Machel Spence

The other day when I was browsing Pinterest I found a photographer by the name of Machel Spence and found her work interesting.  She shoots mostly mushrooms and fungi and searches wildlife for hours for these amazing scences.  She wants "people to feel they are getting a view of the forest floor as they have never seen it before, and to acquire a passion for the conservation of our wild forests and its fungi inhabitants" and she does a wonderful job doing this. Machel's photos excite me to explore the woods when the weather gets warmer for wildlife scences!

http://www.spencephotography.com/

Lightroom tips

Last night I searched Lightroom tips on Pinterest and found a lot of interesting tips so I figured I would share.  I used a tip to brighten the sky on one my pictures today; it looked a little brighter but could look better, I guess I just need a little practice with Lightroom.  I printed for the first time on my matte paper today also and thought it looked good but I seemed to like the glossy look better so I will be investing in some glossy paper soon!

Heres a link to my favorite Lightroom tips on Pinterest...

Lightroom tips on Pinterst

Focusing techniques

Ive had some issues focusing especially while trying out shutter speed and panning but I found a site today with some helpful hints.  They even give tips on shooting with manual focus!

http://www.somewhatsimple.com/photography-jessica-focusing-techniques/

Portrait Photography

I recently tried capturing a "selfie" at home.  I set up my tripod, made sure it was pretty bright, and set the automatic timer; time after time I struggled with my face being too dark.  After reading more info on shooting portraits and self portraits I feel a bit more comfortable to try again.  I read that how your face is angled is a huge deal along with were the light source is.

20 Fast Tips for Portrait Photography

100 Seriously Cool Self-Portraits (And Tips to Shoot Your Own!)

Congratulation team USA

I would like to give a huge congrats to Team USA hockey!  Our own STL Blues foward TJ Oshie helped USA defeat Russia early this morning by scoring the winning goal in a over time shoot out.  A local photographer Scott Rovak got to witness and capture this exciting moment.  Scott Rovak is currently in Sochi shooting for USA Today.  Rovak has also done many other big sporting events such as Cardinal World Series games and Rams games.  I love viewing Rovak's images, it almost gives me a sense that I am there in the picture celebrating with athletes.  Here is a link to his photography site... Scott Rovak
And below is a image by Rovak right after Oshie scored the game winning goal.

Another snow day!

Well yesterday I had a "official" snow day so I decided to go to Creve Coeur park and snap a few pictures after the roads were clear.  I decided to go at 4:30pm around dusk, i'm not sure if waiting helped or not because a lot of my pictures turned out very blue; I found out working with snow can be very difficult.  I read up on shooting in the snow before I went and read that some cameras have a snow/beach white balance setting but mine does not.  I played around with white balance a bit and found the cloudy setting worked best.  I also switched the IOS from 100 to 200 and found 200 to be best.  I wish I would have brought my tri-pod because the best shoots seemed to be with a long shutter speed but I could not do this holding the camera.  All in all I had a blast other than how cold it was, I even got a few shots of some deer!
Here is the site I read before shooting..
10 Winter Photography Tips That Everyone Should Know

I checked out the authors Google + account and found his work very interesting.
Gevon Servo's Google+
He has recent pictures of behind the scene footage of the Super Bowl I found interesting.  I also went to his website and found many more interesting pictures.  I enjoy that all of his photos are different; some landscape, some food/drinks, and city life.  Hes the Managing Editor for the site The Phoblographer that has alot of  tips and tricks for photography.
Here is his personal site- Gevon Servo

Waterfall at Creve Coeur Lake

I did adjust the white balance after taking the picture

I did not adjust the white balance on this photo or the one below

For this photo and on down I did adjust the white balance just a bit

Snow Day!

Although I do not have class on Tuesdays I still consider today a snow day!  I figured I would share a few "snow day" Go Pro pictures I enjoy...

I also found a artist named Lisa M. Robinson that has many wonderful snow involved photographs.  One of my favorite photographs of hers is in the Oceano portfolio near the end, it is a ocean that has turned into cracked ice chips.  Her site describes her work as, "a meditation on the landscape that investigates ideas of transition and time passage".  I find this very interesting and hope to find more artist in the future with the same form of concept.

Lisa M. Robinson's site

GoPro

While on winter break last year I went on a cruise to the Caribbean with my boyfriend and his family.  Before the trip we decided on our excursions; we choose to snorkel in Grand Turk and zip line in Puerto Rico.  I wanted to share my experience with my friends and family so I decided to purchase a GoPro camera.  Purchasing a GoPro camera was one of the best purchases I have made.  We took the camera underwater capturing schools of fish and us petting sharks in Grand Turk.  We also captured pictures and videos zip lining through the jungles of San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We also swam at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and took a few pictures and plan visit the Virgin Islands again in the near future.

Here are a few pictures we took with my GoPro during our cruise....

flying over the Mississippi River

flying over the gulf

Bye Miami!

St. Thomas

Shark while snorkeling in Grand Turk 

Looking over a shelf in Grand Turk

Zip lining in Puerto Rico

Fort in Puerto Rico

Downtown San Juan, Puerto Rico

And here is
22 Crazy Perspective Photos Taken With a GoPro Camera