I received an email informing me I’d taken first place in a photo contest sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation Magazine – my second win! More than 4,800 photos were received, and my shot of Monarch butterflies stood out through 3 rounds of judging.
Last year on a beautiful October afternoon I looked out the window and spotted a small speck of blue among the colorful leaves. I watched for a bit before realizing it was pretty little Bluebird peacefully perched on a branch. I quickly grabbed my camera and snuck outside as quietly as I could.
The point of Fauxto Friday was a way for me to showcase the ways I use Photoshop to edit and retouch photos in order to remove objects, swap out backgrounds, restore damaged prints or, in the case of the featured photo of this post, create something arty and new.
In March of 2018, I entered a few of my nature photos in the annual National Wildlife Magazine Photo Contest…and then promptly forgot about it. I knew there would be a lot of entries from photographers with far more advanced equipment and skills, and I didn’t really count myself as a potential winner.
This week’s No-Touch Tuesday feature once again comes from my trip to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens. As I said in my last post, the Wings of the World exhibit was one of my favorite exhibits of the zoo. If I close my eyes, I can still remember walking through the open air aviary as if it were yesterday.
This week’s No-Touch Tuesday feature comes from the deck off the back of my house. I love having bird visitors come to eat from the various feeders. It gives me a chance to watch them closely through the glass door. But in the warmer months when I’m able to sit outside on the deck, they can be a little more skittish.
This week’s unfiltered, unedited No-Touch Tuesday feature choice was easy…I was fortunate to take a road trip recently with a stop at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. It was my first visit to the zoo, and it blew me away! With its official opening in 1875, it is the second oldest zoo in the United States.
For this week's No-Touch Tuesday feature, I set out to purposely take a photo that I knew I could be happy with as it was. And then the clouds rolled-and then the rain came down-and then all the birds and butterflies went silent. In that overcast stillness, I could see light reflecting in the raindrops on the pine needles.
To complement my Fauxto Friday feature, (where I take a perfectly fine picture and edit it to death, transforming it into a “fauxto”) I’m adding a new feature…”No-Touch Tuesday.” The name says it all! Tuesday’s will now feature a photo that I have not retouched in any way, shape or form. Completely unfiltered.
Another Friday, another beautiful bird fauxto! I’ve spoken before of the magical backyard I’m fortunate to have. I rarely have to travel outside its boundaries to find spectacular displays of flora and fauna. While I spent last year with my lens focused on flowers and insects, this spring I’m all about the birds.
I don't limit my creativity to just photography. I also work with video as well. My Nikon D3300 captures video in full HD 1080 60fps resolution, and the quality is spectacular. The problems I run into with video are the same that I have with photos-lighting and tone. I turn to Wondershare's Filmora for video editing.
Thanks to the new placement of the bird feeder this year, I've had the opportunity to witness a lot of beautiful birds come and go. Even though they can see me through the glass door, they don't seem to mind my camera lens. The closer they'll come to the glass, giving me the chance to snap some very detailed pictures.