Monday, July 27, 2009

Miley's first birthday



Today, as promised I present photos from the party of Miley the one year old Jack Russel. She and her 'brother' Max belong to my friends Natalia and Matthew. The party was held at the local dog park and a good time was had by all.


The first two pictures are of Miley, the second two of Max, I was amazed how many of the dogs there had no problems wearing party hats even if they did tend to slip to the side. Several weeks ago I posted some photos from the 'Yappy Hour' at Gaspers Grotto in Ybor City. Featured among them were two long haired dachshunds who won the costume contest-I was delighted to find these same two dogs and their owner at the party! She says they are happy to wear anything she puts on them.


Here are some of the other guest having fun, I love dogs they are so sweet and always make me smile!


Art



Today I am sharing 3 photos I have recently developed with the Photoshop plug-ins Nik Color Efx and Topaz Simplify. It really is amazing what this software can do. You can combine/blend effects of the various programs together to produce photos which look a lot more like paintings and it is a lot of fun! The photo above was taken at the Ringling Estate in Sarasota-I took it last October and always thought it would look great as a painting.

This is a photo of a birdhouse that is in my parents backyard. Bringing out the contrast and increasing the saturation turned what might normally look pretty ordinary into something special.

Finally from my favorite city, Santa Barbara is this view of the Courthouse taken from the tower. I love this view. Unfortunately in order to make it square I had to cut out the sky just above the mountains but take my word for it, it is amazing!
My next post will be completely different, photos from a dogs birthday at the park, cute pictures of dogs with party hats!
Stephanie

Thursday, July 23, 2009

A few from the Photowalk


Hi,
Well even though I wasn't thrilled with the way the St. Petersburg edition of Photowalk went socially I was able to capture a few good shots as I do any time I venture there. The first day I visited this area I was stunned by its beauty and by the fact that I now live here and can visit it whenever I want. The above shot is of a tree in front of the Museum of Fine Art. There are a few of these massive trees along the walkway and they are breathtaking to behold.

The sky was beautiful that day as you can see in this photo of two red streetcars which take tourists on tours of the area. I have always wanted to get a good shot of them and I guess this was my lucky day!

Finally here is one of the many amazing views from a point along the Pier. I never tire of it. I hope to brave the heat to get out and take some more shots this weekend. Until next time... Stephanie

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Dragonflies




Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything since July 4th. Truth is until today I hadn't taken many photos the last 2 weeks. The heat and humidity has driven me indoors much more than I would like. Today however I ventured out to St Petersburg to participate in Scott Kelbys Worldwide Photowalk. I found it somewhat disappointing as our group 'leader' did lead at all. I ended up wandering around on my own. I then drove to the Sunken Gardens where these photos were taken.
These dragonflies were kind enough to stay in one place for quite awhile so that I could take as many shots as I needed to. This particular kind are especially magical looking and really seem to have flown out of a fairy story. They look like they have amused looks on their face.

Here are a few other pics I took today that I especially like. I continue to marvel at the variety of tropical plants and flowers that surround me here in Tampa Bay.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Fireworks



I am in Maryland this weekend visting my family. They always have fireworks on July 3 at the park down the street from my parents home and so i decided to try getting some photos of them. Actually got a couple of great ones. I used my wide angle lens and a shutter speed between .5-1second, most ended up at .8second 100ISO Apeture F8.
It is so fascinating the different pattens that appear. Hopefully I will be somewhere to capture some more tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Stephanie