• clouds,  gratitude,  landscape,  mountains,  musings,  sunsets

    Your Words

    Post processed in Topaz Adjust
    Post processed in Topaz Adjust

    Words take on different meaning in different times, cultures and how they are used. My belief is that placing them together in a paragraph to create a story, express an idea or concept is a form of art. Sometimes in my attempts to use words to express myself or an idea the words work and sometimes they don’t. It is rewarding when I read your words on your blogs and through comments you leave on this blog. So often I find my feeble attempts at expressing myself are found in your words. For that I am grateful! Thank you!

  • flowers,  Plants,  quotes

    Brown-eyed Susan

    Brown-eyed Susan
    Brown-eyed Susan – Processed in Topaz Adjust 5

    “Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful, and free. The real you is just like a flower, just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun.” Don Miguel Ruiz

  • People/Portraits,  Self-portraits

    Play time

    Eye Contact

    We all need it! And when it’s cold outside and the wind is blowing I decided to play around with Topaz Adjust and my off camera flash. I learned a few things about my flash and gained a bit more confidence. I also had fun! Can you tell? Look at that smile! 🙂

  • quotes

    Simple Lamp

    A Lamp

    Available to all photographers free is the one light source given by a window which faces the north. It’s a painterly light that any face or still life comes alive in. 

    Garry Camp Burdick

    I love the light whether it’s morning light or evening light and everything in between. There is something about seeing window light as it fills up a room, bouncing light off of back walls mirrors, curtains, bedding. Hotel rooms and lobbies can offer some interesting light so I’m always looking for those times.

  • Candid Portraits,  coffee shops,  lifestyles

    Three Amigos

    Three Amigos

    Okay, so I’m in this coffee shop near the airport in Charleston and I see these bar stools and I love their patten, and I love the color and I love the wood texture. So, my mind starts to work and envision how I want this image to come alive. I try a few frames with just the bar stools but it ain’t happening. I figure a coffee cup on the bar would help but it still ain’t happening. I change the color of the cup but again it ain’t happening. People around me are starting to worry, I can see it in their faces. They’re probably asking questions like, “What the heck is this strange guy trying to do?” or “What hospital did he escape from?” (And, let’s not tell them, okay.) I notice a mother and her daughter are just smiling at me, that feels real uncomfortable. The baristas in the coffee shop are wondering how they can get me to leave, I can see it in their eyes. Things are getting uncomfortable, so I sit back down at my table, put my camera on the table and sheepishly smile at everyone.

    And then it happened. A mother and father with three children come in to enjoy a cool drink on this hot day. The children climb up on the stools and now I have the image in front of me. It’s right there! I quietly ask the father permission to take a few shots. The silly man agrees.

    After taking the previous images I know what exposure I needed to use. Two frames was all I needed then some adjustments with Lightroom and Topaz Adjust to create this image. I like it. It was fun. I also liked the process of its creation. And, thankfully, no one called the cops or the hospital. Whew!