Joshua Tree Sunset

This was a challenging sunset shoot for me for a couple of reasons. #1 It was very, very windy. #2 I forgot to charge my batteries before this trip and by the time we made it to Joshua Tree, they were both flashing at me because they were nearly dead. I had to set up a shot ahead of time, turn the camera on, take the photo, and turn it off immediately, just to conserve the battery.

Lesson learned. Always double check the batteries before leaving on a trip and bring the charger even if you don’t think you’ll need it.

I really didn’t expect much of a sunset because of the mountains to the west. I’m used to wide open ocean for the sunset, so anticipating what the scene would look like in the dessert was a challenge. I didn’t think there would be any color in the sky. I was totally wrong. Not only did the sky behind me in this shot turn pink, but the land had a salmon colored glow to it. It was cool to see even if I didn’t get any incredible photos of it. I still have to edit a few of those and see if I like them.

Shot with my Nikon D7000 on a tripod. Edited with Photoshop CS6, Topaz Software, and Nik Software.

Secret Arch

In a funny coincidence, I have a photo featured on photobotos today. The one featured was actually shot up on top of the rock in this photo here.

This cave/arch thing is just a short drive from where I live. I didn’t even know about it until I saw another photographer post a photo of it recently. All I had to do was walk down a mountain of stairs to get to it. Maybe thats why I didn’t find it sooner.

The great thing about this beach is its at a hotel, so the crowds don’t know about it. I had the beach to myself most of the time until a couple came down to watch the sunset. I’m happy to have found another secret beach that the tourists don’t know about

This time out, I was mostly just scouting the location and observing the light at sunset. I don’t think the sun will ever rise or set through the arch, which is too bad. I’m still trying to figure out what time of day will give me the best lighting. I guess I’ll just have to do sunrise, sunset, and stormy. My guess is storm clouds will make the best scene.

Shot with ProHDR because TrueHDR was making the sky grey. Edited with Snapseed.

Painted Falls

I shot this out in Morgan Hill, California a few weeks back. I seem to have a lot of photos to edit on my phone and my mac. I got around to this one a week or two ago and gave it the painterly effect with AutoPainter. I couldn’t tell you which effect I used because my memory is bad.

I picked up AutoPainter recently when it was available for free. Unfortunately, its not free anymore. Oops, I should have mentioned it at the time.

I have all these apps that turn photos into paintings. Maybe I should take up painting already.

All Smiles

Our campsite at Limekiln was maybe 250 feet from the ocean. The night we checked in, we had hoped to do some night photography on the little beach there. That idea was quickly squashed by a group of drunks with flashlights that wanted to know what we were doing. Drunks + Flashlights + Long Exposures = Ruined photos. Now that I think about it, we were probably the only sober people in the camp. If you ever go to Big Sur, be prepared to cross paths with foreigners and weirdos.

The next morning, I think we all spent a little alone time on this peaceful beach. My friend pointed out that there was a face in the rocks so I had to go back to camp and grab my gear for a few photos. When some large waves crashed against the rocks, the ocean spray looked like smoke being blown out of the mouth. It was pretty cool, but it only happened a few times before I got my camera.

From this spot, the stream is flowing into the ocean from the bottom left corner. There were lots of cool rocks of various colors. They probably don’t show up too well in this iphone shot, however.

Shot with camera+ and a simple edit with Snapseed. There wasn’t much to do with this one.

Rise and Shine

I woke up before sunrise again today, but my warm bed won over going out for photos. Good thing too because its really foggy this morning.

I should have time to give Aquarella a proper review this week, so stay on the look out for that.

Shot with camera+ and edited with Snapseed.

Salmon Creek Trail

This was taken along the Salmon Creek Trail. There was a gushing waterfall just beyond this point that was looking very healthy after some wet weather we’ve been having. Side note, wet weather in California is like 2 days of rain in a row. Hopefully I can find time to edit and share the Nikon photos of the waterfall soon. I’m still playing catch up with all my photos.

Shot with camera+ and edited with Snapseed. I’m sure this would look cool edited with ShockMyPic as well, but I never got around to trying it.

Shell Beach Sunset

After a long day of editing wedding photos and finishing up a 5th day of Sal Cincotta’s wedding photography business workshop on creative live, I was ready for some fun. I looked out the window and saw a bunch of cool clouds that were part of a passing storm. I knew this was going to be a good sunset, so I ran out the door with my camera and headed to the beach.

Btw, Sal’s workshop was amazing. I highly recommend it for wedding photographers, or anyone that wants their photography business to be more profitable.

Ashland Creek T/S

I’ve found a couple of ways to keep cool this summer. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours at the library reading magazines. You can never get enough helpful tips from those photo mags, even if you’re advanced. It also seemed like a good idea to read some Southern Oregon magazines to see if they mention any places I should photograph.

As you may have guessed from today’s photo, I also got my feet wet in the creek. The water is quite chilly, but there are no complaints on a really hot day. I shot this spot with my D7000 first and then I remembered I should get a shot for this blog. When I went back in the creek with my iphone, I slipped and nearly fell on a bunch of rocks, but my awesome balance saved me. The things I do for the shot.

I shot this with camera+ and edited with Snapseed. I felt like it had been a while since I’d done a tilt shift, and the effect was perfect for giving the image a focal point.

Pads on the Pond

I joined a sitter agency shortly after moving to Ashland. Don’t laugh because it starts at 12/hr plus tips, which is more than I’d make in a school setting. The owner had a bbq/pool party yesterday so the sitters could all hang out. Basically, this meant I was thrust back into the childcare world where I’m the only guy surrounded by a bunch of chatty women. Once upon a time, being the only guy surrounded by college age girls sounded like a good idea. I must be getting old because it doesn’t really appeal to me now. Plus the girls here seem quite different. Everyone is talking about how they’re vegetarian or super conscious of what they eat.

My friends fiance and I hopped in the pool shortly after we arrived, but none of the girls joined us. I didn’t really care, it was hot and I was looking forward to the pool all day. You know what I don’t understand? Why would you wear a bikini under your dress to a pool party if you’re not going to get in or even lay out for a bit? Surely I can’t be that intimidating lol.

 

Today’s photo was the pond in the backyard where the party was at. I shot it with camera+ and edited with SimplyHDR. The top was also edited with PhotoToaster. The bottom with ShockMyPic. I liked both versions.

The Oregon Coast

We made it out to the coast yesterday. Its a lot farther than the 10 minute drive I’ve been use to the past 8 years. It was foggy and cool without being too cold. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take low 60s over low 90s any day.

I like all of the large rocks on the coast here. It makes for more interesting images.

Shot with ProHDR, edited with Snapseed and ShockMyPic.

An Otter Sunset

An otter sunset…get it? Yet another sunset from Shell Beach. This was taken the other evening when I was out there. There were a few sea otters watching me shoot from about 100 feet away. A couple of them came pretty close to the shore, but of course, they waited for me to take my zoom lens off my nikon before doing that.

This image really came out better than I anticipated. The original looked bland, but there was enough info throughout the entire tonal range that I was able to work with it.

I did most of the work in FilterStorm, which I’m starting to think is probably one of the top 3 most powerful editing apps. If it didn’t take over 5 minutes to save when I’m done it would be hard to beat. I also used Snapseed and Tadaa to add the finishing touches. The final result was much closer to what the scene actually looked like when I was there.

Alright Sarah, I think I may actually head to Big Sur today. If I post from my phone later with ugly elephant seals, it means I’m heading up the coast.

Photo Reflection

I already have a few apps that do reflections. Some with water, one without. Photo Reflection is a free app that offers more than the free water reflection apps do. There are 4 different reflection layouts to choose from. You have control over how much is reflected and you can even fade out the reflection with a gradient. Photo Reflection even offers some basic editing tools. Not bad for a free app.

I shot this with ProHDR and edited with SimplyHDR before using Photo Reflection.

Abstract Creations

I wanted to try something different today. In the past, I’ve used photoshop to take a portion of an image, copy it, flip it, combine the 2 images, copy, flip and combine again to make something abstract. Make sense? I wanted to see if I could do that with the iPhone too.

This is what I started with.

I used Filterstorm to flip it. Then I used Nostalgio, which is a frame app, to combine the images twice. Its a pretty simple process and makes for some interesting creations.

I also wanted to give you all a heads up. App developers tend to feel generous around holidays, which means you can find apps on sale or free this weekend. I’ll let you know if I find any good ones. For starters, Dramatic BW is only .99 now.

For Those in Colder Climates

Lately I’ve seen my friends posting about how they’re getting snow, hail, and rain, so I thought I owed it to them to go out to the beach and watch the sunset last night. The tripod and I nearly got taken out by a wave when I first started shooting on the shore. Luckily I saw it out of the corner of my eye when I was looking at my phone. I was able to grab the tripod and jump back onto some rocks just in time.

The first two images were created with Slow Shutter, which allows you to do long exposures, and edited in Snapseed. You really need a tripod to get long exposures as sharp as possible. I do use a tripod, but I don’t have a case to mount it on their properly. I just hold my iPhone as still as I can against the tripod. I think I need to break down and get some real equipment for better results because they could be sharper.

The third image was created with ProHDr, edited with Snapseed for the drama and selective adjustments. Finally, I used Filterstorm to tonemap the water and apply a curves layer to the sky in an attempt to lighten it up a bit. I like Filterstorm, but it takes so long to save an image. This one took about 2 minutes.

Barren

It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.
-David Bailey

This is at a beach out by Guadalupe, CA, which is a small migrant town where a lot of field workers live. Its a neat place because its in the middle of nowhere and it feels like you’re in Mexico. I’ll have to snap a few pics of the town next time because it has some character.

This was shot with ProHDR and edited with Snapseed.