Friday, February 27, 2009

Summer Blooms


I took this shot last summer in my mother's garden. My mother has that wonderful green thumb that can get anything to grow. She has a yard full of glorious color each spring and summer. This is a purple cone flower. It loves sun and blooms profusely in her yard.

This shot actually came out as I pictured it. That doesn't always happen for me. I was trying to get a shallow depth of field and was working at composing for the rule of thirds. I was pleased with how this image turned out. And it will always make me think of my mother's garden.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Bird Condos


I love this shot. It makes me think of my dad. He has these "bird condos" for the purple martins that return each year. They nest in these gourd houses and eat thousands of mosquitoes each spring and summer. My dad cleans out the gourds each winter to prepare for their return. He even designed a contraption that lowers the gourds so he can check them. This is a photo that I will treasure for years to come.

This week in our photography class we discussed lines in photos. I think I captured lines well in this shot. I especially like the lines made by the shadows on the lowest gourd.


Want to learn more about purple martins, check out this web site.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Purple_Martin.html#description

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Boutique


My other daughter (the one not getting married) is the manager of a small boutique in downtown Anderson. She has asked me to take shots to use on their web site. This is a shot that I took and edited in Photo Shop to give it more of an artistic feel. I have had one of my photos on a billboard for their boutique and also several on a commercial that ran on the local cable network. I have a long way to go in learning the craft of photography but it is exciting to see my shots "out there." Visit the blake & brady website--or better yet, visit the boutique. Downtown Anderson, SC. http://www.blakeandbrady.com

Monday, February 23, 2009

Engaged


My daughter Meredith is getting married in May. She has been engaged for 2 years to a wonderful young man named Reese. We have the opportunity to go to Death Valley (Clemson Football stadium) to take some engagement shots. This is one of my favorites. I did some editing in Photo Shop.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Go with the Flow

When I downloaded this shot, I really liked it. I love water shots with long shutter speeds that show the blurred motion of the water. But on one of my Flickr Groups, this shot got lots of criticism for being too blue, too much rock and that it should have been a direct on shot rather than from the side. I like how the water shoots over the rock and I don't think you will get that with a front view. I had to really work with this image in Photoshop because it was really dark straight from the camera. Maybe a tighter crop could lose some of the rocks.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Lonely Bench


I am taking a photography class in an effort to improve my shots. I took this shot at the Clemson Botanical Garden. This lone bench appealed to me sitting quietly and lonely under the bare oak tree. Winter is not my favorite season and sometimes I have trouble finding interesting material in the winter months. This shot depicted all I feel about winter. Lonely cold, little color. Possibly the shot would have been better if I had used a telephoto lens and gotten a closer shot of the bench, but I also liked the tree. 50mm lens at f/2.8 0.013 sec.