From the Wabi Sabi Ranch

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Breezes At Dawn, Life In the Bogs, Maryland, nature, nature photographs, nature photography, photograph, Photography, photography blog, Robin Simmons

Up to now, this blog has been leaning more and more toward my growing interest in amateur photography, although it didn’t start out that way.  My original intention when I started this blog was to highlight the down-home Ozarks lifestyle.  And my photographs, however inexperienced and crude, do highlight that.

As I learn photography and become somewhat better at it (I still have LOTS to learn), I want to also highlight some of the bloggers who are really talented at their photography and for whom it is a passion.  I have learned a great deal and a multitude of skills from these bloggers.

The photographs in this post are taken by Robin, whose blog is Breezes At Dawn.  Robin recently moved to her home on the Eastern shore of Maryland with her husband, who she calls M, and lives on some acreage with a lake and a dock, plenty of flowers and foliage and a multitude of animals and insects.

Robin refers to her home as the Wabi Sabi Ranch, and it is fertile ground for many photographic opportunities, which she takes full advantage of.  Robin has a good eye for picking out things that will make a picture beautiful, stunning, interesting, and/or just plain neat.

Robin is about to enter her first Fall and Winter seasons there at Wabi Sabi ranch, so it will be so interesting to see the photographs in her future blog posts during these upcoming seasons.

Last Fall and Winter Robin was at her former home she calls Breezy Acres.  For those of you who would like look at Robin’s stunning pictures from there, her other blog is Life In the Bogs.

Robin also has a tutorial or two included in Life In the Bogs and Breezes At Dawn, which help us have a clue to a few of the ways she gets the fantastic results she does with her photographs.

A place to purchase some of Robin’s wonderful work can be found on her page at Redbubble Portfolio.  These photographs would look wonderful adorning any home.

For now, Robin has given me permission to feature some of her work from her blog, so sit back, admire, and enjoy!

Check out Robin at Breezes At Dawn for your daily dose of inspiration, fun and loveliness.  I’ll end this post to you wonderful bloggers with her own sign-off:

“Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just be.” — Robin

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• Creating Epic Photography: Lessons from #PhotoWeekLive (photobyakiliblog.wordpress.com)
• A Detailed Guide to Photographing Fall Foliage (ifancyphoto.wordpress.com)
• House at the Lake – A Work in Black and White (hwilliam.wordpress.com)
• Meanwhile, back at the ranch Part 2 (breezesatdawn.wordpress.com)
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting

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bee, Beginning photography, clover, Macrophotography, nature, nature photograph, nature photography, Photography, postaday

While trying to practice some macro photography on yard clover, I was surprised by the little bee that flew out of nowhere to check out the little blossoms.  This photo of the little buzzer was accidental, and I did try to catch another photo of it in action.  The bee flitted around for a few seconds and then flew away, quick as it had come.

Thursday Tips: A Fool and His Money are Soon Parted

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Beginning photography, Photography, photography equipment, photography tips

1001 Scribbles

There are few pursuits that will empty your wallet more quickly than photography.  Everything about photographic gear, for instance, is expensive.  I mean everything, from $30 (US) bubble levels to exotic prime telephoto lenses that exceed $10,000.  In the digital age, cameras are essentially treated as disposable commodities, accompanied by the explicit notion that of course you’re going to upgrade to the latest model every few years.  And as the bubble level reference above suggests, cameras and lenses are merely part of the equation.  Bags for your equipment, tripods and heads, filters and other accessories…the list is seemingly never-ending, and all the items on it are costly.  At the very least, the informal definition of “photographic equipment” has extended all the way to computer hardware and software ever since the digital darkroom became a realistic option more than a decade ago.

Two recent announcements reminded me of the truism…

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Amazon Gift Card From “The Eye-Dancers”

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Amazon, Amazon Kindle, book, free gift card, gift card, Kindle, Kindle book

For those who like a little of the Twilight-Zone-y type thing mixed with a real attention-keeping story line, this Kindle book is a good deal. For $2.99 you not only get a good read, but also a chance at an Amazon gift card! Go and check this book out; the reviewers seem to like it.

Eye-Dancers

In the first-season Twilight Zone episode “The After Hours,” Marsha White, a customer at a large department store, asks where she can find the store’s selection of gold thimbles.

 

She is told the ninth floor, and she is escorted there by the elevator man.  Once dropped off, a saleswoman approaches her–an odd person who makes Marsha uncomfortable.

 

Stranger still, there is only one item for sale on the entire ninth floor–the exact gold thimble Marsha is shopping for.  She purchases the item, unaware that this transaction is not the end, but rather the beginning of a spooky, unnerving, and ultimately self-revealing adventure.

 

By episode’s end, Marsha realizes she is a mannequin–one of the many on display throughout the store.  Each month, a new mannequin is “awakened,” and able to experience life as a person.  But at the end of the thirty days, they must return and let…

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Lost in the Details

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Beginning photography, close-up photography, DailyPost, details, moon, nature, nature photography, perspective, photographs, Photography, postaday, weekly photo challenge

By now everyone probably thinks I worship the moon, but I’ve actually just lately had more than the usual amount of great photo opportunities in the sky.  So, I thought I’d use one of them in this week’s challenge.

A clear moon with a misty frame of barely-there branches made for what I thought was a neat shot, but a very common one, and I am not a skilled enough photographer to make the day moon any more dramatic than it already is.  Its magnificent beauty certainly doesn’t need my help!

 

On a whim I changed the focus from the moon as the subject to making the winter trees against a winter sky the subject with the moon a misty glowing orb in the background.  I like this effect, and I am learning a little more about what a difference a change in perspective can make.  The details in the winter branches had been lost to me in times past.

So, since this challenge, I’ve been thinking about the concept of how details can be totally lost while being in plain site.  One of my fellow bloggers recently posted a picture of wildlife in which something was in plain site but virtually invisible because it was being very inconspicuous.  It is a very interesting version of a sort of “Where’s Waldo” (found here — give it a try!).  The concept of something being lost in amongst all the details of a photograph intrigued me, so when this photo challenge came up I thought I would try my amateur hand at it.

For instance, a furry flower can be interesting looking…

…except that the same flower disappears when seen from the perspective of being a spec in a sea of weeds ground cover.

Rocks are much more interesting from a close and personal perspective…

…than when viewed as part of a bunch of excess rocks behind a building.

It’s been fun trying to find things that are there, but are lost in the details that are all around them.  It has made me realize that I am missing about 90% of the world around me every day!  So learning to be a better photographer involves much more of learning to be observant than I ever realized.  That’s something I will have to work on.

Since I’ve just jumped on the bandwagon of the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge (details here — scroll down the Photo Challenge page to find out how to get started), I’ll have to get better at taking pictures!  There are many fantastic photos to look at, taken by very talented photographers!

Today I wish everybody a fantastic, delightful day!

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Blogger, clouds, lunar, moon, nature, night photography, photograph, photographs, Photography

This blogger takes the night time pictures I only wish I could take, lol!

sethsnap

The moon, clouds and wind were on stage last night here in Ohio.  The moon and clouds danced to the howling song of the wind.  They gracefully interacted in ways that only two lovers could.  The intimacy, passion and chemistry enveloped all who saw and implanted wild and adventurous dreams which were to be realized, though not remembered, later that night in the deepest of sleep.

Visit my store.Visit my galleries.

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Enchanted Forest, forest, haunted forest, mountain, mountains, nature photographs, Old-growth forest, photograph, photographs, Photography

A fellow blogger visited a haunted forest, and I wanted to share her visit and magnificent photographs with you!

Today was an alpine day as we climbed past the timberline to the Martial Glacier. First we had to past through The Haunted Twisted Lenga Forest. Take a peek:

Next we had to cross some flimsy plank bridges…….

Then we had the view to the Beagle Channel far below.

And we joined the ant people climbing to the Glacier. Look for the tiny ant people climbing, it will give you perception of the mountains and their immensity.

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Photo Processing For Hard-Core Beginners

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Beginning photography, FAQs Help and Tutorials, GIMP, Image editing, photo editing, photo processing, photo software, Photography

Today I was messing around with both of the photo processing programs I have, and realized that although I have used them both quite a bit, I still have a lot to learn about one of them.  Being a semi-beginner photographer myself, I have a lot to learn.  So I thought I would tackle trying to learn how to use my photo software a step at a time, starting with what I know and learning as I go step-by-step.  And as I learn, I will blog about it.

The reason for this is because most beginning photographers don’t want to spend the money on photo processing software when they don’t know how to use it or they don’t know that they will ever get to be professional picture-takers.  I don’t blame anybody for feeling that way, since I am one of them.  That is why I use GIMP, a free photo software alternative to Photoshop.  

It’s free.  That’s what attracted me to it.  The only way to master using GIMP is to actually use it.  But, that can pose problems for those that are not used to it.  It can seem daunting and complicated at first — actually, parts of it still do to me — but over time, if we jump in with both feet, we can tackle this, and all of us become good at using a photo processing program.

To download GIMP, go here.  Once you have it, look it over and see what it can do.  Then, starting soon, we’ll get down to business and learn how to use it.

 Until then, happy picture taking!

Spray Paint Never Looked Like THIS

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artist, artistic, Paint, Spray Paint, Stencil

Ray Ferrer has a real knack with spray paint and stencils.  Put these tools in his hands and talent oozes out of his every pore.  A lot of his work is even done on a large scale.

I wanted to share a few pieces of his work,  these being a few of my favorites (I have daughters, what can I say?), but he creates a wide variety of subject matter, which can be viewed on his blog here, and is called URBAN WALL ART AND MURALS.  I invite you to go over and take a look.  You will be impressed.

“Young Girl”

“Two Girls”

“Tea Party”

“Fire Hydrant”

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country life, nature, photographs, Photography, rural, rural life, Sun, Sunrise, Sunrise and Sunset Times, Sunset, winter, winter sky, winter trees

Sunrise and sunset in winter — absolutely beautiful!

Life in the Bogs

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.

~ Aristotle

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