Day 305; Madeleine

Last weekend I spent at the Iowa State 4-H Camping Center for the first of two Culturally-based Youth Leadership Accelerator retreats Iowa 4-H is putting on this year. It was an awesome experience. My friend Madeleine and I spent the whole weekend photographing and videotaping the delegates' experiences and then putting together a video which we played at the closing ceremony. I've never really done any video editing before, but it was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again next weekend!
This photo of Madeleine was taken while we were waiting to load the buses at the end of camp. I really liked the hipster-esque look she had going on, so as the other counselors and I sat there laughing at the end of a very long weekend, I snapped a couple of candid shots of her. I love how the sun is hitting her shoulder and hair. If I could change anything, I would have moved the backpack which is behind her, but all in all, I'm really pleased with this shot. Editing was minimal, mostly to decrease noise on the side of the cabin and keep the focus on her face.

Day 295; Black, White, and Backlight

Today's post is a close up of one of my scarves. This one was hanging on the end of my bed and I happened to notice the way the window behind the scarf was providing a really nice backlight. Originally I loved the teal color of the scarf and the way the lighting interacted with it, but in the end I wanted the focus on the lines and contrast so I opted for a black and white effect.

Day 294; Bread Line

This is another shot from my recent trip to DC. These statues are part of the FDR memorial near the Tidal Basin. I loved the way these statues were indistinct and imperfect, while so many of the others I saw were smooth and flawless. I also liked the symmetry here, with the line of men with similar hats and downcast faces.  I wanted the photo to look a little less vibrant and more subdued, so I applied a black and white effect but faded it so there was still warmth from the original bronze color.

Day 292; Through the Pine

The past few weeks have been really busy around here. In fact, this time next week I'll be in Washington, D.C. on a 4-H trip. Today's photo was taken a couple of days ago when I was out checking on our pigs. It was relatively early in the morning, so the lighting behind this little pine tree was very pretty and soft. I cropped the photo so the branches would form more of a window, but that's the only editing I did. I really liked the colors in the tree and grass, and how clearly outlined the branches were with the backlighting.

Day 291; Sun Beams

There was a solar ellipse today, but unfortunately those of us in America couldn't see it. So with no moon in the way, I was able to get this shot of the setting sun behind the vines from this post. To show off the sun's warm hues I chose a dusk effect from picmonkey.com instead of black and white. I was careful when taking the photo to line up a branch in front of the sun to avoid sun spots, but this angle also caused a lot of the detail of the vines to be lost.

Day 277; Snowman Figurine

While my last post was about summer, this one is entirely about winter. There hasn't been any snow recently, but there has been a lot of mud. So since I don't have any real snow to play in, today's photo is of a snowman figurine. The snowman was on a windowsill with some fake snow. The light from the window created a really nice natural lighting pattern. I loved the colors in the original shot so I didn't do much editing.

Day 255; Three Seasons of Leaves

Today there are three photos, or rather, three versions of the same photo. The first is the original out of camera shot. I liked the lighting and details, but felt it needed a little something more. Second is a black and white edit which I really liked because it drew attention to the veins in the leaf and the lighting patterns. It also gave a classic look to the image. This second edit is probably my favorite. The third image is mostly just for fun. I took the black and white image and applied a galaxy texture from picmonkey.com to the whole photo except for the one leaf in the foreground. This gave a very unique look to the photo which I really liked.

207; Lace Curtain

It's been a while since I last posted and there are several combined reasons which prevented me. I wanted to come back today with a stunning or at least memorable photo, but that didn't exactly happen. Today's abstract is of the lace curtain which hangs over the west window in my room, and was taken at sunset when this window lets in all sorts of  beautiful light. I loved how the pattern in the lace really showed in this photo and how the draping of the fabric added some depth to the photo. I chose to highlight those details with a black and white effect.

Day 200

This afternoon when I was outside taking pictures the sun was starting to set and the light made the colors and details in this plant really stand out. I loved how the sunlight pouring through the leaves allowed you to see the veins. I added a thin black border to give a finished look and help make some of the details more pronounced.

Day 177

Another weed in a field at sunrise. I loved the colors the sunlight created and the painted look of the background that a shallow depth of field allowed.

Day 175

This weekend we had a brief meltdown before getting back to near zero degrees today. On Saturday morning I got this beautiful shot of the sunrise shining through these weeds in a field.

Day 141

 This photo was taken on Friday morning before I left for a rabbit show I attended this weekend. I wanted to capture some of the beautiful green and gold light the early morning sun was producing on this ragweed plant. I didn't notice it while taking the photo, but I really like the spiderweb built between the two leaves.

Day 125

This is a macro of a foxtail plant growing my yard this taken this morning. I love the golden and green color scheme, and the lines and focus on the plant. In the original image the entire head of the plant was showing, but I decided to crop it to give a more artistic and interesting look.

Day 124

When I was at my grandpa's house last Friday I noticed the beautiful backlighting the sun was throwing on the plants in this field. I especially loved this plant, as the sun hitting the bristles created a white halo effect that really set the plant off from the background. I also like the contrast of the bright white backlight and the shadows and warm light in the background.