Winter Window Images

Here are two more images from my Winter Window. I want to preface this with I do not profess to be a bird expert or even a "birder." What I know about birds is only from what I have observed (mostly casual) and read (which is very little). I have a book sitting on the window sill of my Winter Window. As I see a bird I do not recognize, I use this book to help identify it and then read the facts about the bird. While this blog is mainly about photography (and our ferrets on occasion), I think it's a good thing to pass on a little info about the subject matter from time to time.

The first bird is a Dark-Eyed Junco. I was amazed to learn that this bird migrates from Canada to Virginia and parts further south. From what I have observed, it's mainly a ground feeder and they hang out in fairly large numbers. A very common sight around here in winter.

The second bird is an American Gold Finch. What a beautiful bird this is. The male takes on a bright color of yellow, however, during the winter it loses this color and looks much like the female does year round. Female birds, for the most part, lose out when it comes to color, don't they? This bird lives in Virginia all year. I counted 27 Gold Finches in my tree at one point. If you want to attract them, use Nyjer thistle seed. Wow. They devour this stuff. I put the seed in a "seed sock." Works great. Alas, they have all but disappeared from around the home. We did get to see quite a few males with the bright colors before they left. But, now that food is abundant, I suppose they have moved on to areas closer to open fields. Look for them in open areas hanging on thistle. I see them on golf courses quite a bit during the summer.

All B/W conversions done with Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro.

Tulips, Texture and Tungsten from Spring

The first image was captured from one of many tulip beds planted around Washington, DC every year. This was taken at f/22 and a 1/2 second shutter. Slight movement up during the exposure qualifies this as a pan. I added a bit of texture and watercolor effect.

The second image is from the same tulip bed. However, the lens was at f/14 and the shutterspeed was 1/8 of a second. The camera movement was different as well. As you can see, during the exposure, I moved the camera in what could be described as a small "u." This is evident from the elongated white lines in the image.

It's likely you are saying this can't be the same tulip bed, the colors aren't even close to being the same as the image above. It's true, the colors aren't the same. But, it is from the same bed of tulips. During the initial processing of the image, in the Raw Converter, I changed the White Balance to Tungsten. This changed the color temperature from 5250 to 2850. Much cooler in more ways than one. I also added some film grain effect to the image via Nik Software Color Efex Pro 3.0.

The final image is a "mirror" of the Tungsten-converted image.

Colorful Tree Bark

I was out at Pohick Bay today. There was some fog this morning so I thought I would head out to the water and see if anything dramatic developed. There wasn't much dramatic happening as far as fog, water and mood were concerned. But, I had the great pleasure in watching several Ospreys hunt for breakfast. They were really noisy this morning. Chattering and screaming at each other. It's really hard to describe. Hopefully, you have had the privilege or will at some point put yourself in a position to witness such a thing. I have a 300mm f/2.8 lens but it really isn't adequate to catch birds in flight unless they are right in front, or over top, of me. So, rather than shooting away, I just used the lens as a makeshift spotting scope and casually observed.

Not wanting to go home without capturing something, I came across some trees that had this colorful "stuff" growing on them. It's lichen actually. Most likely, F. caperata, but I'm no lichen expert. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, I shot away. The images here have been treated with the Orton effect. As well, the two smaller "bookend" images, are digital multiple exposures. I enhanced the colors using Nik Software's Color Efex Pro (Brilliance/Warmth filter).

I am rather pleased with the final results.

Hiding Lion

Whenever I look at this image, first I like the branches and stuff in front of the lion's face, then I'm not so sure. Then I like it, then I'm not so sure. I know I do like the tone I got from Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro.

The image makes me think that the lion is thinking, "I'm going to sorta put myself behind these twigs as an exercise, but we all know that I don't have to hide because I can really have pretty much anything I want."

Afterall, he is the King.

Traffic At Night

I took this image from the top level of a parking garage in Arlington, VA. I really like the tones in the image as well as the movement and curve formed by the cars making a Left Turn. Processing was done with Nik Software Color Efex Pro.

Stairs To Where?

No clue as to where the stairs lead?

Stairs or a fence?

The images from today and yesterday were converted to B/W using NikSoftware's Silver Efex Pro. Note the grain in today's image. Very appealing to me.

Sarasota, Florida

I attended a wedding in Sarasota last week and had a great time. I've been to many parts of Florida but it's the first time I have really been to this part of Florida and absolutely found it to be a great place.

Here are four images that I made during some down time between the many fantastic pre- and post-wedding activities. The image with the kids was made at Lido Beach (actually a Key) while the other three were captured on Longboat Key. Two nice places to visit. I wish I had more time to explore and I will in the future.

All images were shot in color. I decided to convert these four to B/W using the Infrared filter in Nik Software's Color Efex Pro 3.0. Nik now has a dedicated B/W software called Silver Efex Pro that is fantastic.

I also added grain to the images using the Nik Software. Sometimes I use the "Film Effects" filter and select a "high speed" film that adds a certain tone and grain, while other times I will use the "Film Grain" filter to simply add grain. It's trial and error to get the image the way you want it.

I've printed the images and framed them together in a horizontal format. I think they represent my short visit to the beach very well.