Dry Winter

Leica D-Lux 4 winter photos taken in Northern California in early January before the rains came. Plus one photo taken yesterday with the Apple I-Phone 4s using the Tadaa app.

Every time I walk through a particular area of Woodside I'm intrigued with the birdhouses at the entrance to a estate property. Note the leaf in the lower opening, apparently no birds are currently occupying the premises.

This creekside willow tree that has lost its leaves is highlighted by the strong blue sky and bright colored leaves on the tree behind it.

My eleven month old German Shepherd is intrigued by the horse that lives inside this fence. Her intensity easily seen along with the colors of winter.

The horse she was so interested in rendered in black and white with Silver Efex Pro 2.0

Lastly the photo taken with my I-Phone using the free Tadaa photo app. This app allows you to see the results you will get using the filters build into the app. This is one to try.

Last post of 2011

Here it is the end of another year. I have these pictures taken near home on this last day of the year and the beginning of what appears to be a dry winter in Northern California. All pictures taken with the Leica D-Lux 4 and post processed in Adobe Lightroom 3.0.

Walking along this back trail a wide look through the trees.

I switched from holding the camera in lanscape position to portrait and you got a interesting different look. Next year I hope to highlight more of these type of photos by switching the position or the perspective in which the photo is taken.

Here I used the tree to frame the view through the garden to the house.

Out of the tree shrouded trails to blue sky and this lovely old oak tree.

Wishing you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year.  

Late Fall Light

I'm sharing three pictures that I took recently that highlight interesting late fall light.

In this first picture strong sun was filtering through cloud cover which added light highlighting the weathered wood of this old shack. (Leica D-Lux 4)

The inside of the same shack with strong light filling in the open spaces ranging from bright white to a sunny warm glow adding interest to the already strong contrasts. (Leica D-Lux 4)

The clouds have almost cleared away and another view of the shack. Converted to black and white with Silver Efex Pro to show the interesting contrast and soft light  of fall. (Leica D-Lux 4)

Two Pics

Two pics taken with the Leica D-Lux 4 on a recent walk with my dogs through the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve.

Black and white photo taken as the early morning fog was dissipating. The fog back lights the tree giving a interesting glow to the picture. 

Photo taken along a creekside path with light filtering through the trees and surrounding foliage. Lots of color contrast and range. The Leica D-Lux 4 is a versatile little camera that is easily carried in a jacket pocket and is easy to use even when you have two large dogs on leash. Shooting in RAW gives you good quality images that are easily fine tuned in Adobe Lightroom.

Dumpster Treasures

Walked by a home under going a renovation and thought that I would capture a few pics. Dumpsters sometimes contain some interesting material. These pics were taken with the Leica M-9 and post processed with Adobe Lightroom 3.0 and Silver Exex Pro.

Headboard, drapes and old carpet.

 Over flowing, even this lovely old chair had to go.

Side table showing lots of character. 

The moral of this posting is that you never know when you are going to run into interesting subjects to photograph. The more you carry your camera with you the more opportunities you will have to capture interesting pics.

First Day of Fall 2011

I've been real busy that last two months and have been remiss in adding new pictures to this blog. Today was the first full day of fall and here are a few pictures highlighting the changing seasons. All photos were taken with the Leica D-Lux 4 and processed using Adobe Lightroom.

Close up of a bronze statue processed using Silver Efex Pro. Note that selective areas of the statue have had part of the bronze color brought out using the add a point function and then selecting selective colorization.

 Looking through the gates into this beautiful estate flanked by trees starting to change into their fall colors.

 Colorful leaf lying on the pavement.

 Interesting colors highlighted by defuse lighting through the trees.

Natural sunlight highlights the interesting shape and colors of this fallen leaf.

Topaz Filters

Some examples of photos taken with the Leica M-9 and post processed using Topaz filters, Detail 2 and Adjust 4. Photo one is a crop with Topaz Detail 2 Applied. The absence of color works in this rendition with lots of highlight changes in his markings.

 Here is the same dog in color with detail enhanced using Topaz Detail 2 and Adjust 4.

 Fluffy clouds processed using Detail 2.

 One of the dogs balls sitting in partial light and shadow Topaz Detail 2.

 Nika my older female taking a break on her stack of dog pillows. Topaz Detail 2 brings out her coat detail.