Phil's Photo Adventures

Trying to catch up

2010-09-19T05:39:00.001-05:00

It has been hard to keep this going as I have this and many other stuff to maintain.
So here will be a lot of pics and not much words.

New updates

2010-05-16T07:42:00.011-05:00

This shows the walking of the ants on the head of a Peony flower without the ants it will not open.

Nashville

2010-04-16T08:42:00.000-05:00

This one is JT Bell at THE JPFOB night at The KY Opry

Also from Ky Opry

Tootsies

The Famous "Purple Lounge"

Nashville

"Street Performer"

Time for UPDATES again

2010-04-16T07:54:00.000-05:00

Yup, I did it again .... no entries for a couple of months. I have to start doing this at least every 2 weeks in order to have people stop by and take a look.

Not going to be much words either, just a not or two.

This is an HDR, actually 7 pics put together from a rage of exposures.

The rest of these are the same house featured as an HDN, this first one I used for Photo.net

Many Updates

2010-02-10T10:28:00.000-06:00

Well it has been about 2 months since I last updated and this will hopefully be kept up to date from now on. The Holidays took it's tool on this Blog.

I will also keep comments that I make about each photo to a minimum.

My first HDR photo. As condition demand I will be playing around with this style from time to time.

My Neighbors barn with the cows at feeding time.

This is just pure silliness, but it is different. I saw this red fire hydrant while searching for some snow pics and took it, then I needed to figure out what to do with it, so I just played around.

Personally, I like this shot. What is really interesting taken from the opposite view is looks terrible due to things being in the shot that I have no control over. I will be doing this one again from the front direct on as there is a small pond and I think it would look good with it.

Just a simple farm scene after our "Snow Storm" 3-4"'s. I emphasized the color of the roofing materials a bit for contrast of an all white scene.

Here we are at the Philly Folk Fest around 1979. Do you think we looked younger?

See ya'll next week. Check the Archives.

2009-12-02T14:22:00.000-06:00

A cold wet rainy day here in western Kentucky so I had to just take some pics from my back patio. Tried to do the best I could under the conditions.
Hope you enjoy.

Please Keep Our Troops in your Prayers ...........

Experimenting means Learning

2009-11-17T08:38:00.000-06:00

This week I am doing something entirely different. I had a small gas/oil spill on my carport concrete in the front of my house and it made some rainbow type of colors. It was cloudy so I decided to use my flash and try different exposures for this learning project. Later, in post processing I came up with some interesting color combination's buy using compensations.
All of these shots were taken with my Nikon D90, Sigma 70-200mm @ 200 on my Proline tripod topped with an Acratech Ball head.

This first one is close to what it looked like without doing anything.

On this one I underexposed by several stops.

Highly over exposed came up with these dark blues

The same shot as above but not as heavily over exposed

A little different manipulation

A different viewpoint

I saved this one for last as it is my favorite. By taking some color away and then heavily overexposing I came up with this one. Viewed on a big on screen this looks like it could be a space shot of stars that are leading into deep deep space.

I found this week to be exciting as I am learning some differences of color in taking a simple spot of oil and transforming it into some beautiful color swatches. I am sure if I took a couple of these oil swatches into Photoshop I could come up with even more designs. I may just do that a little later in the week.
Thanks for viewing.

Different Stuff

2009-11-09T19:10:00.000-06:00

This week I done a few different types of shots for me. People in action. I enjoyed doing it and I think that I may continue with different things. Of course bouncing back to Barns most of the time.

Serving Popcorn

A Funny Face

Tomatoes in Nashville Market

A Choir Singer

Running Laps

A Trip back in Time .....

2009-11-04T09:03:00.001-06:00

A trip down to Nashville to the Loveless Cafe, some of the best Chicken one can eat, came up with these photos.

Our Cats and Fall

2009-10-24T16:09:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm off to a good fall start. No barns this week. I backed into this by actually only wanting to get some fall scenes. I got this one at my neighbors house and then I stopped for lunch. When I got home our "Outdoor" cats were lounging on our hot tub cover. So I just started taking their pics and came up with a few that I liked so I called it a day and here we are. I of course done some photo shop work on them but nothing too much. The hardest thing was they were half in the sun and half in the shade. They are Brother & Sister and are about 10 months old.

"Fluffy" female

Bookends

Framed

Fluffy is very pretty

Our Male - no name - any suggestions

Fall Scene

All shots taken with my Nikon 90, The Cats with a Sigma 70-200 MM, (hand held) and the Fall Scene with my Sigma 10-20mm

A Story Telling Barn

2009-10-16T10:23:00.000-05:00

This barn is on the way to our dump station here in Marshall County. It seems that a Sheriff from another County used this barn as a dump .... for his girlfriend that he killed. It looks innocent enough, so I tried to give a creepier look in a couple of the photos.

I think that this last shot could be a card of some type.

Dury Photography CLass

2009-10-13T09:54:00.000-05:00

I took an all day class in Nashville at Dury's Camera Shop. I have been to several classes there and really like what they do.
The class was called "Taking it to the next Level", The instructor was Bill Fortney. An absolute great photographer, instructor and above all a fantastic and happy Person. Bill works for Nikon, but this was not a Nikon class.
Bill has a different approach for his class in that it just isn't numbers, f stops, aperture setting and whatevers. He introduced us to a better approach in taking our photos. By showing many different slide shows, talking about the pics and then showing us the how, why and most of all the thinking process behind the picture.
We did go over some equipment, bags and cameras and yes Lenses. Bill is not one that thinks you should have every lens that Nokon makes.
I came away from the class better informed than I have ever been before.
We also had a plus in a real celebrity was in the class with us as well.

Ricky Skaggs

I guess that he is an avid amateur Photographer as well as one of the best musicians that there is in Bluegrass.
After much thought on the ride home I will have to say that this was the BEST Photography class I have ever been to.
If you would like to know more about Bill Fortney check out his web site and blog.
Here is the web site: http://www.billfortney.net/Welcome.html
and his blog that is called:
The Pilgrims Chronicles: http://tinyurl.com/ykro5fc
After viewing both you should be able to tell just what kind of a person Bill is. To me a Family man, A devout Christian, a Photograspher and real all around good guy that loves his Family, God and life.
I hope that he is in our area again so I can take another class with him.
phil

All caught up .... yeah

2009-10-13T09:40:00.000-05:00

This was an old station where trains would come in and load up with feed. I believe that it will be torn down soon so I am glad that I got over to photograph it.

The "Station"

The "Swing"

Top of the silo.

Still catching up

2009-10-13T09:23:00.001-05:00

A couple of Odds and Ends

Toilet Seat Guitar

Catch up time

2009-10-13T08:47:00.000-05:00

Well I have been amiss with my blog again so I will have several weeks to put in this one posting so I will trim back some.Here are some shots from our weekend in Bloomington, IN where we visited with Sammy who is graduating this year from Indiana University. Below are a couple of shots from the Lake House we stayed in.

Early Morning Fisherman

View from the porch

A little Photoshop fun

09.11.09

2009-09-11T04:35:00.000-05:00

It has been 8 years since the bombings of Our United States of America, let us not forget.

8:45 a.m. (all times are EDT): A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center, tearing a gaping hole in the building and setting it afire.

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes. Both buildings are burning.

9:45 a.m. - American Flight 77 crashes into The Pentagon.

10:05 a.m.: The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses, plummeting into the streets below. A massive cloud of dust and debris forms and slowly drifts away from the building.

10:10 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93, also hijacked, crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.

10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center's north tower collapses from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing a tremendous cloud of debris and smoke.

There is many lives lost and untold number of Families that have been destroyed.
Please say a prayer in behalf of all those that have been lost.

Back to Barns

2009-09-11T04:15:00.000-05:00

Here is a Barn that is down the road from me. It is abandoned along with a house a few hundred yards away. I couldn't get to the house at all due to high grass. High grass in this part may mean some snakes, and I'll let them be.
**Remember you can click on the photo and it will open in a new page a little bit larger. **
I took this barn through several stages. Starting of course with the regular shot straight out of the camera:

I put this through a filter using PS (Photo Shop)

Here is the front right out of the camera as well.

Another set of filters. This looks like something that I could use as a Christmas card. Also done in PS with filters.

While I was looking at the barn I could see some faint rust color near the peak in the front, so I highlighted it to bring that out.

I hope that you enjoy, if so pass my link along to others and don't forget to leave comments if you would care to.

Past Couple of Weeks

2009-09-08T12:19:00.000-05:00

Well, I took a couple of weeks without a posting. Had some Doctor stuff to deal with and I really just haven't had the time. I am updating today and hopefully I will update again tomorrow with this weeks photos.
Below is a 3/4 Moon Shot I took. I actually like it not being a full Moon better. The one after it is the same shot but I worked it a little with PS.
**Remember you can double click on a photo and it will open up a little larger. **

Someone told me this looks like an old sci-fi moon.

On the same night I took some shots of my driveway coming down to our property. The first one will be the one as it came out of the camera and the other two will ones that I worked some PS into them.

I think the electric lines look like spider webs

This one is my favorite ......

I have one more shot of a band that I done last week at our locak Bluegrass Show. The Show is free and comes on the 1st Friday of each month.
Here is The Clint Morgan Band

That's all for today .... see ya tomorrow
phil

More from my New Lens

2009-08-12T21:16:00.000-05:00

I went out to take a couple of pics of the sunflowers in the garden and wound up with some really great bird shots. I hope that you enjoy, I am really loving this new Sigma 70-200 mm.
Click on a photo and you should get an enlarged version.

New Sigma 70-200 mm, f2.8

2009-08-05T11:48:00.000-05:00

Trying out my new lens in different situations. I have a lot to learn with this one. I did get a little anxious and forgot some basic photography skills. That is what practice is for.

Kristin, My Niece posing for me doing some Yoga.

Another pose, so perfect.

Just popping out, they are so pretty.

Another one, today a few more have opened up.

All I was going for here is DOF. This is the first shot with the new lens.

2009-07-31T08:23:00.000-05:00

I'm a couple of days late on my blog, but we have been a little busy. I've also strayed from my regular shooting of barns although I do include a hand made Log Cabin.

Lets start off with the "Log Cabin" This was handmade by Jack Clark who always wanted to live in a Log Home but really didn't have the $$ for it. I think that Jack has done a really great job in his project. You can see all of the pictures that I took of his "cabins" @ http://picasaweb.google.com/phil.burtfarm/WednesdayShoot272909#

please visit this site and put some comments in at the bottom of the picture.

While at the Cabin location on the side of the "Chapel" many vines were growing and this hibiscus syrica (Rose of Sharon) just jumped out at me. I loved it. I wanted the background to not interfere with it so I took a darker than usual picture and then jumped into Nikon Capture NX2 and did some post processing of it. I really do like the results.

Please let me know what you think.
This last one for this week is a little whimsical. Some friends at Church drove their newly acquired VW kit car over and I took some shots at night which mainly illuminated the yellow on the car. I then went into NX2 again to completely darken all areas except the car. After doing so I realized that the car almost looks as if it were flying, hence my name for this photo is "The Flying Car"

Well thats all for this week. I hope that next week will feature a couple of shots from my new lens that should arrive this next Monday. A Sigma 70-200 mm, F2.8. A fast piece of glass that I hope over time I will master.

Have a really great week and "Thanks" for viewing.

phil

Mr. Sammy Bird

2009-07-22T09:01:00.001-05:00

I just needed to include this picture of our African Grey Congo, Sammy.
He was 18 on June 10th.

Barns, Barns & More

2009-07-21T15:44:00.000-05:00

Well I got all tangled up and did a couple of more Barns here in Marshall County. I love the old weathered ones that just look so good in Black & White. Also using some antiquing processes. I have 2 here. I just had ti include this one house. Hope that you like them.

This is an abandoned house and I liked the way it looked. I used a pin hole processing on it.
This is the back side of Billy's barn, it is located on Scale Rd where his son Mark lives.
This barn is just up the road from the abandoned house I took.
This is the front of Billy's barn.

If you click on the picture it will open in a new page and be a little bigger.
phil b

benton, ky

A Day "Away" from the Barn

2009-07-15T08:28:00.000-05:00

I did go out to do my standard Barn shot for the week but it just turned out crummy. No life to it so I scrapped it. I had to go to Jonathan Youth Camp to take some pics for the church and I am using one of those. Which is a big twist for me as I am usually working in earth tones. This is a big color splash.

The details are, Nikon D90, Sigma 30mm@6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 400

All caught up now in week 3

2009-07-09T09:26:00.001-05:00

I was at my Nephews house in Trig County and this is a pic of his neighbors barn. This has been around for a long time, I'll bet it has many memories hidden inside. Another shot of this barn is at the bottom of this page.

The Details are: Nikon, D90, 30mm @F16, 1/640, ISO 800

On to the second week

2009-07-09T09:16:00.000-05:00

Now this one was a lot of fun. It is my neighbor and Friend's garden area. He has been written up in the paper for having one of the best and prettiest gardens in our area. Billy is in his 70's and can out work most people I know who are in their 40's, he spends a lot of time taking care of this along with all of his other chores on his farm.

The details are : Nikon D90, 60mm @F11, 1/200sec, ISO 400

Starting Off

2009-07-09T09:10:00.000-05:00

This is my tractor in my barn taken with a new lens. The details are: Nikon D90, Sigma 10-20mm @ 10mm,f4.0, 1/200 sec, iso 200

Wednesday Shoot

2009-07-09T08:37:00.000-05:00

Copying a trend on Photo.net, a friend of mine, Elyce and I have started to send each other a collection of photo's each Wednesday. Typically we hold it to 3-4 pics and then we can critique them. It is just a fun thing to do. What it does is get you in a mindset for taking Pictures. I have been concentrating mostly on Barns here in Marshall County. We have been doing this for 3 weeks now so I will start by showing one pic from each week, instead of all of them. Every week after I will select 1 or 2 for posting.

Please comment!!