Yosemite 2013

A year or two ago we went there and found out it was still closed for the winter.  So we took another trip there this year.  I took this picture and thought it didn't need any "work" at all.  It was already beautiful and so colorful. I think it needed to stay natural.  It's so sad to see how much has been devastated from the fires in this area.  I’m all for reforestation but these old trees are irreplaceable. 

 

 

Fall colors

Here's an old picture I took with the help of my brother-in-law’s finger up Ogden canyon last fall.  I love the color.  I’ve posted this before but I’m just showing how added clouds can add to a picture.  It’s not for everyone and even I like some of my pictures more on the natural side.   I don’t mind when a client wants to keep their picture more true to life.  However, I also get clients that would love to capture additional color in the sunrise or sunset.  When you shoot in Manual mode with a DSL camera, sometimes you lose the color in the background because you are trying to meter for their skin tones.  So here’s a before and after of our 2012 fall picture.  I actually enlarged this picture for my wall on a canvas print without the added color in the clouds.

 

 

 

Animals from our recent trip to Alaska

Here are a couple of pictures from our recent trip to Alaska that I took with a rented extender lens. This lens is a little pricey so I don't think I'll be buying one anytime soon. I'm just trying my hand at everything to see where I really want to focus. No pun intended. It extended my current 400mm lens to 800mm so I could shoot from far-far away and not get killed in the process. I really enjoyed these subjects but it's not what I get to do a lot of.  I do more portrait work. I've been able to meet some great people and made a few new friends along the way. These two bears look kind of fierce but they were just playing around.  I love the way this elk is curled up and soaking in the warn sun.  It was a warm day when I shot these pictures with lots of sun, my kind of day.  Sorry for the poor quality but it takes too long to load if I don't reduce the pixels.

 

Macro prints from Alaska

So now I'm trying my hand at Macro photography. I didn't think I would like it this much. I took this picture in Alaska. Just flew in last night. What a beautiful place. I want a summer home over there and I would settle for a shack by a river full of salmon.  I'd grow a big garden and enjoy the beauty.  It's on my top ten places to have a summer home.  I have never seen this flower before but it's real, just super close. I'm definitely going to have to blow this one up and put in on canvas.  Below is another macro picture I took. I know the bug is creepy but I kinda like it!!! Not sure if I'm going to remove it just yet. It's kinda like Beauty and the Beast.

Pickers Dream

Here is another crack at an HDR photo I took in Alaska. However this one has a little personalization added to it. Some pictures are absolutely perfect as an HDR print and as soon as I took this picture, I just knew it was screaming "HDR".... It's amazing how HDR possessing can turn an ordinary picture into a work of art. I took me about two hours to create but it was worth it. I made this print for two Very Special People! *****DBL click to see the BEFORE & AFTER detail.