Edits

This first image is of the moon last night just before sunset so behind me the sun was still up but the moon was very bright. I was having trouble seeing anything but I played around with the "tuning" and took down the brightness, upped the saturation and shadows while taking down contrast and the warmth. I ended with what I feel is a pretty cool image of the moon over a hay field.

This second photo I played around a lot with taking the brightness down as it was a very sunny day. The warmth was adjusted as well. 

Landscapes

I love landscape photography. Having landscapes in my home makes me feel more connected and when I use the ones I take myself to decorate my space I feel even more connected. Some of my favorite landscapes are sunsets and ponds with mountains. I took a few of my favorites this weekend, I hope you all like them as much as I do. 

Rule of thirds

Out on an excursion to Bingham falls I decided to complete the rule of thirds photos. The waterfall here when hit by the sun is absolutely stunning, how though is it best to portray that beauty through a photo. Should I focus on centering the waterfall or showing the falls and the rippling water at the bottom. Here are the two shots that I choose to do. The first is the water fall centered the second is the same waterfall in the right third (and a little up) of the photo. I do like the second one as it focuses the attention on not just the waterfall but the rippling water as well and how beautiful the whole scene is.

Composition and Aesthetics- From the heart

Seems like it would be a new subject when you first see the word related to photography and then you realize you use it every time you take a photo. Aesthetics too, no one wants to or aspires to take a photo that is just awful, we take photos of what speaks to us, what is beautiful or meaningful to us. Every time I pull out my camera to snap a picture of my daughter or garden or what ever is there I always step back and look for that angle, the lighting and that distance I need to make that photo speak to not just me but to the viewer. Photography is about capturing the feeling you get when you see the object of your focus, you want that glittering waterfall to make the viewer feel as free and blissfully happy that it makes you when you see it. So you see the composition and  aesthetics of photography are not just concepts that are studied and rules applied by students. They come from the feeling standing back just right to get the whole picture, going above your shot to make the angle better, using the sun as a backdrop to illuminate your photo. No rule can tell you how to look at something beautiful and capture it, for that you use your heart and if it makes you feel the same emotion later as it did when you took it then you have accomplished your goal.

 "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

A couple different types of lighting. I like how the flash on a camera can pick our details that natural lighting will not. Flashes always seem so harsh to me I love natural lighting or I suppose the lack of a flash as it shows what we are currently seeing and can capture the feeling of a photo. Flashes are a hard one for me to use because it strips away the beauty and sometimes feels to clinical.

Macro Collage

Had lots of fun getting up close without being close at all!

So today as I was clearing trails with my family I came upon a birds nest in a pile of brush. From the limited light and difficult angle this scene immediately drew my attention. Here are a few different variations of the same nest with varying light allowance and angles. My favorite ended up being the first shot I took simply because it gives an overview of the scene and is in my opinion the best lightedbof all seven. From this perspective you can see what the bird was trying to do by camouflaging its nest and at the same time catches justbenough light to see the eggs.