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dream hat photography > There is something I like about shooting after a rainstorm. The water droplets on plants are one of my favorites. I won’t bother you with another water lily flower story……well actually, on most any other day; the water lily would have been my daily photo. Today it was crowded out by a lot of other images. I will post some of them to the bonus tracks gallery either tonight or tomorrow. This was my choice for today’s photo. When I post the others, opinions may vary, but that is fine. It is all about how each person interprets the images. If we all thought the same thing, it would be very boring.
dream hat photography > Today’s photo is more about trying a different technique with shooting a subject. It isn’t a replacement for what I have been doing the past few months but is more a different perspective for how I approach my subject. I have shot single or limited subjects in some of my other daily photos but for me it isn’t as much about limiting the subject as it was my mindset about how I wanted to try and capture the scene. So many days if I have an environment that offers a wide variety of subjects I will shoot a few images on one subject then move to the next subject. The idea being that out of a vast number of pictures that cover a lot of subjects, something should be worthy of sharing. I can’t say it has been a bad approach and I learn something from shooting a variety of scenes. But this is more about being more in tune with what I am trying to shoot and what I am trying to capture. Today I decided to go to the Aldridge Botanical Gardens (huge shock, right?) and concentrate on just shooting the little stream that runs into the lake. My general approach to shooting the stream was to work it like a crime scene. Not really, I have no idea how that would work but it was my little phrase in my head. It just simply reminded me to concentrate on really looking at the subject and trying to shoot it at different focal lengths, different exposures, and different perspectives. Hopefully it would help me learn a little more about shooting similar scenes in the future and would result in a good shot for the day. Whether I achieved the second goal is up for interpretation but I did feel like I gained some knowledge on ways to shoot scenes like this. Today’s iTunes selection is from the “Sam’s Town” album by The Killers. The song is titled “When You Were Young”. I like lyrics and my favorite lines from this song are: “They say the devil’s water, it ain’t so sweet You don’t have to drink right now But you can dip your feet Every once in a little while”
dream hat photography > My plans for today’s daily photo didn’t quite work out. I got out of bed about 5:30 this morning, grabbed a shower, and headed for the Regions Charity Golf Classic taking place at Ross Bridge in Hoover. The landscape around the course is beautiful and I was all set to take some nice shots of the view. No offense to anyone in the group but I am not a fan of golf. To me, watching golf isn’t much more exciting that watching bass fishing. The tournament was providing transportation via school buses from the baseball park to the tournament. So far so good, I parked my car, had my ticket, my camera backpack, and my tripod. I got off the bus, walked up to the people making sure everyone had tickets, the lady tore the stub off my hanging tag ticket. We were golden at this point. Then it happened. She pointed to my backpack and said, “Is that a camera?” Cue the music from “Jaws”. “Yes”, I replied. “You can’t bring a camera in today. But you can leave it at the tent over there. The PGA won’t allow it in today” She countered. Let me take a second to explain that this is a golf tournament on the Senior’s Tour, we aren’t talking Tiger Woods here. So, I got back on the bus and rode back, just me and the bus driver. I read all of the fine print on the back of my ticket, no mention whatsoever of cameras. Somebody needs to clue the PGA in, most of the people walking into the tournament today had cameras, they just happen to be in their cell phones. No big deal, it was a pretty day, it was still very early, and I was wide awake. It simply became a change of venue. I got back in my car and drove to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. So today’s photo is courtesy of the PGA since apparently they are camera haters. Bless their pointed little heads. You can yell anything you want at a baseball player at the plate trying to hit a 95 mph fastball but heaven forbid someone make a sound while a golfer takes a swing. That’s why the only golfer I like is Happy Gilmore.
dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > April 2008 photo
dream hat photography > 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.
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.
dream hat photography > 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.
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.
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