Sunday, December 11, 2011

A Day at Como Park

I attended my first photography meet-up today.  It was held at the Como Park Conservatory bright and early, allowing us an opportunity to use our tripods and pose for photos.  The big draw was the Holiday Flower Show - an area filled with poinsettias. Those photos I won't share.  I've never been a fan of the big red blooms and I think my photos show it.  In fact, looking at all the photos I took (245 of them), I think its evident that what I really enjoy is macro photography.  So right now I'm regretting the 75-300 mm lens I just bought and am wishing I had gone for a macro lens instead.

I loved the big fans and the patterns that they make.  I took a lot of photos of them and then had some fun seeing what they looked like in black and white.



I like the patterns and the way the light shines through them.  




Best of all is just pretending there's no snow on the ground and that it really is summer.  It's a beautiful building and a great place to go in the summer.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Photography Bug

I have another bug.  Photography. While I come from the old school of film cameras that only advanced the film when you moved a lever with your thumb, I've really wholeheartedly accepted digital photography.  It wasn't an easy transition.  I still clung to the view that nothing compared to Kodachrome 64. But then I started exploring other photographer's websites and attending our local nature photography meetings. The colors were so vibrant that they seemed surreal.

Those vivid colors had me questioning my camera equipment. Should I get a new lens? A new camera? Did I need more megapixels?  Of course, all of that might help, but I'm discovering that post-production has a lot to do with it, too.  I've been having fun with a free trial of Adobe Lightroom and here are my results.

I was in Duluth in October and forgot to change the white balance on my camera.  This is what I got:


Then I played around with Adobe Lightroom and this is what I got:


Imagine what I could do if I really knew how to use the program.