Pictures

It's no secret to any of my family and friends that I love to take pictures.  I was pretty excited last October on my birthday (a day I planned on doing NOTHING unless it absolutely moved me) when it was overcast and there were still a few pretty colors left of the fall.

Last week I finally sat down to look through them all.  Then I started playing.  I'm trying to expand my Photoshop skills, but only base those skills off photos that are already decent; just trying to learn how to tweak an image. 

Here's what I came up with:

1.  Most of what I was trying to get was something really sharp, and other stuff out of focus (I've learned that is called "Bokeh").  This is out near a lake by our house.  It's one of my favorite areas to go take pictures.

 
2.  Soon I happened upon a cornfield.  It's not hard to find in this area.  I was trying to learn how to add texture to this picture.  Hopefully you can see it.  But I like the more muted colors of this one.

3.  More corn.  More Bokeh.  I really upped the texture on this one.  I actually entered it in a little contest, though after looking at the others, I'm not expecting anything.  It did get me started on looking through my pictures though so I'm especially happy about that.

4.  This would have been a way better shot if the colors in the trees had been a little more vibrant.  I can only tweak what existed though; hard to make something appear out of nowhere.  I think if I'd walked into the middle of the field and taken the pic to get a bigger image of the barn it would have improved it also.  And really, I did consider walking into it.  But I don't like getting arrested.  Or mice.  Or other creatures that I'm sure inhabit this field.  So, I stayed safely on the dirt road.

5.  I thought this bid itself to a good "old-time" photograph.  I thought it was a little more sepia toned before adding it here, so I guess I need to work on that.  It's one of the few photos from that day that I think actually looks decent in black and white though.

6.  I was probably only out about 1 1/2 hours.  It was late October and very chilly.  I didn't think to bring gloves or a hat.  And I was wearing a thin jacket.  Needless to say, my fingers were frozen, so I headed home.  On the dirt road to my house though I spotted someone's remnants from apple picking and I couldn't resist stopping.  I'm not sure about the whole Photoshop on this one - I was trying to think outside the box.  I think I broke the box instead.  It actually reminds me of winter which is probably not the image apples should conjure up.

7.  This is better for some fall imagery.  Anyone remember green grass?  Those were the days, huh?  I was basically trying to figure out how much color I could make pop without it looking ridiculous.  I think I actually have a better angled-shot somewhere, but I was too lazy to look it up.

8.  I think the pickers missed.  But I like these colors.

And there ends your Tour de Shakopee circa October 22, 2009.

Please come again.