Making Old Photos New Again

I haven't been out shooting too much lately, but I heard about a new plugin called Pixel Bender for Photoshop CS5. At first, I didn't think about it too much until I was bored one night and tried it on a few photos.

What the plugin does is make a photo "look" like a oil painting. Here are a few of my favorites. You can look in the gallery for the original photo.

Grasshopper Sparrow

Last weekend I was in Chad's neck of the woods shooting Indigo Buntings. Let's say they weren't as cooperative as I had hoped. However, the I found a Grasshopper Sparrow that was will in to play. He didn't sit still very long, but long enough.

Summer Storms

Last weekend the Twin Cities got hit hard with heavy rain and a couple tornado's. So naturally, I grabbed my camera and headed out west of Maple Grove. I drove nearly 40 miles going up and down dirt roads until I found what I was looking for!



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Nature Photo Contest

Last week I entered a couple photos into the Eastman Nature Photo Contest in Elm Creek Park Reserve. I entered a Trumpeter Swan photo that I took in Monticello last winter. To get that photo I spent 5 very cold mornings along the river and took over 1,200 photos. I am pleased to say that my patience paid off. The swan photo took second place in the wildlife category.

2nd Place!


I entered a second photo in the contest for the landscape category. This photo was taken last month at Cascade River State Park. Again, I am pleased with a 3rd place ribbon!

3rd Place

Cascade River State Park pt.II

I spent another weekend camping at Cascade River State Park last weekend with some friends. I didn't have Dodger with me so it was a little easier to get close to the falls. Also, a big thanks to Gerald for helping me get my equipment into area's most people don't go!

While walking around and looking for a place to make a new photo I noticed a number of people (amateurs, and pro's) hanging around the same places. The reason they all were in the same places is simple: easy access. That's were is Gerald came into play. I found a rock ledge that I wanted to go out on, but I didn't want to go myself with all my camera gear. So Gerald hopped down first, I handed him my camera and jumped down my self. Once I was down there I new that few other photographers had been there.

Enjoy the view!

Dickcissel stills and video

Last weekend I was just outside of Mankato taking photos of a Dickcissel. The lighting was absolutely perfect. I took a number of shots and then decided to shoot some video. Chad normally takes video and I typically forget.

Now you can see and hear a moving Dickcissel and check out the stills in my gallery!

Framing

One thing I was trying to do last week while taking photos of the Cascade River was to try something new. As I mentioned in the pervious post I used my Lensbaby for a different look.

My first evening in the park I was out and about with my camera, I had an idea of where I was going to go. Well, when I got to my first location there was another photographer standing right where I was planing to be. I set up my shot anyway and fired off a few shots and then moved further down the river. Sure enough at location #2 there was the same guy shooting from where I was going to. Once again, I set up my shot and fired off a couple of more photos. I was thinking about how I probably have a similar photo as the guy before me, so I had to try to frame the photo differently.

I used two massive trees to frame the waterfall to create something is just a little different.



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