Tag Archives: photography enthusiast

One Church Among the Rest

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Centenary United Methodist Church in New Bern

I was playing around with this subject in Lightroom for a bit when I noticed I was able to get the street lamps to shine while the rest of the photo went black and white. I ended up finding a different picture and worked with the street lamps some more. I wish I knew I could do that because I would have taken more focused shots. Today was absolutely gorgeous, once again, so I decided to get rid of the nice blue sky and go for something a little blander. I tried to make the roofs seem richer than before, without making the rest of the oranges and reds come through. I like the result for today. I would have shown the entire bell tower (which looks pretty awesome) but there was a darn tree in the way. You can see the little branch coming in, but if I zoomed out some more of its brothers and sisters were cramming the shot.

Again I traveled into down town New Bern looking for my shot today. I might have to do this week entirely in down town; might work out for the best. Anyway, churches. I am not a church going person, which is blasphemy here in the Bible belt, but I do like seeing churches with some character. Being in the South you can find a church anywhere you look—anywhere…you…look. I saw a church today that was smaller than a mobile home and less inviting than a biker bar. They are a dime a dozen, so when I can come across one of these magnificent works of masonry art, I try to take it in. I have actually been inside this one before (for a wedding), and just like you would think, it’s impressive. But we are talking about the outside, today. I apologize, again, for not taking the entire structure in view, but I think the middle section there is impressive enough. There is a great amount of detail that went into those three windows and the roof surrounding. The color and placement of the shingles makes it look almost like brick. I am guessing it is a ceramic roof. Either way, I like it. The mid section of the bell tower looks like a medieval castle, and being a guy who likes his fantasy movies, castles hold a special place in my imaginative heart.

This is another building in New Bern that sticks out, and sets itself apart from the rest of the town. Even a city 300 years old (pretty old in American years) can have its modern feel take over, but this piece of history stands tall and in great condition. I enjoy the opportunity to see these old buildings still stand in their glory and make us think back to a time when our craftsmanship was top notch.

Until tomorrow.

First Take on HDR

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New Bern Oil & Fertilizer Co. Silo

I went for a drive around New Bern today. I thought I was going to find a cool picture of the historic district homes, but I saw this beauty in the distance. I changed my route and headed over to this abandoned silo. With a little bit of sleuthing and some logic and I found out this was from the old New Bern Oil & Fertilizer Co. Didn’t look too much into this, but having the name made me feel a little better. You can actually make out most of the writing on the top portion of the image.

Today was a beautiful day, with sun shining and blue skies. Normally an awesome day, but this image would have been even nicer looking with some rolling clouds in the background. Either way, I wanted to get a few shots of this discarded structure because it stands out a lot from the bustling down town of New Bern. This was also my first time attempting to work with HDR. It is a fun setting and it really uses the power of Photoshop CS5. Following a small tutorial online (the internet is awesome) I worked through some of the settings, moved some dots on a curve and this is what I got. I didn’t spend a large amount of time on it, mainly because I don’t know what I’m doing.

I like the final product. The glow of the edges really makes the image pop, and the contrast in the blue of the sky looks pretty awesome. If you look closely at the top you can make out some graffiti, another subject I want to find more of in the future. I can imagine a rebellious individual making the climb up the rusted ladder, standing over 6 stories above the ground, looking over the town. It must have been an awesome view from up there.

Unlike the photo of the old, decrepit house from a few days ago, this mammoth building (in respect to its surroundings) really stands out and has a distinct presence. I will definitely be taking more pictures in this area, because there is a lot of character in the older buildings here in New Bern.

Until tomorrow.

Foggy Morning

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Morning Fog on the backyard lake

As I was letting the pup out this morning I noticed a nice layer of fog over the lake. Figured I had enough time for a few shots before I went off to work. I saw a photo online of a black and white picture where the fog really stood out. This was my attempt to get that effect. Have quite a long way to go before I perfect it.

I previously had the notion that shooting in color was the harder of the two, but I have lately found that black and white photos give me a lot more problems. Trying to get the image to look nice without the different blends of the natural colors of the scene is pretty tough. I tried my best to start off with a photo that looked good in color. I went with this one because the sky wasn’t too overpowering and there was plenty of reflection on the lake.

I wanted the fog to stand out a little more than it was, so I used the adjustment brush in Lightroom to pick a few spots and add varying levels of exposure. It definitely is an awesome tool once you get used to the setting changes. The tree line could use a little more work. I guess the key to making black and white photos look good is remembering where the light source is coming from, and then making adjustments on the subject where they normally would occur.

Not sure how often I will put black and white photos up here. Right now, I am in favor of color photos, but it’s only the start of week 3. Got plenty of time.

Until tomorrow.

Cloudy Days

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Clouds rolling across the sky.

With the warm weather we have been having it was foreseeable the clouds were going to come rolling in. Today started off sort of cloudy and a little bit of moisture fell to the ground by lunch time, but like I’ve talked about before the rain pretty much comes and goes. Completely disappears. Everything dries up and we all move on. This picture was taken a little bit after mid day, just as a new round of clouds was coming into view.

Clouds are fun to take pictures of; they add a pretty unique dynamic to the skies. They are constantly moving and so images created by the marshmallows are constantly changing. I guess that is the definition of dynamic… Needless to say, this picture will never, and can never exist again. Reminds me of the part in Garden State, with Natalie Portman, when she makes that weird noise in her bedroom. She made a noise and an action that will never happen again because it can never happen the same way in that same spot in that same place in time. Isn’t that a fascinating thing…Natalie Portman.

Being new to the photography scene I am trying to find things to take pictures of that add a little more challenge. I usually work on the ‘M’ setting with my Canon (that’s the manual settings for you non-pro’s). With this setting I have to manipulate every setting the camera uses. It’s a great tool when you know what you are doing, but for a newbie it tends to come down to a lot of trial and error. This picture is by no means an awesome shot of the sky, but an attempt to capture a bunch of different spectrums of light.

With the sun to the right a bit, and the natural filters created by the condensation an interesting juxtaposition of white and black is created. The sides facing to the sun are overexposed, and the underside is underexposed. It is a photographer’s nightmare, I think, to try and make sure every portion of the picture is given the same amount of love. It’s hard to focus on just one area too. I have been keeping my pictures to single subject and haven’t really ventured into too much landscape, or panoramic. I will eventually, and I guess the sky is a good place to start. As long as that sky has some clouds in it and the rain is staying up there where it belongs.

I did alter the image a bit because the blue in the sky was pretty dull today, and I wanted to enhance the detail a bit to make up for it. Maybe one day I can get a picture of those killer shots where the sky is painted with reds, oranges, yellows, and even purples. Until then, I’ll keep looking to the skies, dream of those days to come, when I become an awesome photographer and my writing becomes more polished, and I land a big job with a great company and I can do this for a living. Oops, sorry, head was stuck in the clouds (I know).

Thanks for taking this ride with me so far on this start of a long journey. If you are new, please, keep coming back.

Until tomorrow.