A photographer's paradise...

You will think you are in the garden of Eden when you gaze upon, and walk through what we have for our next safari.  Thanks to Gennean, we have the opportunity to go to the our own little paradise  just a few miles East of Town.  Her friend, Joanie, has a historic ranch with luscious gardens complete with lots of beautiful flowers, a windmill, a chapel, and many other buildings.  It is a treasure trove of photo ops.  Mark your calendars for Thursday, June 12.  We will meet at Roswell Livestock on East Second at 6:15 pm.  You will be kicking yourself if you miss this safari.

Bring: a tripod

For reservations:
Please call Sue Ashby: 575 208 2197 or 575 910 0124 or email her at: scsilverturtle@gmail.com

Safaris...

"If you seek creative ideas, go walking.  Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk." -Raymond I. Myers

We have a couple of safaris scheduled in the last remaining days of May.  The first one is this Friday, May 23 where we join the astronomy club, and take in the wonderful meteor shower called Camelopardalids.

photo from Earthsky.com

  The astronomy club plans to go out about sunset to set up telescopes, but we are not planning on leaving until much later.  So if you want to document this amazing event...there are supposed to be about 200 meteors in an hour...notice I said supposed to be.  We will meet at the Wal-Mart parking lot behind Chili's at 11:15 PM.  This is at night...but we ask that you do not come in your pajamas.  We will then car pool out to the old missile site on Twist Flower Road just off Highway 285.  It's about 10 miles out north of town.
Bring: a flashlight, or headlamp
           chair
           insect spray
           camera gear
           tripod
Also, there are no bathroom facilities way out there...just the cover of dark.  So if you have a weak bladder, bring some TP.

If you plan to attend, please email Sue Ashby or call her: 575 208 2197 or 575 910-1024.

Rain is forecast for that day, but they are wrong 90% of the time.

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The next safari will be on Saturday, May 31 for the Carrizozo funky door, and gates photo op.  (If they are open).  From there, the group will head to White Oaks for a stop at "No Scum allowed Saloon."  Hmmm.  Sounds interesting.  Wonder what qualifies as "scum."  This safari doesn't end there...the tour goes on to visit another Ghost town.  This is a jam packed, photo filled, good time Saturday adventure.  Plan to join in.  We will be meeting at the Bureau of Land Management on west second at 8 AM.  This is late enough that you should be out of your pajamas.  Bring a lunch...the Scum Saloon may not have food.

If you plan to attend, please email Sue Ashby or call her: 575 208 2197 or 575 910-1024.

Our photo challenge for June is Diffused light.  Look at the beautiful photo Sue Heaton got early in the morning.

photo by Sue Heaton. Visit her website here

Today was a wonderful day to get a photo with diffused light since it was cloudy most of the day.  No rain though...rats...or should I say, "Snakes."  Look at this monster rattlesnake Sue Heaton found today.  Head, tongue, and rattle on in the pictures.  I would have been scared to death.  Sue is brave.  So now she has two diffused light photos.

photo by Sue Heaton: http://www.sueheatonphotography.com

Don't forget to contact Sue Ashby if you plan to attend either or both safaris.
Get Clicking...

June light challenge...Diffused light...

"Beauty is whatever gives joy." -Edna St. Vincent Millay

With our June challenge, we will have officially reached the half-way mark in our study of light.  It has been a fun journey, and adventure.  We have explored: shadows, backlight, hard light, natural light, directional light, and now we are going to delve into DIFFUSED light.  The definition of this type of light is almost explained in the very nature of its name: diffused.  It is light that passes through, or reflects off another surface before illuminating the subject of a photograph.  The result is soft light that wraps around a subject, and creates subtle shadows.  It adds warmth, and a dreamlike quality to images.

For the challenge:
1.  You may submit up to 4 photos...hopefully one each week, and not all on one day...
2.  In any format...printed, flash drive, CD, framed, or matted...
3.  Have your info available...ISO, shutter speed, aperture...
4.  No archival photos please...

Get out, study the light, and get clicking...

To help you understand diffused light, I have provided some examples to get your creative juices flowing...

Examples:

The best way to diffuse light indoors is by hanging a sheer in front of your light source.

Or place the subject by a window...it allows nice diffused light to envelope the subject...

by a window...

By placing your subject by, or inside a doorway you will have soft, beautiful light.

I purposely did not crop this photo so that you could see my subject is standing in the doorframe...see the hinges on the left...

Outside use light diffused by the foliage from trees...

Okay...my bugs are not as stunning as Cliff or Bill's...in fact mine are pitiful compared to their's...
Trees are overhead in this photo...

And this one too...heavy tree coverage...these are my son's twins.  Aren't they cute?

or clouds...

nice warmth on the landscape...

or use the sheer of a 5-in-1 reflector...

I used white foam board for the background which reflects light, and I used the sheer portion of my 5-in-1 reflector on the left side of this still life...

This is my cat helping me with my set up...only she knocked down my reflector...she's so much help...

One of my favorite sources of diffused light is found in the garage...

Love the light in here...

 or a porch...

taken on my back porch.

I know you will find some very creative sources of diffused light. I look forward to seeing your work at our June meeting. Now go out, and get clicking.

Lightroom editing technique...

If you use Lightroom, and love taking nature photos,  I have a website that is a must for you to visit.  The author of this website is Kelly Ishmael.  She posts a tutorial every Friday, and I have never failed to come away amazed at how she tweaks her sliders to add such drama and mood to her photos.  I thought I would post the link, so you can go there to see what she does.  I can guarantee you will learn something new.  http://mindingmynest.com/photography/photo-finish-friday-spring-glow/.  If you would like to see more of her work, here is her flickr address: https://www.flickr.com/photos/58736886@N05/

For those who went to the link on how to add texture to a photo, I wanted to share a before and after photo that I did with only one texture added.  Edits were done in Lightroom, the texture added in PSE.

Before

After...I wanted the photo to have a vintage look.  Edit done in LR...exposed it a little more, increased clarity, desaturated, increased vibrance, and added a slight vignette.  Took it into PSE where I added Kim Klassen's texture called kk_mary at 100% soft light, duplicated the texture layer, lowered the opacity to 50%.