Impromptu Street Photography.

The streets of downtown Bangor Maine always amuse me ...



... there are a plethora of wonderful characters to photograph at any given moment.

I saw this man biking his dog around downtown Bangor ... while I was on my way to the post office. I followed him around in my car until I could shout out ... "Excuse me sir, may I pull over and take your photo?". To which he nodded his approval but acted as though I was a member of the Bangor Daily paparazzi. The most hilarious part was that after I took a few shots ... and he rode off ... a good friend of mine came running around the corner with her mobile phone ... also trying to catch a shot of this guy and his dog. Hilarious! What were the odds? Anyway, she didn't get the shot, but I am happy to share mine :)

For you Jill.

~ JLR

Photo Class on A Rainy Day.

I just took a photography class at Field's Pond Audubon Society Center in Hermon, Maine. It was not as informative or exciting as I had hoped, but I did gain some insightful info ... both from the instructor and the participants. One thing I learned that I will act on immediately, is that Mac is the way to go for post processing photos. So ... I will soon be short one PC and will be the proud owner of this little baby --- thanks to a close friend who works for Apple. (How about the rest of you? Anyone else moving over to Mac from PC?). I also learned that I prefer photographing slugs to birds. Or maybe it is just that I prefer shooting the creatures that no one else wants to photograph. Lastly, I think I got some much needed encouragement/ confirmation that those photographers who fancy themselves "better" than others --- are not. And that the incredibly gifted photographers who recognize that all photographers have something unique to share ... are the "better" ones ... though they would never say so.

Anyway - it was a nice experience. I highly recommend Field's Pond to those of you who love to shoot birds. They have such a wonderful space for viewing so many species.

Happy Shooting.
~ JLR

Very Clever Egg Photos.

Check them out: http://blueblots.com/inspiration/a-showcase-of-funny-and-clever-egg-photography/

I wish I were as clever.

~ JLR

Before and After.

before

after

For this "after" effect, I used Picnik.com's new feature : Fancy Focus. This feature gives you the control to illuminate the area of the photo that you want to stand out ... yet pull color away from the area you want to stay slightly out of focus. I feel that it gives the photo a bit of a vintage, painted look .... but am not sure that I like it on this particular shot.

I love the vantage point and composition of this picture ... yet want to add a bit of processing to give it a different (slightly vintage) look. Any suggestions? Comments?

Thank you.

JLR