Friday, March 23, 2007

Spring 07, My Walk

I was working also should have been cleaning out closets, but having the windows open, the fresh breeze entering the house was beckoning me to grab the camera and go outdoors....I could not resist. Thankfully I remember to put on my rubber garden shoes (which did not help) because walking on the golf course there was a puddle that was much deeper than I anticipated..to my ankles deep but I was not giving up!!!!! Turning around looking to see what I might capture.... naturally there was NO wildlife....what the heck could I take. There was water, snow, reflections!!!!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Morning Fog

The picture I am featuring today, I took when attending Lacaonia's Dog Sled races.  It was early morning and the fog was lifting.  I love the blue tones of this image. 

The last few weeks I have been away and busy.  Our grandsons hockey tournament (their team won the championship) and granddaughter's Lily's 4 year old birthday. I took over 300 hundred images of the hockey tournament games.  I have been working on and creating a slide show.

They are the Champions 



Also a friend of mine has asked me to print and frame my images she can display/sell in her new salon. One wall display worked black and white images and now working on color images for her other walls.  I'll take pictures of the displays and share. 

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Dumont Sand Dunes, Death Valley CA

Double click for a full image.
 
 
 
 
 
Click on for more images
 
Dumont Sand Dunes, Death Valley, CA
Dumont Sand Dunes, Death

I am posting a few images I took at Dumont Sand Dunes.  We woke up very early to capture the beautiful lighting.

 

 

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Tin Man Entry

Do you remember I posted an entry about a Tin Man on riding lawn mower a few months ago?  Look What I Found  Well I heard from the owner's brother Corey, who located my image on Flickr. Whata small world!!!

Check out Corey's link devoted to the Tinman 
www.myspace.com/tinmanontractor

fitzinnh says:
Very nice pic. My brother made that Tinman. Yes he is very clever and has a good sense of humor. I made a myspace account for the Tinman so people could post there pics and comments. I also thought it would be pretty funny. Would be nice to see yours on there.
Have a nice day and keep on takin sweet pics.
Corey
 

 www.myspace.com/tinmanontractor

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Laconia World Championship Sled Dog Derby 07

Yesterday I attended Laconia World Championship Sled Dog Derby , a yearly event I enjoy attending.

It's fun watching the dogs, as soon as the harness in place and rigged up the sled, the dogs start barking in anticipation...they love running.

Best run time wins.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Why Shoot In the RAW Format?

I have been questioned about the advantage of shooting in the RAW format. I am learning so I relied on CmishVicki to help answer our questions. Thank you Vicki for you help :).

Check out Vicki's photos at:
Visions

Why Shoot Raw?
 
First of all, I've heard from many, many photographers that JPEGs are fine for all that they do. While this may be correct in some cases, I've always been an overachiever and want the highest potential quality and flexibility possible in my photos. I do make adjustments in photoshop so having as much information as possible available to me can only be a good thing.
 
What's the difference? JPEG files are smaller because they're compressed. Your camera does the processing and throws away information and pixels in order to create the image. You can capture and store more files on your cards and in your computer. You can usually shoot faster when you're shooting JPEGs because of the file size, too. When quality isn't the most important concern, JPEG files are fine and can be a good solution. Another benefit of JPEGs is that they don't NEED to be processed and converted before sharing with others. RAW files, on the other hand, are larger because a RAW file records all of the data captured by your camera's sensor--the most information available. Your camera isn't processing the images--you don't have to trust that your camera is making the best decisions possible for your image. Most RAW files are captured in 16-bit or higher, giving you more tonal values for each color channel. JPEGs are captured in 8-bit per channel, giving you much less tonal value.
 
Ok...that's the technical part. Now for the practical. Once you shoot an image in JPEG format, you're pretty much done. You can make adjustments in Photoshop or other editing software, but every time you open and resave that image, you're losing more pixels (and quality). Saving it as a TIF file or PSD file can prevent further compression and deterioration, but it's already been compressed by virtue of being a JPEG in the first place. In RAW format, you process the file in a Camera Raw software (sort of like developing a negative) and the original file isn't affected. Essentially, RAW files aren't images, they're a collection of data that you turn into an image when you process them. One of my favorite reasons for shooting RAW is that you can correct any problems created by an incorrect white balance. When you're moving from indoors to outdoors, it's easy to forget to change your settings...when you shoot in RAW format, this isn't an issue because it can be corrected in the software. You can also adjust exposure, saturation and other settings.
 
The bottom line for me is that I want the best possible image. I don't believe I get that when I shoot JPEGs. "Good enough" isn't good enough. :)
 
 

China Ranch Date Farm, Tecopa, CA

Click on images for full size.

We settle in as best we could at Tecopa Hot Springs Resort our day (quite a funny story about the place, it needed a little work..OK more than a little but the hot spring were wonderful. We will never forget our stay there.)

CamraJoky, Tom arrived earlier and scoped out area, suggested we take a short ride before dark to China Ranch Date Farm....I am so glad he did, the scenery was spectacular, to go along with excellent lightings that time of day, along with a beautiful drive to the place. The dates were delicious.

NOTE:  I have been asked about shooting in the raw format.  I am new using the format but have asked for help, enable me to post information. Stay tuned.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Back From Death Valley

I returned last Wednesday, visiting Death Valley with online photographer friends. It was great!!! Death Valley is photographers dream, great people also a learning experience...what a great trip.

Most the photographers at the meet are professional also joining us was Don Mason, co-author of
Color Management for Digital Photographers for Dummies. I bought Don's book, his book is excellent and a heck of nice man.  Don's book is very helpful, easy to follow (I am a novice).

One of my photographers suggestions, I start shooting in the RAW format. I was nervous shooting in the RAW format, having no clue how to retrieve my images and work with the format. After a few tears, help, I was able to figure it out :).  I love the format!!!! 

My first images were taken at
Tecopa's old talc mine.