BUG PAINTING PARTY

This was my other shot submitted for the BAPC assignment of "AMERICANA".  Interestingly enough this was what I considered to be my "A" shot for the night, but it turned out to be the lowest scoring photo of the night.  Meanwhile "The Pie Lady", see previous post, was the highest scoring.  Judges didn't like the effect, which started as and in-camera Olympus "art filter" and went on from there.  I guess what I liked the most about it is that it's exactly what I intended the shot to be from the time I took it.  An over-the-top representation of an over-the-top event, hence the early selection of the fish eye lens.

OLD TIME MUSIC

Last weekend the Baytown Historical Preservation Society [http://baytownhistory.org/] added some lively old time music to their last Saturday monthly event.  The BHPS has two excellently restored buildings located at the Republic of Texas Plaza Park, 5117 North Main Street in Baytown with a third on the way.  They also have new post and beam barn / activity building on the site.

Kale at the Pumpkin Patch

Kale visited the pumpkin patch in Baytown with us over the weekend.

BNC Fall Fishing

I photographed these two fishing at the Baytown Nature Center on Sunday morning.

Foghat Concert_2

This shot is of my niece at the Foghat concert on Independence Day.

Hugo Point Pig Hunters

While I was out at Hugo Point Saturday morning I ran into this crew out for an adventure. When we passed each other they politely asked if I had seen an pigs? This caught me off guard as I hadn't even ever heard there were wild pigs in the area. One of the young men told me they catch them and raise them and in fact had caught one yesterday. I mentioned that I hoped to see some because it would make a good picture and he volunteered to run home and get the one he caught yesterday so I could photograph it! The whole scene seemed surreal to me, it reminded me of something Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer might have done.

Anika the Cheerleader

This is a shot of my niece practicing some of her "cheer leading" in my backyard.

Painter at Cade's Cove

Not everyone was taking pictures at Cade's Cove, this gentleman was capturing one of the scenes with paint. He must not have access to a camera! :)

Going Once...

This shot is from the Baytown Youth Fair and Rodeo this past Friday night. This scene is of the auction which was held in the late evening under an open air pavilion at the youth fair facility off Main St. north of I-10 in Baytown. I couldn't help but think this would have been an excellent opportunity to use a fish eye lens to capture the whole rural environment. [Note to self: have fundraiser for fish eye!]

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!!

Family Portrait

We decided to head back to the local Bluebonnet patch, pictured on this blog a few days ago, for an informal family portrait session. I had the idea of using the unconventional POV from the start and I am happy with how the composition came out. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Tech: Oly E-3, 12-60 Zuiko @ 14MM, f6.3, 1/100, ISO 125 & +1EV, Flashpoint Tripod, Aperture Priority, Raw Post Processing: Clarity, Saturation, and Exposure in Camera Raw>Open in CS3>Duplicate Background>High Pass Sharpening>Merge Visible>Levels Adjustment Layer>Merge Visible in “Soft Light” Mode>Created Frame Vignette by Copying Outer Edge and Pasting to New Layer in “Overlay” Mode

Rainy Day Rodeo

In spite of the weather we still had a good time at the Rodeo. Our good friends Jamie and Mark, pictured here, rounded out our group of four. This was our third or fourth consecutive year to make the trip and I'm sure we'll make may more in the future - rain or shine!

CLM

Whenever I see someone committed to displaying this amount of ink the first thing that comes to mind for me is CLM – Career Limiting Move! Certainly there are lots of social implications as well, but you know this guy has extra barriers built into his next job interview or performance review. He must really be dedicated to “doing his own thing.”

Tech: Oly E-3, Zuiko 50-200 w/1.4 Converter @ 283mm, f6.3 @ 1/500 and ISO 125, Aperture Priority Post Processing CS3>Duplicate Background>Topaz Adjust “Dramatic” Levels Adjustment>Curves Adjustment Layer>Merge Visible>Black and White Conversion Layer>Curves>Merge Visible in Multiply Mode>Mask Back Ground and Darken and Lower Contrast w/Levels, Merge Visible>Topaz Adjust “Enhance Contrast”>Curves “Cross Process” Preset>Lens Distort Vignette