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May 2008 :

Updated: May 15, 2008 8:59pm PST

April 2008 : Images from the month of April, 2008. For each day in the month, I will take at least one photograph. Some days, I will take more photographs than others but I will only add one new image to this gallery for each day of the month. This is part of my image a day project for 2008.

Images from the month of April, 2008. For each day in the month, I wi ...

Updated: May 02, 2008 10:26pm PST

Birmingham Botanical Gardens : Images from Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Birmingham, AL

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Images from Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Birmingham, AL

Updated: Apr 03, 2008 8:40pm PST

Personal Favorites : The number of images in my galleries is continually growing. After hearing from people, it is interesting to learn which images they like. I am too close to the work to be objective about it but I will admit to having some that are my personal favorites. This isn't intended to be a collection of my "best" pictures, it is simply a collection of ones that speak to me more than others. That is why this gallery is named "Personal Favorites" and not something like a "best of" type gallery. It is nice for me when anyone likes any of my photographs. Everybody has different life experiences and there is no way for me to know how the various images will be interpreted by the visitors to the site.

Comments are always welcomed and encouraged.

Personal Favorites

The number of images in my galleries is continually growing. After he ...

Updated: May 02, 2008 10:28pm PST

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As we get to the end of another month, I find myself shooting flowers again. Before this daily project started, I knew I enjoyed shooting flowers but landscapes made up a large portion of my overall shots. I had also taken a lot of sunset and sunrise photographs. I still love those shots and have plans to take more of those types of shots as time goes by but on a daily basis, at least in this part of the world, at this time of year, flowers are plentiful and offer so many options and opportunities. Black and white photography has interested me for a very long time but I am particular about which of my images translate well into that mode. I need to do more with duotone and will eventually play with that in the future. Anyway, today’s photo was taken in Hoover, AL at the Aldridge Botanical Gardens. From what I can tell, this flower is some type of Calla lily, but some of you may know a lot more about the specifics than me.

I have been observing the star system a little lately. I fully understand that it is a subjective rating system that reflects the opinion of the individual viewing the image. I don’t hang my hat on the ratings and in terms of feedback, rely more on what people say or in some cases what they don’t say. Many of you are very supportive and understanding. I know I have mentioned this now in a number of captions so if it bothers you, don’t read the captions. As much as we might try, because we are putting something of ourselves in these images and posting for the world to see, the negative or less than positive comments tend to stick out above the rest. Personally I think everyone in this group is sensitive and creative. The level of expertise varies a good bit throughout the group but we all seem to share the same passion and love for photography. Remember there are people behind the images you see in the galleries so choose your comments carefully and with kindness. The vast majority of the members of the group do that anyway.

It was a struggle, but since today is Saint Patrick’s Day, I caved and my daily photo is clover. Nope, not a four-leaf clover, I didn’t find one of those. From what I have been told, my ancestry is half Irish and half Scottish but that is probably fairly common in the United States. Pinching people if they aren’t wearing green on Saint Patrick’s Day was never on my list of good traditions. My guess is maybe people that had been enjoying too many adult beverages might have started it. Since he has “Saint” attached to his name there must be some Catholic influence back there somewhere. Yeah, I could have Googled it but I really didn’t want to know.

When I was a kid, fields of clover seemed more common but open fields were more common. The clover I saw today seemed different than what I remember as a kid, but maybe it is the area or maybe it’s just a kid’s memory.

Making clover look interesting is a challenge in itself. It wasn’t noticeable when I was shooting, but the clover is covered with little hairs and also had some kind of dust on it. I can’t explain the little hairs, but I decided the dust was from fairies.

The post processing here is probably not as much as one might think. Besides the background layer, I have some minor adjustment layers for brightness, contrast, and hue. I made a copy of the background layer, reduced the opacity to 30% and changed it from Normal to Color Burn to make the tones a bit deeper and richer. There is a lighting effect rendered on the background layer to highlight the center of the clover in the middle and to give it some texture. After that, I added a Black and White layer, used the tint but changed it to green then reduced the opacity to 50%. Now that I have typed all that, maybe there was considerable post processing. It didn’t seem like much at the time.

At some point in the future, I plan to buy a nice macro lens. Until then, I will have to settle for close-up filters. This is just a picture of a knot in a rope. I had fun playing with the close-up filters but didn’t exactly come up with anything stunning.

I appreciate all of the encouragement from the group the last few days. My issues with my photographs are influenced a lot by my mood away from the camera. I apologize for bringing some of that baggage over here, for better or worse the daily photographs end up being a photo blog of sorts. It is a nice way to record the year and life creeping into the mix is inevitable. Lately I haven’t been able to contribute as much as I’d like to the community in terms of commenting on your images. Hopefully this week will be better for me in terms of time to look at the other galleries.

There was something about these little flowers that caught my attention this afternoon. Most of my shots for the afternoon were of larger flowers like irises and roses. Part of my time tonight was exploring better techniques for converting an image to a high contrast black & white photograph. It was time well spent and no doubt will come in handy down the road. Today’s shot however is in full color.

There is a shot of a Japanese Hydrangea in the Bonus Tracks gallery, along with a few other shots from today. I had never seen a Japanese Hydrangea before and photographed it because it was both unusual and pretty. For some reason, I have found water lilies to be a great subject this spring. The flowers and the plants look so prehistoric to me, very primitive. The one today had a pretty purple flower and the others I had seen were either pink or white. The bloom on this water lily seemed to glow, almost like it had an internal light source and was radiating. If you are keeping score, this is not the first water lily to make my pick as the daily photo, it isn’t even the first one this month. One of the hard things about selecting the daily photo on some days is that what has already been shot and posted to the daily gallery, especially in a given month, will often influence my choice. If I had been choosing on variety, one of the other shots would have been the choice today. But you know me, I live on the edge. Yep, I am out there pushing the limits. So against all odds, today’s daily photo is a water lily. I would have tried to build some suspense but you would have already seen the image by now so the element of surprise was gone. Or was it? Look back, maybe the image has changed. Nah, it’s still the water lily.

Once again, thanks so much for all of the comments and support from the group on my photographs. It means a lot, especially because there is so much talent in this community. Being around your galleries for the past several months has been a huge help to my photography.

For the second Friday afternoon in a row, my photography was punctuated with tornado warning sirens blaring throughout the area. Luckily I had taken a few photographs before I ran to the car. I drove home in a heavy rain mixed with hail. Almost as soon as I walked in the door, the power went out and stayed off for about four hours.

Today’s shot was a bit of an experiment with grain. I shot at a higher ISO with the intention of introducing more grain to the image, trying to see where that would take the shot in terms of the image and the processing. It gave the flowers a different texture.

Today was one of those days when I had too many to choose from for the photo of the day. With the warm weather creeping in, things are blooming everywhere. It will get more colorful every day for a while. The problem with having so many to pick from is that I am always afraid I will choose the wrong one. I am too close to the pictures to have much objectivity. Anyway, I went with the yellow tulips, hope you like it.

Today is another flower type picture. It feels like I am getting stale with my photos again. When I post a flower image these days, I imagine all of you looking at the image and thinking, “Well, what a surprise, another flower photograph from Gerry, how original. Can’t that guy find something else to shoot?”

I have so many images today but I don’t like any of them. They struggle to even be called average. Days like these makes me wonder what I am doing in the group. I am going to have to spend some time this weekend trying to learn some new things and maybe that will help me get some new ideas and make some better photographs. Maybe I am just tired. It seems like it has been a very long week.

Today was a skip lunch day due to a PET scan stress test. It was a beautiful day so I used my lunch break for photography since I couldn’t have anything to eat four hours prior to the test and no caffeine 24 hours before the test. So keeping busy was a good thing under the circumstances. The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is only a few minutes from my office and is a nice place to spend a lunch break on most any day.

I apologize in advance because I can’t identify the plant I photographed. I was shooting some flowers nearby and liked the way the light was hitting these leaves. There were a few other shots that could have made the daily photo for today and I threw them in the Bonus Tracks Gallery (they are the first 3 images).

We had severe weather this afternoon and tornado sirens were getting a workout. After the rain and storms passed, I went out to shoot a few pictures before sundown. I am trying to keep my streak of not having to shoot indoors intact. There is nothing fancy or complicated about this shot.

This shot was taken at a footbridge that crosses the Cahaba River. The back story is that I was looking for a new place to shoot. I researched some options in my area and found out about the bridge. That was the easy part. I had directions that took me to a sports park, and then the bridge was supposed to behind the park. The trick was finding the bridge. There were some little league baseball games in progress. It was getting late in the afternoon and it was cloudy, so my light was fading. I asked some of the moms on the playground by the ball park about the bridge. My assumption was that moms know everything. They had all heard about the bridge, but none of them actually knew the location. They sent me over to ask one of the coaches who gave me directions to a different part of the park and off I went. His directions got me in the right general area and I started walking down paths and into the woods looking for the bridge. At this point I am burning what little daylight I have left, am walking in wooded areas with a lot of undergrowth, and concerned about snakes. I could hear the river, but couldn’t see it. I made my way through the undergrowth and to the edge of a small steep hillside that led down to the river. So I maneuvered down the bank with my camera, backpack, and tripod. The woods were heavy in both directions and I leaned out looking down the river, then up the river and saw the bridge. Now it was just a matter of getting back up the steep bank, back through the woods to the edge of the park to search for the bridge but I knew where it was now. Eventually I found the right path and it was worth the effort. The down side was that I had used most of the good light in the search. I took a number of shots and decided to go with this one.

In my photograph from yesterday, I commented about processing and workflow. I have some pretty good books on Photoshop and need to read more. I found a great section on color correction and used it on today’s images. I am happy with the results and the colors are very accurate. Hopefully this will be something that can become a regular part of my workflow.

Today’s photo was made from the observation balcony at Vulcan Park. The park sits atop Red Mountain just south of downtown Birmingham. My intent was to take some shots of the city as the light was fading after sunset, hoping to get some nice photographs as the lights were coming on. The view of the city was obscured by a thick haze. The dull light offered little contrast to make the image pop. I have limited experience shooting at this time of day especially in these conditions so it was interesting to try and see what I could capture. In this photograph, you are looking northward into Birmingham.

There is nothing of interest to note in the image processing. I played around with several filters but decided to leave the image natural with only minor color correction and enhancement.

After a long afternoon at work that ended after a three hour long meeting, I went to the botanical gardens to take some photographs and relax. The light was great and the flowers were beautiful. I shot so many pictures and I didn’t have enough time to work through all of them tonight. I struggled with which one to select and have posted a few alternates in the Bonus Tracks gallery. I expected to have a rose shot for the day but as I was getting ready to leave, another photographer told me that the water lily was blooming. I decided to go with that instead of the roses.

After several days of basically playing it straight, today’s shot ventured more on the experimental side. The actual photograph was fairly basic but the post production was more of an adventure. Photoshop CS3 is such a massive package with so many options and I know I have only scratched the surface. Most nights, I follow a standard workflow I have developed for my images. It works well and gives me a good basis for processing. I try to be careful about over-processing an image. It’s not that I have a problem with people being creative, that’s all part of the fun. I am just wary of letting myself rely on it too heavily.

Hopefully you will give me some space to stretch a bit. I have done basically nothing in terms of experimenting with rendering light effects under the Filter area. There are a ton of options for rendering lighting effects. I just played with it some and settled on one of the Omni effects and chose to apply a Texture Channel which gave it an enhanced effect.

As always, comments and suggestions are encouraged and invited.

Today’s shot is back to something I really love, landscape images. Since we are technically in the foothills of the Appalachians, we get a certain hint of a “smoky” look against the hills. I manipulated the colors in the processing and applied a modified gradient map layer. When I bought the zoom lens, one of the intended uses was on landscapes. Before today, I hadn’t used it for that purpose.

Today’s photo is back to a simple shot. Late this afternoon, I went to the botanical gardens in Hoover, but with it being such a beautiful and with it being Easter, there were quite a few people there. It is a fairly large area, so everyone was spread out over the gardens. I admit that I do not know the name of this flower. My attention to detail in trying to know exactly what I am shooting varies; today was one of those days I just shot things I thought were interesting and didn’t pay much attention to identifying the plants and flowers.

There is some post processing. I know that opinions vary in this group on people that like it and people that prefer the images without much post processing. I just let each image guide itself. It is a decision I make on a case by case basis. Hope the purists don’t mind and the critics don’t think I am going to the well once too often.

Feast or famine, why are there so many days like that for the dailies? Yesterday it was all I could do to come up with one photograph for the daily gallery. Today was a struggle to choose. Opinions vary and personal tastes vary so feel free to disagree with my choice. I put the other contenders in the Birmingham Zoo gallery, partly because it was small and these shots are all from the zoo. This shot is a Monarch butterfly but I assume most of you already know that.

One thing I wonder about with the group is the work flow that each of you go through. I wonder if you have any special plug-ins for Photoshop that you think really offer some great assistance and leave more time for shooting and less time working with the images. I started this journey with Photoshop Elements 6.0 to process my images. It seems like such a long time ago now. I was originally shooting in JPG format because I didn’t know any better. It wasn’t long before I discovered the benefit of working with layers and also the benefit of shooting in RAW format. It was around that time that I had processed enough images to begin to establish a workflow. I was reading a lot about workflow in articles but so many of the articles applied to photographers that shot a large number of images on a subject, like maybe a portrait of someone. The articles talked about workflows to create contact sheets, to make the process of adjusting the groups of images more efficient. In that sense, it didn’t apply to the way I was shooting. Eventually, I started to notice a familiar routine as I would import my images into Adobe Bridge, open selected images in Adobe Camera RAW, then move to Photoshop CS3. Once in Photoshop CS3, I had my basic routine of renaming my background layer to protect the original layer, creating a blank layer to overlay the background and use the Custom Shape Tool to decide how I wanted to crop the image. Then I moved on to adjusting sharpness, color, contrast, and balance. I realized that I had a workflow, not in the sense that the articles had described for groups of images, but a definite workflow for the way I handle the processing for individual images. With so many people in this group and so much activity, each day as I am working on my images, I wonder what little things I could learn from each of you if I had the chance to observe your workflow, what new techniques I would discover.

The moon was a great target tonight for image of the day. I had to play with a number of aperture settings and shutter speeds to get an image with the level of detail that I wanted. Yes, there is a fair amount of PP for effect but it was fun to try different things in Photoshop trying to figure out what I wanted to do here. Apologies to the Photoshop wizards out there, I am somewhat limited in artistic skills and Photoshop skills.

For anyone thinking that I used a stock image or anything, this was my base image.

Morning, stream, steam - This was taken at sunrise on a stream at Tannehill State Park in Alabama. The steam coming off the water and the morning light created a surreal mood.

After a few days of shooting flowers in well maintained gardens, today was back in the woods. Periodically with the daily shots, I start feeling stale. I need to regroup and give some thought to locations and subjects. It isn’t a case of not enjoying the photography. Today, in the woods was nice and relaxing. The fresh air was great and it is good for me to walk around, forgetting about everything but taking pictures. It is the gallery that taunts me, questions my creativity, whispers that I am not expanding my range. It is becoming a familiar cycle.

Today’s shot is just a small spray of wildflowers. It is nothing dramatic. Simple scenes can contain details that go unnoticed. These small flowers are scattered throughout the woods. They are sparse and very easy to miss if you aren’t looking closely.

The daily galleries are such a gift because they give us so many opportunities to shoot. It is a bit of a paradox because the schedule confines to a daily time frame, but it also gives us the freedom to experiment. But the tendency is to stay in the comfort zone, stick with what you know. Trying new things carries a risk but offers potential reward. Today I decided to shoot in the woods at Moss Rock Preserve again. My intention was to shoot more wildflowers. There have been various articles on using flash outdoors in certain situations. Today turned into an opportunity to try it. There was plenty of light, it was a sunny afternoon. But the woods are filled with shadows in the afternoon so I thought it was a chance to try the flash outdoors.

Sports photography is totally new for me. Tonight was a trip to Regions Park in Hoover, AL for a minor league baseball game. I had pretty good seats down the right field line, a little past first base. There were shots of the action on the field and the fans in the stands. Both are interesting in their own way. Trying to shoot action is going to require me to stretch a bit and that will be a good thing. This first attempt was a great learning experience and I hope to improve as I get more comfortable shooting things that are moving.

Apologies to the people that would like me to identify my subjects but most of the time I just shoot something because it looks cool. This is one of those shots. I have no idea what kind of plant this is but I will try to identify it. The colors, the shape, and the texture caught my eye.

The honest truth is that I took some photographs today of yet another water lily. I know, you don’t have to say anything, I could feel it. History was in the making, the daily photo world was about to be turned upside down. It was a bold stroke and the excitement was palpable. All that was left to do was a little post processing and some cropping, no sweat. I was in the zone.

I’d like to say it was a close call and that the water lily was edged out by the slightest of margins. But I’d be lying. The water lily came out flat, didn’t bring its best. In the harsh light of the daily photo, it’s day to day and you can’t coast. The water lily wasn’t even in the top five today.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller

We had some severe storms today but there was a small break in the weather as I was going home from work. I stopped at Aldridge Botanical Gardens in Hoover to take a few pictures. I have noticed several galleries with the traditional dogwood blooms. My photograph for the day is a dogwood, but it is a pink dogwood. It was very pretty in that strange light you get between storms.

The picture that was almost the picture of the day is here.

Stacking turtles? I have so many great pictures from the Japanese Gardens today, may beautiful scenes, but this shot of the turtles gets the nod for my photo of the day. I had never seen them stack like this before and then the way they have their heard all sticking out at the same angles was just funny. Some of my other shots from today are in this gallery.

The only post processing tip I can offer is something that is part of my work flow and you may already do it. But it is about cropping and the rule of thirds. If you happen to use Photoshop, create a new blank layer, go to the toolbar and select the Custom Shape tool (U) and try to create a frame around the part of the picture you want to use. Don’t worry if it is the wrong shape, you can adjust it after you draw it and move it around by hitting “V” on your keyboard. You will have basically a shape that is three squares by three squares; the intersection points are helpful for framing. When you have it sized and placed where you want it, select the “M” key and draw around the edges of the area you want to select. The go to Image on your menu and select “Crop”. Then just drag the layer you created into the trash can and the frame will be gone. You can them continue with whatever adjustments you want to make.

Sometimes I pick a photograph for the day and know why I like the shot. Occasionally I pick a photograph for the day and am not sure why I like it. There was something about this shot that I liked but to be honest with you I don’t really know why.

I had mentioned the other day that I was feeling stale again. That feeling motivated me to modify how I am using curves to correct the color in my shots. Hopefully there will be a subtle difference in the finished images.

Today’s choice was a struggle. It’s not because I didn’t like the shot the best, it was more because I have posted water lilies on two other occasions. In each case I like the shots for different reasons. Today’s image was chosen more for the water and the lily pads than the flowers. The past few days have included learning some different techniques for processing my images. Photoshop offers a lot of ways to make a photo black & white but a lot of them leave something to be desired. This gradient map method has several steps but really gives me a lot of control of the tones. For those of you that have applied a gradient map layer and chosen the black & white layer, this method is a bit more in depth than that.

Thanks so much for all of the comments and support from the group. As we head into May, I remember when I first discovered this group through a tip from Vandana. This community has been a huge help in so many ways for my photography. I enjoy your daily galleries so much and look forward to them every day. You are a talented and creative group and I am happy that I can participate in the daily photos. It blows me away that you guys take the time to look at my images and will make the effort to leave a comment. I appreciate it more than I can say.

I have several thoughts so hang with me if you have the time and patience. Some days I just shoot, some days I actually have a concept, not often, but some days. Today my intent was to shoot primarily from a low perspective and see what I could capture. Let me say a few things about the photograph, it is another water lily but from a completely different location. I have not applied and PP to the flower beyond color correction, sharpening, brightness, and contrast but the colors on the flower don’t look real. I assure this is a very accurate photograph.

I would be interested to get any input or reactions on an idea I have been thinking about. I have wondered what my photographs might be like if others in the group processed them. I think it would be interesting if we could on some basis, have a photograph or little selection of photographs that we could select from, process and upload. The compare results to see how different people interpreted the image. Maybe we could create some kind of community gallery for the uploaded images. I would be willing to get some kind of web location where we could upload and download the RAW files. Different people could take pictures; I am not suggesting we use my images. I was just using it as an example. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

It’s lucky for me that I don’t have to name a photo of the day for my gallery before I’ve had a chance to play with the images. Experience is teaching me that I am often wrong about which images out of a batch that I will like the best. It’s not that I thought this would be a bad shot; I took the time to frame it and shoot it. It’s just that I expected one of the other shots to be my favorite from this batch.

Beginning a few nights ago, I started working on a different method for converting an image to black & white. This has nothing to do with the quadtone photograph from last night which is a different process entirely. This method involved a series of steps using a gradient map layer. The opacity of the layer has been lowered to 80 percent to let a hint of color back through for a washed out look.

Landscapes have always been a favorite of mine. The sky can look so many different ways and clouds can create magic with light. Needless to say, besides their beauty, they can be very challenging to photograph. One of these days I will get the exposure just right and have one of those spectacular photographs. Until then, I will continue to try and keep learning from my mistakes. The nice thing about photography is that even our mistakes can be decent enough to share. I loved the way the sun was streaming through the clouds this afternoon. Clearly, I underexposed the land too much but I was trying to avoid overexposing the sky. It’s a tricky line and I still like the image despite the imperfections.

Yesterday when I left work, I drove down to Auburn, AL to see two of my sons that are in school down there and to meet a friend of mine to take pictures today. After dinner last night, I still needed to take some photographs so one of my sons suggested the new fine arts museum at Auburn University. It gave me a good opportunity to shoot at sundown.

I am a day behind posting. This was shot on the 6th of May and I am posting on the 7th of May. I was up at 4:30 this morning and met a friend at 5:30 and we were out shooting for about 8 hours. I have a ton of images to try and process. We had a great time. He and I have been close friends since junior high school; he is partly responsible for getting me back into photography and introduced me to SmugMug.

The woods in Moss Rock Preserve are getting greener every day. I love the shades of green on the new leaves; it is so fresh and bright. My intent was to shoot down some of the trails framed by the new growth and have one of those shots as my image of the day. I made a number of those shots, but along the way, off the trail, were tiny splashes of color. At first I didn’t notice them because I was more focused on the trees and the trails. In various places, would be these various colors and types of wildflowers. Sadly, I am not a wildflower expert so I am unable to identify what I shot. The wildflower in today’s shot reminds me of an iris in shape and color, but I think irises are flowers from bulbs. Anyway, this is a pretty flower, no matter what name we call it.

A few other shots from today can be found in a new gallery for Spring colors in Moss Rock Preserve.

Today was one of those days when I didn’t make many photographs. Days like this force me to work with what I have and that isn’t always a bad thing. This little stream runs through one of the areas at the botanical gardens in Hoover, it was sunny, and the light was not coming from the direction I really wanted but such are the realities of shooting outside.

For my camera equipment, I try to use our local Wolf Camera stores if possible. They had offered a good deal to customers to let them create a book with some of their photographs. My photographs haven’t been printed to any degree and I decided to take the time to put some of my images on a USB drive and head over to the store. One of the employees helped me a lot with layout and in the process it gave me a chance to discuss photography with someone that has some helpful insight for me. I have so much to learn and love to expand my knowledge. Now I am thinking about some options for lenses and also maybe a better tripod.

The colors of springtime are getting more vivid by the day. This afternoon, I went out to take some shots of wisteria and some shots of the dogwood trees that are starting to bloom. My intention was to feature one of those shots. As I was getting back to my car and about to put the camera away, this yellow flower caught my eye. There is something about the singularity of the bright flower contrasted against the lifeless remains of autumn and winter that is both delicate and determined.

In the day of the big box stores, the small independent stores are a vanishing breed. There is an area on my way from Hoover to my office in downtown Birmingham that runs along the crest of what may be a high foothill or low mountain depending on your definition. The area is called Bluff Park because of the location and the view off the edge of the bluff. There is a small shopping center that has been there for many years and one of the mainstays has been Bluff park Hardware. Either you have an appreciation for these traditional stores or you don’t. It is a personal preference.

The detail in this picture speaks for itself, from the classic red Radio Flyer wagon with inflatable tires to the well worn business hours sign taped to the front door. From a photography perspective, I can’t brag about any special perspective or angle, this subject seemed best represented simply as it is, straight ahead.

Due to the wide angle required for me to get the storefront without having to stand in the street, there is a slight barrel distortion and the image is not exactly square. I am not calling anyone out but I am aware of the issue and the building isn’t exactly square anyway.

It was a nice afternoon for a walk in the woods in Moss Rock Preserve. The trails are so bright with the new green on the branches of the trees. Splashes of color are here and there on the ground with wildflowers in bloom. Today I walked down to one of the little streams running through the area. The reflection of trees in water is always one of my favorite scenes. This shot just seemed very warm and calming.

Today was a fun day with the camera. It wasn’t the number of pictures I took as much as it was the interesting subjects and options. I am trying to explore the new zoom lens so I shot exclusively with it today. One of the many reasons I wanted the lens was to allow me to get some decent photographs of the moon. I took one of those today and you can find it here. I know, we only have one moon but I wanted to play with it a bit. The shot I chose ended up being this iris photograph. The zoom lens did a great job of capturing the flowers.

I also added a wallpaper gallery to my site but it is technically under construction as I post this image. You can peek at http://gldaniel02.smugmug.com/gallery/4731212_Dh93s/1/280158570_34ZQL. More to come on that project later.

Today’s shot comes from Tannehill State Park. This is the third or fourth time I have shot at the park and each time has been different. When I arrived this afternoon, the park was fairly crowded and as I was parking I saw a sign that indicated they were hosting a dulcimer festival. Back in my college years I went through a bluegrass phase and attended several bluegrass festivals. So I am somewhat familiar with the dulcimer as an instrument but had never seen a gathering of people just for that purpose. It was an interesting crowd and if I could have chosen to shoot the performers and the crowd but I was more interested in the woods, the trails, the streams, and the buildings. I have shot a variation of this scene in the past so if it looks familiar, here it is again, just a different day and a different composition.

The full color version of this shot is very good and could easily been the choice for the day but I wanted to experiment with creating a quadtone image. Think of it along the lines of a black & white image but it uses four different colors for the image. I will probably post of some of the other shots from today in my Tannehill State Park gallery.

The full color version is here: http://gldaniel02.smugmug.com/gallery/3899670_u8z3R/1/288674176_k4TpP

Pizza Palace - Today's image was shot from my table at Davenport's Pizza Palace. This restaurant has been located in Mountain Brook Village since 1964. I tried to capture the mood of the soft lighting and atmosphere. As I began to work on the photo, I noticed so many things in the photograph to mention, I apologize in advance for anything that may get left out. The walls are covered with an assortment of pictures that seem to be from old Hollywood articles or press photos. Some of the objects in the frames are autographed pizza plates. The autographed plate on the right side of the doorway is signed "Best Wishes Always! Pat Sullivan '71 Heisman". Pat Sullivan played his high school football at a Birmingham area Catholic school and his college football at Auburn University, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1971. The candles on the tables offer a little atmosphere and light, but are topped with a round flat piece of metal where your pizza is placed and serves as a way to keep your pizza warm while you are eating. The menu is limited to pizzas, salads, and beverages. You can see a touch of Southern hospitality on the sign hanging on the front of the counter at the register, "Y'all Seat Yourself Please". On the wall by the pizza ovens you can see "97" on a piece of paper on the wall. The health department in the State of Alabama inspects and rates all places that serve food with 100 being a perfect score. Needless to say, I always check the health score if I am dining out and I will not eat at a restaurant with a score under 90. Among the items on the register counter is a big box of Tootsie Roll Pops and a Bucket of bubble gum. You are free to choose from either after your meal. There is another dining room that is beyond the register in the distance to the left. There are more tables but the room also features classic video arcade games that still cost a quarter. What about the pizza? It is excellent and like many independent restaurants, features their own special pizza sauce that would be more sweet than spicy.

That was my lunch location for today and another taste of Birmingham for the gallery. Sorry about food places two days in a row, it just worked out that way.

“I read the news today oh, boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes
it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I'd love to turn you on” - Lyrics from “A Day In The Life” by The Beatles

There is some major construction in progress at the edge of our subdivision as Hoover adds yet another shopping area. I grabbed my camera after work and walked over intending to get a photograph of some large concrete pipes that had been unloaded and were lined up side by side. I can’t speak for others, but many times, what I am intending to shoot and what I choose once I am in an area can vary. As I looked for a vantage point to get the angle for the shot I wanted of the concrete pipes, I noticed a big hose with an attachment on the end. The hose was being used to drain a wooded area near the site that had filled with water in some recent rain, which we have desperately needed after a year of severe drought conditions. I liked the texture of the surface and the pattern of holes on the attachment.

The song lyrics were chosen because of the use of “holes” and because the song title was consistent with the gallery concept.

This was shot this at ISO 100 and an aperture of 5.6 to give me a shallow depth of field. Other than some cropping, sharpening and minor color and contrast correction, post production was minimal. I applied a black and white layer, used the tint but went with a blue area of the spectrum and reduced the opacity to 50% to let some of the rust color from the image show through.

Pink camellia - Things are beginning to change quickly as springtime come to Alabama. In the coming weeks, my images will likely be heavily weighted with outdoor shots. Today’s photograph was taken just a few feet outside my front door. The blooms don’t last very long and they begin to turn brown quickly after they are fully open so there is a narrow window for capturing one of the flowers in full bloom.

There is a little post processing on this shot to get the texture and tone I wanted. I am claiming creative license for my image. Each shot comes with its own set of options and choices and each person might go a different direction. But this is my gallery so we get to play by my rules.

Comments and suggestions welcome and encouraged.

After work while I was out for a walk, I passed by a small area just at the edge of the woods that is part small stream and smart large puddle. In the water were three mallards, one male and two females. I went back after my walk and took a number of photographs as they went about their business seemingly ignoring me. Since they were moving constantly, I needed a fairly fast shutter speed and it was a cloudy afternoon so my best option was to raise the ISO to 320 and have a shallow depth of field. The images will have a bit more grain than when I shoot with ISO 100. Sometimes it’s about adjusting to the environment and doing the best you can.

The line on the rocks below their feet, marks a higher water line but also indicates how much pollen we have these days.

Taking a photograph a day has helped me in so many ways. Although I have miles to go, I think I am improving by little bits. The task of shooting every day has made me become more familiar with my camera and has helped me expand my range/comfort zone. One of the other side benefits of both shooting every day and also looking at all of the great galleries in this group, is an opportunity to learn new things, sometimes about photography, sometimes new information about a variety of people, places, and things. Today, I was in the woods intending once again to find a great wooded scene. I was armed with a new lens that I bought this morning – a Nikon 70-300mm zoom. I had really needed the extra range. So, as I was walking back through the woods, I saw a butterfly and was able to use the new lens to catch her on a branch. Yes, I said her. I researched the butterfly while I was processing the image. This is apparently a type of black swallowtail and is a female. This is the first butterfly I have ever photographed.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome and encouraged.

This is the train station in Atmore, Alabama. I decided to go with black and white to give the station a timeless look.

The table - Some days it is the ordinary details that can catch your eye. A certain time of day, a certain perspective, or everyday objects in our lives that we often overlook in our daily routine can capture more than we think.

After work today, I was sitting on the couch trying to decide what I was going to do for a daily photograph. Looking absently around the room, in the late afternoon sun, the glare from the lenses on the sunglasses attracted me. It was the way the sunlight flared off the lenses that interested me initially. It was a combination of the angle of the sunlight, the placement of the sunglasses, and the spot on the couch where I was sitting. A little movement to either side or a change in elevation would not capture the flare. The sun moves fast in the late afternoon and the light changed quickly. This was actually the first shot. I didn’t have the ISO I wanted but I needed to shoot quickly. The other images I shot of this were too late to get the flare.

The table sites just beyond the entry hall from our front door, a chair sits at both ends of the table. In the image are Allison’s sunglasses, a spare house key, a plant that is occasionally neglected, and a phone. Just ordinary things, just pieces of our lives, but that’s how it goes.

Downtown Birmingham has a lot of interesting areas, so lunch hour today was another excursion to the north side of the city. Morris Avenue is just across the line that divides the north side of the city from the south side. The street runs east and west and borders the train tracks. It is a very old street and part of it is old brick cobblestone. They have converted a lot of the old buildings in the area to offices and loft apartments. I was able to get several good shots. After a lot of back and forth, I chose this one.

Not much in the way of PP, the photograph really didn’t need any help from me, so I just made a few minor adjustments and cropped.

Was there something wrong with my shot from yesterday?

Comments always encouraged and welcome.

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