Does it Have to be Real?

Seriously.  Sometimes, not always but sometimes, you can play with settings in Lightroom and Photoshop and end up with an end result that looks good.

This photo is a good example.  I took this this past winter on a dreary day.  The natural color... if you can call it that... had more grays and blacks.  And to be honest, I like this series in its natural colors as well.  But, when I imported them into Lightroom, just to amuse myself, I played with some settings... mostly the white balance... and came up with this.  I will admit that I was a bit surprised at my reaction.  I liked it.  It has a warmer, yet surreal, feel to it.  At the same time, it doesn't really have any pretense of being real or natural.

On of my earliest blog posts has a lake scene in Michigan where I shot the same scene during a foggy sunrise with several different white balances in the camera.  The natural color was yellow-ish.  Others were blue, purple, and so on.  They were all great, yet for different reasons.

Experimentation.  Give it a try!

Still a Sucker for a Silhouette

I took this shot this past December.  It was freezing cold out, just after sunrise, somewhere just above zero degrees.  Needless to say, the hands don't always operate so well in those conditions.  Just touching the button on the remote is like slamming one's fingers onto a metal railing, then smashing a book on top just to make sure it hurts enough.

Where am I now?  Well, it's raining outside... I'm inside... it is kind of chilly, but I am too cheap to have the heater on in late April... and all seems good with the photographic world as this picture looks good and the memories of the finger pain have long since subsided.

Just in case you're wondering, this was shot north of Mt Vernon, Iowa... and in the full light is far less interesting.

A New Year...

...time to refresh.

I decided it was time for a major update on the website itself. It took a little longer than originally planned, as the more I got into it, the more I decided to do. Moved all the stuff in the "New Additions Gallery" to their respective galleries, (temporarily) retired and/or rearranged some of the photos within the galleries themselves, and have a completely new selection in the "New Additions Gallery".

I guess you could say it was long overdue for a fresh start. What's surprising is how difficult it is to decide which ones to remove. I have them all, of course, and some photos are apt to disappear and reappear at random.

This photo is one of the shots now in the "New Additions Gallery". It is of the dome of the state capitol building in Des Moines, Iowa. When there, these views kept intriguing me, but also foiling me at the same time. However, the more I look at this one, the more it grows on me. This is a shot that wouldn't necessarily interest you as a small photo, but really does grab you as a larger photo.

Cruise on over to the website itself and take a look.

The New Year...

To paraphrase The Grateful Dead, "What a long strange winter it's been.". We've really only had one real good snowfall, and it has been so warm that almost everything has since melted for several days now with no significant snowfall expected for at least several days. Strange, indeed.

Not that I'm complaining, of course.

This entry's photo was taken a couple years ago at this time of year at sunrise at a nearby pond. The silhouette combined with the sunrise's reflection on the pond itself makes for a striking photo.

Now that the holidays are over we'll see what we can do to get more shots like this. And... maybe it'll snow a couple more times so we can expand our winter photo collection as well. It may be warmer than usual, but it certainly isn;t spring-like, either.

Have a good new year. :-)

Oh, how I love a good sunset...

...and it's even better when you can get a good silhouette in there, too. It just doesn't get any better than that.

This shot is from the State Capitol grounds in Des Moines, looking west toward downtown. I have other shots of the downtown itself in silhouette that will find their way to the website and/or here eventually.

Oh, and just in case you haven't heard, Iowa Landscape Photography is having a Holiday Sale through the end of November. Be sure to check out the details at http://www.iowalandscapephotography.com/contact.html .

Venturing Outside Iowa...

...to Michigan, to be exact.

It's nice to get away sometimes. Explore new places. See something different.

While on a trip to see family, Missy and I decided to search for a lighthouse in the St. Joseph / Benton Harbor area (because it was the closest on our route at the right time of day for a sunset, but that's our secret), and, well... the lighthouse was unimpressive, but we did see this old railroad bridge. As you can see, it was quite imposing, and we caught it at a good time of day, too.

I know, I know, this is IOWA Landscape Photography.... hence the disclaimers that I will include some other nice scenery from surrounding states when the opportunity arises. Not to worry, though, as I did get some interesting shots in Iowa on this trip as well. I will share those in future installments. Let's just say that Sabula is an interesting place.

Almost too late!

So... Missy and I head out to try and catch some winter sunsets. We head out a little late, and the sun doesn't wait, so we're "flying" down the roads as fast as we dare while being careful to not slide off into a ditch. The one scene we think looks promising... isn't.

A little further down the road we see a good location, but it'd be better suited to a morning shot, so we make note of it and vow to come back.

Then, as we're heading home, resigned to a stunning lack of success, we see this barn. The backlit sunset, the barn itself, the snow, the bare trees in silhouette... looks like it'd make a very nice photograph. It's freezing, and my fingers get cold pretty quick, but I get the tripod set up, snap off a few shots, toss everything back in the car and turn up the heater! The ride home is much more satisfying knowing that we got something.