Blog Archives
Grouse in the Grasses
Friends, today we return to color and the wild birds. This is a grouse from the badlands of North Dakota, taken in late summer or early fall. Not sure if it is a sharp-tail grouse or a sage grouse( or other?). I am not a very good birder so I don’t know all the differences between the species. But these birds come to the road in the early morning light to get their gravel and pose for pictures :). I didn’t crop this image closely because i wanted to show the relationship between the grouse and her grassy environment. What do you think? til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands in Black and White
Friends, i know this looks like a moonscape, but it is a black and white image of the badlands of North Dakota, one of our favorite places to visit. I shot this photo at an aperture of f/16 to get the great depth of field, but every time i looked at it, it looked like a jumbled mess. no clear subject was evident. Further analysis revealed that the foreground was really the subject. So i made two layers, blurring the bottom layer and painting away the top sharper layer to reveal the blurred layer underneath. I had used this technique earlier to produce bokeh in other images. I also converted to black and white to further simplify the image and emphasize the rugged topography of the eroded landscape. What do you think? did I succeed ? til Tomorrow MJ
Painted red
Friends, last year at this time, we traveled to the US Southwest, visiting Sedona, Flagstaff, and points on the way there and back. I loved the painted desert adjoining the Petrified Forest National Park (or Monument), all the reds at sunset and a small snowstorm the day before we got there to paint the desert with a little white. This image didn’t need much photoshop help, it was lovely at sunset and we enjoyed the great color. Filled up the red color meter that is so lacking this time of the year in the northwoods. til Tomorrow MJ
I’m Ready for my Closeup
Friends, In an old movie, Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson told the Director Cecil DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup. Lately i have been experimenting with converting color digital to black and white, and this black-capped chickadee begged for attention. I love how the textures appear more prominent when the image is in black and white. The big challenge is to preserve the black details as well as the white details. These birds are extremely friendly, waiting for their seed ration every morning and practically landing on me while i fill their feeder. No patience needed to photograph these guys so they make good practice subjects. til Tomorrow MJ
