Behind the Digital LensMusings of an Amateur Photographer

2nd Jun, 2020 Just a Funny Photo

21st May, 2020 People Pictures

Over the years people have asked me about taking photos of them or friends, etc.. Well, I don’t do people pictures. I am horrible at it, actually. I have never been a portrait photographer and never studied it in my photography classes. Truth be told, I was never interested in that kind of photography. Even candid photos that I have taken in the past have been, well, not the best quality. I am just plain not good at it. Not with my Nikon D300, my Nikon Coolpix, or my phone. Just not. Now, that’s not to say I haven’t managed to somehow take a few “people” photos that have turned out pretty good. Those are purely accidental. As far as living beings, however….candid photos of dogs are what I love taking photos of best.

2nd Jan, 2015 Simple

Sometimes we try too hard to get the “perfect” picture.  Focus, center, objective, lighting, exposure; it gets complicated.  Occasionally the shot is lost.  Sometimes, though, the “perfect” picture is the simple one.  I have taken some really nice photos since I got back on my feet, but I think my favorite one is the one below, expressly because it IS simple.  And that’s all I’m saying about that.

7th May, 2014 Posting

It’s been a while since I last posted.  There are a few reasons.

One, I had back surgery last November, and that put me off my feet for four months while I was learning to walk again.  Only had my phone because rehab isn’t a place you want to keep a good camera and I certainly didn’t want to lose mine.  While I can carry my camera now, it does take a lot out of me.  Heck, just walking takes a lot out of me!  I have taken some photos since I got out in March, but have yet to download them to my drive.  Yeah, I’m slow.

Two, once again I have moved.  Hopefully it’s something I won’t have to do for a while now.  I really love my new apartment, but it has taken me far from my usual “haunts” of the State Park and Fort Worth Botanical Gardens.  So, while I am again driving, those two places take driving to a considerable time.  And, because of my back, unpacking is taking time because I can’t bend over a lot or like I used to, I can’t really carry anything heavy [not that I have a lot that is heavy], and I have chosen to unpack alone.  It’s a personal thing.  It means that unpacking is S L O W, and I have to rest a lot.  This means I’m usually not physically up to taking any photos because I am basically still weak despite really wanting to be out with my camera.  Just not happening right now.

Once I recover sufficiently and have a bit more time, I will be able to post more.  Until then keep taking those photos!

8th Sep, 2013 Poking around

I’m like most people – I rarely read the instructions unless I can’t figure something out or can’t find what I’m looking for.  That includes how to do things on my camera.  Never mind the fact I’ve moved twice in the last two years and the instructions for the camera are “somewhere”, just not where I can find them right now.  And that’s not unusual for the moment, either.

While on vacation, I was bored one evening and decided to check out some of the features of my camera that were on a menu that I had only seen but never opened.  Ooooo, looky, things to play with!  A while back I mentioned to a friend that I was disappointed that on a digital camera there wasn’t anyway to do a “double exposure” like you could on a 35mm, where you could set the shutter but not advance the film.  [A cousin of mine who was a professional photographer had taught me about that nearly 40 years ago and it was something I used from time to time.]  But, there it was!  Overlay.  The only drawback is that it could only be done in RAW and not JPEG and I have seldom shot in RAW.  Well, not to worry because I could shoot in RAW+JPEG and still use Overlay.  I tried a couple of test shots and found it not too bad, but wanted to explore this in more depth later on.  So, then I moved on to something else – a coloring effect.  Ah, now THAT was fun, and opened up some interesting possibilities.

The other evening I went down to the Park to take some sunset photos, but wasn’t really happy with the results.  First, I got there almost too late and felt rushed instead of picking my place for shooting and being relaxed.  Photos taken in a hurry show that they were taken in a hurry.  So, while I wasn’t real happy with the photos, it did give me a chance to play with the Retouch setting on my camera.

Here is the photo as I took it:

Sunset1

And here is the retouched [in camera] photo:

Sunset1 retouched

As you can tell there is a stark difference between the two, yet all I did in the retouch was adjust some of the colors to give it a greener “alien” kind of view.  I seldom do any retouching of my photos, before or after, beyond cropping or resizing for email or to post here.  On a personal level I prefer the bottom photo but then, I really like green and blue because those are the colors I can see the best.  [I love being a color-blind photographer.]  I will admit, however, that before I made any in camera adjustments I downloaded the photos to my drive, and then reinserted my card and did the retouch.  Since I had never done anything like this before I wanted to make sure I did not lose any photos and I wasn’t sure how the retouch would affect the photos and end result saving.

So, always check out your camera for those “hidden” effects you can make and/or utilize.  I have a number of post-shot effects to check out and will be doing so.  These just open the possibilities of your photo taking experiences and helps you to enjoy photography a bit more.

3rd Sep, 2013 Back to my favorite “haunt”

I finally scraped together enough money so that I could purchase a Texas State Park Pass, allowing me to spend time at one of my favorite “haunts”: Cedar Hill State Park.  There is a pond there that I enjoy going to and it’s there I take a lot of photos.  Such was the case last Saturday late afternoon.  Although in the upper 90’s, I barely noticed the heat, concentrating on and enjoying my photographic attempts.  It was heaven.  The photos in the previous post were taken that day.  That day garnered me several wonderful photos.  I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed being behind my camera.  For me, everything around me is shut out; it’s almost as though I have walked into the photo and all that is there is the subject and myself, yet everything is so alive in a surreal kind of way.

Now that it is September, I can’t wait for cooler weather, rain, and the leaves to change.  It has been a very hot Summer here in Texas, and I haven’t been able to get out and take photos like I would have liked.  Somehow sweat dripping from my brow into my eyes doesn’t make for easy photo taking, no matter how much I would wipe it away.  Sweat, not the photos.  Honestly, though, I don’t “do” heat well, but I sure know how to sweat – and sweat and sweat and sweat to the point that within five minutes my clothes look as though I put them on straight out of the washing machine.  Cooler weather, cold weather are okay, but freezing weather, well, as I get older freezing weather is becoming much like Summer heat.  That leaves me Spring and Fall, and part of Winter.  I am not complaining.

26th Sep, 2012 I am with you alway….

King. Lord. Savior.

18th Sep, 2012 Just for the fun of it

Life is too short

Fly!

9th Jun, 2012 Dear Bentley

For some, they’re just a dog or a cat, something that takes work and are messy.  Some think  a dog is only good for fighting and bringing in money, never considering their health or feelings.  Some find it “fun” to abuse these four footed friend, doing unspeakable things that more often than not result in suffering and death.  For others, they’re children that can’t speak other than barking or meowing.  Sometimes they become our best friend and confidant.  Beyond the food dish, they are always happy to see us, and no matter the mood we’re in they will love us unconditionally.  Even when they are sick and hurting, when they see us, their “smiler” flickers, wagging weakly, but letting you know that you are the most important person in their life.

I have had many dogs over my lifetime, two that have been extremely special.  Sir Jeremy and Reba’s Bentley Astin.  Jer and Bentley.  Jeremy made it to his 16th birthday and three months beyond.  Bentley will be six in September.  Oh, I have had other special dogs; well, they all have been special in one way or another.

Bentley, though, has been a handful growing up.  Happy and enthusiastic the word “no” was hard to input into his vocabulary.  It took five and a half years for him to understand that no does indeed mean NO.  And he’s no longer a “rocket launcher” aiming for the knees when out of control.  He has grown into a sweet, loving, lovable and fun ball of fuzz with a tongue faster than the speed of light.  And he’s an apple lover.  Mostly yellow delicious, but if it’s an apple, he wants some if you’re eating one.

I don’t know what I’d do without him.  He knows how to make me laugh when I need to laugh, and when I’m grumpy with pain he stays just close enough to let me know he’s there if I need him.  A Yorkie locked in a Schnauzer’s body.  Twenty pounds of pure love.

My serious Bentley

12th Feb, 2012 It’s all in the angle

I am mainly “known” by my landscape and nature photos because I rarely take “people” photos.  Butterflies, bugs, animals, trees, flowers….those photos are common for me, but another “love” of mine is buildings with unusual angles, especially “high-rise” buildings.  I am not a big city kind of guy, so I try to stay out of big cities, but now that I am living in Dallas, tall buildings are all around me.

I recently was in a building that was very interesting.  Twelve stories high, the top of the building was graced with an oblong skylight stretching from one side of the building to another, and the entire building was open from the atrium to the skylight, leaving the offices to reside on the four sides of the building.  In the atrium, nestled against the elevator shaft, is a two-tiered water fountain and small pool.  The interior had some incredible angles.  I just had to take some photos, so the next time I was in the building, I brought my camera along.

As a photographer, I know that security is tight now around a lot of professional buildings, but I was given assurance there wouldn’t be a problem taking photos.  Ehhh…that didn’t turn out to be the case, as security informed me after I had taken around 80 photos.  Even though I asked, the security guard allowed me to keep the photos I had taken and not erase them in front of him, which I was willing to do.  Unfortunately, I did not get all of the angles I had wanted to take, but I got enough to satisfy me.

So, just a cautionary warning. always make sure the places you wanted to photograph are “safe” or you at least have permission from security to take non-descript photos of buildings.

Reflective angles