Tag Archives: blue

Flaw into a feature

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I was thinking back over the last year or so and I noticed that most of my top photos (in terms of views) have all been from “random” shots. I mean those “spur of the moment” ones, where you have the camera on you and you see something interesting. I do go on a lot of planned outings and these are worthwhile too. But there is something to ne said for keeping your eyes open, ready to pounce.

These days most cell phones have great cameras as well and these can be all you need. The key I think is to be intentional and keep on looking. So, here I am a passenger on the way to the city and of course I’€™ve got my DSLR with me! The harbour looked peaceful after the storm. I only had a few seconds to get this…. My shutter speed wasn’t really fast enough; there was a little motion blur in the capture.

I learnt this technique a long time ago – take a flaw and make it a feature. In this image that meant increase the glow or blur and make it a bit more mysterious…. Did it work? I think so!Wellington Harbour, New Zealand

These tools helped me work the magic:

Volcano At Rest

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I don’t to complain but sometimes clear blue skies can be a little boring!  So, either its just enjoy the scene and put the camera away or focus a bit more on the foreground.  In this case the tussock grass is so vivid and glowing that I reckon it works just fine.   The ground around here is that strange volcanic ash and earth; this in turn seems to effect the colour of everything else.   The volcano in question in this picture is dormant at the moment but I remember back in the mid 70s when it was puffing away with gusto.  For the present it is happy to be at rest.Blue mountain tussock

These tools helped me work the magic:

Going back to old familiar places.

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Most of us don’t spend our days travelling the world, seeing new places every day of the week.  I’m not sure I would want to do this if I could anyway.  I prefer the comforts of home with the odd trip now and then.  This means that most of my locations and scenes are from those old familiar locations.  It’s easy to despise or disregard these places as too common, too boring.  Maybe the key is then to seek new ways of discovering hidden beauty in these regular settings.  This is where the weather, season and time of day all come in to play their part.  If you’re fortunate enough to live close to the sea like me then you don’t have to wait too long for the clouds to blow over or the sun to come out.  Things are always on the move.  So, here I am at one of those familiar places waiting for the clouds to clear and the rain to stop.  Then as if on cue a seagull flew past.  I reckon the wait was worth it and I’ll certainly be back there again.

Why not go out to the “boring” places near you and show us some of the hidden magic!

Titahy Bay Sunset.jpg

These tools helped me work the magic:

There’s a Chill in the Air

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There’s a chill in the air.  I love it when a photo has some kind of “feel”, when you can sense what it must have been like when it was taken. I think this one creates that kind of feel.  The light was so blue, which made the temperature seem colder than it really was.  So, there’s not much to do when processing the image, probably the key thing is to get the white balance right.  In New Zealand we often set the white balance at cloudy even during sunny days.  For sure the further south you go the more this guideline holds true; there’s something strange going on up in the atmosphere.  Might that pesky hole in the ozone layer.

Nz landscape blue mountains 012These tools helped me work the magic:

Check-out my Topaz Lens Effects contest while you’re here.

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