Monochrome or a hint of color?

Recently my wife and I toured the historic St. Augustine Lighthouse.  You can climb to the 200+ steps to the top.  I climbed.  Lynn stayed at the bottom.  I took this photo of the the cascading steps from the top of the lighthouse.  I post processed the photo into the monochrome that you see here in Nik/Google Silver Efex Pro.  The original photo with a hint of color is below.

A subtle difference, but I am curious which one you prefer?

Removing an ugly sign in Nik/Google Snapseed.

While on my daily walk today I spotted the beautiful Mercedes-Benz above.  I really should have positioned my body and camera to eliminate the offending sign!  In post I took out the sign with Nik/Google Snapseed's healing brush.  This is an app for the iPhone and iPad.  But, there is a trick that I just learned to getting it right without messing up the photo.  When working in Snapseed and after selecting the photo you need to select the Healing Brush.  Then you need to double tap on the image to greatly enlarge it.  If you just use the resulting photo without enlarging it for the edit I can guarantee that you will mess it up.  Then you just need to carefully brush your finger over the area that needs to be replaced.  And, voila...that's all that there is to it. That's what I did above.  Nice car.  How did I do?

ACDSee Collage for a nice presentation of special events.

Our granddaughter, Savannah goes back to school Monday. Lynn and I traveled to Littleton, Colorado to be with her for a few days before she becomes preoccupied with the Second Grade. On Thursday afternoon her school invited parents a friends to meet the kids new teachers. I took a few photos and built this collage quickly with the mobile version of ACDSee. There are many templates available.  I have used ACDSee on my desktop at home almost since there beginnings to catalog my images. There are so many options today for preserving ones images for access on the road. I like this one. 

#collage #photostory #travel #on-the-road #Littleton #Colorado

Black Crown Night Heron photographed using the Olympus MC14 1.4x Teleconverter - First time out!

Black Crowned Night Heron. Safety Harbor, FL.  I shot this beautiful bird with my Olympus OMD-EM5ii. The lens was the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro and the Olympus 1.4x teleconverter.  It was my first try with the new teleconverter which takes the maximum fixed aperture to 4.0.  I am thrilled with this kit.  The camera was handheld and rock solid.  I shot the Heron while on my daily walk.  I remove the lens collar for my walk so that I can carry the camera and lens on my hip in a Think Tank holster

My first experience shooting fireworks.

On the 4th of July I had my first experience shooting fireworks.  There are many tutorials about at YouTube and elsewhere on the web that guided me.. At home in Safety Harbor, Florida , we generally don't go to the fireworks due to the crowds and traffic congestion getting there.  Perhaps, I will make the effort though next year. It was so much fun!

These photos were shot along the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Augustine just south of the Bridge of Lions.  Lynn and I were celebrating our 50th Anniversary nearby at the St. Francis Inn Bed and Breakfast.  The b&b was just a 2 block walk from the waterfront.  It was a great spot to setup our beach chairs and photo gear to get a birdseye view of the display.

All of these photos were shot on a tripod.  I used a Manual setting of f8, ISO 200 and 3-8 seconds exposure time. I used Autofocus with manual assist, but in hindsight I believe that using pure manual focus could bring more keepers.

My camera was the Olympus OMD-EM5ii with the Olympus f2.8 Pro lens.  It was a thrill looking at these on the computer.  I certainly am stoked to try shooting fireworks again.  But, July 4, 2017 is so far away....

A daily walk offers photographic payoffs!

One of my projects when I retired was to start every day with a brisk 4 mile walk.  I do the same walk daily, walking through my neighborhood and along sidewalks through some beautiful preserves as well as through a county park that is nearby.  Some of my greatest photo opportunities are during my walk.  For instance during the last week I spotted this mouse on the way home from my walk, but by the time that I was able to retrieve my camera from its holster the animal would skitter off into the brush. It became a game to get it's portrait.  This morning I decided to reverse my walk and try to get this critters' photo at the beginning of my walk.  Victory!  The mouse gave me about 30 seconds of its life for a portrait shoot.

The Yellow Crowned Night Herons have returned to the Park.  I have counted at least 5 pairs recently. I look forward to getting some interesting photos of them during the next few weeks. I know many folks prefer to get their photos with their iPhones, but I really like getting higher resolution photos that I can work with at home.  Both of these photos were taken with my Olympus OMD-EM5ii and an Olympus 40-150mm lens.  The camera is a light Micro 4/3 camera that is easy to carry on my waist in a Think Tank holster.  So, get out there.  Get some exercise  Get some photos. It's amazing how much is available to you virtually in your own backyard!

Churches of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

A highlight for photographers that spend any time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico is the opportunity to photograph the incredible church architecture throughout the Guanajuato State.  

Equally interesting are the church interiors.  So much detail.  It almost seems like all of the incredible chandeliers came from the same factory.  My biggest challenge with my photos of interiors was telling one from another.  They are really all beautiful, but similar.

Wow, look at this ceiling which is at the remote church in Atotonilco, about 8 miles out of San Miguel.  The following is the very plain exterior of this Catholic Church.

Of course the Parroquia (above) is the centerpiece of San Miguel.  If you meander in the streets of the city at one point you will be enjoying this incredible parish.  There is something happening at the Jardin, just outside of the Parroquia almost every day.

The architects of these churches all must have had a great sense of color.  Almost every church seems to be a riot of color contrasts like this one. Spending a couple of weeks in San Miguel is rewarded with great photo opportunities like these.