lonely tree…
So this photo was taken in Canaan, West Virginia during a horseback ride through the mountains. Jay and I planned a lovely day of horseback riding followed by waterfall hunting and hiking in Blackwater Falls State Park. The ride was lovely–it was a cool day, but the sun was warm on our backs as our trusty steeds followed along on well-worn trails in the mountains and meadows. As I was riding, I saw this tree all by itself and knew I just had to take a photo…even if I was on a moving horse. I one-handedly wrangled my camera out of the saddle-bag, pointed, and shot…and fortunately was able to get a nice photo, stay on the horse, and have the horse stay on the trail. Hooray for multitasking!
Anyhoo, when I looked at the photo later on, I decided that it was just entirely too brown…leafless tree with a backdrop of brown grass and brown mountains. So, I changed the photo to black and white and hand-colorized it in Photoshop CS5. I added in a vignette blur and desaturated the tree by hand to really make it pop. All in all, after spending entirely too much time fiddling with a photo, I’m pretty happy with the results. It still has that slightly cool, forlorn feel of approaching winter, but a little added interest.
Taken with the Canon Powershot G12!! 
) Stay tuned for more West Virginia trip photos!
colorful cardinal…
Story behind this photo: I was talking to my mom one afternoon when I looked out my window and saw a lovely red cardinal sitting the tree of my courtyard. I yelped to my mom that I’d be right back because I needed to take a picture. The funny thing was that it didn’t phase her a single bit and she just patiently waited for me to capture my perfect shot. Can you tell I come from a shutterbug?
Anyhoo, this little red fellow was taken with the awesome Canon G7. I desaturated everything but the bird in Photoshop CS3 and just tinkered with the contrast a bit. Enjoy!!
city of bridges…
“Pennsylvania’s Watersheds and You”
Check it out!! I was contacted a while ago by a Pittsburgh engineering firm–they wanted to use my photography on a conservation poster that they were creating! Well, just click on the photo above (or the link underneath it) and have a look! I’m so excited that my photograph is on a real publication that will be hanging in real places! 
The photo is of the Pittsburgh skyline in May, as seen from the banks of the Allegheny River (directly across from Point State Park). It was a river-fest with free kayaking…hence all of the little banana-like things in the picture. And yes, I did kayak. And yes, it was great fun.
The image was taken with the (now stolen) Olympus Stylus 820. Post-processed in Photoshop CS3 for contrast.
DON’T POLLUTE YOUR WATER SUPPLIES!!! Keep them fresh and safe for yourself and generations to come.
solo soccer…
Fourth photo in the people series! Este niño jugó fútbol en la arena del campo de juegos, acerca la playa del Puerto Morelos.
Okay, sometimes I just feel the urge to write descriptions of the photos I’ve taken in Mexico in Spanish. C’mon! Its fun!! Anyhoo, for those who think that previous sentence is all Greek to them: “This young boy was playing soccer in the sand of the playground near Puerto Morelos’ beach.”
No, I wasn’t being creepy and watching this kid playing soccer and taking photos. In fact, my sister and I were enjoying the seesaw that was more or less right behind where I was standing to take the picture. Has anyone tried, as an adult, to get on a seesaw? We couldn’t do it! We’d try to keep the thing at a height so we could both get on, but, wow! A lot harder when you’re 3 feet and an undisclosed number of pounds larger than when you first learned to mount that contraption. Anyways, I was taking photos of the brightly painted playground and the kid got in my way. Then I figured, heck, he might be the superstar of the FIFA World Cup in a decade or so, so I’ll take his picture now! Actually, I wish that was what I was thinking. The fact of the matter is, the kid got in my way when I was taking pictures and when I finally looked at them on the computer, they looked nice with a live human in them. Thus, Niño Boy was not cropped into oblivion. Kind of creepy that you can just make people disappear *poof* with the modern photography. Gotta love it, especially when you’re taking a great group shot of your friends at a restaurant and there is inevitably the jerk that has to crash the photo behind the group. Be gone, Photo Dude. *Poof* You’re no longer in existence.
The photo was taken with my Canon Powershot G7. Processed in Adobe Photoshop CS3 to fix the contrast that so easily gets out of whack in bright Mexican sun and to mute the colors a little for the feeling that I seem to apparently be trying to evoke with this photo series. What is that feeling? Emotion. Nostalgia. Innocence. Slight surreality. Take your pick.
from my point of view…
Okay, folks! I know you have been waiting with bated breath, but alas! The wait is over! Here is one of my photos from my trip to Puerto Morelos, Mexico. It is a small, sleepy fishing village nestled on the Mayan Riviera coast of the Yucatan Peninsula between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. It hasn’t been overrun or completely adulterated by tourists yet and retains its cultural charm. It sure made for one amazing trip to Mexico!
The hotel my family and I stayed at was the Ocean Coral and Turquesa Resort…basically a small slice of heaven on the shore. This picture was the result of me enjoying being both sneaky and creative while taking pictures on my last day. It really is fun taking snapshots from angles and places that you don’t necessarily notice at first. I can tell you that I only saw the “pool view” through this tiny arch on my last day…after 7 days of countless trips past it! This was taken shortly after sunrise (hence the perfect lighting and strange lack of pool-goers). I just love the yellow of the wall contrasted against the blue water and hotel (& reflection). More sunrise photos and Mexico photos to come! And, obviously, taken with the G7!
And feel free to ask any questions you may have about Puerto Morelos (or Playa del Carmen or Isla Mujeres, for that matter)…I’d be more than happy to answer them (especially if you think you want to visit yourself!).
New York City: Part 3
Third in the series! Now our little travel troupe had made it over to Brooklyn…and was enjoying some much-needed ice cream. Of course, there was a post-ice cream photo op. So, here we have it. The pylon of the Brooklyn Bridge that is actually in…well, Brooklyn!
Taken with the Canon G7, naturally. Contrast fixed in Photoshop, image transformed into HDR.
put a lime in the coconut…
Now for a brief mental vacation!! This stately palm tree (complete with coconuts!!) was gently swaying in the breeze on one of Playa del Carmen’s beaches. Now for a little news update: I will be visiting Mexico once more this August, so stay tuned for new photos! WOOHOO!!!
The photo was taken with an Olympus Stylus 820 and was turned into a high dynamic range photograph when I got back to Pittsburgh . Can’t you just feel that Caribbean tradewind by looking at this picture?
a stroll down a sunny street…
This photo was taken on that wonderfully sunny day when the amazing future Dr. Heather gave me a tour of South Philly and the Italian Market. There was just something about that sleepy, sunny street with the bicycles leaning against the stoops that was screaming, “Take a picture of me!!!” So, here we have it. Taken with the amazing G7 and softened to create the pretty glow and muted colors in Photoshop. Enjoy!
sakura!!!
It is that wonderful cherry blossom (sakura in Japanese) time of year! This little gem was growing, of all places, on a lovely little tree in East Falls underneath the Roosevelt Expressway! I used my shutterbug syndrome enabler, the G7, to snap the flower. Post-processing was done to transform the photo into HDR-style and to bring out the details in the petals!
steel…er…spring magnolias!
These gorgeous magnolias were in full bloom right in front of my apartment. Endless flowers that seemingly touch the sky–what a wonderful way to bring in spring. The image was taken with a Canon Powershot G7. The photo was then post-processed in Photoshop to fix the coloration and then transformed into a high-dynamic range image. Enjoy!
a morning silhouette…
This beautiful tree is on the University of Pittsburgh campus between the Cathedral of Learning and Heinz Chapel. I took the photo at approximately 5am during the 1st annual Relay For Life at Pitt, just as the morning sun was starting to come up! An Olympus Stylus 820 was used to capture this delicate silhouette.
On distant shores…
This photograph was taken during a lovely trip to Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania last May. The slight glow of early sunset was truly gorgeous as it cast a rosy hue across the island…and I just had to capture it! I used an Olympus Stylus 820 digital camera and color balanced the photo in Adobe Photoshop CS3. Additionally, the image is an HDR (high dynamic range) image. If you have a free summer day, get thee to Erie!!
green with envy…
This little bugger was snapped with my new lover…er…Canon G7. I just can’t get enough of that little gem! The tiny tree sprouting on a wall by the Schyulkill River (in Philadelphia) looked ever so lonely, stuck between essentially a rock and a hard place. I used the color selection capability on the camera, coupled it with the macro setting and just went to town. I also post-processed the image into an HDR photograph.
A little something green to tide everyone over until spring!
Pretty in Pink #2
These beautiful magnolias were captured on a lovely spring day using and Olympus Stylus 820 digital camera. Believe it or not, the white background for the flowers is indeed the sky…just the right combination of sunlight and angling the camera up at the magnolia tree, while using the sky as a background! One of those serendipitous right-place-right-time deals. The image was then processed using HDR software. Keep checking back for a small “Pretty in Pink” series that I am currently posting!
