Tag Archives: Waco

HOTPPG Image Competition

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

2016-09-17 at 10-02-18

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.

2016-09-17 at 14-11-55

Mailbox Rose

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A week ago, while mowing the lawn, I noticed a peony blooming.  I thought it would make a nice picture.  So, the next day, I took my camera out and started taking pictures. While I was doing that, the mailman came.  So, after I thought I had enough images, I took my camera up to the porch and walked out to the mailbox.  Sometimes, things just are aligned in a unique way.  Debbie has a rose bush next to the mailbox and some of the roses were blooming.  It just so happened that the sun coming through the leaves of the trees created a kind of spotlight on one of the roses.

Rose 2

I took a few more than did an HDR bracket. I had watched a video on using some additional software to create a detailed look in the petals.  So, I played around with that and came up with this one.

Rose

Hwy 287

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I took Hwy 7 to Crockett and then 287 down to Port Arthur.  On Hwy 287, I saw this old structure in an area that was being used to store hay.

Hwy 287 No. 1

Hwy 287 No. 2

Long Exposure

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I have tried several times to take pictures in Galveston using a long exposure causing the waves to blur and the water to look diffuse.  Last weekend, the weather was terrible.  Before it started to rain, I took my camera and tripod and ND filters down to the beach and tried to get the 61st St. Fishing Pier. I got several images, but the rain really started and I had to leave.  This was the best of what I got.

Fishing Pier 001