More Inspiring Photography Moments

I'm wrapping up yet another work week, and this one was definitely long and tiring. A nice way to start my day is to think about other moments over the years which inspired me. Here are a few more that come to mind:

1) The first time I photographed in twilight:



This was, as you can see, back in 2007. I had only taken a point-and-shoot on this trip. I was walking around with my family and thought the setting was really pretty. Many people don't like this hotel, but I did. Of course, now I know how to take better pictures of buildings!

2) How waking up early really does pay off:



I don't normally like waking up early, frankly, but this was worth it. I love the beach!

3) The first time I realized that stunning pictures were within my reach:



A picture like this really inspires me to keep trying. It also encourages me to keep scrutinizing my work and striving to improve. Earlier this year, I went to another place of worship with a dome, the National Shrine, and took this:



A big improvement, if you ask me. And that in itself is inspiring - the fact that I really am improving and loving what I do.

And, on that note, have a great weekend!

My Inspiring Photography Moments

I came across a LinkedIn post that took me to a blog post. The post outlined various inspiring photography moments, so I decided to go through my portfolio and think of my top moments. I don't have 15, but I definitely have a few. I'm going to spend the next few days covering them. It's a good soul-searching exercise for me - and an escape from my job and its hours.

1) When it all started:



The day that I decided to really pursue this as a hobby.

2) The day that someone else believed in me:



I was on a photo safari (with Washington Photo Safari) and one of the instructors told me that she'd never seen anyone take this picture before, and that I should keep taking pictures. She was a professional, so it was a great day for me. :)

3) My first terrific macro picture:



More tomorrow!

Special Effects Online!

This is one of those weeks where I really wanted to play around with everything that is fun and frivolous. Here are some examples of online websites where I was able to do that, using these pictures as my inspiration:







I mean, who doesn't adore my little sister Hala? :)

Dumpr - I loved the Rubik's cube one. Check her out!

Imageloop - I referenced this yesterday. Here she is! Be sure to click on "Show Slideshow" in the upper right hand corner. Bonus - you can use this for work and play. Specifically, you can embed these in PDFs, Powerpoints, blog posts, and other places.

Photofunia - this is very fully featured, but I played with the Magazine category. Here she is!



Cute, no?

There were many other sites, but these were the quickest, cheapest, and easiest. Try them out and have fun!

Tomorrow - a great post I saw on LinkedIn.

More Special Effects - HDR

HDR has been around for a while, but I've resisted. It has always seemed like a lot of work to me, considering that my camera doesn't support it out of the box.

So, what is it? It's a special effect that I feel gives your pictures a more precise, vibrant look. But, it's a special effect, nonetheless.

I downloaded a tool called FDRToolsBasic to see what this would look like, and if a free tool could simulate the effect easily. Here's my before picture:



Here's the after:



Taking a look at it, it's interesting. I do see a bit more depth. A plus is that the software is easy to use. I read the manual for about three minutes, and got started quickly.

Here's another example:



This is the before - taken in DC.



The after is ... interesting. I don't know, honestly. It's fun, but I think I like my pictures the way they are. Admittedly, though, I like special effects as much as the next person. After all, I'm the one who wants a fisheye lens, and a tilt-shift lens. So what's the difference? Well, no one is right or wrong. It's just a personal choice. I'd rather use lenses to produce special effects. Others like software. No big deal. :)

By the way, maybe I could have done this in Aperture, maybe not. But that's missing the point.

There are other tools, too, but many of them seem to be Windows-centric. For me, it's not a big deal, since I don't plan to do much with this. However, it's very interesting to see others' work. An example is this link:

Some very cool work is on that page!

Anyway, I can't post tomorrow - I'm in meetings for around 12 hours. Wednesday - I'll look for other online tools that a hobbyist could use.

Popular Photography - Tilt/Shift Lenses

Forget the fisheye lens I've always wanted. I found something better!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, what kind of lens is this?

In simple terms (because like most of you, I can't handle technical terms for too long) it's a lens that you can shift and tilt. With most lenses, you attach it to the camera body and that's it. You can't do anything else.

Why would you want to do such a thing? Two sets of reasons - practical and fun.

Practical: I've mentioned the "leaning building effect" - what happens when you try to take a picture of a tall building and you point the camera upwards. This would enable you to avoid that.

Practical: Great depth and great speeds. This would have been helpful during my butterfly shoots. An example:



I like this shot, but it took about ten takes. I wonder what this would have looked like with a tilt-shift lens. Perhaps I'd have more of the picture in focus, which could be interesting. Also, having to worry less about the butterfly, as well as the breeze in the facility would have been nice.

Fun: Optical illusions!

What am I talking about? Well, you can play with focus and make some parts of the picture blurry and others not. That makes for a fun optical illusion. You can also manipulate the picture and make it look like look like its subjects are miniatures or toys. It sounds like a lot of fun! I don't have any examples based on my own work, because I've never done it before. Here's a site with some good examples.

Upside: they work with my APS-C sensor (ie not full-frame body), unlike most fisheye lenses.

Downside - these are some expensive lenses. I'd need to go out and rent one. Renting wouldn't be difficult at all. Knowing me, I would spend hours experimenting and playing around. Anyway, it's something to think about. If you have one, let me know if you like it.

Contest Resolutions

1) I WILL check out my pictures in Windows before submitting them. This one in particular is only nice on a Mac:



2) I WILL try to consider my audience, but will mainly go with what I like. Art is subjective!

3) I WILL never give up. You never know!

Not Accepted, but ...

Last week, I mentioned that I entered another contest. I don't think I mentioned which one it was. On a whim, I entered the following picture in the DC Fotoweek Cherry Blossom Contest (I'm paraphrasing the name, forgive me):



And, I submitted the following pictures to the NCCF contest:





I didn't receive official word about the first contest, but I'm 90% sure I wasn't selected. The winners were selected last week, and the work was displayed on Friday.

What about the NCCF contest? Well, no go either, but I'll get into that shortly.

So, why aren't I not upset? Two reasons:

1) Art is subjective, not objective. It's hard to take things personally when this is the case.

2) The chances were not high to begin with - thousands entered the DC Fotoweek contest, and the NCCF contest accepted entries for all art forms - not just photography. So, for the NCCF contest, I was competing with other types of art as well.

Back to NCCF - I assumed that since the notification deadline (on Friday) passed, then that would be it. I wasn't expecting to hear from them.

But, I did! The coordinator emailed me personally to tell me that she loved my work, but that she wasn't a member of the jury, so, unfortunately, I was not selected. She referred to me as AN ARTIST!

I thought I would be upset - but really, the NCCF email was encouraging. I felt that someone noticed my work. That's a huge step. Photography is my hobby and not my career, so it isn't as though I failed at anything - I didn't. I felt that I came close, and that there are things I can do to help influence my outcomes the next time.

Plus, she referred to me as AN ARTIST! :)

I also drew some parallels between all of this and my job - which is sales in the technology world. For some reason, I feel encouraged to keep pushing at my job, too. My customers and prospects will notice. Maybe not all of them, but enough of them for me to do well. All of this puts a lot in perspective!

Tomorrow - contest resolutions.

DC Photo Shoot - National Arboretum

On Friday, I mentioned some tips for a combination hiking and photography outing. Little did I know that those tips were useful yesterday!

I headed out to the National Arboretum for the Ikebana International Annual Spring Flower Show at the National Arboretum in DC. I'll cover the flower show tomorrow, as it warrants its own topic. I actually took some of my own advice! I packed light, avoided harsh sunlight, and I looked for inspiration along the way.

That said, it wasn't easy. Take a look at some of these shots:







You see, I researched the flower festival and its details, but not so much the park itself. These are some pictures of azaleas, before the peak. Luckily, I packed light - I was hiking up and down the trails trying to find something that would work.

Having said that, I think these are nice and simple. They're not stunning, and I would never enter them in a contest, but they are pretty. I enjoy looking at them. And that's fine with me.

I used my kit lens - ISO 100 and automatic white balance. Any camera will work.

Inspiration from Popular Photography

I love this magazine. Every month, I am inspired to try at least one or two different ideas or approaches. This month's issue was no exception.

Earlier in the week, I'd mentioned how much I missed landscape photography. One of the articles in Popular Photography this month gives some ideas around hiking and what to pack during a hike, as well as some photography ideas. Some key tips that I will use:

1) Pack light, but well - for me this means leaving my telephoto lens at home, and just packing my kit and wide angle lenses - with a filter or two. A regular hiking backpack is recommended, which I have, but I think I'd need to throw in a t-shirt for padding and protection.

2) Research the area in advance. Learn what foliage and wildlife exist there, as well as peak times. In other words, get organized.

3) Avoid harsh sunlight. Use that time to scout and explore good photo opportunities.

4) Avoid the classic overlooks and look for inspiration along the way.

5) If possible, stay for sunset/twilight.

I was reminded of a few shots I'd taken in the past, and how I need to go back out:

The first two pictures were taken in northern Syria, the third was taken in the Shenandoahs, and the last was taken at Sugarloaf. These pictures remind me of how much my work has evolved over the last few years. I know I can do better than these!

I miss hiking. I went several months ago in WVA with a friend, but I'm not sure what I'd like to do in the near future. This weekend's weather (as well as my availability) aren't exactly optimal. However, I do need to make sure I get out this weekend and do something - and I have some ideas. Have a great one!

Kite Festival - Approach

Some more shots from the festival:





If you look at these as well as yesterday's shots, you'll notice a few key themes:

Shape - I tried not to take pictures of anything that was straight on, if that makes sense.

Framing - I made sure to use the space wisely. A small kite with a long tail can still take up a lot of space. That was my goal.

Clarity - My telephoto lens rocked the house! I held very still, and was amazed at how good these shots were.

Color - Given that it was a sad and cloudy day, I really relied on the vibrancy of the colors of the kites.

What would I do differently next time? Try to use the surroundings to create drama. As an example, a blue sky with clouds would have been more interesting. Perhaps I would take more pictures of the people and the festivities - at a distance so I don't have to worry about model releases.

Tomorrow - some inspiration from Popular Photography.

Kite Festival Previews

Taking pictures at the festival was interesting, but hardly easy. Once I got the hang of it, though, I did end up with some interesting shots and details. Here is a sampling of some of the best ones:

Technical details:

My telephoto lens was a MUST. I'm not sure how or if these could have been taken with a regular camera. Because I don't use that lens as much as the others, it was a treat. I have to say, though, that people must have thought I was the paparazzi - it's a very distinct looking and long lens.

White balance - cloudy.

ISO - 200.

Tomorrow - a few more good shots, as well as my overall approach and methodology.

Last Weekend's Photo Outing, Part 2 - Cherry Blossoms My Way

I'd mentioned yesterday that there is beauty in the cherry blossoms after the peak. Here are some pictures that illustrate my point:







The first one is a very classic picture, I'll admit. However, you'll notice that the blossoms aren't exactly abundant. They've already fallen off. I like the appearance of spring "bursting through". Also, while it wasn't sunny that day, you can still see some pale blue sky. Finally, I like the curves in the picture. This tree was one of the only ones that had any blossoms left at all.

The second picture was taken from the same area, but from a different angle. I loved the "sprinkling" of blossoms, as well as the way the tree in the background drapes.

Finally, here is a set of trees after the peak. You can see a few people in the picture - this is intentional because I wanted to show some activity - but it's a very peaceful look.

Tomorrow - the kite festival.

Last Weekend's Photo Outing, Part 1 - Back to Landscapes

It's no secret that I have felt tired and less than inspired lately. I was therefore very excited about the kite festival, because I needed a change of pace. So, off I went on Sunday with my camera and lenses. The festival was interesting, but yesterday was one of those days where the unplanned went even better.

I took about 300 pictures of kites, and decided to walk around. It was fairly nice out. I found myself over by the Tidal Basin. During the peak of cherry blossom season, it's extremely popular and crowded. What people don't realize is that slightly after the peak, there's a serenity and beauty that is often underestimated. Take a look at these pictures:









There are other pictures in my Flickr set, of course, but these were the highlights. You'll notice a key theme is reflections in the water. Another theme is shapes from the trees. I focused a great deal on framing, too. While I normally like brighter colors, I really found myself drawn here. It's as though spring is waiting to come out.

Technical details:

1) I used my kit lens - which means those of you who own point-and-shoot cameras would be fine here.

2) ISO = 200, White balance = cloudy, Aperture-dependent setting - 5.8.

In other words, nothing special or complicated.

When I first began taking pictures, my focus was on landscapes. I loved them. However, after taking some photography classes, began to wonder if my pictures were special enough. I then began exploring other aspects of photography, as documented in this blog. However, though, I have forgotten a key piece of my own advice - to shoot what I like. That can be unique, too. In fact, I Googled "Tidal Basin" and did not come across any pictures that look remotely like these. I therefore do have a different perspective to offer in my work.

Tomorrow - my take on the cherry blossoms.

Current Events - Shutdown and Contest

As some of you may know, the government is headed towards a shutdown. This affects many things, but as far as my photography is concerned, it affects the following:

1) My plans to see the Spring Flower Show at the National Arboretum

2) The Cherry Blossom Kite Festival - which should not have been postponed in the first place, but that's a different story

3) All public museums, which means that even my backup plan of shooting butterflies isn't going to happen

So, what will I do? I'll have to wait it out, for sure. I've had a long week, and could use the break. The weather isn't so great, either. I searched through some online challenges, but haven't been inspired, yet. We'll see. :)

In other news, months ago, I submitted some pictures to Getty's Call for Artists page. I finally received word that my pictures had been reviewed. However, looking at these selections:


I guess I'm not super optimistic. I think the next round, I'll submit a different mix. The submissions open up again in May, so I have some time to think about it!