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This was actually taken in winter in Holland, MI. I have enchanced it, changing the color and giving it a pen-and-ink effect...
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This was actually taken in winter in Holland, MI. I have enchanced it, changing the color and giving it a pen-and-ink effect
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Feb, 2013Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I actually took this photo in the winter of 2013-2014 at the beach in Grand Haven, Michigan! Surprised?! It was during the massive ice storm we had that year and several "adventurers" like myself ventured out to literally "walk on water" that day and walked out on the ice that had crusted over 3/4 of Lake Michigan. This lonely tree was on the beach. After trudging back from the excruciating cold and wind, I was dying (as always!) to take just one more photo, so I took the shot of this lonely tree. My boyfriend thought I was nuts taking a picture of a stark and dead looking tree--guess I got the last laugh though as I was very pleased with my various image enhancements, especially this one!Time
This was taken in the early afternoon. There wasn't a lot of sun out, being the middle of a Michigan winter, but the sky had enough quality in it to make it interesting...Lighting
I think the lack of bright sunlight actually helped with this photo that day as it added to the loneliness of the tree and almost gave it a gloomy, forbidding look. I think the right lighting can always set the tone as to what you wish to portray in a photo (i.e. lots of sunshine for fun and happiness, low lighting for a pensive, gloomy or forbidding quality, backlighting for a mysterious look, etc.). And rainy days are actually some of the best days to get those gorgeous fall colors!Equipment
I am an amateur photographer, so the only camera I have at this point is my trusty little ole Nikon Coolmax S6200 (at least it does have a 10X zoom). I guess you could say that I am one of those people that does well with very little... I am hoping to someday get a larger camera and am looking at the Canon Rebel or a similar model of Nikon. Any suggestions on which brand or model would be greatly appreciated!Inspiration
Inspiration for this photo was kind of two-fold. On one hand of course was the fact that the tree seemed lonesome on the vast snowy beach and no one seemed to be paying any attention to it. I was coming from a low time in my life and the tree just seemed to speak to me in that way. The enhancement of the photo came from a very different place in my life. I had gone for the first time out west to Nevada and Arizona. I loved it out there and the rich colors of the Painted Desert, the rich red earth and the WARMTH! I started to fiddle around with photo enhancing programs and used that color scheme to create my "Desert Tree".Editing
I did do a lot of post-processing. I like to blend photo-editing software and not stick to just one. I believe I used a combination of an old Kodak computer software package that I have, "Photo Explosion" and "Picasa". I experimented with various enhancement effects until I came up with the desert look. I just received "Photoshop Elements 12" as a gift, so I am excited to learn how to use it so I can do even more enhancing!In my camera bag
For right now, I just have my simple Nikon and once in a great while use a tripod. In the old "Kodachrome" days of yore I had a Pentax with wide angle and zoom attachments that I used. I miss having those and am hoping to get a more sophisticated camera in the future.Feedback
You don't always have to have the "best of the best" to get a good photo--a lot of it is being observant and thinking like an artist, because really, photography is a fine art! Don't be afraid to take unusual shots because you may be able to manipulate them into something really unique. Be willing to blend different editing software (even though it is a bit time-consuming!) in order to create your visual masterpiece!
