HOTPPG Image Competition

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Rick

We had our last regular meeting of the HOTPPG two weeks ago. As always we had our image competitions. The challenge for this month was Low Light images. It was a black and white print competition. While we were on our cruise in August, I took photographs during the entertainment in the evening. In looking at them, there was one that struck me as a good candidate for conversion to black and white. So, I used Nik Silver Effects Pro and converted it to black and white, and then cropped it square. It ended up coming in second, but that was enough to guaranty that I would win the Black and White Artist competition for the year.

Spotlight

Marlin and Riesel

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Rick

We were headed to Galveston the other day and I happened to notice just south of Marlin there was a windmill and a tree on the side of the road. I made not of it and went back the other day to get some pictures. I had been thinking about black and white images, and thought this would make a good one.

Falls County Windmill

Driving there, I noticed along the side of the road in Riesel there was an old barn and a field in which there were several bales of hay. So, I stopped there on the way home and got that as well.

Reisel Hay

HOTPPG Shoot Out 2016 Famillies

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Rick

We had two families. They first was this couple and their daughter. This was really hard as the little girl was not really into the experience.

Christa Aaron and Noraa

My second station was with a teenage girl. As we were finishing with her, her mother came up and wanted a picture of the two of them.

Courtney and Cindy

The second family was my last station. It was getting dark, and the little girl was obviously done for the night. As I was setting up the light and getting my exposure, I clicked this one and it turned out to be quite good.

Benjamin and Baby

I did get one of the whole family after that.

Stevens Family

HOTPPG Shoot Out 2016

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Rick

Last week we had the annual HOTPPG shoot out at Carleen Bright Arboretum. We had seven models/families and got to shoot each for about 10 minutes. Courtney

Again, as I said in a previous post, I am enjoying these moody kinds of portraits in which the subject is looking away.

Matthew

This was of a young man. I had him posed standing against a rail fence, and it gave kind of a rustic look to the overall image.

Chris

Another young man. This one was the hardest to get. We did this in the evening as then was setting, and this location had really strong direct sunlight. It was almost impossible to get anything that looked good, but I was finally able to get this, and I like the casual look of it.

Colby

Another one of my kind of experimental images. I wanted to incorporate the leading lines of the fence, but the light wasn’t cooperating with me. It turned out OK, though, as this could be used as an image for a graduation announcement or something like that by adding text to it.

Cindy 1

This woman is a local author who needed some shots for publicity. I like the colors in it.

Additionally, she asked if I could take one that could be used for her business cards. I did one that I really liked on the back of the camera, but when I looked at it on the screen, the focus point was off, and her face was out of focus. However, I took this one as well that I think really did do what she requested.

Cindy 2

Rowing on the River

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Rick

The Waco Wild West 100 Bike ride was last weekend. As always I was heavily involved with the rest stops, But I also took a lot of pictures at the Start/Finish line. As with last year’s I was setting things up, I noticed there was a rowing competition on the river and I took some pictures of them from the Washington Avenue Bridge. Eagle Eye View

There was some rather strong manipulation involved in this image. I took it into Nik Color Effects Pro 4 and added the Indian Summer effect. That increased the yellows in the foliage on the bank of the river. I also added a subtle texture to the image, but it still was missing something. So, I decided to add it the image of the Great Blue Heron flying over the top of them.

Audrey Senior Photos 2

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Rick

We went up to Denton to do more senior pics of Audrey. We started out at a place where there was an old bridge over a ravine. If was obvious it was a popular spot for portraits as there were several other people there taking pictures. Audrey Bridge

The first ones we did were on the bridge. I wanted something a little moody with a rather dark background so, I underexposed and added a flash.

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Then I had her sit next tot he rusted railing and did this one. After that, we went to Texas Women’s University. There were several spots there where we shot, but this one turned out to be one of the best. For some reason, lately I am liking the moody atmosphere of looking away from the camera.

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Five-Day Mexico Cruise

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Rick

We decided before Fall classes began we would go on a short cruise. We hadn’t been to Progresso Mexico in many years, and we found a cheap price on a five day cruise to Cozumel and Progresso.

In Cozumel we did basically the same old thing. We took a cab into San Miguel and started at Los Cinco Soles. This time we tried to find a different place to eat. There was a restaurant I read about called “Los Oatates.” We looked it up on the map and walked there. When we got there, it was not open for lunch, and, I kind of think, if it had been open we probably would not have eaten there. So, we went back to Palmeras and had lunch there. These are a couple of boats pulled upon the beach in San Miguel.

La Nina

The second stop was Progresso. We stopped there about ten years ago on a similar short cruise but neither of us remembered much of it. We took an excursion called “The White City and The Golden City of the Yucatan.” We drove through Merida on the bus and saw several attractions, but were not allowed out of the bus. Then we drove to Ixamal which was the Golden City. It is a small village deep in the jungle. We went to an old convent and toured it and then, after a carriage ride, had lunch a local restaurant.

Ixamal

The Victorian

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Rick

I was asked by the Victorian Owners Association to take some pictures to be used in publicity. These are found of the ones I did.

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Hot Springs Visitor Center

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Rick

The whole city of Hot Springs is actually a National Park. The park Visitor Center is one of the old bath houses.

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Inside, all of the old bath works are preserved as a museum.

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In the lobby, this old fountain was preserved.

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And in the window was a row of whicker rocking chairs. It didn’t take much to imagine people sitting in them waiting to go into the baths.

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Hot Springs, AR

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Rick

I was asked to go to Little Rock for a day, and I took the opportunity to visit Hot Springs. We had been here many years ago, and I had only vague recollections of the area, but I remembered that it was really photogenic. These are some scenes from the main street in Hot Springs

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RED Imagery Photography

Dynamic Photography in and around Waco, Texas