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Last month I came up with the most brilliant idea yet for photographing mushrooms. Ok, I didn't really come up with it. It's something I stole from a friend and fellow photographer named Don Paulson. One day he sent me an email with a picture attached. It was of a mushroom he came across during a walk in the woods. A fabulous picture with really great background. I initially though that he used one of his prints as a background, but as it turns out, it was actually a picture on his monitor.
I had to try this. So Bailey the Labradoodle and I went searching for mushrooms. It's not hard to do as there are a lot of mushrooms out in the woods these days. I easily found mushrooms and brought some home in a plastic plant pot.
So here's what you do: you'll need the mushrooms (or whatever you're photographing) to sit higher than the edge of the container. So I first filled the container nearly all the way with dirt and moss. Then it's a matter of digging out the mushroom so that there's enough of it's surrounding dirt/moss/wood to support it. Place it at the top of the container so that when you're photographing you can include the mushroom's immediate surroundings but not the edge of the container. |
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My pal Don Mammoser is leading a photo tour to Tuscany this May. The trip is limited to only six and to tell you the truth, if Tracy and I had the available time I'd consider taking two of the spots. And the price is very reasonable, perhaps even underpriced. If you've wanted to photograph Tuscany, this is your chance. And with Don, you're guaranteed to have a great time. So quick, go take a look at Don's site before this trip fills up.
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There is still room available in all upcoming workshops and tours for 2013. The Slot Canyons/Monument Valley trip I'm leading with Don Mammoser is filling but there are still a few spots remaining. If you've never photographed the slot canyons this is a great opportunity. We've even got a night shoot planned for some light painting on the walls of Upper Antelope Canyon. Don't miss out on this one!
And if you want to extend your trip, why not join Don and me for our Arches/Canyonlands workshop that follows the Slots/Monument Valley trip. Take both workshops and save $100.
The Colorado Wildflowers and Mountains workshop is now half full and will probably sell out. During one day of this trip we take a jeep tour to an old ghost town, photographing along the way. It's quite a day.
Other workshops that are filling include the combined Palouse workshops I co-lead with Victoria Dye. It's a great shooting experience (part 1) and a Lightroom course (Part 2). Take one or both, but space is limited and both parts are filling.
The other workshop Victoria and I are leading is The Best of the Oregon Coast: Newport. During this workshop we'll photograph harbors, lighthouses, crab pots, fishing nets, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and much more. Not only that, we'll be spending our mid-day time in the classroom helping you come to grips with Lightroom. This trip is filling but there are still a few seats available.
And one workshop that is new for this year, and one that I'm really looking forward to, is Fall Color in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I'm co-leading this trip with Dave Muse. |
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Olympic National Park is also filling up but it too still has space available. This is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons. I simply love the Olympics (which is the reason I live where I live) and it's close to home for me. Mid-July is typically the best time for wildflowers (it sure was last year) and the lavender farms in Sequim. Sol Duc Falls always looks good and mid-summer is a good time to capture a rainbow over the Sol Duc Falls bridge. Mornings on the Hurricane Ridge road, and at the top, can be magical, and no two mornings are the same. Fog can come up the valley from the Straits of Juan De Fuca, making for mystical and ethereal landscapes. I can't tell you how many times I was aiming for a sunrise from Hurricane Ridge and got distracted (in a good way) by what was happening below. For this reason we make more than one trip to Hurricane Ridge for a sunrise.
Last year we had a wonderful time photographing sunset on Lake Crescent. I don't know of many places that are more relaxing. Won't you join Kim Hoshal and me this year?
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Bailey and I keep taking our walks, even though all the signs in the woods point to a massive cougar infestation. And by signs I mean the occasional pile of scat that I assume once belong to a member of said infestation. And by massive I mean that I'm sure we're surrounded by killer felines at all times, just waiting for that one moment when my guard is down to pounce and toy with us as if we were some spinning cat toy. Still, I'm keeping my eyes peeled and we make plenty of noise as we go, mostly inane babble and "Good girl's" on my part. Bailey usually doesn't make much noise. Unless it's to bark at a cougar.
So it's been awhile since I've given a domestic project update. You may remember my pond project that I started in mid-2011. That was interrupted by a book project (which I did finished because there was an actual payday involved). The pond hasn't progressed much since then, sad to say. But I did recently complete an indoor project and it took considerably less time than the bathroom shower tiling project that occupied most of the last decade. (or seemed to, anyway)
No, this project was conceived and executed in about a two week time frame. Which for me has to be some sort of record. Or a fluke. Anyway, here's the story. The exhaust fan in our kitchen was one that was just flush mounted to the ceiling. It never really was effective so Tracy decided we needed a real range hood. Since our stove is not against a wall, this meant an island range hood.
To keep this story short, I'll just jump to the ending. Or near the ending since this story needs some drama. It was actually pretty easy to do. I needed to first replace a portion of the ceiling because the previous fan was not centered over the oven. Smart planning there. Once that was done I just needed to frame in some support and cut a new hole for the vent pipe and install everything. It all went rather smoothly, is very solid, and looks great. I'm afraid this means two things: that I'll have to have a "next" project and that the "next" project will entail some sort of disaster. I'm just playing the odds here.
(just be grateful I didn't post a picture of cougar scat. I could have, you know!) |
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If you've been with me for awhile you know that my entire website, with the exception of the archives of these newsletters and some legacy articles, is created and managed from Lightroom using Web Module plug-ins from The Turning Gate.
These plug-ins allow you to have a site that can effectively show off your photography and looks like it was professionally designed. Best of all, you can create your own site in a matter of hours (or minutes if you want to use some pre-made templates that are available).
One of the huge advantages of using Lightroom plug-ins to create your site is that you are always in control of what's on the site. You want to add images? You can do that easily. Same with removing images. You don't have to call a webmaster or be stuck with the design choices of photo sharing sites.
So my question to you is this: would anyone be interested in weekend courses on using these Lightroom plug-ins to design and manage your own site? Another option, if you're planning on coming to one of my workshops, is to schedule a couple extra days after the workshop for a website creation add-on. This will depend on my schedule and would only be possible for a few of my workshops. Shoot me an email if you might be interested.
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So here it comes. Are you ready? Seems to me like it's a good time to make a resolution to do something to improve my photography or to make it more fun. I've already sort of started with making indoor mushroom pictures. I'd like to get better at making people pictures. And since we dodged the Mayan-predicted apocalypse, I figure that means we all have just been given a second chance. I think I need to dedicate myself to creating more pictures of wineries. Yeah, that's it. Wineries are fun to photograph. And they have people too (and wine, go figure). Sounds like a plan.
If you want to make some improvements in your photography, consider a workshop for 2013. There are a lot of them out there. Naturally, I'd love it if you decided to honor me by coming to one of mine. But really, I think just about any workshop will give you the chance to learn something new, make new friends, and improve your photography. So decide where you might want to go and just take the leap. You won't regret it. |
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