Efcubed Photography » Mark

Virginia Spring Time

Mark — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:00:10 +0000

There are many lovely farms here in the VA countryside. Last weekend for Mother’s day, the Mt Sharon Road Farm opened up their gardens to the public for the day. The owners traveled in England and loved the gardens and have spent countless hours converting 10 acres into a variety of garden rooms. In every corner, there were clouds of flowers blooming. I took my 105 f/2.8 Macro lens and the 70-200 and shot most of these hand held. I could have stayed in place for hours, but there was so much ground to cover.

Flowers were not the only things on the grounds. This five foot black snake was hanging in a branch. It looked as if he had recently eaten.

Roses were everywhere and little details hidden at the turns. Statuary imported from Europe was tucked in to corners or near the fountains. Peonies may be my favorite flower. The delicacy and the complexity fascinate me.

Canvas Texture

Here is a nine shot panorama of the view of the rose garden. I could force myself to find a quiet retreat in one of the little pavilions. All in all it was just a nice day.

More Horsing Around

Mark — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:12:56 +0000

Roger’s nice photos from the Gold Cup reminded me that shooting photos of horses can be quite rewarding. Especially here in VA horse country, there are lots of opportunities to just stop by the side of the road and see pastures full of them, doing what they do best. Several members of our Fauquier Viewfinders Camera Club own horses and delight in showing endless photos of them.

Unfortunately, many pictures are of the horse just standing around. To really engage your viewer, you need to show a bit of the personality of the animal in your picture. Horses are curious, if you are quiet and non-threatening; they will come over to examine you.

Catching them in motion, especially trained horses can be even more interesting. When you can get a fog machine as well…well, that is a horse of a different color. Oh wait, that is material for another blog.

Cream of the Crop

Mark — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:27:49 +0000

Last week Roger talked about cropping and lines. There are classic rules of composition that all photographers should think of when framing their images. Here is one of my favorite images. In the past we have talked about the “Rule of Thirds” and it is the most basic of all framing devices. Just imagine a tic-tac-toe grid on your image and try to place your subject at one of the 4 crossing points. You really do want to keep them out of the exact center of your image, because people instinctively find that boring.

But that is not the only way to think of composition and in Lightroom and in Photoshop; there are easy tools available to assist you in cropping your images for more visual appeal.

When you are in the Develop module, and you start using the crop tool, it defaults to the “Rule of Thirds” grid. However, you can find a menu on the main menu bar under Tools called “Crop Guide Overlay” and see what other choices are available. The classic “Golden Spiral” is great for group portraits. Contain the bulk of your visual interest in the tightest part of the spiral. The strong leading lines on the “Triangle” overlay frame angular images. You can use the keyboard shortcut “O” to cycle through the choices and help as you crop. As with all things in LR, it is all non-destructive, so you can experiment as much as you like.

An Important Anniversary

Mark — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:10:53 +0000

A few weeks ago we enjoyed our first anniversary and took a little trip to celebrate. We flew out to the Napa Valley in order to drink a little (?) wine

Champagne bottles stacked to age

and just relax for a few days. I found a little B&B, Maison Fleurie, right behind Bouchon, the most famous bakery in Yountville. Despite the fact that the inn provided a lovely breakfast, we had to wander over there to check out their latest offerings, as we could smell them baking all night long.

Macarons in all flavors and colors

From our balcony, every morning we got to watch the hot air balloons rise through the trees.

Looks great from a safe distance

It was pretty chilly while we were there and those balloon rides left at 6 AM. We said “let’s save that for never….”

Spring was in full blossom in the valley.

Wisteria dripping from the trellises

We stopped at a really fun winery called “Cliff Lede”, not only was the wine wonderful, but the sculptures on the grounds were fun and emblematic of why we were there.

Since Sarah had never been to San Francisco, we did a whirlwind day tour. We hit Chinatown, rode the cable cars-right up to the stars, saw Alcatraz—from a distance and of course the Golden Gate. It was actually some of the clearest weather I’d ever seen. To top it off, we got to have dinner with 2 of my cousins. Just a great trip to cap off a truly wonderful year with my amazing wife–I brought my heart right back home.

Hope Springs Eternal

Mark — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:14:30 +0000

It’s the start of another wonderful baseball season. Last week I got to attend the home opening day for the Nationals—something I’ve never done before. The weather was great, the grass was green and the beer was cold.

Starting with the pregame hoisting of the team flag, it was just a lot of fun.

It always reminds me as the teams are introduced; just what a rich American tradition this game represents. It still is touching to watch soldiers unfurl and wave the huge flag.

Finally, the first pitch and the game begins. Here in DC they have the between innings Presidents race. In five seasons, Teddy has never won. To start the season, he tied the shoelaces of George, Tom and Abe together so they stumbled and fell out of the starting gate. It looked like he might win…, but no, Tom took off his shoes and passed him at the tape. Oh, well.

Oh and the game, well the Nats won and they are actually in 1^st place.