When Water was Liquid

Closing out our week of "Remembering Summer" I thought I'd share this image of a rocky beach with the water gently splashing along the shore wetting your bare feet, the gulls calling out in the distance and the sun shining warmly on your face.  Feels good, doesn't it? :-)

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You know how it is.  You sit down to take just one minute for yourself, to relax and take in your surroundings, when out of nowhere, "buzzzzzzzzzz......", that pesky fly chooses you as its entertainment.

Remember when it was warm enough outside that there were flies?  Use the comments section below to offer up your best title for the image above. 

Finding your "Second Sight"

Now that we're past the "holiday hubbub", I thought I'd write a post targeted at those of you lucky enough to receive a new camera under the Christmas tree. It wasn't all that long ago that my own photography journey started in that very same way and I can remember feeling both excited and a little intimidated as well.

If you're like me, you've poured over the manual, found a few blogs to help your education and maybe even purchased a few books (there's some nice options in the "Ken Recommends" widget on the right side of my blog). I can remember feeling a lot more comfortable with the theories, buttons and dials at this point, but that didn't necessarily translate to my getting better pictures.

Sound familiar? If so, here's my advice. Put down the books, manuals and blogs and pick up your camera. Make sure you're battery is fully charged and just go take pictures. The subject of your photos doesn't really matter. It's the act of putting that camera to your eye and learning to see the world through a viewfinder that will make the difference. Try to pay attention to the light, shadows, reflections, etc. - all of those finer details that you've learned to take for granted your entire life. Learn to use them in your images to help tell a story and to help others see the world that their brains have learned to filter out.

What about post processing, publishing, printing, etc, etc.? There will be plenty of time for that as your journey is only beginning. Instead, invest your time in reviewing the images you've shot and determining what you like about them and/or how you might improve the next time you put your camera to your eye.

Have a useful tip of your own for aspiring photographers? Share your thoughts below. The more we share, the more everyone wins.

Until next time, keep on click'n.
-Ken

Remembering Summer

Last week Wisconsin was COLD.  Moisture freezing to your eyeballs cold.

To help beat back those frigid temperatures, this week's blog posts will be focused on remembering summer.  You know, those times you're able to go outside without 10 layers of clothing and little fear of having your nostrils stick together if you breath through your nose?

Helpful Resource on Social Media for Photographers

If you're interested in finding new ways to leverage social media in conjunction with your photography, the book "Going Pro: How to Make the Leap from Aspiring to Professional Photographer" by Scott Bourne and Skip Cohen is worth a look. 

In addition to the chapters on social media, the book also does a good job outlining how to differentiate yourself from the sea of other photographers while building your own personal brand.  I've made my way from cover to cover once, and will likely make another trip through for good measure.

Read any good photography related books lately?

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One cold, raining/snowing weekend my wife and I happened to be doing some cleaning in the garage when we looked out to see the back of a rather "pudgy" bird perched in our crab apple tree eating like there was no tomorrow.  After retrieving the camera, it had turned around and paused long enough for me to grab a few shots of it's portly profile.

In the more than 10 years we've lived here, this is only the second time we've seen a ruffed grouse -and a rather large one at that.

Lightroom 4 Beta Enhancements

It's old news by now, but Adobe has released the beta version of the upcoming Lightroom 4 to the public.

While I've yet to take it for a test drive myself, I did take a few minutes to visit the "Beta Launch Center" over at NAPP's site.  As usual, they do a great job of highlighting what's to come in a series of short video clips demonstrating the new functionality.

Soft proofing, additional local adjustment brushes (including one for noise) and the ability to apply a brightness matching setting right in the print module without having to manage virtual copies for web and/or print are a few of the things on the top of my list!

Have you had an opportunity to play with the beta?  Share your experience in the comment section below.

Near Dark

Still missing the kayak.  This was taken on a stormy, windy evening late last summer on Europe Lake in Door County.  Shooting in low light is always a challenge, but locate yourself in a rocking kayak in heavy winds and it gives new meaning to the word "challenge".

Hoping to capture a "point-of-view" type shot while orientating the bow of the kayak into the light, it was a struggle to keep the kayak pointing in the right direction, holding steady with the camera and doing it all in between the rain drops as the sky started to open up.

Can't wait to do it again :).



Red River 68lb UltraPro Satin

Several years when we bought our Epson R1900 printer, we also bought some Epson "premium" photo paper to go along with it.  While I still would not classify myself as a "serious printer", we recently learned a fair amount about printing in the series of posts dedicated to the topic.

One of the discussions centered on the quality of the paper you use.  I was fortunate enough to receive both 8.5x11 and 13x19 quantities of Red River's 68lb UltraPro Satin sheets for Christmas and cannot believe the richness of the colors being produced on this paper!  If you print ANYTHING at home, do yourself a favor and order a sample kit from Red River to try on your own printer.  It's one thing to say the quality of paper makes a difference, but it's entirely different to see it with your own eyes.

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I miss kayaking.

Anyone who is of the "outdoor persuasion" has likely experienced the "whitetail flag" when you startle a deer in the woods only to watch the tail shoot up while it and the rest of the deer bound away.  How many of you can say you've had that experience while on a lake? :)

I've wondered many times if this is the same deer that I captured (right) the previous spring as a fawn? 

I'm fairly certain it's not this deer (below), however, who prefers NOT to get it's feet wet by taking the bridge.

While we've had pretty mild weather in Wisconsin of late, kayaking is still out of the question for at least another 4 months.  Sigh...

Have a funny title for the top image?  Use the comments section below.