Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday

Magic Garden in Moonlight

Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200mm F/4.0L, f/4.5, 1/125, iso 500

I took this shot while on a late evening hike in Monterey, CA recently.  This one is heavily processed in Lightroom. I did too many things to recount them all here (although LR maintains a complete history so you can see them all, and even revert if you want).  On of the treatments I did was "de-clarity" - just a touch.

And although usually I only show the original version of an image on Topaz Tuesday, this one looks so different than the original, I'm going to show it, on the continue link.  As you'll see, it was not really moonlight, but that is what the processed version reminds me of.

Let me know what you think of this one!

New View of Famous Bridge

Canon 5D Mk II, 24-70mm F/2.8, f/7.1, 1/640, iso 160

The Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, CA, is a very famous photo destination, people have been taking pictures of it since it was completed in 1932. The wikipedia page on the bridge is quite interesting and has a beautiful sunset picture of the bridge.

But you don't often see this view! You'll be hearing more about my flying trip in the area in the days to come. I am very pleased with this composition.  Nice color in the water eh?

Wordless Wednesday - High Flier

On Wordless Wednesday, you tell the story...

Topaz Tuesday - features my blog

Canon 1D Mark III, 35mm F/1.4, f/4.0, 1/800, iso 160

At the farmer's market last Sunday I came across a woman selling these "garden stakes." Would you believe up front and center she had "Dream, Live, Cherish" all lined up like this? And that when I asked her about it she said "well, it's the name of my favorite photo blog!"

I didn't think so. I thought they were cool and asked her for each word and sure enough she had them. We lined `em up here like good little models.  And then I said "well, gotta be going, thanks a bunch!"

Would I do that? Of course not. I bought them. Now we got a bit of blog out in the planter box.

For this image, I didn't want to take a chance on any of the three being out of focus, so I used f/4.0. It was a busy place, or maybe I would have reviewed the shot and opened up even wider as the background stakes were too clear for my purposes. So into Photoshop, then into Topaz, where I hit it with the dramatic preset.

Click on the continue link to comment and see the original image. This one got changed a lot!

Monday Macro

Canon 5D Mark II, 180mm Macro F/3.5, f/5.6, 1/250, iso 250

I'm happy to say this past weekend I got out shooting both days. On Saturday my wife and I did some local touring (more on that tomorrow) and on Sunday I visited High Hand Nursery shooting with two of my friends from the day job. We had a really fun time.

Because of the large covering in place to filter the light for the plants, you can find some interesting lighting situations.  I noticed these flowers and decided I'd get low for an edge on effect. Once I got down there, I noticed the dappled light, which I really liked.

For post processing, I hit the picture with a Lightroom Preset called "Matt's Sin City - Dark Red" which desaturates all the colors except red.  The original doesn't look that much different, basically there are some light greens in the background. This is the real color of the flower. But the treatment helps us focus on the interesting light.

My two friends mentioned they really enjoy the "after and before" aspect of Topaz Tuesday, so why don't I just show you the before on this one too? It's on the Continue link below.  Like this one? Comments remain free at this time so please do!

Self Portrait Sunday

Canon 1D Mark III, 70-200 F/4.0L, f/4.0, 1/500, iso 160

My wife and I went up to our favorite little get away town of Grass Valley yesterday. You have to work a bit to find some interesting shots there. I noticed a couple of motorcycles parked far enough away from the biker bar that I figured I could get a few shots without having my zoom lens inserted into a most uncomfortable location.

I got the first one I wanted, but figured it wasn't going to make it to the blog (but hey, perfect for facebook!).  Then I noticed I could do one of my reflection self portraits for you all.  Just a fun one for today. I'm going shooting this morning with some friends from work, looking forward to that!

For processing in Lightroom I just selected the Steller Guru GreenGold preset, then added a mega-dose of Post-Crop vignette, and there you have it.

Bobs Bake Breads

Canon 5D Mark II, 35mm F/1.4, f/2.0, 1/40th, iso 640

As you know I made some new friends this year, thanks to this blog!  One of them is Bob Cornelis.  Bob is infinitely more philosophical and a practiced wordsmith than myself.  And we share more hobbies than just photography, cooking being one of them.

A couple of weeks ago Bob mentioned a book to me: Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day. I do love to make bread, so I just could not resist.  The process really is simple, with pretty amazing results.

The loaf above is my second try.  My inspiration loaf is one that is made locally, by a guy with a wood fired oven in his back yard. It's the best bread I have ever had. What I really like is that he puts kind of a lemony/herbed/olive oil coating on it. I don't know if he does it before baking or during.

When I made my first loaf, it was a bit bland, and a bit dense. So for attempt #2 I mixed things up a bit. I bought some asiago cheese (now we are talking!). Retrieving the chunk of dough from the refrigerator, I flattened it. I then covered this with asiago and a bit of olive oil. I then rolled this back into a loose ball, then "cuffed" the loaf as the book describes.  The book calls for a loaf like this to rise for 45 minutes at room temp. Noticing my previous attempt was more dense than I care for, I put the little guy in my warming drawer, such that the temp was about 95 degrees, for an hour. He just about doubled size.

I then scored it with a knife, and made up my secret sauce: fresh lemon juice, olive oil, dried italian herbs.  I whipped this together to form a vinaigrette, and liberally coated the loaf.  Into the oven on the baking stone as instructed. With about 10 minutes baking time left, I added just a touch of grated asiago on the outside.

My wife, son and I could barely stand the cool down period. It was about 9 pm but we had bread for dessert! The cooks need to put my version into their cookbook I'd say.

Hey Bob, give this one a try and let me know how it comes out!

For the rest of you, if you have the basics of cooking skills, you can do this too. Really!

Fun Friday - OOF Series Day 5

Canon 5D Mark II, 300mm F/4.0, f/6.3, 1/500, iso 100

The flamingos ended up providing the richest compositional opportunities on my shooting day at the zoo. And of course they were always in motion, which I happen to like quite a bit, adds to the challenge.  I noticed this grouping of them and the way all their necks were providing what I was looking for, but it wasn't until I got home that I had my Laugh Out Loud moment.

Even after viewing this one many times I still get a chuckle out of the guy on the lower left. It's like everyone is posing for me except him, and he's just wondering why the heck I cannot focus my camera? Not as artsy as yesterday's shot, but a lot of fun.

I know these shots aren't for everyone, but thanks for checking them out and especially for the comments I received - I'm grateful!

Out of Focus Series - Day Four

Canon 5D Mark II, 300mm F/4.0, f/4.0, 1/320, iso 100

Well, I can tell by the way the comments have fallen off this week that OOF is not everyone's cup of tea. I can tell you that it is a challenging assignment, and to the extent that you get some images that are enjoyable to view, it is an accomplishment.  In our photo group, we aim for around 10 images to share. I chose two of the flamingo pics I took. This is one, and I'll share the other one on Fun Friday.

Maybe this one is a bit more toward people's liking?

Wordless Wednesday - OOF Series Day Three

On Wordless Wednesday, you tell the story...