A Touch of Blue

A simple touch…

There are many paths to a photo, some of which may rankle the ‘purist’ photographer in us. Early on, I was very much a purist in that I wanted to minimize the amount of post-processing. However, with the arrival of HDR processing, I expanded my range of experimentation and found it interesting to see how I could express more of a vision in my photography, rather than a representation of what I saw through the lens.

HDR can be very tricky and create some very cool results. Sometimes, I like to take a simpler approach…

Blue Canoe in the Assabet

This was a rather dreary day with sleet coming down lightly; the pale blue of the canoe stood out in the otherwise muted landscape.

The colors in the photo were already fairly muted, but not enough to get the mood that I wanted to communicate in this image. A simple desaturation of the image and some additional saturation of the blue color of the canoe created the sense of dying color in a winter landscape that I wanted to achieve.

What types of processing do you like to do in your images?

Three Line Tales – Precarious

Life in the balance

Many thanks to Sonya for Week One Hundred and Fifty-Seven of Three Line Tales, part of her awesome blog Only 100 Words!

Three line tales, week 157: a robin in a snowy bird feeder
photo by Clever Visuals via Unsplash 

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Temperatures drop,
Silent snow blankets the land.
Life in the balance.

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Thank you to Sonya of Only 100 Words for coming up with Three Line Tales.

You’ll find full guidelines on her TLT page, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write three lines inspired by the photo prompt (& give them a title if possible).
  • Link back to this post.
  • Tag your post with 3LineTales (so everyone can find you in the Reader).
  • Read and comment on other TLT participants’ lines.
  • NEW: If you want your post to be included in the round-up, you have until Sunday evening to publish it.
  • Have fun.

Happy three-lining!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Cold and Warm

Warm and cold, enjoy them both!

Welcome to Week 140 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge! First of all, for those of you who celebrate: Merry Christmas!

In the northern hemisphere the season has brought in some of the cold that we might expect, and, sometimes, even welcome. In the southern hemisphere, Summer heat will be on its way to make the beaches even more welcome. This made me think of this week’s theme: Cold and Warm. The challenge is to combine both elements in your photography, poetry or prose. As usual, you have plenty of artistic license to take this theme into the direction of your choosing, as long as you have fun with it!

I’m sure that you’ll warm up to this week’s challenge and not leave me in the cold here in New England! I’m very much looking forward to your creativity!

Here’s a taste of warm and cold…

Winter’s Warming

This scene struck me, as the February morning was rather cold, but the Sun’s light had a warmth to it that changed the entire feel. It almost made me feel, as if I was looking at a Winter landscape through a window, while having a hot cocoa!

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
  • Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

Stay warm and come in out of the cold, or vice versa!

Three Line Tales – Winter Fun

Oh Canada!

Many thanks to Sonya for Week One Hundred and Forty-Six of Three Line Tales, part of her awesome blog Only 100 Words!

three line tales, week 146: pond hockey
photo by Priscilla du Preez via Unsplash

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Frozen expanse, ice,
Majestic vistas surround.
Boundless winter fun!

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Thank you to Sonya of Only 100 Words for coming up with Three Line Tales.

You’ll find full guidelines on her TLT page, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write three lines inspired by the photo prompt (& give them a title if possible).
  • Link back to this post.
  • Tag your post with 3LineTales (so everyone can find you in the Reader).
  • Read and comment on other TLT participants’ lines.
  • NEW: If you want your post to be included in the round-up, you have until Sunday evening to publish it.
  • Have fun.

Happy three-lining!

It’s Chilly Outside!

But my heart is warm!

The WordPress Daily Prompt provides the theme of Frigid, which is rather appropriate, given the Spring temperatures here in New England!

Winter is one of my favorite times of year, as there are those days when Nature is stunningly beautiful, as she’s covered by a blanket of snow.  Great photography, particularly, as many people prefer to stay indoors on those days!

Here are some examples of the cooler environs, in which we find ourselves…

Variety of cold environments abounds!

Have a wonderful day, and stay warm!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Forces

Overcome all aspects

Welcome to Week 99 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge.  Your contributions to last week’s topic of Hill created an avalanche of creative output!

After climbing the hill with you over the past week, I thought it might be time for a theme that is a bit more abstract, and, thus, open for a wider range of interpretation.  So I came up with the idea of portraying Forces in our photography this week.  Forces are all around us, as we experience them everyday; they are also tremendously varied, as the pull of gravitational force is quite different from the tug at our heart strings by the force of love!

Use your creative feelings to express what forces have an impact on your life!

Here are some different forces at work…

Frozen-Wachusett-Tree-lw4o8182
Juxtaposed Life Forces

The tree’s struggle to overcome the tremendous forces put upon it by the creeping ice, the cold and barren nature of its environment, demonstrates the power of the life force that is indomitable within it.

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
  • Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

I’m looking forward to finding out what shapes you come across!

Silence of Winter Morning

Quietly cold reaches out to us…

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge provides the theme of Silence.

There’s nothing quite as silent as a Winter’s morning, when there’s a thick blanket of snow, which muffles any sound that might be in the air.  Birds are slow to start, as they conserve every bit of energy for the daily search for food.

On these cold, quiet mornings, each breath brings another level of refreshment into our bodies.  Every fiber is alive with the sensation of the air, as, in silence, the cold reaches out to us, longing to have us join…

Winter_Morning_on_Rocky_Pond_14E8662_3_4_6_5-Toned
Winter Morning on Rocky Pond

Rocky Pond is a magical place, particularly in Winter, as all is still.

Have a wonderful day!

Weathered on the Beach

Drifting snow and wood

The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge provides the theme of Weathered.

In my third entry for this challenge, we go to the beach on a rather chilly day.  At least, I went to the beach 🙂  The day was fantastic, as I haven’t had  alot of opportunities to catch the beach with a snow cover, as the salt water tends to make short work of snow.

On this day, I captured a variety of images, of which lots were of snow swept across the beaches. I also found this rather weathered piece of driftwood…

20150131-Landscape_57A0819
Weathered and Snowy

There are still remnants of the snow on this part of the beach, some of which are clinging to the driftwood.

Have a wonderful day!

Let it snow, let it snow!

Cold beauty

Yesterday, we received a wonderful package of white loveliness in the form of over a foot (>30 cm) of snow in the area.  The conditions were enough to keep most people working from home, as the winds were in the 50-70 mph range, which makes driving rather treacherous.

Looking out my office window, there is the pristine beauty of snow against blue skies around, coupled with sufficiently low temperatures (7 F at the moment and falling) to have the promise of no melting for at least a couple of days.  So, I’m looking forward to getting some photography in this weekend with snow and extreme cold on the menu.

Here are some images from a couple of years ago…

Let’s see what I can do this weekend!

Have a wonderful day!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Season

Let the spirit of the season shine!

Welcome to Week 87 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge.

Last week’s theme of Message prompted a fantastic variety of responses with lots of depth and directions that were taken. Thank you all for your fantastic efforts on this theme!

This week I’d like to celebrate the changing of the season that will be happening next week, as the norther hemisphere starts Winter and the southern hemisphere begins Summer. With that in mind, this week’s theme is Season!

In addition to its meaning of a time of the year, season is also a verb, so feel free to take this week’s theme into the direction that sparks your creative energy!  Have some fun with the season and share the joy!

Even in the cold of Winter, we can get a warm moment…

Winter-Revisited-IMG_3368
Winter’s Warming

This is one of the locations that used to be on my daily commute, Rocky Pond in Boylston, Massachusetts. During the Winter this pond sees plenty of skating and sledding activity, particularly when we get a long spell of cold weather.

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
  • Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

I’m looking forward to seeing what catches your eye this week…

photo roberts blog 2

ich zeige euch meine stadt wie ich sie sehe

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