Caught a picture of this little fella crawling around my euphorba in the backyard.
Sheetweb Spider on Euphorba Blossom
Caught a picture of this little fella crawling around my euphorba in the backyard.
Garden Fly
A couple of shots of a garden fly that I found in my backyard this past Sunday. Its really difficult to get a decent depth of field when doing macro shots. I had to stop my lens down to f11 for the fly on the pin shot, which initially made it really dark. Fortunately, I shot the image in RAW format so I was able to brighten the image by 2 stops. I then did my sharpening and contrast/brightness adjustments in Photoshop. Finally I ran the image through a program called Imagenomic Noiseware that really helped clean up the noise in the image.
Carpenter Ant
A shot of a carpenter ant from my backyard. Check out the eyes! I'm beginning to get really hooked on this 'reverse mount' technique for macrophotography.Experimentations with Macro-Photography
Heres a shot that I took today using a reversed lens on my camera. This method of photography is very difficult to master but it can be very rewarding as well. I had to take about a dozen shots of this spider before I finally got a shot that I liked.
Squirrel Raid!
Ah, spring is finally here! I was staring out into my backyard this morning while drinking my coffee and observed this squirrel raiding one of my bird feeders for breakfast. I'm going to have to keep that feeder filled more often, as watching a squirrel trying to get food out of a hanging bird feeder is good entertainment!
Fooling around in Photoshop
Haven't been very productive lately. I've been to busy to go out and get photos. So heres a rework of a self-portrait that I'm thinking of using in my profile instead of the photgraph. What do you think?
Multnomah Falls Today
Heres a real quick, rather unedited shot from my drive in the gorge today. I had been whining all winter about how hard it was to get a shot of the falls with the sun on it. Well today, I finally got my chance. I'll probably clean this one up a little more.
Red Tailed Hawk
Here are some shots of a local Red-Tailed Hawk that has been hanging out in the area near the old rail trestle that crosses McLoughlin Boulevard at the end of River road. Theres a Bald Eagle that has just moved into the area and I plan on getting some shots in of him soon as well.
Portland Skyline, Portland Spirit and the Hawthorne Bridge
Yes, another shot of the Portland skyline from my favorite vantage point near OMSI. In this photo you see the Portland Spirit as it approaches a raised Hawthorne Bridge. I wish that I had the presence of mind to make my exposure as the boat passed under the bridge, but maybe I'll get that one next time.
The Spider and the Fly
The Spider and the FlyMary Howitt
"Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
"Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy:
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to show when you are there."
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again"
"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I'l snugly tuck you in!"
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"
Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, "Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome -- will you please to take a slice?"
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "kind Sir, that cannot be,
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"
"Sweet creature!" said the Spider, "you're witty and you're wise,
How handsome are you gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I've a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."
The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
"Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your roves are green and purple -- there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"
Alas, alas! How very soon this silly little Fly,
hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue --
Thinking only of her crested head -- poor foolish thing! At last,
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour -- but she ne'er came out again!
And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.
The Spider and the Fly
Authored by, Mary Howitt
Published: 1829
Faux Scale Model Portlandia
I was fortunate enough to be working in an office building downtown that was being renovated, on my last day there, I brought my camera with me to get a different perspective of Portlandia that most folks don't get to see. I also played with the photoshop filters to create this fake scale model look.
Another photo from last weeks anti-war rally
(Click on image to enlarge)Yet another shot from last weeks anti-war rally. I was going through the images I had taken and I noticed that the sign being carried by the guy in the sunglasses reads, "how many will die for your gastank?". I thought that the sign, combined with the Porsche in the foreground (not exactly the most fuel-efficient vehicle) made an interesting image.
Photos from todays anti-war rally
Heres a few shots from todays anti-war rally in downtown Portland today. More to come in the next few days.
Salmon at SW 9th and Salmon
Took this shot today at sw 9th and Salmon, dowtown. Today was a real overcast day and light was horrible for taking photos. However I did run into this sculpture on the side of a building that I liked, so here it is.
Fake Tilt-Shift Images Using Photoshop
Heres an old image of Crown Point I took a while back. I recently read a tutorial about how to make some images look like they were scale models instead of actual places. The technique I read about is supposed to simulate an expensive tilt/shift lens using photoshop filters instead. I don't know how effective it is, but I'm having fun experimenting with it. What do you think? Did I turn Crown Point into a scale model or does it just look blurry to you?
Bridal Veil Falls Dreamland
I'm addicted to the process of making faux infrared film images. I'm pretty happy with this one.
Multnomah #2
Another reworked image. I was really at a disadvantage by the time I got to Multnomah Falls, I realized I was running out of room on my 1 gigabyte memory card so I switch from recording my images from RAW/JPG to just JPG. While I was able to take more exposures by not recording them in RAW format, I also limited myself with what I was able to do in post-processing. So all my Multnomah Falls images are in JPG only. Fortunately I was able to clean them up in Photoshop so they looked pretty good.
Wahkeenah Falls Reworked
A rework of my Wahkeenah Falls image. I used the magic wand tool to select the green area around the falls as well as the log and increase their exposure by +1 and +2 respectively. I also bumped up the green color levels a smidge. I also used the 'curves' and the 'color sampling' function to help me get accurate color correction for this image. Enjoy!
Latourelle Falls
Latourelle Falls. It was about 25 degrees when I took this photo. With the wind chill factored in, the temp was probably closer to 10-15 degrees. Brrrr!
Multnomah Falls on Ice
Heres a shot of Multnomah Falls from earlier today. As you can see our recent cold temperatures have allowed for the formation of a nice layer of ice around the falls. I spent a good part of my day today hiking up to Latourelle, Bridel Veil, Wahkeena, Multnomah and Horsetail Falls. All of them iced over! More pics to come.
Dream Forest
I took this shot last month near Silver Creek Falls outside of the town of Silverton, Oregon. In this photo I'm using a faux infra-red technique that I picked up in the latest issue of "Photoshopuser" magazine. I particularly like the effect here on this image of ferns in a ravine. I'll probably be playing with these photoshop filter effects more in the future. Enjoy!
Portland at Dusk
The shot above is of the rising moon reflecting off of the U.S. Bank tower. Thats the Morrison Bridge in the Foreground.
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