a week at this point, but perhaps I can get back into it. My 365 project has slipped by the wayside for now... I hope that next year (or sometime soon), I can pick that up and start anew.

In the meantime, here is a recent photo I took of a flower in my back yard. One of the things I like to play with is macro photography. I hope to work my way into a better lens that lends itself more to closer macro pictures. Some day... Until then, I'll practice with what I've got and hopefully get better at what I'm doing. Enjoy!

Night Moon

Blue sky, night moon

Cinemas

Carolina Theater in Durham, NC

Taking a walk in the park

It was a nice sunny day. It had rained a day or two before, and it wasn't too warm, so I decided to take my lunch in a nearby park. These are some of the pictures I captured when I was there. It's February and I wasn't expecting much in the way of flowers, but apparently the daffodils didn't realize spring wasn't here just yet. Some other parts of the park were not quite in bloom yet.

The second picture is of Lake Crabtree where it juts out into the lake a bit with a lone tree. I just missed a large crane when I took this shot. Maybe next time.

As you walk around the park, you will notice lots of trees and other vegetation  However, there is one section where you won't see many trees at all. That section has a petroleum pipeline running below it. No digging allowed here!

Photos that Didn't make my 365 project

So, as I said in my previous post, I'm working on my 365 project. Because of that, I'm taking more pictures than I have in a while. At the same time, however, I am actually trying to be conscious of NOT taking too many pictures. In other words, I am being more contemplative about what I photograph, often taking most of the day to decide what, when and where I will take some pictures. Sometimes, my work schedule doesn't allow me to go out where I want to go to get the general idea I'm thinking of for the day. In those instances, I have been making myself look more closely at everyday objects in my house and thinking about creative ways to photograph those items. The creative photographing part is what I still need much work on. I struggle quite a bit to find the photograph I want to get out of some of the objects. The idea in my head doesn't always get translated into the photograph I've just taken, so I take a bit to figure out what I need to change and then shoot again.

Anyway, here are a few pics that didn't make the cut (in other words, not my favorite picture of the day).

Playing with Macros

As part of my 365 project, I have been playing with macro photography, or generally closeups of items around the house. Here is the latest...a watch. This picture could have a bit more detail and better lighting overall, but it's not too bad for using a long exposure. There was just a bit of clean up in post to adjust the color balance and play with dodging and burning...

As always, comments are welcome! Thanks for stopping by!

New project started

I decided this year to work more on finding creative things to photograph and creative ways to photograph things I see. Also, I wanted to make myself take photos everyday, either with my DSLR or mobile phone. By doing so, I should improve my photographic skills and hopefully force myself to think differently about what I'm photographing. To that end, I have decided to do a 365 project. At a minimum I will take on photograph each day. I may not upload each day, but I will try to do so.



I hope that in addition to becoming a better photographer, I will also become a more discerning photographer and not have to take as many shots to get that one that I like.

I will still post to my blog as well, as this is a different forum and will allow me to share things with a wider audience.

This picture is one of the latest entries on my 365 project page. It is a close up of the blue jeans I was wearing that day. I wanted to see what I could capture detail wise and also work on some post processing skills. For this one, I adjusted the coloring a bit to make the denim look more faded that it really was.

Experiments in Black and White

Black and white photography is my favorite way to process my pictures. I think it adds a lot of character and can most certainly change the look, feel and tone of the picture. Absence of color can often, in my opinion, convey a lot more feeling and emotion than color. Not only that, but absence of color lets the viewer of the picture imagine for himself what the picture may look like in color.

Here are a few of my recent favorites. Some of these have been posted on my 365 project page here.

[caption id="attachment_360" align="alignnone" width="300"] Winter Moon[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_361" align="alignnone" width="200"] Tequila[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_364" align="alignnone" width="300"] 25[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_365" align="alignnone" width="300"] Planes[/caption]

Focal point

I took this photo about a year or so ago. This spot is located on a dead-end road, not too far from my office. On this particular day, I was playing with depth of field and my focal points, as I wanted to see what view I liked best. I find it interesting how simply changing the focal point changes the entire feel of the scene being photographed. In the first photo Quiet Rail,

[caption id="attachment_318" align="alignleft" width="200"] Quiet Rail[/caption]

I was attempting to capture the sense and feeling that the guard rail continued around the curve for ever and also a general feeling of peace and calm.In the second photo Grasses on the rail,

[caption id="attachment_329" align="alignleft" width="200"] Grasses on the rail[/caption]

the focal point is on the grasses in the foreground.

 

Dusk on the beach

[caption id="attachment_324" align="alignleft" width="300"] From the Outer Banks of NC @ Salvo. With moon showing in the sky.[/caption]

Sometimes there are perfect nights on the beach. I just happened to be at the beach this summer in Salvo, NC on such a night. Just a few clouds in the sky, full moon and the sound of the ocean. I took this picture one evening, just after the sun had gone down below the horizon, and wasn't yet pitch black.

[caption id="attachment_323" align="alignright" width="300"] From the Outer Banks of NC @ Salvo.[/caption]

The moon was still rising and the sky was a beautiful blue. These two shots are long exposures (10 and 13 seconds). I like how the ocean appears in these two pictures, with an airy, ethereal look and the moon reflecting off the glass-like (though not perfectly smooth) surface of the water.

Fall Playground

It's that time of year. Fall in NC brings changing colors of the leaves and yet days warm enough to go out and play and still be comfortable. Today was one such day in NC. This picture was taken at a park in Sylva, NC while visiting family. I love the combination of the playground equipment and the color of the leaves. It just invites you to come out and play.

Leaf

Well, it's getting to be that time of the year when the weather turns cooler and the leaves start to fall. I took this shot while at a local park with my family. Taken with my kit 18-55mm lens, there were no filters added, or any other adjustments made to get the focus I was going for. I was aiming to get the leaf in focus with the fore- and backgrounds blurred. To accomplish this shot, I had to play around with the camera placement. For this shot, I placed the camera on the ground, with the lens just barely touching the concrete (don't worry, I was being careful; just the very bottom of a very small piece of the lens actually touched the ground). I took a couple of shots, each time checking to see if I had captured what I wanted. If I didn't, I adjusted the camera, either closer or further away. In the end, this is what I came up with.

Green Dragonfly

This was taken early one morning as I was on my way to work. It didn't seem to bother her that I was going in and out of my gate. It was a cool morning, so I'm guessing that may have something to do with her lethargy. I've always liked dragonflies, so when I got an opportunity to see one this close, I just had to get the camera and take some shots.

Invasion of the cows

The cows are coming! The cows are coming!

Actually, they're already here. It is the Triangle CowParade (http://cowparadenc.com/) and is an art exhibit of life sized cows painted by local artists that will be later sold at auction to benefit the NC Children's Hospital. The one's I have had the opportunity to see have been located at the North Hills shopping center in Raleigh's Midtown and at Jerry's Artarama. Below are some of the cows in the parade.
[slideshow]

Blue Moon

It has been a while since I've had an opportunity to post. Since my last post in June, my second child was born, and well, that has been keeping me somewhat busy. During that time, I have been taking pictures, but haven't had a lot of time to actually download and process them, let alone update this blog. I hope to get back into updating this regularly. Thanks for your patience!  So, finally, here is a recent photo that I was able to capture.

If you were not aware, August 31 was a "blue moon" or the second full moon in the same month. I was able to capture this picture with the aid of a couple of ND Filters that I recently received. I experimented with several different exposures, mainly trying to capture the detail of the surface of the moon as well as making sure the moon itself was properly developed.

[caption id="attachment_275" align="alignleft" width="336"] Capture Date: 8/31/2012 The blue moon.
ISO 100 f/9 1/160 200mm[/caption]

Photo shoot

Here are a few pictures from a photo shoot I did this past weekend. This was my first time actually trying to make pictures for someone other than myself or my family. The general concept we were going for here is a shot that the "model" could use on a business card for teaching clarinet lessons (he is a musician). I learned a lot, especially as I am going back over the pictures and observing the composition, exposure and lighting. While not 100% of everything I hoped it would be, I don't think these are too bad.

This one is of my daughter and the "model" for my shoot. It is one of my favorites from the day (no, it wasn't part of the original plan to have her be in any pics, but you know how kids are...).

The next one is, I think, one of the better shots I got. I will probably post some of the others at a later time, but for now, here it is. 

I welcome any comments and suggestions, especially on how I may be able to improve the shots for the next shoot. Thanks!

Blue Dragonfly

I had the chance to visit some friends today, on their "farm". While we were down at the pond, I was able to capture some pictures of the various plants and animals that were around the area. This blue dragonfly happened to stop long enough for me to take a couple of shots of it.

Curious Swan

If you ever happen to be in Cary, NC, you should take a visit to Koka Booth Amphitheater. It is a great venue and will afford you an opportunity to take some pictures of different wildlife inhabiting the lake there (Symphony Lake, I believe). I was there this weekend and was able to take a few shots of geese and this one beautiful swan. These birds were not scared of people whatsoever, as I imagine they are fed quite often. Here is one of the pictures of the swan I was able to capture. I think in this shot, he (or she) was actually posing for me. He was very intrigued by me and was actually swimming after me any time that I moved around.

I'll post some of the others after I get more of a chance to work with the pictures a bit more. Enjoy!