Flurries

I could not believe the weather forecast for early Wednesday morning -- "wintry mix."  Then it was changed to snow flurries with no accumulation.  My expectation was a few flakes and nothing more.  As I drove my daughter to her class at about 8:30 we saw a few very tiny flakes.  One my way home I stopped off at Target -- when I came out of the store it was pouring big, fat snowflakes.  

As I drove home from my errands I kept hoping I would have time to get home to my camera before the heavy snow subsided.  Driving by the local wetland/bird sanctuary I thought -- I will come back here to take some shots.  You can see from the above photo I did make it home to pick up my camera and return to the lake.  At first I thought it would be a dud -- there was nothing sticking -- the temperatures were too high for the snow to even stick around on the trails.  But then, as I looked across the vista I could see the idea of a god shot -- and it would be black and white. 

The original photo was taken in color -- as I always do.  The conversion to black and white was done with Silver Efex software.  I dodged and burned a few areas to highlight the snow flakes.  For me it works.  I like the abstractness - the varying points of snowflake boken that stand out more against the darker areas of the landscape.  Contrasting with this is the sharp areas around the waterline and sticks in the water.  The reflection of the sky on the water is a plus.  The sky itself was not a plus; light gray and nothing going on with it.

On the way home from the lake -- at a stop sign I looked to my left and noticed the field of broomsedge.  The color of the weed is very striking.  So why is this a black and white?  Well, the sky again was pretty bad.  My best bet for this was black and white and allow the bare tree to become a silhouette.  Then contrast the grass above with the mud bank that is so raw.  For me the black and white works well with this.  I still may do some work on the color version of this photo.  The color of the mud played well with the color of the weed.

While I was out I managed to take a pretty good shot that I used for my 365 project photo for yesterday.  To see it and keep up with the photos from each day click the link to my other blog.

Also you will notice that a link to Lensbaby has been added to both blogs.  I get a lot of emails about my Lensbaby photos -- if you are interested in the lens -- click the photo ad and it will take you to the Lensbaby website.

The Barefoot Photographer® at Frame Designs

Select photos are now available at Frame Designs Custom Frame Shop and Gallery in Fredericksburg, Virginia. You may recall I have a couple blog posts recently about my trip home and the photos I took along Sunken Rd. and at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery.  Those photos -- along with a couple random Fredericksburg shots -- are in the Frame Designs gallery.

Frame Designs is a very interesting place -- they have quite a variety of art available.  I have purchased Johnny Johnson paintings from Frame Designs.  The last one I bought -- just a few years ago -- was an anniversary gift for my husband.  The great folks at the gallery shipped the painting to my home and it arrived safe and sound.  As a student at Mary Washington, I purchased sketch pads and other materials at Frame Designs.  

If you are in the Fredericksburg area -- stop by and see my photos -- and all the other artwork in their gallery area.

From the Barefoot Files...

Again, some of granddaddy's photos.  This one appears to be in front of a barracks of some kind.  It is interesting to see the dress on these guys.  Granddaddy is on the right and in casual clothes.  The guy in the middle is in his dress uniform and the guy on the left looks to be in his underwear.  

I had someone ask me if I am scanning in all of these old photos.  I am not.  Instead of using a scanner -- I am taking photos of the photos.  This has been a handy way to do this since some old family photos can be too large to fit completely on a scanner.  Also, if you have relatives out of town -- you can visit them, take photos of the old photos they have and then immediately have your own digital files without needing to ask or taking the responsibility of taking the photos from their home.

Because many of the old photos are a glossy finish -- I do not use flash.  I make sure there is plenty of indirect light in the room.  Sometimes I place the photos on a table, sometimes on the floor.  I use a tripod to hold my camera extra steady.  If the old photo is not flat (many are curled).  Place glass from frames on each side of the photo to hold it down as flat as possible.

Old photos can be faded and even have the sepia look.  If you like sepia -- that is fine.  I prefer to return the photo to as close to the original black and white coloring as possible using my photo editing software.  If an old photos was not straight - I will crop it slightly to help straighten the subject.

February Snow Day

The snow came to our house last Friday afternoon. Friday morning my daughter had a dentist appointment. The staff at the office were acting like kids in school coming to peek out of the windows to see if the snow had started yet. For fun, as we were getting ready to leave, I told one of them that the snow would start at 1pm.

Later that day I was out running a couple errands. As I sat in a drive through I thought I saw something fall. I was not sure -- so I kept looking. Nothing. Then something. Then another and another and yes it was just beginning to snow. I looked at the clock in the car and it was 1:06pm.

It is fun to get out to take photos in the snow. It does not happen here very often. Last March we had a decent snow -- I was able to get quite a few good photos that day. This time the snow started so late in the day. The street was getting a good cover around 5pm. The sky was very gray all day and the flakes were coming down hard the whole time. That night I watched the weather forecast. Saturday morning was going to be sunny. That meant I would have to get up early and get out there to get some good shots before the snow fell from all of the trees.

The photos on the blog are some of my favorites from Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. The photo at the top is my daughter, taken with a Lensbaby. The second photo is Saturday morning just as the sun was coming up. The color in the sky was very pretty. The next photo is Friday early evening as we walked Sadie. I love this photo -- the tracks in the slush; foot, tire, bike, and paw. And the last photo are the morning sun shining on trees in the distance with those in the foreground still shaded.