In honor of those veterans who have served and our current servicemen and women. Just two words,…”Thank you.”
Photoshop
Day 167/365: The Great Flower Hunt is On!
I’m going to indulge myself with flowers, flowers and more flowers. It was an experimental day with my Marine son’s Canon Rebel EOS. I wanted to see if his camera took better pictures than what I currently have done with my Fujica S1500 and old Olympus E10. So, I’m asking for your help. What do you think in comparison to my other flower photographs?
I’m beginning to think that it’s not the equipment, but the photographer. You can have an outstanding very expensive camera, but if you don’t know how to use it then your photographs are going to be subpar.
The thing I do like about my Fujica S1500 is when I adjust the exposure on the aperture priority setting the image in the view finder changes to reflect the exposure setting. In both the Olympus and Canon the view doesn’t change and I’m left “guessing” at the exposure (-1 or +1 ). Often get back to my computer and find a whole batch under or over exposed. If I’m in a hurry, like the zoo trip coming up, I lose a lot of images. Sure I can check it on the camera playback, but if it’s a sunny day it’s still hard to judge.
Guess it’s experience, time, and taking lots and lots of pictures. But, then that’s one of my goals of this 365 project.
Photography Notes: None of these images were SOOC (straight out of camera) all had some cropping, adjustment layers, exposure correction, contrast bumping, and in a few cases a burned edge. But I didn’t spend too much time on them, maybe 30 seconds.
Day 166/365: Meet Romeo the Basset Hound
Having Fun With A Basset Hound
Thanks to my friend Julie, who suggested I take a tangent from my flower photography, I got this wonderful photo of her Basset Hound Romeo. Isn’t he a darling? Dogs with long noses pose a difficult problem in photography. The general rule is to get the eyes in focus, which I did, but then their very prominent nose is blurry.
I’ve never been too successful with pet photography it’s always been purely by luck if I get a good picture. My digital camera has a very slow shutter lag that causes me to miss the perfect shots. But, I was using my son’s Canon Rebel EOS while he was on home from the Marines.
I just LOVE this picture and it’s really becoming my favorite. The one below is pretty cute too, I caught him in mid-howl.
So how do you overcome the shutter lag? On a simple point a shoot camera you sometimes don’t have much of a choice, but on most cameras if you press the shutter button half-way down it allows the camera to focus first and prepare to shoot. I have now “inherited” my sons Canon Rebel camera and use this technique often for action photography, photo journalism, or animal photos.
Fun Facts About Basset Hounds
- Originated in France by French monks
- First brought to the United States as a gift to President Washington
- “Bas” means low, as in low to the ground and this made them effective hunters to track rabbits and other ground game during hunting
- This dog carries a dwarfism gene and they have achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism in humans
- Breed and trained to hunt in packs
- They did not always have droopy ears, but in the early 1900’s were crossed with bloodhounds to improve their scenting ability.
- Droopy ears and jowls actually help them trap the scent and amplifies the smell on the ground.
- Behind the origination of “hush puppies” hunters would take their fried bread and throw it to the howling dogs during hunting trips and say “Hush Puppy” (now isn’t that fun?)
- This also became a well-known brand of shoes “Hush Puppies” with the silent sole.
- The Basset Hound dog has a lifespan of 10-14 years
- This dogs average weight is between 50-60 lbs, they might seem small, but they are big boned and stout!
I’ve seen Romeo over the years and I should really do another photo shoot with him. He has since gained another dog companion, Zoe the Great Dane. That settles it, I’m going to go over and interview Zoe next. I hear she loves to chew couch cushions
Ree Drummond Makes Basset Hounds Popular Again
Am I sure you have heard of Ree Drummond? Or maybe you know her best as The Pioneer Woman who has created a country, cooking, photography, internet, marketing empire that surrounds her life on an Oklahoma cattle ranch. Aside from her cooking for cowboys, and writing cookbooks, she also shares the ranch with a Basset Hound named Charlie.
Charlie has gotten into the business with his own line of children’s’ books, which are adorable!!! I mean really, he’s not necessarily cow dog material, more like comic relief.
Charlie the Ranch Dog: Where’s the Bacon? (I Can Read Book 1)Charlie the Ranch Dog: Stuck in the Mud (I Can Read Book 1)Charlie and the New Baby (Charlie the Ranch Dog)Charlie the Ranch Dog
Fun Basset Hound Gifts
If you know someone who loves Bassets or has one of these lovable dogs in their life these gifts are perfect for that dog owner that has everything. I can just see Julie wearing this mask when she opens the door for Halloween or making Basset Hound cookies or doggie treats.
Westland Giftware Mwah Magnetic Basset Hounds Salt and Pepper Shaker Set, 2-1/4-InchThe Mountain Men’s Basset Hound, Brown, X-LargeBigMouth Inc Bowser Basset Hound MaskBasset Hound Cookie Cutter
I’ve seen a lot of dogs in my life and I do have to say the Basset Hound makes me smile every time. There is just something about that face and their short legs that just don’t go together.
I would love to hear about your dog, please comment below and share your favorite canine stories.
Day 163/365: Crabapple Tree in Bloom
More flowering trees, this time I know it’s a crabapple tree, unlike last time, as I saw last years lingering crab apples. Still experimenting with an old Olympus E-10 I bought off eBay several years ago as I like the clarity it gives, only wish it gave more than four megapixel images. Maybe I’ll get lucky on Craigslist and find a great deal on a high end camera.
This photo above was straight out of camera on my old Olympus digital camera. The lens quality is really sharp, better than my Canon Rebel, but it’s only a 4.6 megapixel so I have to be happy with small images. Here at the lab we can print some nice 16×20’s but I can’t crop anything out, this size shrinks too low to make a sharp print.
But I’m learning it’s not just the equipment that makes a photographer, it’s skill. I have now gotten better at aperture, shutter speed and exposure on my manual settings, some day when my camera hobby starts to pay for itself I’ll get a better camera.
Thanks to suggestions from my friends at Chick A Day Blog and Anglin Photography I’ve experimented with this photo a little. Some like more contrast, others like a softer look, or maybe a more artistic flair. This photograph lends itself to all of them. Never think that you can’t learn from others. Straight out of camera images can be really really good, but they can be made “GREAT” by a little tweaking of Photoshop Magic.
I love my blogging friends, I learn so much from them, amazing photographs and Photoshop artists.
Photography Notes: After playing around in the Photoshop CS5 my son gave me when he came home from leave I like the post production images better than the straight out of camera.
More Information on Crabapple Trees
Day 159/365: Graduation Party, Friends
I love watching my son laugh, it is contagious and when these two start laughing they can’t stop. My son, on the right, has been best friends with Luke for many many years.
Luke is a musical genius and his future includes a music major and composition. He co-wrote their senior song for graduation, and I was fortunate to sit in his Senior Project, which went over the writing, composition, performance and publishing process. I will post the performance in a few days. So stay tuned.
Photography Notes: Lesson learned, don’t talk pictures with sunny windows behind your subject. But it was the only place to put the cake table, so there wasn’t any other option. Even my flash it wasn’t enough to lighten up the foreground. Through the wonders of Photoshop I used curves, adjusted the highlights, and shadows to salvage this moment.