Cornfield
>> Sunday, May 31, 2009
This was taken last year while driving around the area near Chris' cottage. Lots of farmers fields and wind turbines around there.This was taken last year while driving around the area near Chris' cottage. Lots of farmers fields and wind turbines around there.
Decoration II
>> Saturday, May 30, 2009
A closeup of the decorations in the tree along Queen Elizabeth Drive near Lansdowne Park.Bumble Bee II
>> Friday, May 29, 2009
A fuzzy bumble bee on some purple-ish flowers along Queen Elizabeth Drive near Lansdowne.Disappointed with Elvis
>> Thursday, May 28, 2009
This was the first assignment in my Photoshop course at Algonquin College. We had to take the original image (above) and remove several features including the telephone wires (and poles), the magenta cast on the left hands side of the image and the Elvis impersonator in fron of the Elvis statue. I did so and below is the final version of my image. We were just graded on the project and I am rather diappointed with my grade, B+. I don't think anyone really did any better than that, though some did get the same grade. I went above and beyond and removed a great deal of the dust spots on the image (though I missed some in hindsight) and corrected the colour of the entire image, not just the one side. I thought I would have gottena better mark than this, but the instructor isn't very giving with the grades. This was something I foresaw as he wasn't too impressed with my Becca image either. Anyway, I finished the first assignment and handed submitted it in a timely fashion (as I didn't have to work on it during class like some of the other students). Now it is time to move onto the second assignment - the photo restoration of a personal damaged photo. I am very excited about this second assignment as previously stated.
Bright Above
>> Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Yellow tulips along Colonel By Drive in Old Ottawa South.Damage Found
>> Tuesday, May 26, 2009
I went to my parents' house on Saturday and went through their old photo albums. They were primarily photos of my dad and his siblings - a few of his ancestors (parents, grandparents and further back). I picked out three that were pretty damaged and I think would be challenging to fix (and therefore give me a good grade in my class).
Damaged Photograph #1: My grandparents (Beach) on their wedding day. This is literally the only photo of their wedding according to my Dad. It has some rips along the right side and a great noise from dust and scratches. There are no significant markings on their facings however which would make this image pretty easy to restore. It is pretty much my safety restoration photograph for this assignment.
Damaged Photograph #2: Beach children with dog. This photograph has tons of noise from dust and minor scratches. It also has some pretty significant damage to the edges of the photograph and has multiple large tears in the central area of the photograph. There is some damage to the face of Aunt Diana, Tom and my Dad. This one would be a challenge, but I believe it is doable.
Damaged Photograph #3: Aunt Carol on a horse. This is a photograph of my Dad's eldest sister, Carol. I am not entirely sure how old she is, but she is on a pinto pony. My mom says these horse would come around to the houses (even in Timmins where she was at the time) and you could put your kids on them to have their picture taken. The photograph is in pretty good shape in terms of dust and scratches. It has two large fold marks down and across the image one of which runs straight through Aunt Carol's eye while the other goes across the horse. I believe this image is fixable (by myself) but it will also be a challenge.
I am going to restore all three of these images and then pick the best on to submit for my class. Hopefully it will be hard to chose which one should be submitted as that will mean I did an excellent job on all three of them. I am definitely looking forward to working on these images - I think it is going to be challenging, fun and rewarding.
Spikes
>> Monday, May 25, 2009
Another version of the Barbados Tulip (though this one isn't called that) in Commissioners Park.
A Little Showy
>> Saturday, May 23, 2009
The tulips were starting to die near the end of the Tulip Festival - so sad.Searching for Damage
>> Friday, May 22, 2009
We have already been given two assignments in my Photoshop for Photographers course. The first is to remove and replace some features in a photograph of an Elvis sign. It is due on the 28th and I am pretty close to being done despite the fact that I have spent less than 20 minutes on it.
The second assignment is photo restoration. We have to find an old, damaged photograph, scan it in at 300 dpi (or ppi) and the resulting image must be between 5"x7" and 8"x10" in size, depending on the dimensions of the original image. Once we have it scanned in, we have to make it black and white (if it isn't already) and then restore the photograph. The assignment is pretty straightforward up til this point. The next part of this assignment is the exciting part - we have to colour the image! It is exciting to me because I don't currently know how to do this - I have a few ideas, but have never tried it before and don't know the best way to do something like this. Hopefully it will be something new to me and I will be good at it.
I am heading to my parents' house this weekend to go through some old photos with my Dad. Hopefully I will be able to find one with enough damage that I can get a really good mark on it.
May Decorations
>> Wednesday, May 20, 2009
While I was walking along Queen Elizabeth Drive on my way to the Olympic Park (near Lansdowne Park) I saw this tree. In this tree were several little Christmas tree decorations. They were all strung up with string around the tree. It was odd, but very beautiful and was even able to distract me from the tulips all around the tree. Guardian Tulip
>> Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Queen of the Night tulips in Commissioners Park.Barbados
>> Monday, May 18, 2009
Barbados tulips from the Commissioners Park. I have never really seen these guys before. Dave and I gained interest in them when we found a few in our own tulip garden.Rock Garden
>> Sunday, May 17, 2009
Another shot from Commissioner's Park and the Tulip Festival.Purple Rain
>> Saturday, May 16, 2009
Again I feel the rich colour of this purple tulip makes the water drops stand out even more. Perhaps I am just partial to the colour purple though.Little Mika Restored
>> Friday, May 15, 2009
Mika is a friend from my weight loss forum (and Facebook). She recently put up a bunch of her childhood photos on Facebook and I took the liberty to fixing one of them up. Luckily, she wasn't offended and actually liked what I did. It only took me a few minutes to fix it as it really just needed the colour cast removed and a bit of curves work. Above is the original and below is the restored version.
The instructor for my Photoshop course is a professional (as they all are) and does photo restoration as part of his business. He charges between $60 and $80 per hour for restoration work and says that there is pretty good business in it. I am thinking that once I get my photography going in a more professional manner, I should look into restoration. I have been doing bits and pieces here and there both in class and out and find it quite enjoyable. Fit
>> Thursday, May 14, 2009
I love our new car so much so it was inevitable that it became the focus of my camera in an artistic manner.PHO5595 - Finale
I went into my Algonquin College online account to verify the end date of my current course (Photoshop for Photographers - PHO5593) and then realized that I could check my grades there. I don't really know why I hadn't thought of this before, but I hadn't. I checked and am very happy with the result: I got an A+ in Multimedia Applications (PHO5595).
Though I am pleased with this mark, I am not surprised. I am not trying to be arrogant, but I knew what I was doing when it came to making that website. I really could have taken a 3 hour workshop and would have been able to produce the same quality of work. But it was necessary for the certificate program, and I did learn a little so it was worth it overall.
Spot Part II
>> Wednesday, May 13, 2009
As previously mentioned, I had a spot on my photographs for about 2 weeks that was driving me absolutely insane! I had cleaned the lens and interior mirrors for quite some time (yes I know the mirrors have nothing to do with the actual image captured) and nothing was fixing it. I eventually came across what I thought was the solution in the upper mirror and the spot was removed when I looked through the camera but was still present on the photo itself. It was therefore clear that there was dust on my sensor.
This was a very scary realization for me as my camera is not high enough quality to replace the sensor (as this is exteremly expensive) if I was to damage it while removing the dust. I took it into Henry's and they verified that it must be on the sensor and showed me how to get the mirrors to lock up to enable cleaning of the sensor. I took the camera home and carefully locked the mirrors. You could see the dust plain as day and I attempted to blow it off with my rocket blower but it would not leave. I closed up the mirrors and began researching.
The staff at Henry's said that special tools and cleaners were needed to safely clean the sensor and if I was not comfortable doing it myself, Canadian Camera in downtown Ottawa would do it for about $100. This seemed like a lot of money especially since my instructor for Introduction to Digital Photography, Harry, cleaned his right in front of us during class with no real special tools or cleaners at all. I thought about it and then with Dave by my side, we took a sterile cotton swab (which came from a previously purchased basic cleaning kit) I lightly touched the sensor and removed the dust. It was scary and my heart was racing but it got done and the camera is working just as it was before the incident. So now I know for future dust problems - cleaning the sensor isn't as scary an event as people make it out to be.
Homework and Assignments
On the second night of class (my first night as previously mentioned), we were given an old, slightly damaged photo to restore as homework. I found it quite easy and only spent about 30-45 minutes on it. When the instructor looked at them last night, I wasn't entirely pleased with his response but he gave similar ones to every student in the class so I am not upset about it. He then gave us our first assignment (due on the 28th of May). It is an Elvis photo (or rather a photo of a sign for an Elvis museum) that he wants altered in various ways. It seems pretty easy, though it does has one hard change to make but I am sure I will be able to do it. I haven't started it just yet as I haven't really had time but I plan on working on it often to try and get the very best post-production photo I can. Hopefully I get a better response from him this time around.
Read more...Tulip Drippings
I'm really happy with how the rain tulip shot came out. This was my first real attempt at wet flowers and I wasn't sure how it would come out - especially since I still don't have my macro lens. I feel the richness of this tulip's colour really helps make the water drops stand out.My Photography Partner
>> Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Dave is my photography partner/assistant. He drives me to sites and helps me out while I am there, holds my camera bag for me so I can get closer to my subject (that is what he is doing in the above photo). He even gives me advise with my post-production work and sits through my endless streams of photographs. He supports my photography 100% and I am so appreciative of that. Thank you Sweety.Yellow Rain
Another shot from the sudden rain storm - this time on a traditional solid yellow tulip.Water-Kissed Sunshine
>> Monday, May 11, 2009
There was a pretty sudden rain storm a few days ago and as soon as I got home I whipped out my camera and ran into the backyard to take advantage of the natural looking wet tulips.DA Tulips
Every year I take tons of photographs at the Tulip Festival in Ottawa and every year I put them up on my DeviantArt account. It also happens to be the time of the year when I get the most page views and favourites on my DA account. I guess flower photos are my specialty.
Read more...Linked Tulips
>> Sunday, May 10, 2009
I didn't realize when I was taking the photos but when I was editing through them I noticed that these tulips were connected by a single thread of a spider's web. I wish the light was still out so I could take some more photos of it.Spot
>> Saturday, May 9, 2009
There's a spot on my lens which is driving me absolutely insane! I am having to take every picture wonderful or not into Photoshop and edit out the stupid spot. I have cleaned it many times, both sides of the lens and it doesn't seem to go away or even appear to get smaller. I am going to take it into Henry's later this weekend and hopefully they will be able to help me out in removing this infernal spot.
Read more...DoF Tulip
I am a big fan out depth of field and try to use it to its full advantage in my photography. I feel it adds interest to photos - always have. I find it is also a really great way to make tulip photos look different even when you take a photo of the same group of tulips over and over again.PHO5539 Night 2
>> Friday, May 8, 2009
Last night was the second night of my Photoshop for Photographers course. I missed the first class due to a combination of training events at work and company sponsored bowling (which was awesome). I was super excited for this course and have already been let down. The instructor, though sounds like Jay Ingrim from the Daily Planet, is rather rude. He was slightly insulting to some of the students and rude to me when I tried to explain why I was not in class on Tuesday. I am not impressed with the sounds of this course as it seems to just be a longer version of the Photoshop portion of Introduction to Digital Photography (the first course I took). The class is More structured than others which could actually be a nice change, but I am still not looking forward to it. It's only 2 months long though and I need it for the certificate program. Hopefully it will pick up as we go along and I will begin to learn things now and then.
Read more...Oval Bed
The Circle Bed located in Commissioners Park leads to some really great tulip photos and inspired a portion of my backyard garden - my Oval Bed. There are multiple types of tulips in my bed as compared to that of the NCC but I am really happy with how full it has grown.Dual Toned
This dual toned tulip was in a bed of yellow tulips and yet somehow grew with a couple red petals. Very interesting.Sweety Tulip
>> Thursday, May 7, 2009
This is a sweety tulip - seriously I read it on a name plate in Commissioners Park.Sweetheart Tulips
Photograph of some of Sweetheart Tulips at Commissioners Park in Ottawa during the opening weekend of the Tulip Festival.Contrasting Tulip
>> Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The tulips are really starting to come in now and I am so pleased with how many different varieties we have. This one seems to jump out of the screen due to its naturally high saturation.A Little Hesitant
This was taken during Easter Weekend and as such the Agricultural Museum had just starting showing their baby animals (lambs, chicks and piglets). This little girl was a little alarmed by the lamb constant bleating - it really wanted its mother.There's a Fly on my Tulip
>> Tuesday, May 5, 2009
This photo was taken during the opening weekend of the Tulip Festival at Commissioners Park. Every so often an insect of some kind comes and makes for a different kind of Tulip picture.Donkey
>> Monday, May 4, 2009
The Agricultural Museum is one of my favourite places to go to take photos and now that it is getting nicer out the animals are starting to come outside where there is better light. Wahoo!Backyard Buds
>> Sunday, May 3, 2009
The red, pink and purple tulips are starting to really take off. I can't wait to have a multitude of tulips blooming in my backyard everyday.Budding Tulip
>> Saturday, May 2, 2009
One of the most interesting looking tulips in the garden right now.Tulip Festival 2009 Part 2
>> Friday, May 1, 2009
Today is the official start of the Tulip Festival. I am not going to see any tulips today though (except those in my backyard) as I have to return the rental car in a bit and it looks like rain (and I therefore cannot bike or walk to any of the locations). I will likely go see something this weekend as well as next week after work perhaps. I am so excited about the Tulips and the events being run during the festival. For more information about my plans for this year's Tulip Festival see my Tulip Festival 2009 post on the Great Abyss.
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