Another Pretty Dahlia

I really like this shot.  The colours aren't as bright as I normally like, but they are close to the actual colours.  I suppose they are a bit faded as well, due to the sun.

I'm not sure of the name of this dahlia (another one from my mom's garden); it has large blossoms and is pink/mauve and white, though the middle of the petals, as you can see, are a yellowish colour (not really green - but that might have happened in the process of editing in PSE).

For this shot, in the editing department, I auto adjusted the colour and contrast and also used the dry brush application.  I think it makes the photo look more like a painting than a photography; maybe that's why I like this shot.  I know that one of the petals has a hole in it, and I'm sure it could be fixed in PSE, but at the moment I don't know how to do that.  It's something on my list of things to learn though.  I think I'll try the dry brush application on some other photos and see how it looks (both flowers and other shots).

Hear The Tiger Roar

This is an image of a tiger lily I photographed back in June of this year, from my mom's garden.  I adjusted the colours and contrast somewhat, but did no cropping or anything else.

Lillies are one of my favourite flowers; the others are roses, calla lillies, carnations and dahlias - though to be honest, I do like all flowers.

I love the bright orange colours of these flowers.  I don't know if orange is hard to capture the way red is or not, but I like they way it shows on this picture.  I took this after a rain, and you can see some raindrops on some of the petals.

Sadly, as fall advances here, the flowers are starting to die down.  There have been a few more days of overnight frost, which is definitely not good for them.  These tiger lillies come back every year though, and I look forward to seeing them year after year.  A lot of the flowers my mom has in her gardens come up every year, but there are some she has to plant every spring.  I don't know if I'll ever get the gardening green thumb like her, but I suppose some day if I want to take photos of flowers, it might be handy to have some of my own - though I'd need a house with a yard first off...

What is your favourite flower(s) or favourite flower(s) to photograph?

Seeing Red

On one of the photography forums I belong to, there was a challenge of taking photos of the colour red.  It didn't matter what the subject was - flowers, cars, books - you capture the image whatever was red.


I've heard it before that red and yellow (and I'm finding now darker purples) are difficult to photograph.  That's the issue I have here.  The photos I've posted here haven't been edited at all, but I did try.  All of these flowers are dahlias, from my mom's garden, and a two of them have a second colour in them.

In the first image, aside from getting a good shade/hue of red, the top of the flower seems blurry.  I don't know if it's because I wasn't focused on the area, or not, but it seems to all blend together.  This is also something I don't know how to fix.  I wonder if the problem could be fixed by adjusting the angle of the camera...

The next photo doesn't seem too bad, though I realize it's not entirely in focus.  I think what happened was that I got a little too close to the flower.  The camera did indicate it was in focus, but I wasn't using a tripod, so that could also contribute to the image not being totally in focus.

The third image looks too bright.  I played around with it in Photoshop Elements but still couldn't get the red to look the way it does in real life.  I know the photo's not the best composition either, but I was just mainly focusing on the red and trying to capture that and see how it would turn out.  I believe the type of dahlia in this photo is a semi-cactus variety, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

The last image is of another semi-cactus, or even a cactus dahlia (again, I'm not sure of the variety.  I'll have to ask my mom).  As you can see, there is yellow at the center that gradually turns to red.  I took this photo mainly for the red, but also because it has yellow in it, and as I've said above, yellow is another colour that is difficult to photograph.  On the actual flower, the red wasn't too bright or dark, but I wanted to see how it would turn out.  I think the image would have potential if I had maybe taken the photo horizontally instead of vertically so that I capture the entire image rather than having some of the petals cut out of the picture.

So, overall, today's photoshoot was just experimental and I didn't pay too much attention to compostion this time.  I did take some photos of some of the other dahlias that weren't red, but those will be used another time. 

I have so much to learn in photography; I want to become a fantastic photographer and need lots of practice.  One thing I learned from this shoot is that even when you are experimenting with trying to capture different colours (or colours difficult to photograph), taking pictures of only certain items, things that start with a particular letter - whatever experiment or assignment you are working on, you should still aim to take a good photograph.  You should still try to capture the best image you can, because you never know when you'll get the photograph!

Obviously I have a long way to go before I can be deemed an excellent photographer, but I am enjoying the process - even if I don't get very good shots.  Every time I take a photograph, it's a learning experience and a chance to practice (or try to remember) what I've learned already.

If you know how to take great shots (or fix them in PSE) of the colours red and yellow, or can direct me to an article, please leave me a comment.

My question for you:  What do you have the most difficulty photographing?

The Park Bench

I took this image of a lonely park bench in the fall of last year (2008).  The photo was originally in colour and I auto adjusted the colour, contrast and a little sharpness.  I then converted it to black and white, hit the auto adjust for colour and contrast again a couple of times (I don't really know if that helps or not) and then added a grainy texture to the photo.

Camera used was my Sony point and shoot.

Downtown Melbourne

This shot is taken while I was in Melbourne during the summer (well, summer for me, winter for Melbourne).  I went with a friend to teh Melbourne Aquarium and other excursions this particular day, and passing by one of the windows on the way to the shark exhibit, I decided to take a photo of what I saw.

The tall building on the left (of the 2 tall ones) is the Eureka Tower (my group went there another day though, not the day I visited the aquarium).  I believe there are 90 floors, and on the 88th they have an observation room - well, technically the entire 88th floor is the observation room and you can look out over the entire city, and then some.  There is also a steel mesh cage that goes out about 10 metres from the building, but it's quite windy up there so I didn't venture out in it - my fear of heights kicked in.  I was quite content with staying inside.  It was bad enough that it took me awhile to get close to the windows (which are floor to ceiling) to look out and take pictures.

I made no adjustments on this shot.  I figure the colours look quite nice because of the aquarium's tinted windows.  If I were to make adjustments, I would probably lighten the lower lefthand corner somewhat.  I used my Pentax K200D and the normal 18-55mm lens that came with it, and zoomed in on my subject.

Desert Scene

Keeping on the desert theme from my trip to Egypt in February, 2008, This is a limestone rock formation that is found in the White Desert.  There are tons of these in that area, and they are really amazing to see.  We actually slept overnight, camped out, in the White Desert (not at this particular location), which was an amazing experience in and of itself.

We had a couple of guides with us, and they cooked us a meal over the campfire (delicious).  Our sleeping quarters consisted of a thin mattress on top of blankets on the sand, five or six camel hair blankets (nice and warm), plus two or three layers of clothing.  We had a large piece of fabric of some sort to help shield wind, and this was put up against the jeep we had travelled in to get to the desert.

It was so amazing to see millions of stars in the night sky (and a few shooting stars too); where I live, a city, you see a lot but nowhere near what you see in the middle of the desert in total darkness.  It's so amazing to gaze upon the galaxy and know that we are just a tiny part of it.  God is so amazing in His creation!

For this picture, I left it intact (no cropping), and auto adjusted the colours and contrast.  Again, it was taken with my point and shoot, and not my Pentax K200D (since I didn't own that camera at the time).

What is one place you would like to visit in the world - whether or not you would like to go there on a photography excursion?

Learning Curve

Today's image is definitely not my best.  I took this enroute to the Black Desert in Egypt, February 2008.  I had a point and shoot digital camera with me, and I was attempting to fill the frame with the image, which I thought was nice.  However, what I failed to notice was the horizon was not even.  It looks as though I was on a hill instead of flat ground.

I adjusted the contrast and colour on this shot, but I am unsure if I like the sky or if I would rather it be a little lighter.  I've had some say the sky is great the way it is, and others suggest I change it (I had thought it looked fake, those who thought I should change it agreed).  I will say the clouds are not touched at all and appear the same way (looking a teeny bit blurry to me) in the original photo.  Also, I did no cropping of this image at all.

So, this is one of those shots (for me) that I will have to use as a learning tool - remember to check the background, the horizon, etc. to make sure it is not slanting one way or the other (unless of course you are on the side of a hill or mountain and that's the way it is supposed to be).  Also, I will learn that a blue sky does not necessarily mean that you should darken the shade so that it looks nearly fake (or really fake)...unless that is, of course, what you are after.  In this picture, I definitely wasn't after a fake look.

I had debated on whether or not to post this image on my blog.  I decided that since this is a learning place for me (to look back on over time and see improvements I've made), and maybe a place where I can post links and advice from others to help other photographers as well as  myself, then maybe I should post it - a what not to do piece of advice or what have you.

So, learn from my mistake - check your backgrounds when you are taking photos! 

Also, if you know how I can adjust this image (if it's possible) so the horizon is straight, please let me know in the comment section!