Belonging to a camera club really does help you improve the quality of your photos (especially if it is associated with the Photographic Society of America in the judging and critiquing of your work).  The photos above are my April 2013 submissions.  I really get a lot out of the judges critiques.  Each time I submit a photo I learn something new about my style of photography and how I can improve.  I belong to the Modesto Camera Club  The above photos are titled (from top to bottom): 1. Half Dome from Cooks Meadow ; 2. Rushmore ~ The Presidents; 3.  Female Yellowstone Elk; 4. Wintering Western Crow (Yosemite Valley); 5. Ever Changing Weather (Bodie, CA.); 6. Bodie Car Rusting with Lights On (Bodie Calif.).  (these photos are CR protected)....   Out of 60 total possible points I earned 57 for the above collection.  The critiques will help me improve during the next competition.  If you're thinking of improving your photos, you might consider joining a PSA approved camera club. (The larger photos received 10 out of 10 and the smaller on's 9 out of 10 (leaving room form improvement).... Something to shoot for.

Who Is Around The Corner In History

On one of the many trips to Europe I took this shot in Italy of an old Roman ruin.  This one structure (which I titled “Who Is Around The Corner In History”) caught my eye in not only it’s massive size and even after close to 2,000 years its detail and color, but also because of the way light reflected at every angle.  One side was in shadow and the other in a reflected defused light.  The men on the left seemed to be looking (or about to glance) at the men on the right who were in the shadows.  It reminded me of the nature of the world… those in the light trying to peek at those who live in the dark and yet that narrow edge that separated them kept them from crossing over into each others world.  The divide between good and evil, right and wrong, vision and despair.  Just so many aspects of life can be seen in this one scene and above it were masses of color deflecting the scars on the faces of the statues.  So much joy, yet so much pain all at the same time. 

But I wander a bit by being philosophical on what the photo meant to me.  This photo was shot with just a cheap old point and shoot camera that I always had with me on that trip (when I didn’t want to drag along the big DSLR).   I shot it with an Olympus Optical C4100Z with an F stop of 2.8, focal length of 10.7 mm and an exposure time of 1/320 of a second.  I was about 15 feet away from the center of this statue area with the light to my back.  No flash was used as the lighting was good enough to capture the mood.  See, even a basic point and shoot digital camera works (and that camera only had a 4.0 max mega pixel capability).  Just proves that you just shoot with what you have sometimes you are given a good photo.

From monkeys to stormy nights....

These are some of the photos I have taken on my journey around the world.  The photo above is of a mother Rhesus Monkey and her baby.  Africa you say?  No!  Right here in California at the Sierra West Wildlife Sanctuary near Santa Rosa.  There are so many sanctuaries here in California that you really don't have to go to foreign lands to see these beautiful animals in a natural environment. 

This pair was less than 30 feet away from me and I was shooting with a Sigma DG 50-500mm lens (actual mm was at 410mm) at F6.3 with an exposure time of 1/125 second.  No flash needed as the day was bright and slightly overcast. 

 

It was a dark and stormy... well; you know the rest of that story.  This photo is of the Elmore, Minnesota main water tower which sits on the only hill in this quiet little Southern Minnesota town located about 10 miles East of Blue Earth right along the Iowa state boarder.  Being the Mid-West there are days where you can go from bright sunny and no breeze to the most severe weather that is so often reported on in the news.  My mother-in-law lives in this farming community and we go back as often as we can to visit.  On this particular day the clouds rolled in like a vengeance.  Wind sheers, lighting, and rain so heavy that within a few minutes of taking this photo I could not see this water tower.  I titled this photo "The Best Place to Live Next to During a Lightning Storm"...  the title is what most people would expect... however, the people who actually live right next to the tower lost all their power when a lightning bold hit the tower and part of the strike hit their home and knocked out all their kitchen appliances... Yes... FRIED them!

 

On this photo I used a Sigma DC 18-50mm lens (actual shot take at 33mm approximately 150 feet from the water tower).  I shot the tower at F3.5 with the setting at 1/50 of a second. I was lucky that there was a light coming from a very small break in the clouds and it hit the tower just as I was taking this shot.  I guess time is everything... yes it is!

Recently I spent a few hours at 'PAWS' in San Andreas, California (Performing Animal Welfare Society - wild animal refuge). I managed to capture this male African Lion.  He was about 300 feet away up on a hill.  In the past it would have been very difficult (let's be honest.... IMPOSSIBLE) for me to take a photo like this because of the distance and fact I shoot with a Pentax DSLR.   With the new K mount lenses that are available that fit the Pentax cameras, the updated DSLR sensors, shake reduction features, and improved auto focus (I usually shoot manual - but at that distance I tried the auto focus feature) it came out better than I could have done shooting manually and hoping my eye would be able to get the fine features.  As I have stated on many of my postings, it's a good idea to try several different settings when taking photos.  Shoot until you find what is best for you and for the conditions.  Because it was impossible to get any closer to this beautiful lion it was important that I use/have a lens that will compensate for the distance.  Even if you don't, take the photo anyway and see what you come up with...  you can always enlarge the object and crop it. 

These are some photos that are in the Modesto Camera Clubs End of the Year Competition Program that I have submitted.  The Camera Club is a great place to learn how to take better photos.  If you're ever in the area, you should stop by...   check out the meeting information: 

http://www.modestocameraclub.net

Lady passing by while coat changes color

Another example....  Woman passing by and her coat changes color.  By taking the same

photo over several times and having the object move just a little in each photo, you can

stitch the photos together into a movie format and make the movie look like an old style 

film.  Photos don't have to be stagnant... having them move within one photo frame makes

the photo just a bit more interesting.  Try it...  be creative and don't forget to share your

photos with others.  

First you don't see it... then you do

First you don't see it, then you do, and then you don't.
Experimenting with photos is fun.  Taking the exact same photo
and adding a feature, then taking it away can make for an
interesting short for a photo.  It gives the viewer something
to compare and it distracts from a long still photo without
shifting the viewer away from the photo.  Just something to
do to change things up.