Indecisive

I sometimes get bored editing landscapes- a little clarity and contrast, maybe a little vibrance, some dodging and burning, some sharpening- and done.  Since joining the photo group, I’ve tended to use Nik Color Efex Pro or sometimes Silver Efex (both photoshop plug-ins) to edit my landscapes – because that’s what they all use in class. Now I am trying to use Luminar, because Google, who bought the program, is no longer supporting or updating the older programs. And we all use the TK Actions panel as well.

I decided to try doing a black and white in Luminar- but I ended up having to do a lot more more afterward in Photoshop, because I couldn’t figure out how to get the look I wanted.  And when I was done getting the look, I decided I really wanted a color image after all.

Here is the black and white, edited in Lightroom, Luminar, and Photoshop. This was taken in the Matanuska Valley in Alaska.

And here is another view from a slightly different angle (and with a different focal length) of the same scene, edited mostly in Lightroom, with just a little work in Photoshop.

Sometimes you CAN have it both ways!

And now that I see them together, I think I like the black and white better after all. Maybe.

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Familiar

Does this scene look familiar to you?

That’s right- it’s the Carquinez Bridge as photographed from the Benicia waterfront! After our trip to Alaska last month, we were in the SF Bay Area for two days on business. I had a wonderful reunion with some of my teacher friends, and then came back later for sunset photography.  The Benicia waterfront was one of my favorite photography haunts from the beginning of my photography journey, and I miss it! I know I was shooting some of the scenes I have shot many, many times- but couldn’t help myself.

Here is a different take on a familiar view- the sunset and bridge shot through the waterfront fence.

I’ve moved to Arizona and love it, but I still miss my friends and the beautiful Benicia waterfront.

 

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Iconic

One of the iconic Alaska views- mountains and trees with fireweed in the foreground. I couldn’t manage to frame it with the Matanuska Glacier as a background (I might have fallen off a cliff. . .), so I settled on this view. Fireweed is just about everywhere in Alaska at this time of year.

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Green Thumbs!

My daughter and son-in-law moved to Alaska just one year ago and have worked so hard to not only upgrade their house, but to create areas to grow vegetables, herbs, fruits, and flowers. Here’s a peek at part of what they’ve accomplished:

 

 

 

 

 

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Stalker

The morning we left, we took a quick walk on the beach, and I must have taken at least 20 photos of a man and his mother as they came walking toward me. I think he thought I was stalking them, but what I really liked was the composition of the S-curve in the sand (and gull) with the dog walker in the background. A peaceful scene!


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Make Yourself at Home

Our roadrunner guest made himself right at home in our yard. He is a predator after all; I try not to think of what he might have eaten besides lizards. I haven’t seen any of the young quail for awhile, alas. These shots are before and after he helped himself to some water in the fountain.

By the way, this is the same roadrunner I featured in yesterday’s blog post. His crest is sometimes up, and sometimes down. Supposedly the crest goes up when the roadrunner is communicating with other roadrunners, but this one has been a loner.

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Unafraid

Last week, we spotted a roadrunner coming into our back yard several times each day. One day, Carol and I were out there for over an hour with our cameras, and the roadrunner was everywhere! We even watched him kill a large lizard by- sorry!- whacking him repeatedly against the rocks (don’t worry- no photos). At one point, he came down to the lower level and drank from the fountain- leisurely and unafraid.

Here he is in all his glory:

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Sweeeet

I’ve taken many, many hummingbird photos over the years. And now I am trying to take better ones. The hard thing is to take them in flight, in focus, and in a good spot in the frame (good composition and background). So far, I have many, many shots of their tails as they take off- or just sitting at the feeders. At least in this shot, the wings are outstretched and moving.

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