Frosted

I like taking photos of the frost in the morning, my only complaints being...it's cold (naturally) and I have to get up and out early to catch it before the sun hits it and sends it away. We don't get the crazy hoar frost here in Ohio that we'd see in places we lived in Europe, but we still get a nice frost now and again.



Frost

Frost

Out & About With the Camera

A half-dozen photos from today.
I was working on the New Year resolutions with regards to photography.
- Got out, away from the house for a bit to the (Cincinnati Nature Center)
- Took, and more importantly USED! a tripod, and only forgot to turn off the IS for one set of shots
- Used a different lens for at least some of the shots, my Lensbaby "Composer" I originally received for Christmas 2010


Winter Reflections on Fall

Fall Fades to Winter

Lensbaby Reflections

Lensbaby Reflections

Tunnel of Time

Sycamore Tree

Hocking Hills

Last week I went up to Hocking Hills for a couple day photography workshop. There was a bit of rain before the workshop, which was nice for waterfalls. Anyway, the idea was to get me a bit out of my comfort zone and rut of sorts. I think it did that, not that it changed me a ton, but I did see things and try some things in a new way. Here are some of the photos that came of the trip.

Ash Cave - Hocking Hills, Ohio Experimenting with the adjustment brush tool in Lightroom

Ash Cave - Hocking Hills, Ohio One of many shots I used a tripod to get, I've missed things like this in the past

Ash Cave - Hocking Hills, Ohio I even pulled out the Lensbaby

Ash Cave - Hocking Hills, Ohio Another tripod shot, even so, not as sharp as it should be

Fungi - Hocking Hills, Ohio Using the narrow focal plane to slice

Fern Through Window - Hocking Hills, Ohio Using the window to mimic a cardboard slide mount

The Milky Way - Hocking Hills, Ohio At ISO 25600

At The Ashmolean

with my LensBaby... The Ashmolean is really cool free museum that we spent a lot of visiting while living in Oxford.

The Ashmolean - Oxford, England

The Ashmolean - Oxford, England

The Ashmolean - Oxford, England

The Ashmolean - Oxford, England

The Ashmolean - Oxford, England

The Ashmolean - Oxford, England

The Ashmolean - Oxford, England

Abstract at Avebury

Some photos from a day I spent wandering around Avebury last summer. The weather was vastly different from my previous visit.

Fence Post - Avebury, England

Leaves - Avebury, England

Stone and Lichens - Avebury, England

Wolvercote Cemetery

Took a walk a bit up the road to Wolvercote Cemetery this morning. I'd driven past once or twice but my curiosity was peaked a few weeks back during one of my many walks into central Oxford. On the way back from town, a young lad (as they are called here???) asked me how far it was to the cemetery and when the next bus would be coming by going that way. I didn't know the answers to his questions but it made me think: "What is it about that cemetery that a young person, obviously not from around here, would be so interested in?" You have to scroll to the last picture (or search the internet) to find out what it might have been.

While I was there this morning, I met a man that visits his wife's grave every day for 5 hrs or so and has done so for almost 5 years. We had a lengthy chat about almost everything. We covered subjects starting from the way things have changed over the past number of years to how hard it is to find decent cheese in the U.S.A. and a decent tomato in the U.K. I suspect I will chat with him again the next time I go by for some photos.

Bench - Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford

Angel - Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford

Percival Edward Hedges - Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford

A Safety Concern - Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford

Michal Matczak - Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford

Angel - Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford

Bench - Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford

J.R.R. Tolkien - Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford

Lens Baby Fun

Still enjoying time off, but no access to my regular computer, photoshop etc...in fact I even messed up my raw converter for GIMP. I have Lightroom and a new toy on order and they should be here tomorrow (more on that soon).

Moss, Lichens and a Hole or Two

I've Been Busy

Very busy...including a trip back to Sarajevo...

Sarajevo Skyline At Dusk



Veliki Park Tombstone - Sarajevo

Been Busy...

and will continue to be so for a while. I have been taking photos though, just not much time to go through them.

Reeds in the Wind - Patuxent Research Refuge, MD

April 18, 1810 - May 12, 1890

I drove out to see the covered bridge over Stonelick Creek yesterday and get some photos with the snow and blue skies. I wasn't so happy with the results, but of course I enjoyed the nearby St. Philomena Cemetery. Here a couple of photos with the third being the result of messing with various black and white techniques in photoshop.

St. Philomena Cemetery - Stonelick Township, OH



St. Philomena Cemetery via Lensbaby



St. Philomena Cemetery, In Monochrome

My New Toy

Mrs. Claus brought me a new lens for Christmas, a Lensbaby.

I first got to play with an original model back in Santa Fe a number of years ago and have wanted one ever since. The whole point of the lens is the blur and the way you can tilt the point of sharpness and focus. It will take some practice and getting used to because I don't see so well and it is a manual focus lens.

Here are a few of my photos from today. I walked through a local cemetery that has a number of graves from the mid-late 1800's. I figured that was only fitting since the Santa Fe National Cemetery was where I was first introduced to this type lens.

St. Andrews Cemetery - Milford, OH





St. Andrews Cemetery - Milford, OH




This is the same tree as in this previous post.
Sycamore Tree - Milford, OH





King on the Game Table