September 30, 2015

Out last day in Destin was cloudy with a few sprinkles of rain.  These pictures were taken from outside our room. 

We stayed at the Sea Oats Motel, which is an older motel and some aging does show.  Our room had a kitchenette; Refrigerator, Microwave, Coffee Pot, Toaster, and a Stove.  It is nice to walk out the door onto a deck, down the stairs and be on the beach.

No one cleans the room or makes the beds while your are there.  If you need clean towels, you take the used ones to the office and they give you clean ones.  And it does have Wi-Fi.

September 27, 2015 b

Yesterday, we went on a Dolphin Cruise and were fortunate to see a pod of dolphins, which we close to the shore of Okaloosa Island.  These are Atlantic Bottle-Nosed Dolphins.  None came out of the water, as often is shown. They were about 75 yards off the Starboard side of the boat.  Starboard; that is Navy speak for right side...  Port is for the left side, bow for the front, and aft is for the back... I think!  Who says, "Honey, I am going to mow the aft yard today???  I am just having fun with Jim and Jean Edgerton.

Back to the dolphins.

September 27, 2015 a

Happy Birthday, Kristen!

We were at the Boardwalk, on Okaloosa Island just west of Destin, Fl, on Friday evening.  There were a couple of dolphins having lunch on the schools of fish.  Fish that those fishing from the Boardwalk were hoping to catch. 

For me, it was the sunset the made the walk more interesting.  These are three different photos of the same scene.  If you had to choose one, which would it be?  Top, Middle, or Bottom.  You may have a better viewpoint by clicking once on a photo.

September 25, 2015

Norway redux ...

I am impressed with how many restaurants have black and white pictures on their walls, such as, Olive Garden; even Firehouse Subs!

The following are pictures, taken in Bergen, Norway, around the harbor area.  Again, click on a picture to enlarge it.

I added the cobblestone street because I cannot imagine laying out the cobblestone on a street and still have a pattern as this.  Think of what they could do with today's technology.

September 21, 2015

Happy Birthday, Linda!

Someone once said that, "I would rather be lucky than good!"  I think that this is true in photography and this is not to diminish the photographic skills that some have developed.  Being in the right place at the right time and having you camera in hand when the opportunity arises are key factors in capturing photos that are 'keepers.'

I was diving Saturday morning when I came upon the balloons in the first two pictures. The yellow balloon was about 100 feet off the ground and the 'character' was front and center.  I stopped the car, got my camera out of the trunk, and by the time that I turned it on, this is the shot the I had before me.  In the meantime, the other balloon went on the other side of the trees.

A little while later, after I has arrived at my destination, the third balloon appeared and was about to go directly over me.  Great perspective.  My camera was on the front seat, but the door was locked.  by the time I could take the picture, this is what was available.

To paraphrase Palidan, "Have camera, will shoot!'

September 18, 2015

I took this picture a couple of years ago and have drawn back to it a number of times.  When I look at it, I imagine a story prompted by the scene.  I think that if five people studied the photo and then made up a story line, there would be different stories.  I think that I know which direction Alfred Hitchcock would take the story.

September 13, 2015

Panorama pictures can be done by taking a sequence of pictures and stitching them together on post-processing or by cropping a picture to a 36" x 12" photo.  Here are a few that I have done.  I like to do them, but the problem is that it takes more time in composing the shots.  There are times when the opportunity does not cooperate.

The first picture is a cropped photo.  I planned on doing it the former way, but the weather did not cooperate when I had the time to take sequence of shots for post-processing.  It is of the waterfront in Bergin, Norway.
I cannot remember how I shot the second picture, without going back to the originals, and the third picture is of our backyard.  Notice the diffraction caused by the wide angle lens.  This could be corrected some in post-processing, but I chose not to for some reason.  Remember to click on a picture to enlarge it.

The following were multiple photos that were stitched together.  The first picture was taken in Destin, FL.  The second is a Fjord in Norway on a rainy day.  The third is a panorama in Western North Carolina.  It was very overcast and much processing was done. The last picture, which was one of my first tries at panoramas, is of Nubble Light, in York Beach, ME and happens to be my favorite, up to now...