Nuthatch (as viewed through the five minute window) (Dry Brush Filter)

I had a five minute window yesterday in which I was able to watch the birds outside... through my window. The reason that I say that this window was limited to only five minutes is because, after that amount of time had elapsed, the birds had flown away and didn't return. The window had closed. Thanks for stopping by!

Rhinocerus at the Zoo (Dry Brush Filter)

Bald Eagle (Dry Brush Filter)

I always think that it's cool to see a bald eagle in the wild. My family saw one recently while we were out driving. The bald eagle pictured here is from our family trip to Canada last year, in which I took this photo from a boat. The direction of the sun gave something of a halo effect to the bird (which would have been cool, if that's what I had been going for.)

Nuthatch Looking into the Snow at the Base of a Tree

Usually, I photograph the nuthatches picking up the seeds off my deck. For this one, I saw the nuthatch a little bit further out in the yard, by a tree. At one point, I think it was picking the bugs out of the bark, although, I would imagine that any bugs to be found would be thoroughly frozen. Here, the nuthatch is looking down at the ground (perhaps trying to spot something in the dead leaves?)

Is it a Crow, or a Raven? (Dry Brush Filter)

I can never keep crows and ravens straight, which is which. Ravens are supposed to be bigger than crows. There's also something about the shape of the beak to help you determine which bird you're looking at. While I'm pretty sure that this one is an American Crow, someone who knows birds will probably come along, shake his head, and say, "No, that's a..."

Trees in a Snow Storm (Dry Brush Filter)

Here's a picture from the snow flurries yesterday morning.

Winter Nuthatch with Seed

Ok, so my "winter nuthatch with seed" looks an awful lot like my "summer nuthatch with seed"; the main difference would be the hint of white in the background. (Yes, it is snow!) I had scattered the sunflower seeds on top of the snow on my deck, but the birds (and even the squirrels!) weren't willing to pick them out of the snow. Once I shoveled the snow off of my deck (and scattered new seeds,) the birds (and the squirrels!) returned. Go figure.

Nuthatch Clings to a Tree (Dry Brush Filter)

I can't help but be impressed as I look at the nuthatch, its claws clamped onto the side of the tree and holding its body weight in a vertical position. I usually see the nuthatch in this pose prior to its flight to my deck to pick up some sunflower seeds. (I'm pretty sure that, even if I had claws on my legs, they couldn't hold my entire body weight in the same position.)

Orange Poinsettia (Dry Brush Filter)

Yes, it's the poinsettia time of year again. Whenever I see poinsettias, I think of my grandmother. The plant was ruined to her following my grandfather's funeral, when her living room was inundated with them. (People meant well in giving them to her.) I don't think she was ever able to look at a poinsettia again without thinking of the funeral or thinking about how much she missed him. While I miss my grandparents, I don't share Grandma's aversion to poinsettias. I appreciate the memories that come back, even if they are sad ones.

Asian Lady Beetle (Dry Brush Filter)

I found several Asian Lady Beetles that were out and about yesterday (inside, of course) as I was looking for something to photograph. This morning, I was reading up on the differences between the Asian Lady Beetle and the Ladybug (here) as well as some of the trouble that you can run into with the Asian Lady Beetle (here). Most of the trouble sounds like their winter-time appearance as an unwanted presence; however, they can also stink and people apparently can have allergic reactions to them. (Here, I was using my telephoto lens, so I was able to keep my distance.)

Pumpkins and Gourds

Fly Away, Little Chickadee (Dry Brush Filter)

It's Definitely Not the Apple Blossom Time of Year

This photo comes courtesy of my Canon XTi (taken a few years back, at a warmer time of the year). I'm kind of looking forward to May/June when my crab apple tree will blossom, which is sad, because we haven't really even settled in to the worst part of winter yet. (I applied the Elements Dry Brush Filter on this photo.)

Wolf at the Zoo (Palette Knife Filter)

I think this was a wolf, but I know that it was at the zoo. Maybe it was some kind of wolf cub, because it seems awfully small for a wolf. (I know; some people go through their photos and immediately label everything. Others of us go back and guess.)

What Do Nuthatches do in Winter?

It's been a few weeks now since I've seen the little nuthatch that comes by and picks up the seeds off my deck. (The deck is currently covered with snow. A few days ago, I scattered seeds on the snow on my deck, but I haven't had time to see whether it's gone to the birds or the squirrels.) Here is a photo from my last nuthatch sighting a few weeks ago.

Nuthatch Before the Snow (Dry Brush Filter)

A couple of weeks before our first snow storm of the year, this nuthatch was out gathering seeds from my deck. (Dry brush filter applied from Photoshop Elements.)

Same Trees; Different Angle

I seem to remember something in one of the arts classes that I took in college about a certain painter (Cezanne, maybe?) who painted the same mountain over and over and over again, from different angles. I'm no Cezanne, but I seem to have found inspiration in taking pictures of this same scene over and over and over again...

Looking at the Pink Clouds Down the Road (Dry Brush)

It was sunset time, and I was enjoying the pink clouds down the road. You know the saying, "Red sky in the morning: sailors, take warning. Red sky at night: sailors, delight." Thanks for stopping by!

Forest Trail (Dry Brush)

This is another picture from our trip this past fall to Mackinac Island. I like the way that this paved trail curves and disappears into the trees.

BW Trees on Mackinac Island

Here is a view of trees in black and white from our trip this past fall to Mackinac Island. I like the way that the image transitions from black to white across the image.

Rocks (Dry Brush)

This is a crop from a different part of an image that I processed earlier. I also added the "Dry Brush" filter. I also found a "face in the rocks" in this image: right around the center, there is a rock that looks like shaded inset eyes and a nose.

Nuthatch Victory Pose

In the pose that this nuthatch gave me, with the sunflower seed lifted up in the air, the best description that I could use for this image was "victory pose". I think that the nuthatch found victory over the squirrels in locating a seed in the cracks between the boards that the squirrels could not reach.

Experimental Truck Crossing the Mackinac Bridge

I composed this image by running nine exposures through Photomatix. My originals were a series of three-three exposure images (~minus three, zero, and plus three exposures) that I was shooting of the Mackinac Bridge for an HDR image. By themselves, none of the images in the series really struck me; there was too much movement to get one, solid, clear picture. So - rather than simply discard the images, (You might especially notice how the beams undergirding the bridge don't exactly line up,) I decided instead to process them altogether. This created an effect called "ghosting", in which - as a moving object is photographed over a series and then is merged together (I use Photomatix,) the moving object(s) appear(s) with some level of transparency. After running the original images through Photomatix, I then took the result over to Aftershot Pro to tilt and crop the image. I afterward applied the Photoshop Dry Brush Filter to the image (because I like the effect. The Dry Brush filter also helps to smooth over some of the imperfections.) 

The image below is a detail of the image above, giving you a closer view of the ghosted truck as it crosses the Mackinac Bridge.

Finally, for those of you who were interested in seeing the difference, I included the unfiltered image below (the one before I applied the Dry Brush filter.) I can especially notice the difference with the Dry Brush filter as I look at the grass.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sun going down at the Mackinac Bridge (Dry Brush Filter)

These pictures are so big that you really can't see the effects of the dry brush filter unless you look up close, but I really do like the effect that the Adobe Photoshop Dry Brush filter gives to my pictures. I like seeing the smudges of color, of which this picture has several shades. Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. After becoming acquainted with Minecraft, I can now confidently tell you that the tree on the left-hand side of the image is a birch. :)

Mackinac Bridge (Dry Brush Filter)

This is a picture of the Mackinac Bridge from this past fall. There was some kind of road construction taking place on the bridge, hence the cloth that drapes the bridge about halfway across the image.

Pretty Red Leaves (Dry Brush)

I saw these pretty red leaves while walking along a forest trail. They were probably the kind of pretty red leaves that were better looked at than touched. (Don't worry; I didn't touch them.) I did like the way that the deep red contrasted with the background. (Processing here was a single image through Photomatix for HDR effect, followed by cropping in Aftershot Pro, followed by Dry Brush filter in Photoshop Elements.)

Trees at Trey's Poo Corner

Trey Ratcliff's Poo Corner Photomatix preset is one of my favorites. To me, it often gives the image a feel of 'black and white with a little bit of color splashed in'. I'm sure that's an oxymoron, or some sort of contradiction in terms, but that's the best description that I can give to the effect that I see in this HDR filter. I like how the roots of this tree are exposed, giving the tree an appearance of standing on a little hill. Thanks for stopping by!

Trees by the Ocqueoc River

I love the shape and texture of these trees by the Ocqueoc River, together with their root system (which is visible on the ground). One of my favorite spots, I take pictures of these trees almost every time I visit this area. Thanks for stopping by.

Holes in the Rocks (Dry Brush filter)

The holes in these rocks remind me of the holes that I see in trees, the ones made by woodpeckers who come along and... make holes. When the woodpeckers poke holes in the trees, they are looking for bugs; I wonder if maybe these holes in the rocks were made by bugs that were looking to escape the woodpeckers? Thanks for stopping by!

Looking at a Fossil (or two)

There were some ways of processing this image that simply made the fossil in the center stand out, and then... I also found that there were ways of processing this image which gave a fossil-esque appearance to the rest of the image. I opted for the latter, giving the whole image an 'aged' appearance, so that even the dirt looks fossilized (at least, it looks that way to me!) Thanks for stopping by!

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