dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > The good news is that I have my desktop computer back in operation.  It looks like the power supply was going bad.  Today’s image is just a close-up of a lily.  There’s not really much I can say about it other than that.

When I first started this daily photo journey, I would have likely said that the type of photo I posted yesterday were one of my strong suits.  I am losing a feel for them for some reason, maybe it was just yesterday morning and maybe it was that particular scene.  The lake was the only place I shot and I was hesitant to even post the image yesterday.  It just seems so ordinary.  It lacks any feature that draws me in at all.

Sometimes I think I go backwards with my photography.  You guessed it.  There is a slump hanging over me like a dark cloud.  I’ll have to work through it.

So in keeping with the mood, today’s iTunes selection is by the Cold War Kids.  The title is “Hang Me Up to Dry” from the “Live from SoHo (iTunes Exclusive – EP) album.
dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > 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?
dream hat photography > April 2008 photo
dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > 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.
dream hat photography > Today’s photo was something I tried and it may not appeal to everyone.  I had been taking photographs and was about to shoot some flowers, some were facing me and some were facing away from me.  Normally I try to shoot the face of the flower, not exactly unexpected, right?  The sun was behind me and for some reason; I decided to shoot the back of the flower, the stem side.  Now you are grasping the insanity of the concept, life on the edge is all about taking chances.  Yep, I am tiptoeing along the high wire.  I am working without a net and taking photographs of the stem side of flowers.  Take a deep breath; it takes a minute to get your head around the concept.  I need a disclaimer or something for my gallery.  I can’t be responsible for shaking the foundations of your reality.

If you are able to handle it, there are two more of them in the bonus tracks gallery, but they have the posterize edges effect, so consider yourself warned.

Tonight’s iTunes spotlight song: “Living In Twilight” from the “Say I Am You” album by the Weepies
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?
dream hat photography > 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?
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?
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