Capturing Movement

I went on a trip to California recently and my family decided it would be fun to go whale watching. It was really cool! I was really excited about taking pictures of whales, but unfortunately the lenses I have didn't have enough zoom to get a neat shot of the whales. I ended up taking some pretty neat pictures on the boat though. When they were raising the sails I saw this.

I haven't edited this photo at all. I really couldn't think of anything I could to do make it better. Maybe something will come to me, but for now I like it as it is.

Soon I'll have some photos of planes and wildlife and probably some abstracts. I kind of just wanted to post something because I haven't in awhile and I quite like this picture. The end.

What I See

I've gotten really bad at taking my camera with me places, but this weekend I took my camera with me to Littleton to visit Naomi. I just took pictures of things that intrigued me (like the feathers I posted earlier) and whatever seemed fun. There wasn't a purpose other than to start shooting again. It felt so good. I love the sound of the shutter. Anyway, this is what I came up with. I've been trying not to over edit my photographs, so I converted them to black and white. For one of the photos I erased the car from the background, but it wasn't too difficult.

This one was a little tricky trying to erase the car between the fingers, my friend Gigi helped me there!

Also, while I was playing around on GIMP I stumbled across this filter I really liked called soft glow. It can be a little too much, but adds a neat effect. Here is an original photo from the same day (feathers again!) and the photo with the soft glow filter.

It didn't really do that much, just changed some color intensity, but I really like it.

So that's what I've been working on this week. I plan to do a photo shoot involving paint soon, so hopefully I'll have more to show you soon! 

Background?

I found two pictures that i think would make nice backgrounds.
The first is from a few months ago, the first day I got my polarizing filter. It helps with glare and makes sunny landscapes look gorgeous. This picture is a simple shot of the sky, but I love how soothing it is.

Today, when in Littleton, I decided to take pictures of anything that inspired me. My friend Naomi had some sort of feather thing hanging from her rearview mirror, and I got a pleasing shot of that.

I know these pictures have no meaning and are just random snapshots. No, they don't require expert composition or anything. But they're nice, random photos I'm excited to show. I'll have some pictures up soon that have a little more substance soon, but before I can do that I need to access photoshop. I tried using gimp again. Gimp is great for the changing of a picture as a whole for altering the color and such, but for any specific manipulation, it's the worst. So there we are. Enjoy!

Alone.

I did an attempt at nudes awhile back. For the most part, I didn't feel very confident about it. It was a new subject matter I'm unfamiliar with, kind of how portraits were difficult for me at first. I edited a photo awhile ago, here it is. It isn't perfect, but it isn't supposed to be.

Naomi

Over winter break, Naomi and I did a photo shoot. I have finally begun editing these photos. I went to the computer lab at school (which has CS4 now!) and got busy. It was really nice to take some time to myself and get back in the groove of editing. It really has been too long. I feel so much better about myself having created something.

A close up I like.

This one isn't my favorite but I like the concept. I'm going to have to go back and use my polarizing filter so there aren't so many reflections and maybe not take the shot at noon. I think it could be great.

simple.

and finally...my absolute favorite:

I Like My Cat

So I took pictures of her last friday... and tonight i thought I would edit them. I actually came up with something i like, despite how difficult gimp was being with me. I didn't edit much, i just converted the photos to black and white and adjusted the contrast, simple stuff. The photos were shot with my macro attachment I've mentioned before. There isn't much to say about it, I just felt like doing something.

It's Really Been Awhile

I haven't posted in a long time. I kind of came to a creative block, but I've decided i need to get back in the groove of things, do some photo shoots, or at least work with photo shoots i've done in the past. I am going to try and get photoshop soon, I've been trying to use a program called GIMP, basically it's the worst.
GIMP worked fine on the PC i used to use, but i got a mac and it is simply a pain. To switch tools i have to click on each window twice and the layers do not function as they should. But despite this, I've been playing with a picture from awhile ago, from a photo shoot in Ward. Mostly I was playing with the color balance on a picture I had already edited, this is what I came up with.

1. Extra golden, a sunset of sorts.

 2. Attempting something that resembles a moonlit area...not exactly a success, but it's pretty.

 3. My original edit.

I'm a fan of all three of the edits, but i think my first edit (not extra golden or blue) is probably my favorite. Depending on my mood, or the mood I'm aiming for, would determine which picture i would choose.