The Photography Studio

Art in the Abstract

kanniduba13 Comments

Scott is taking us on a new adventure this month in challenging us to explore Abstract Photography.  Dictionary.com defines this form of art as follows:  “of or pertaining to the formal aspect of art, emphasizing lines, colors, generalized or geometrical forms, etc.,especially with reference to their relationship to one another.”  I love capturing abstract images.  The problem is, I often have difficulty “seeing” them in our everyday surroundings.  I “see” them much easier when I have my extension tubes on and am taking macro shots.  Somehow, wide angle abstract eludes me.  Perhaps this will be my challenge this month…to see the abstract without the macro lens attached.

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Go on over to Scott’s place and check out this month’s challenge if you haven’t already done so!  And if you need some inspiration, head on over to Flickr and check out Kozology’s photostream.  I have highlighted his photography before, and believe he is a Master.  Make sure you have plenty of time on your hands before you click the link.  You could get lost in his art for hours. 🙂

Happy seeing!

Snow Day!

kanniduba5 Comments

March 1, 2012 was the first morning of the season that we woke up to the sounds of snowblowers and snowplows.

It was a beautiful snowfall, and we enjoyed the view out the window in our jammies, lazing around the house all day long.  After dinner, we piled on our snow clothes over our PJ’s and went out to enjoy the first, and possibly last, snow of the season.  Great fun, playing in the dark with the snow still falling.  Quite beautiful, and with 43 degree temps melting it away today, and rains coming tomorrow, I doubt it will be white here for long, so we enjoyed it while we could.

Little Girl, covered with the white stuff.
For a five year old, life doesn't get much better than this.
Snowstands!!!
Icicles
In a land called Narnia...

The Brown Before the Storm

kanniduba2 Comments

Here it is, the last day of February, and our first significant snowfall of the winter is predicted for today into tomorrow.  Little Girl said, “Just think, if it wasn’t a Leap Year, we would have made it all the way to March without snow.”  That about sums it up.  As much as I would have loved to say we had skipped winter altogether come spring, I think that would be a bit selfish of me, as we have been spared thus far and feel blessed by the snow hiatus.  My roof is very thankful too.  So I look forward to this storm, and will enjoy the beauty while it lasts.  Here’s a photo of my Big Girl (in the middle) as she left for school with her friends this morning.  The view up the street should look quite different tomorrow.

Rule of Thirds

kanniduba4 Comments

So, this assignment from Scott was quite instructive!  I spent time looking at photos that seemed “off” when I made them, but couldn’t quite figure out what I wanted to do to “fix” them.  Turns out the Rule of Thirds helps tremendously.  I also applied straightening to some, sharpening, contrast, and saturation fixes on some.  I could have done this all afternoon, but alas, poor me has to go out to dinner.  😉

Here are the befores and afters.

First up, a shot from Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida:

Another Animal Kingdom shot:

This shot from EPCOT had so many things wrong with it:

But a little straightening, and some cropping, and voila:

And to think I almost deleted that one.

I wasn’t crazy about this next shot when I took it:

But now:

And a last one of one of my favorite local views…the change isn’t dramatic, but I do think attending to thirds makes it better:

Better:

Thanks Scott,  for another lesson!  I will go back to more of my “garbage” shots later.