Stone Garden..

Have you noticed that I keep re-visiting some of my old and favorite themes? I've mentioned numerous times how nostalgia plays a large part of my life, so it is no surprise that it also plays a part in my photographic themes.

Architecture. The very first subject I used to photograph using my point and shoot camera, and the subject I think I most love. Well... today anyways. Tomorrow it will likely be trees, or abstract colour, pattern and textures. The point is, I have my favorites and I find great comfort in going back and capturing these subjects a second, third, or more times. Each time I notice I shoot less, but think about the shot more. You may not be able to notice a difference. I notice it more when I am doing post edits. There seems to be less edits, cropping, or even discarding. I guess that just means I'm perhaps being more picky, and possibly learning a few things along the way.

So with a recent day off I headed to Mount Pleasant Cemetery to focus on architecture and statuary details. Here are some of my favorites from the day.

Landscape..

Perhaps two, maybe three times a year I manage to leave the city boundaries and get out and experience the fresh country air and sights of rolling hills, farmers fields, lakes and trees. This past Thanksgiving Monday was one of those days.

We ventured north east to the Northumberland hills, and ventured around Rice Lake. I knew in my mind how I wanted to approach any photo opportunities this year, and rather then concentrating on close ups and fine details of individual leaves and flowers I opted to go with compositions showing distance.

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I recently watched a movie about the Impressionist painters, and I have been influenced by their work. I made a conscious effort to pay attention to the natural light and as much as possible the shadows. There is something about a singular tree in the midst of a vast field that I love. It stands alone, strong, beautiful and keeping watch. Add a brilliant splash of colour from mother nature, and the tree appears majestic.

Here is a sampling of the shoot, along with some fun post edits.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

iPhone images..

It was not too long ago when I was doing research for the play I was collaborating on that I read that the iPhone had become the number one source of images being downloaded on flickr. After doing a little more research into the many, many thousands(?) of applications one can use on their phone to create interesting images I have to admit I was a little more then curious.

Lucky me, I received a new iPhone for my birthday shortly after this discovery. Now....as my friends know, I rarely use the phone for its intended purposes, but I have come to love the few camera applications I have had the time to explore. If for no other reason, they are fun to experiment with. Granted, I am still guilty of trying to maintain good composition, but the alterations you can make are endless. Remember when I said I wanted to keep my images as natural as possible? Well, with my Nikon, I still do. So I'm not a total sell out. Am I?

Anyways, here are some random photos I have taken on my iPhone and then altered through one program or another.

Enjoy.