George George Park

After taking a Principles of Photography class last spring, I decided to take another class this summer. Last week was the first session of my class in Travel Photography.  This class is more about taking pictures in class and not just learning the basics.  As such, 4 of our 5 classes involve shooting and 3 of them are field trips.  Tonight, our first trip was to George George Park in Clinton Township.

I went to George George Park earlier in the spring, after my very first photography class.   I can definitely see an improvement in my shooting since then...and the better light we had tonight didn't hurt either.

This lady was doing cross-stitch in the park

Squirrel with Nut

Squirrel with Nut, originally uploaded by kathiag96.

Favorite picture of the day....taken during my photography class this evening. Love the fact that not only does the squirrel have a nut, but you can see other nut shells surrounding him...as though he's had a yummy dinner.

Tweaking in Picnik

Lake in Yukon Territory, originally uploaded by kathiag96.

If you don't have access to photo editing software like Photoshop or Elements, there are several free or lowcost alternatives. One I like to use because it's quick and it's linked to Flickr is called Picnik. You can upload your photos and edit them on their website for free. For an annual fee, you get access to more editing tools.

The photo above is one of the photos I took on our trip to Alaska last month. I used Picnik to sharpen the photo and tweaked the saturation a little...I like the result.

Here's the original photo for comparison:

Using your iPhone to take and edit photos

Summer view outside my building, originally uploaded by kathiag96.

Like most hobby photographers, I can't take my DSLR with me everywhere I go.  I usually try to carry my Panasonic Lumix point and shoot, but there are times I forget.  Luckily, like most people these days, I have a camera phone.  The camera on my phone (an iPhone) is decent to use in a pinch, especially if there is good natural light available.  Also, there are some great apps for editing iPhone pictures.  Right now I'm using theCamera + app.  Not only can you edit photos with cool effects, you can also use it to take photos.  It includes a zoom function which is great as the regular camera app on the iPhone doesn't allow you to zoom.   I took the above photo several weeks ago with my phone (the view of the Detroit River outside of my office building) and I used Camera + to add a border and HDR effect to the photo.

Edsel & Eleanor Ford House

One of the great things about living in the metro Detroit area is that there are is a lot of historical places to visit. This morning I went to the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House to practice taking photos in bright sunlight. The grounds are beautiful and it's only $5 to visit the grounds. If you want to see the full house tour (which includes all of the outer buildings as well), it's only $10.

If you've never headed to the Ford house and you live in the area, I highly recommend it - it's beautiful and very peaceful as well. The photos I took are included in the slideshow below, enjoy!

Alaska!

Sorry I've been ignoring this blog lately...we were busy getting ready for our amazing trip to Alaska. We just got back on Monday and I've finally gotten some of the pictures edited and uploaded. Below is a slideshow of my favorite shots. For the best viewing, once you play the slideshow, you can view in full screen by clicking on the icon in the bottom right corner of the show (the icon with 4 arrows):