Snow Goose

Here's another image from Middle Creek. I wanted to share this because of the last several weeks it seems the discussions among friends has been 'background control.' This was taken just when the sun was hitting the bird and the grass behind it. But by working through layers and levels I was able to darken the grass to keep the attention and focus on the bird who happened to be a good subject for a few minutes.

Hope you enjoy

Nick

Goose in the fog

This morning I got together with Ed Harding at Middle Creek Wildlife Management. Most of the Snow Geese are gone but there were still plenty of birds to photograph. This image I ran through Topez Detail I wanted to kept it soft to enhance the mood of the light fog. But also bring out the sun as it was rising.

Hope you enjoy

Nick

Tulips

This image I took at Longwood about a week ago. I really liked the composition. The out of focus Tulips and the two leafs on either side build a good frame to the one Tulip that I focused on. But the one thing I didn't like was the rest of the background, it was to distracting. Late last night I was reading Bob Lott's blog, he had the same issue with different flowers. So following his idea I cut out the background in layers then filled it in with a solid color. Bob used Topez but I just kept it to Adobe Photoshop. I still used the same post-processing that I would use with any other image. Thanks Bob,

Hope you enjoy

Nick

Empire Tulip

These tulips at Longwood really caught my eye. Except for the foot traffic increasing I could have spent a few hours. I like the details in the stems and the color scheme.
Hope you enjoy
Nick

Compostion 1 of 2, Rule of Thirds

"Great Photographs are created, not by following some recipe, but by careful process of thinking and planning." --Unknown.

This month and next month I want to discuss composition. This month I'm discussing rule of thirds. Next month will be lines. For everything we do in life there is a set of rules without rules there would be chaos. But also there is a time and a place 'break' the rules. In photography we have the 'rule of thirds.' Which states that an image should be broken into 9 equal parts spaced by 2 equal horizontal lines and 2 equal vertical lines. And important compositional elements should be placed where these lines intersect. This creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition then just centering it up. Now there is a time and a place to break this rule and that is if the image is a stronger image and you purposely broke the rule to enhance your composition and increase your creativity. Go ahead and break it. My bridge reflection here I purposely broke the rule to have an equal amount reflection and sky. My creek image I did place it off center to make the eye move along the stream. I feel one of the pitfalls that is easy for anyone to fall into is being 'bound' by the rules. Don't be afraid to break them in order to enhance your image.

Hope you enjoy

Nick

Hans Herr House

This afternoon on our way home from Longwood Gardens, my wife and I made a quick stop over at the Hans Herr house. With it being so close by I've never made it out to the site. But I really wanted to get over while there is some snow on the ground. Hans Herr is one of the original settlers to the Lancaster County area. This year is marking the 300th anniversary of there settlement. Due to the high winds and snow I underexposed for a fast shutter. Then I processed it as an HDR image and added Topaz Simplify for the paint.

Hope you enjoy

Nick