Glen Eyrie and HDR photos

At Glen Eyrie, I took a hike with Kathy to Dawson Troutman's gravesite, high on a mountain. While up there, I tried an experiment with HDR photography (I think it stands for high dynamic resolution).  You can take these photos on an iPhone if you have the space and time available, or you can take them on a digital camera if you set your camera to bracket your photos.

What's bracketing?  It's when your camera takes three (or even five!) shots of the same thing--one underexposed, one perfectly exposed, and one over exposed.  The idea is that when you combine the three shots, you get all the brights and all the lowlights, all the things a "perfectly" exposed picture can't capture. So you get a deeper, more realistic shot.

Of course, when you're taking three shots of the same thing, you either need a tripod or VERY steady hands.  I didn't have a tripod, but I stayed still and did my best to get steady shots.

So here are some of my HDR pictures from Glen Eyrie. Click to enlarge, and enjoy the beautiful red rocks on these mountains!

~~Angie

The castle from the top of a nearby hill. 

The Castle. See why we love it so much? 

Blooming mountain cacti. 

What a sky. 

The castle and carriage house are at the center of this shot.

The red rocks found in the Garden of the Gods. 

Looking down on the Glen Eyrie grounds. A beautiful place. 

Writers and Exaggeration

My husband has a way of rolling his eyes whenever I begin to tell a story. "She's a writer," he'll say to whomever's listening. "She has a tendency to exaggerate."

Well . . . I prefer to think that I have a way with words, a way to make a story come alive. And while I may substitute hunky verbs for the wimpy variety, I do not exaggerate the facts.

Last week at Glen Eyrie I was sitting at a table with lots of lovely folks when the conversation veered toward alligators.  I'm not sure why; I think we were talking about weird things in certain localities. And I remarked that everyone in Florida knew not to venture too close to lakes, canals, etc. Why? Because of the alligators.

A little backstory:  when I was a child, we didn't worry about alligators so much because they were nearly extinct.  Floridians passed a law to make it illegal to kill an alligator, even, I suppose, if it had invaded your house and pinned you in a corner.

But later, once alligators resumed their hold on the ecosystem, the authorities relaxed a bit, and you could hunt gators 1) with a permit 2) and a license 3) and as along as the gator was a certain size.

Now, of course, gators are running amuck, being eaten by imported exploding pythons, and running into traffic.  They are also finding their way into people's garages, swimming pools, and becoming stuck beneath cars.  You doubt me?  Check these headlines from just the past three months:

'Gator! Gator! Gator!' Reptile and cars collide on I-275 - Tampa Bay ... 12 hours ago ... The 12-foot reptile bolts "like a battering ram" into the new car before a third, fatal collision. ST. PETERSBURG — The Toyota Scion was so new ... www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/gator-gator-gator...cars.../1235899

10-foot alligator struck, then stuck under car in Largo - Tampa Bay ... Apr 5, 2012 ... The 10-footer darts into a Largo road; the driver rides over it. They both get stuck. LARGO — Why did the alligator cross the road? Authorities ... www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/...alligator...car.../1223455

Attempts to reattach boat captain's hand after gator attack unsuccessful 3 days ago ... The American alligator snaps its jaws shut with a force of 2125 ... Gator!Gator!' Reptile and cars collide on I-275 · Synthetic marijuana, like ... www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/...to...gator.../1235408

And this one about the exploding imported python.  The last line of the article--about the war between gators and pythons being a draw--only makes me think of Alien vs. Predator.  Ick. 

These headlines do not include the fact that ducks and little dogs (big dogs, too), are routinely grabbed by gators as the dogs walk along the side of a lake.  And people, too, especially elderly folks who may be confused by dementia and wander away from their homes. We have retention ponds all over the place here, and every pond either has a gator or one is planning to move in. 

So when I tell my lunching companions that gators are something that every Floridian watches out for, they really shouldn't look at me with distrust in their eyes.  No matter what my husband says.

~~Angie  

Congratulations to our Winners!

Our "apron contest" is over, Five Miles South of Peculiar is officially launched, and I have winners to report!  Our grand prize--a Kindle Touch, a book, an apron book, and an apron--goes to Sarah Marotta.

We also have five "first place" winners, and those are Maurissa Harkins, Tim and Vicky Terpening, Linda Attaway, Janet Teitsort, and Elaine Forman.  Folks, if you have not already done so, please send me your mailing address ASAP so I can get your prizes into the mail!

Congratulations to all who played--I'm hoping you had fun taking your apron pictures.

And if you want to know why we made such a big deal about aprons, well, you should read the book!  :-)  

And, while I'm thinking about it, support a writer and a bookstore today:  BUY a new (not used!) book.  Everyone in publishing thanks you.  :-)

Have a wonderful day!

~~Angie 

Sunday at the SPCA

After church this morning, I went over to the SPCA to snap some doggies.  Blackie was an adolescent lab , Lucy was very sweet and energetic, and Honey--bless her heart, she was so nervous she would NOT sit or lie down.  I tried time and time again to catch her looking at me, but finally sat back and let her circle and sniff and circle again.  Finally, she lay down and looked at me, so I was able to grab several shots.  Whew.  It was so hot out there that I had to move slowly when I was packing my car--just too hot to move quickly.

And tomorrow begins another week.  I'm looking forward to it.  I'm also praying for rain. :-)

~~Angie

Blackie--I tried doing black on black, but don't think I had enough lights to quite pull it off. 

Honey. Isn't she pretty? 

Lucy--gotta love this girl's smile!  

Professional Studio Dogs

So this morning I got up early and drove ninety miles to a workshop on dog photography taught by a professional photographer.  And he brought in models, and we were able to snap the dogs under his professional lights.

Wow.  What a difference a few lights make.  I did pick up some good ideas about things you can do when you don't have professional lights available, and I'll be trying to implement those over the coming weeks.

Cooper

Hawkeye

Jazz

But first I had to show you the dogs we photographed today--and these are NOT shelter dogs, but happily owned pets.

I found it interesting that Bob (of Top Dog Imaging in Lakeland) likes to shoot black (dogs) on black background and light (dogs) on white.  Usually I do it the other way around, figuring that a dog stands out better when the background is the opposite color. But what a difference the lighting makes!

So--I need to get a light or two and figure out how to use them.  :-)  There's always something new to learn.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

~~Angie, off to clean her house

Hot Day at the SPCA

Was hot today at the SPCA, but I snapped pictures of four dogs, then came home to process.  And I stumbled over this wonderful dog photographer in Lakeland, about 90 miles away, so tomorrow morning I'm driving over for a dog photography workshop.  His photos (see them here) are so wonderful that I can't wait to pick up a few tips--particularly with lighting.

Buttons

Diana

Fiona

My FAVORITE picture

Oscar

In the mean time, today I photographed two big dogs and two little dogs.  Meet Buttons, Oscar, Diana, and Fiona.

Things have picked up at the shelter--school's out now, and families seem to be stopping by in droves. Here's hoping they all find a new furry friend!

~~Angie

Glen Eyrie 2012 Report

The 2012 teaching team

I have just returned from  Glen Eyrie, where once again Nancy Rue, Kathy Mackel, and I joined over fifty other folks to learn about writing.  This year our "token male" was the wonderful Mark Mynheir, who thrilled all of us with his hands-on knowledge of police and detective work.

It was wonderful, as always, to see so many friends who have come to our workshop year after year.  The Glen Eyrie writers' retreat really is unlike any other you might have attended.

The Glen Eyrie Castle 

We had a great time and this year I took my camera in my carry-on luggage so I could get some shots of the amazing country around there.  I've only had time to process a couple of the photos, but I wanted to share them with you.  I shot DOZENS of pictures of the hummingbirds that flock around the feeder by my room, but I could never tell if I was getting good shots--they're that fast!  But I'm glad to report that I did get at least a couple of them in flight.    (You may recall that a couple of years ago, my camera was stolen out of my luggage somewhere between Tampa and Colorado Springs. I didn't want that to happen again this year!)

The Castle at sunset

I found myself sitting by two small children, ages six and about four, on the leg from Houston to Tampa today, and answered my fair share of "Are we there yet" questions. :-)  They also went to the bathroom about four times each, but they were thoroughly charming.  On their way to visit Grandma.  :-)

I had to get up this morning at 3:30 a.m. to get to the airport, so I'm feeling a little sleepy . . . can't wait to get some rest and get back to the real world.

Enjoy the photos!  And if you're interested in attending next year, we're going to offer an advanced track for those who are accepted . . . details on that to come, so stay tuned!  Put June 16-20 on your calendar!

Always,

I caught a hummingbird in flight!  Click to enlarge. 

Angie

Kathy is our hiking queen. She talked me into going with her on an easy hike. 

So I climbed a (little) mountain!  See the castle in the center of the photo?  Beautiful! 

Dogs and Suitcases and the Beatles

I should be packing for Glen Eyrie, as I leave EARLY tomorrow morning, but I went to the SPCA this morning to snap some dogs, and then I photographed a foster dog this afternoon.  And I got a little carried away with Photoshop on that last picture . . . you'll see what I mean.

So here are the dogs of today.

Grizz, an adorable pup who got adopted today.

This is Helen, a partially deaf dog who's being fostered. 

I got a little carried away with Helen and put her with the Beatles . . .

At a train station . . . 

And on a grand piazza. 

This is one of her official photos. 

And this is her final "official" photo. 

This is Mucci, who also got adopted today. 

And Roo, who's adorable. 

Well, tomorrow I'm off for Colorado Springs. Hope to see many of you there! 

Angie