Category: Southern Oregon

Sunset with Dog

Sunset_wdog2

This is an image I passed by in earlier editing because the sky was overexposed. It finally occurred to me as I sifted through images at the end of the year that I had the correct exposure on another frame without the dog. So, I blended the two images in Photoshop and came up with this beauty.

How did I do that, you may ask. Just open both images in Photoshop. Put the dog image on the bottom and the good sky image on the top. Add a layer mask to the top image. Select the brush tool and paint with black let the dog come through. I used the lines of the ocean and the rocks shadow to get a nice blend. I also had to insert a levels layer between the two images to help get the exposures to line up.

Bald Eagle

Eagle_Nov

I had to make it a quick trip to the Klamath Basin ahead of an incoming cold front and before Holiday and other obligations sucked up my time. But I can at least report that indeed the Eagles are beginning to return.

Post processing was a little difficult with this as the bird was backlit and in shade but I got a lot of help from Color Efex pro in bringing out the detail in the feathers. Some burning and dodging on the head also helped.

Pear Orchard with Mountains

Orchard_Framed

This pear orchard in Talent is not five minutes from my house.  I was sitting on the deck of a retreat center and wishing I could come back every day for a year to photograph the changing seasons with this awesome view.

I had to work it a little to control the haziness in the mountains. Added some saturation to bring out the colors of the trees and grass. And it called out for a frame so I gave it one but saved a master without just in case I want to order a large gallery wrap some day.

Raindrops on Autumn Leaves

Raindrops

Well, first of all kudos to Canon for finally getting with the program on mirrorless. Not only did they start marketing a telephoto lens in North America, they have introduced an updated version of the EOS M. I haven’t yet sprung for the new body (dubbed the EOS M3) but I jumped on the telephoto lens for my original EOS M and have been running around testing it out on autumn leaves and I am pretty happy with the results, all of which have been handheld.  Imagine what I could do with the upgraded body…hmmm. First I need to invest in a telephoto lens for the Fujifilm, and then Tamron has a new medium telephoto that would look good on the 7D…. so many ways to spend my money.

Anyway I found these leaves with raindrops in Lithia Park at the Japanese Gardens which, as of Wednesday were all decked out in stunning colors. The leaves are falling fast though so get there soon.

I made a break from my usual post processing routine and did this one mostly in Lightroom. I cropped in some and even rotated a little to get more of a diagonal line on the branch. I added clarity, vibrance and a touch of saturation. Then needed some noise reduction since I was shooting at high ISO. Finally some sharpening and then I took it into Photoshop for some spot healing and a little darkening around the edges and on the right side to bring out the leaf on the left.

Pelican

Pelican_portrait2

I didn’t have a chance to get out and shoot this week and it is probably just as well since I am way behind in post processing of my Klamath Basin images. This one is from August. I have hundreds of shots of pelicans out swimming in the lake but when I zoomed in to check sharpness on this one I thought it would make a great intimate portrait if I cropped in a lot. Love that diagonal line of the pelican’s beak.

In post I did the usual. Detail, saturation, darken edges, a little noise reduction and some final sharpening. On this one I also added a border for a little more visual interest.

Autumn Leaves

Autumn_Leaves

I went looking for fall color in Lithia Park yesterday and was a little disappointed. It seemed the trees were either past prime or not there yet. I will have to keep looking. As I recall it was November last year when I found the Japanese Garden awash with color. There were a few leaves in the little stream offering some nice color and texture. I did the usual in post, a little detail, saturation and highlighting the main subject.

Meadowlark

Meadowlark

It was back to the Klamath Basin again this week. I was particularly struck with the detail in the feathers of this bird though it’s colors have definitely fades since spring. I also like the way the autumnal foliage blurred into a beautiful tan background.

In post processing I cropped in some, added detail and saturation and a little highlight on the bird. And as always finished with some sharpening.

Dahlia

Dahlia2

Sorry I didn’t get an image posted last week but it was my birthday and I was out shooting. One of the places I love to go for flowers is Shore Acres near Charleston, Oregon. Unfortunately the staff has gotten huffy and planted little hedges around all the flower beds thus making it nearly impossible to get close enough to the flowers to do macro photography. I got out my telephoto lens and did what I could but it was disappointing not to be able to do the kind of close macro abstracts I like. Still, it is hard to go wrong with a dahlia.

Post processing brought in detail and saturation and lightened up the center while darkening the edges.

Snowy Egret

Snowy_egret

It was back to the Klamath Basin for my monthly visit yesterday. I made it a quick trip as I expect to spend more time in September and October during the fall migration. Still, in spite of a very hazy start and a very windy finish it was a pretty good day with at least 25 species noted.

But as far as photographs, I liked this Snowy Egret for the reflection and, though you may not be able to see it on the smaller version, you can actually see his yellow feet in the shallow water. That and the drops of water falling off his beak and the ripples where he just made stab at hunting make this a definite keeper for me.