Scoping out the aspens

I'm scouting out my usual locations prior to the workshop, making sure everything is still where I remember it. The aspens are just thinking about turning color. This lone leaf is covered with raindrops from last night's rain while white tree trunks gleam against a dark background. Both shot with an 18-55mm lens. My only Photoshop program in my laptop is Elements 5, so I'm not spending much time tweaking these in the field. When I get back home, however, watch out! ©Carol Leigh

The art of seeing . . .

On my walk this morning I passed by the empty lots where I've found some pretty good weeds from time to time. The first photo shows you what the scene looks like. The second photo shows you what it looks like IF YOU'RE INSANE! I moved the camera up/down during the exposure. Taken with the lens set at 55mm, 0.8 seconds at f/29. ©Carol Leigh

A walk around the block . . .

Uh-oh. My "skinny" jeans don't fit and so as of yesterday have begun eating less and exercising more. (Novel concept.) On this morning's walk, I stopped by the woods where the lighting was rather challenging. In one instance the sun was peeking through the trees and at another location it was very shady.

I experimented with stopping my lens down to a small aperture so I could turn the sun into a little starburst. (1/10 second at f/14, 55mm lens). The photo seemed too stark, so I warmed it up with a slight sepia look and then softened it with a bit of blur.

In the shady part of the woods I experimented with moving my camera up/down during a 0.6-second exposure at f/13, again with a 55mm lens. I did a couple of other things that I'm waiting until next year to show you in my weekly Photomotivation tutorials/assignments. Are you on the list to receive the info when it comes out?

In addition, after my walk I brought a leaf indoors and created this little photograph of it: http://carolleigh.blogspot.com/2009/09/turning-over-old-leaf.html I think it's beautiful.

2010 is going to be a very good year for photography. Especially when I can fit back into those jeans. ©Carol Leigh

Weeds

It was very foggy this morning during my walk around the block, and the weeds in an empty lot looked rather good -- colorwise. To blend the colors even more, I moved the camera up (or down, can't remember which) during the exposure. The exposure was 0.6 seconds at f/29 on a lens set at 27mm. Not the best shot in the world, but whaddaya expect? They're weeds! ©Carol Leigh