Pixel Blender

I was playing with Pixel Blender because I came across the site of another photographer that not only sells his work as photographs,but there are a few that he makes to look like oil paintings and sells them that way and I thought it was pretty cool.  I am going to print this to see just how it comes out .

I am back!

I have not posted here for quite some time but I am back and I intend to take some sort of photo atleast 5 times per week.  Having something to share at least three times per week, maybe more. I am going to continue to play with my camera as well as Photoshop CS5 to see what I can learn, and if you know anything about photography and Photoshop, you know the capabilities are endless.

I walked on Ventura Blvd today and took my camera with me. Something I am trying to do more of these days.  I captured two photos that I found quite interesting. As most people know the weather out here in Los Angeles has been ranging from about 67-87 degrees in the past couple of weeks. So it is sort of strange to get into the Christmas spirit when many people are still wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts.  But I want to share this photo of Santa and Mrs. Claus. It is rather unusual to see Mrs. Claus with her husband, but it was great to see for sure.  Actually this is the second Santa I came across today.

The first Santa I came across was part of an association that was gathering toys for tots.  This car was filled with gifts on Van Nuys Blvd.

  I believe the group was the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assoc. that organized this.

I thought the car was really cool so that is why I really took the shot from across the street.

There is nothing special about either of these two photos except the subject, which is always fun.

New Monument in Franklin Square, Savannah

Franklin Square, named for Benjamin Franklin who was Georgia Colony's Agent in London in the 1700s, is located in downtown Savannah. This is one of many squares downtown and is located on Montgomery Street between Congress and Bryan Streets. Franklin is adjacent to City Walk as well as First African Baptist Church, two well known historical landmarks.

Now there is a new monument, a project of the Haitian Historical Society, which is representative of the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint Domingue, a group of soldiers that comprised of over 700 free men of color from the island of Haiti who fought in the American Revolution before the fall of Savannah in 1779. This monument consists of 6 figures that are representative of of the ten companies of Haitian soldiers that fought the 6 week long blockade of Savannah.



The drummer boy represents Henri Christophe, who as a teenager fought in this event, and later became a leader in the struggle for Haitian independence from French rule. He became commander of the Haitian army and later King of Haiti.


It was great to see this monument in Savannah, depicting a time when all African Americans in the city was in slavery, and free men of color was fighting for freedom.

In His Likeness

We all know that Jesus didn't actually look like the photo that is circulate as his likeness. How do we know? Those of us who are able to read and have read the description of Jesus in the Bible as well as know that he was in Africa, knows that he didn't have long light-brown hair and blue eyes.

While I was walking down Hollywood Blvd. with camera in hand this guy alights from the Metro, and before I know it I said to myself, "this guy looks like Jesus" with the garb it was even more convincing. So without thinking I try to position myself away from the corner of which he stepped down from the bus and where I was waiting to cross the street, in order to get a picture of him with the least amount of distraction as possible. By the time I was able to do that I was only about to get the back of him as he crossed Hollywood Blvd.

After taking the pictures I noticed that others were watching him as well, and he glided across the street with such ease and grace as though he was the Messiah.

It was not until after talking to two other women that was looking at him as I had been, and asking if I had gotten the picture, that I realized, that I had been programmed and I knew differently. My immediately response was that this man looked like Jesus, when in actuality the man looked like the mass produced image of a man that we are told is Jesus.

So where did the depiction of Jesus begin and how?

Pigeons

If you are anything like me, you avoid pigeons where ever you go. Being from Savannah, Ga. I am use to seeing pigeons especially in the downtown area. This is especially the case in all of the squares, where many people feed the pigeons. Los Angeles is the only other place that I have lived where there are just as many if not more pigeons around. I have always thought of them as pretty dirty, and I really don't know why. Well today I took a pretty close look at one, and they are quite interesting. I guess this goes to show you that there is beauty in everything, and the artist's eye is trained to see just that.

Photo Shoot in Venice, Ca.

Got up really early this morning to go on for a photo shoot with a couple of models. It was an engagement shoot. It was a lot of fun. I learned a great deal because it was something that I had never done before. It reminded me of my days of modeling, many moons ago. This shoot was set up through one of the photography meet-ups that I am associated with here in Los Angeles. It was the first time with this group of people. There were about 6 of us there all taking photos simultaneously of this couple. I felt like the paparazzi. I played with the camera a great deal, changing settings on the white balance as well as aperture priority. I also used the on camera flash on several photos and on a couple of others I used the separate flash to see what I would get. The bulk of the photos can be viewed on my here.

I did enjoy using models and do intend to do it again, but I learned something about posing your models, and that is if the pose is not comfortable to them, the strain shows on their face and that does not make a good picture. It is only when the model(s) are comfortable with their bodies and the movement of it that you will see it resonate in the photos.

Moonlight on the Ocean

This is a photo that was not planned, but loved it as I was driving back from Ventura trying to get a good sunset photo. They always say that sometimes the best ones are not planned.
I did get a sunset shot that was quite boring so I am not so inclined to share it right now. That is going to take a little more planning and finding a place where I can get some really interesting foreground.
The entire time I was riding back, I saw this beautiful full moon that I really wanted to stop and photograph. All of you out there that are familiar with PCH and its many curves and lack of light can relate to this. I keep seeing this moon appear and then disappear behind the mountains. All the while I am saying to myself that I so want to stop and take a photograph of this, but I am forced to keep driving because it is pitch black outside and there are not a great deal of places to stop on this particular stretch of the road.
Before long a come across the moon shining on the water and there is a place to pull over on the side of the road and I do.