Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Photowalk 43 of 52 - Killens Pond (Some long exposures)

Photowalk 43 of 52 - Killens Pond (Some long exposures) - POTW
BHL On Black


Photowalk 43 of 52 - Killens Pond (Some long exposures)

I know I know... another photowalk at Killens Pond. You may not be saying it but I am. I really enjoy Killens Pond, it's close but there is a lot to be explored there. I'm trying to catch up on photowalks and posting. When I was trying to decide on whether I wanted to try a full year photogrpahy project that I couldn't pull off a 365-project.


 I thought a 52 photowalks project would be tough some weeks. Then I figured if I made the rules simple, I just have to leave my house, that I would be able to pull it off. Don't read too much into this, because I have every intention of finishing this project. I do want to say that it's been tough at times. I've always known that there are certain times of the year that I tend to get overwhelmed. This year has been no exception, I've had a lot going on lately. Normally by mid-October my life starts to ease up a bit, this year has been non-stop. On to my point... I love November! For many reasons, but the big one, days off. Thanks to Election Day I got some stuff done. I got a slew of pictures editted and did some reading up on another project that I want to play with this month. Therefore I'm able to get two blog posts done in one day, that's great for me. I still have a ton to do but I did get some things wiped off my list today. Next week we have Veterans Day, so hopefully I will get some more stuff done, and maybe get a chance to make up a photowalk.
So anyway back to the photowalk... I only had about an hour to get a photowalk done, the rest of the weekend was going to be packed solid with family time. So I ran down to trusty ol Killens Pond. I got there and it was very windy, making choppy waves. So I figured it might look cool to get some long exposure shots. I think they turned out nicely. I used my ND filters I got for Christmas last year and the tripod my wife has had for many years. It was so windy I was a bit worried the tripod might tip over, so I stayed very close to it just in case. I was also really trying to capture the autumn colors. Sadly I missed the best colors by a mear week, it really is a flash of time that they are at their peak. I still got some nice colors but I wish I would have gotten out there a bit sooner in the week. Needless to say about the time I got into the photowalk and really started getting into it I had to run, such is life.
In my photo editting I recently started using curves instead of just levels. This has really helped my photos, I think. If you have any feedback on this feel free to share with me. I've read about using curves so many times and never really understood it. Recently I was reading a magazine article and I read a tutorial on using curves and it just made sense. Not to say that I don't still have some confusion, but I have a better grasp on it now. I understand enough to use it and play with it to learn more, before I felt like using it was a waste of time as I didn't understand it at all. I primarily use gimp for all my editing needs. I will use picasa for some minor stuff but it is more or less just my filing system.

You can check out more of my photos at www.flickr.com/photos/dmize/

It's really hard to believe that I have less than 10 photowalks left to complete my goal!

DM|ZE

2 comments:

  1. Awesome Mushrooms. I really think there's no shame in going to the same place to take photographs time after time. It let's you really get to know an area...really explore it with your lens, ya know?

    I heart curves. To be honest, I don't use levels that often b/c I didn't understand them as well as curves until recently!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, I love taking pictures of shrooms and other fungus. I will say that I feel very comfortable there and it is nice to sometimes have an idea of what to expect. At the same time I do enjoy exploring new places. When I'm done with the 52 photowalks I will do another project but I think it will be more flexible.

    I'm enjoying curves, but I did struggle with it a bit. I still start with levels and move to curves after I've made some adjustments so that I can see how it looks on curves adjusted. But I do like the flexibility of curves and I think now that I have some understanding of it I think I can play with it to get some interesting and nice effects.

    ReplyDelete