"Goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come"

    My father grew up on a small farm in Kansas. Fortunately he joined the Navy, saw California, and decided it would be a better place to live.  Our family made many cross-country road trips back to the farm to visit his parents and sister, and a couple of times my brother, sister and I were sent back on our own (a 5 hour flight during which we were allowed to enter the cockpit to meet the pilots and  receive a pair of wings - pilot wings for Mike and stewardess wings for me & Judy). 

   I journeyed back on my own this time (still 5 hours of flying plus a layover, but locked out of the cockpit, and no wings, just a tiny bag of peanuts) to see my aunt who is now 94. On previous trips I have photographed fields of corn, sunflowers, lightening strikes, and HUGE farm equipment with my Nikon.  This trip I only took my iPhone.  (If only my arms were a little longer, our heads wouldn't look so big.)

The sunsets in Kansas are different than those around here.  Because the land is flat, you can see the sun all the way to the horizon, and it is a GIGANTIC, burning orb.  I processed this iPhoto in Snapseed & then Painteresque, and include it here because the sign so resembled the real thing.

With a heat index of 105 every day (still 99 degrees at sunset), 

I truly appreciated my father's move to California.

Deer Encounters

An unexpected wildlife encounter always invigorates my spirit.  On two recent morning walks I have had the pleasure of meeting up with deer.  One early morning, this trophy buck watched me pass by and was kind enough to look up and pose for a picture (taken with my iPhone).  Click on the photo to see a larger image.

 

I met this doe twice on the same walk in Morgan Hill.  First, I passed within a few feet of her feasting in a yard on West Dunne.  We were both startled and she scurried off up a hill.  Forty minutes later  I crossed over the same hill from the opposite direction and there she was.  This time she stopped long enough for a photo.  I saw her again the next week near the same area with her very small fawn, and even though both stopped to look at me, they were too far away for a clear picture.

These encounters are gifts that are always appreciated

(unlike when they eat the flowers right out of my front garden).

June Moon

In June (& only in June) the full moon rises over Chesbro Dam.  This is the 3rd, or maybe 4th year I have returned to my favorite spot along the bank to capture this charming, celestial event. 

   You would think that photos from the same spot would look 

the same each year, but the light, the weather

& even the water level make each rise unique.

 I loved the moon light on the water.

It has been over 2 years since I ended my project to photograph every full moon for a year, but its allure still pulls me out of the house with camera & tripod in hand.  Still the lunatic am I.

San Francisco@Night

Fifteen members of the photography club drove 70 miles north to experience the magic of The City after dark. We started at Aquatic Park for the sunset...

and then walked up to Ghirrardelli Square

 

Of course I had my iPhone with me.

This was double processed, first in AutoPainter 2 and then Blender

Our next location was the corner of Hyde and Lombard (the crookedest street in the world).  The classic shot is looking up from the bottom of Lombard, but the view from the top includes Coit Tower and the Bay Bridge.  We had quite a time finding a spot to set up a tripod with out getting run over.  To get this shot, I jammed two tripod legs up against a short wall, with the third leg hanging over in the bushes.

Next stop: The Embarcadero and the Bay Bridge.  I was here several months ago during the day and liked an image that included the outdoor eating area of a small restaurant.  I hoped it would look even better at night.  At least it was a shot no one else got.

When I walked out to the restraining wall along the water, I was stunned by the golden glitter.   I did not enhance the color at all.  This is exactly what I saw.

When I looked more closely, I saw squiggly strings of light. 

(Click on the image to see a larger view.)

 

This is the shot we all came to get.  The golden light was stunning

What a long, tiring, and incredible night with exceptional people.

More SF@Night photos are on my Flickr photostream: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/

iPhoneography Workshop (part 1 of 4)

As soon as I saw Don Smith's iPhone Photo Workshop, I signed up.  The iPhone 4s has an 8 MP camera and I wanted to know how to use it to its fullest.  Plus choosing from the thousands of camera and processing apps was overwhelming.  I needed professional help.  Plus it meant spending 3 days in Carmel and Big Sur with other photographers.  Couldn't find a downside to the venture.

 

Three days on the coast with just an iPhone?  People were incredulous, but I wasn't alone.  Barbi & Noël, friends from the photography club signed up also.  This was really gonna be fun!

Took this picture with ProCamera 

& blurred the leaves in Big Lens

The view south from Hurricane Point.  Can you see Bixby Bridge?

Taken with Pro HDR and processed in Snapseed.

At first it felt a little strange to venture out with out a camera bag heavy on my shoulder, but I quickly adapted.  I did lug my tripod.  I had no way to attach the iPhone to it, so I held it as firmly as possible on top.  (As soon as I got home, I ordered the attachment.) 

An Olloclip Fisheye lens rendered this view of Bixby Bridge.

Photographers spend hundreds of dollars on HDR software.  Pro HDR takes 2 photos and immediately merges them in camera to create one picture.  Without it, the sunset sky would have been completely blown out.  This is the best camera app for lanscapes.

Garrapata Beach Sunset

Using apps to process the photos is as much fun as taking them.  My go-to app for almost every photo is Snapseed, which is what I used for this tide pool image taken at Weston Beach in Point Lobos SP

 Photographing with the iPhone is pure fun.  Even when I am shooting with my Nikon, the iPhone will be readily available in my pocket.  I never leave home without it.

May Super Moon (part 2 of 4)

The moon's orbit is not a perfect circle, so its distance from Earth varies throughout the year.  In May, its orbit brought it closer than usual and it was dubbed, "Super Moon," because it looked bigger to our Earthling eyes.  Since I was on the coast, I could not photograph it rising, so I set my sights on photographing it as it set (something I have never done before).  

   According to my iPhone app, moon set would occur at 6:22am, 16 minutes after sunrise.  Barbi, Noël and I were on the road well before 5 looking for a location Don, the workshop leader had suggested.  We found it, parked, hiked out to the edge of the cliffs, set up our tripods and DSLR cameras, and waited for enough light to focus.

5:40am

 6:01am

 6:10am

Soon after this the moon disappeared into the mist.

Getting up so early made for a long day, 

but we had too much fun to be tired.

iPhone Artistry (part 3 of 4)

Thousands of photo processing apps are available for the iPhone.  Some are simple and intuitive to use, requiring only a few taps of the finger or the moving of a slider.  Others involve the complexity of layers and masks and have a learning curve.  This is why I signed up for the workshop.  I don't want hundreds of photo apps cluttering my iPhone.  I wanted to know which ones were most recommended, what they would do, and how to make the most of their features.  One of the coolest apps is AutoPainter.  Choose your photo and your art style and then sit back and watch the photo morph into a painting.  With a more advanced control, you can mask certain areas so they show through with more original detail.  These were taken during the sunset shoot described in the previous blog.

 

  

 Before leaving the area, I stopped by the Carmel Mission.  It was closed, but the early morning light was so pretty, I threaded my arms through the gate (you can see my shadow in the lower right corner), and used HDRPro to take the picture, with the intent of converting it into a painting.  I may be addicted to this app.

 

Nothing renews my spirit like sitting on a beach, listening to and watching the waves break.  This photo was taken on Carmel Beach with 360Panorama.  Stand in one place, pivot around and tah-dah!  If you squint, you can see my 5 o'clock shadow.