BNC OSPREY_122614

I photographed this Osprey at the Baytown Nature Center this morning using my Olympus EP-1, Sigma 50-500, and flash with extender.  I photograph Osprey at lot at the nature center but I really like this shot.

SOUTHERN GIRLS CONFERENCE

I entered this shot in the "open" category of December's of the Bay Area Photo Club's "Honor's Night" program and received a silver award from the judges.  This show was taken at my wife's 2014 family reunion in Sweeny, TX. and it just struck me a as a slice of Americana.

CEDAR BAYOU TRESTLE BAYTOWN

This shot is looking down a set of abandoned railroad tracks leading to a trestle over Cedar Bayou in Baytown, TX.  On the left of the shot is an old maintenance and operations building that was used to support trestle operations back in the day.  I think it's been close to a decade now since a train last crossed here and the trestle is slated for demolition to make room for an additional bridge crossing as part of the Hwy 99 Grand Parkway project that will circle Houston.

SCISSORTAIL #!

I took this shot a couple of week ago while driving through the Baytown Nature Center with Dianne and Kale.  It was my second shot entered in the "BOKEH" assignment for the BAPC Honors Night program and the judges awarded it a silver award.

BEE IS FOR "BOKEH"

This was one of the two shots I did end up using for the assignment of "Bokeh" on Thursday night.  I liked this one for the assignment as soon as I took it and it worked out to be a "gold" shot.

KALE AT AN ASTROS GAME

Here's a shot of my grandson Kale taken a couple of months ago at an Astros game at NRG field.  This was another candidate I was considering for Thursday night's Honor's Night program under the assignment of "Bokeh."  In a couple of days I'll have a better idea about whether my choices were good ones!

GUITAR LIGHT

Our November photo assignment for the Bay Area Photo Club of Clear Lake Honor's Night program is Bokeh, which roughly refers to the quality of the out of focus background in an image.  I had my choice narrowed down to five shots and, while I like this shot, it is one that I will not be using on Thursday night.  You never know how the images you chose will be received by the judging panel so the best way to approach your selections is go with your gut!

LIFE BOAT

I took this shot looking into one of the old life boats on board the Battleship Texas a few weeks ago.  I like the texture and workmanship along with the historic value of the subject.

THE MYSTIC

This was one of my shots for the Bay Area Photo Club of Clear Lake October Honor's Night assignment of "HANDS".  It's a composite of two images that I combined in Photoshop.  The base image is a shot of my hands that I warped slightly using a Topaz Lens Effects filter preset for a fish eye lens effect and then added the colors in Topaz Adjust 5/Stylized/Solarized Dreams preset.  The second image was a shot of the full moon with some fog effect added from Topaz Lens Effects.  The judges awarded the image a Silver award and 153 points, which was the second highest score for the night.

FORD PICKUP

I spotted this old Ford pickup truck in a field in Round Top Texas while shopping at an antique mart on the last day of the fall antique weekend.  I don't normally use in-camera filters but I did use the Olympus "Sepia" art filter on my OMD EM-1 for this shot and liked the results.

PACIFIC COAST HIWAY DIPTYCH

Here's a couple of shots I took while walking down the Pacific Coast Highway in Huntinton Beach, CA.

JAKE AND TOM

I entered these two shots in the BAPC Honor's Program as a diptych under the assignment of "WILDLIFE".  They were both shot at Cade's Cove in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park this past June.

VELVET CROWN

I photographed this deer off Cade's Cove Loop Road in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in early June of this year.  I entered it in the Bay Area Photo Club of Clear Lake's Honor's Night program under the September topic of "Wildlife" and was awarded a bronze award.

CADES COVE DEER #4

This deer was standing in a grassy meadow off Cade's Cove Loop Rd in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in early June.

HIGH POV DEER

I took this shot of a deer relaxing on the grounds of Rock City in Chattanooga, Tennessee back in early June. I used Olympus' native software to apply a “diorama" effect that helps exaggerate the high POV the shot was taken from.

SEED POD

This flower and seed pod was photographed one afternoon in my front yard.  I shot it with my 60mm Olympus macro lens handheld at f18 ISO400 1/125 and an EV of -2.7.

DEEP CREEK BRIDGE

This shot was taken along the trail at Deep Creek in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park just outside of Bryson City, NC.  I shot the low POV off hand at 1/30th of a second at f11 with a 22mm focal length [44mm equivalent] and ISO200.

JAKE'S CREEK NEAR ELKMONT

This shot of Jake's Creek was taken from a wooden bridge that crosses it near the Elkmont campground in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  I set up my tripod here hoping to capture some shots of the annual firefly show but it turned out to be better bug viewing down the trail.

CADES COVE FORREST #2

Here's another shot of the green forest as seen from Cades Cove Loop Road in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee.

CADES COVE FORREST

This shot was taken in woods off Cades Cove Loop Road in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in the first week of June this year.  I liked the lighting through the trees and the slightly surreal look of the scene, which I added to in post processing.

ONE CHAIR TIME CAPSULE

This was my second shot submitted under the "Missing" assignment at the BAPC's "Honors Night" on Thursday.  The "Missing" connection I was going for was a "time gone by".  Dianne and I were walking down the street in Bryson City, NC when we came to this old single chair barber shop.  It was closed and I took this shot through the plate glass window in front.

CHATTANOOGA NATIONAL CEMETERY

 

This is a seven shot composite, six stitched together for the background, taken on a cloudy early morning at the Chattanooga National Cemetery in Tennessee.  I entered it in the BAPC "Honor's Night" competition under the assignment of "Missing" and received a bronze award.

DEEP CREEK BRIDGE

This shot was taken in the first week of June in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  This foot bridge crosses Deep Creek just a short distance from the trail head of the Deep Creek hike outside of Bryson City, NC.

BUSY BEE

This shot was taken at the Baytown Nature Center and was recently awarded "Gold" by the judges at June's Bay Area Photo Club in the "Open" category.  This shot was taken with my Olympus OM-D camera fitted with a 60MM macro lens.

HIGH KEY TOAD

I shot this macro of a toad Dianne spotted in the backyard with my 60MM macro lens.  The toad was swimming a an aluminum bucket and was perched on a quartz rock giving the scene a distinctively "high key" look.

HIGH ISLAND CROSS

This shot was taken Sunday evening on a trip to High Island shooting the BAPC topic "Beach".  There was a lot of seaweed on the beaches which didn't make for a great outing.

FEEDING THE LONGHORN

Here's a shot from this years Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

KALE

Here's a shot I took of Kale in my front yard a few weeks ago.  I used my 60MM F2.8 macro lens and on camera flash.

GRANNY #1

This shot was entered in last night's Bay Area Photo Club Honor's Night under the assignment of "One Light Portrait."  It was lit with a flash reflected from a white umbrella and received a Bronze award from the judges.

FLOWER BUD MACRO

I'm still breaking in my new 60MM macro lens, mostly by shoot what's available in my back yard.  I thought this one looked pretty good - look out Steve Schuenke! :)

DOVE ON A BRANCH

I photographed this dove in my backyard this weekend.

COLORED BOXES

Here's another shot taken at one of the vendors during the Round Top spring antique show.

CREATIVE DRAMA

This shot was taken at an "antique" store outside of Round Top Texas two weekends ago during the areas spring show.

THE BAND "4"

We were at the spring antique weekend in Round Top, Texas last Saturday and happened across these four young family members performing in square.

CABLES

This was my second shot for the BAPC assignment "Intersection" submitted last Thursday night.

THE ULTIMATE FIELD TRIP

This was one of my entries in last Thursday nights Bay Area Photo Club Honors Night under the assignment of "Intersection".  It's a take on a classic "crossroads" shot with a humorous twist that is kind of an insider joke.  The names on the signs are all Honors Night topisc for 2014 and the idea behind "The Ultimate Field Trip" is finding one spot with multiple assignment topics readily available - much harder than you might think!

FEATHER IN HAND

In the past I've used my 50-200 lens and a 1" extension tube to shoot macros but I finally broke down and bought my first macro lens, an Olympus M.Zuiko ED 60mm f2.8.  On my E-M1 camera the lens functions as a 120mm [35mm equivalent] focal length and should make a nice portrait lens as well.  I've just taken a few test shots with it and so far I'm pretty happy with it.

FIRESIDE FUN

This shot of Dianne and Kale was my second entry into the Honor's Night assignment of "Night Photography".

FRED HARTMAN BRIDGE

This shot of the Fred Hartman Bridge was one of my entries in the Bay Area Photo Club of Clear Lake's Honors Night assignment "After Dark".  The image was well reviewed by the judges and was given a Gold award.

SUNFLOWER #2

Here's a still life I shot while I was considering images for the BAPC assignment of "Complementary Colors."

SYLVAN BEACH GULLS

Seagulls photographed at Sylvan Beach Park in LaPorte, Tx a few weekends ago.

PUMP AT TOUBIN PARK BRENHAM

This pump is mounted at Toubin Park in Brenham, TX.  It's a small pocket park created on the foundation of an old building in the historic downtown area.

BLUE AND ORANGE

This was my second BAPC Honor's Night entry under the assignment of "Complementary Colors".

PEPPER TRIO

This was one of my entries in last nights Bay Area Photo Club Honors Night program under the assignment of "complementary colors".  I like the shot as a pop art graphic abstract but the judges considered it as "too busy" and "poorly framed" - no award.  Such is the subjective nature of art and one of the difficulties of succeeding in contest.

COMMON HOOT OWL

Dianne spotted this common hoot owl at the Baytown Nature Center this morning. We've seen lots of hawks, Osprey, ducks, shore birds, song birds, etc, but this was the first owl we'd ever seen.