6 SEP 09 - Look up at the beautiful sky...

[Kaye]

I have started a new "Weekly Photoshots" thread and I have put in the date posted in the Title.

I am hoping this will make Weekly Photoshots easier to follow.
If the next new thread also has the date posted in the Title; then users should be able to know what is the most current thread, BUT REMEMBER YOU CAN POST SHOTS TO ANY "WEEKLY PHOTOSHOT" no matter how old.

Anyway, re this thread - I think it would be great to see some shots showing say 30-40% of sky, whether blue, cloudy, grey, etc., but ideally looking up towards something of interest, eg. a bird, bug, flower, tree, or anything that one can shoot looking up to the sky. Even lie down if you must - some great shots can be taken this way.
In other words, try to make your subject the foreground and a beautiful sky the background. I think skies are difficult.

I have attached three of my floral shots as examples; .... The sky happens to be blue in these, but I am sure your imaginations will allow something different with perhaps some big clouds or various sky colours which could create some good and interesting shots.

I am looking forward to see what you all come up with.



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[Pat]

Nice ones, Kaye. This is one of my fave shooting angles. Here we have a Black-capped Chickadee on my clothesline, A hummingbird out the front window, a tulip between the sun and my camera, and my niece, Maeve (Queen of the Faeries), with the sun behind her head, fill light via tinfoil.

[Kaye]

Pat, love them all, but particularly the Tulip.

[Kaye]

I am sure there must be some more "Looking up at the sky" shots from all our members...

I will add another shot. The sky is sort of a nice blue, but no clouds. I do like clouds.

[sorted]

Hi
Sorry if i am posting late. Three taken in my garden,The last one would be nice to have in my garden but never mind.
I love all of your photos that are posted.:)

[DoctorJazz]

Here are some more shots.....

[DoctorJazz]

Just played with the images of the geese, and the cardinal....better? Worse?

[Kaye]

Hi
Sorry if i am posting late. Three taken in my garden,The last one would be nice to have in my garden but never mind.
I love all of your photos that are posted.


Elaine, in Weekly Photoshots, members can post whenever they want. You can post to some of the Weekly Photoshots threads from 6 months ago or more if you like. Sometimes bringing back old threads gives us some new ideas to try out.

Thanks for your comment on my shots.
Love your shots, and, yes I agree with the last - if we had these huge trees in our garden, we would probably live in a mansion!
I presume they are Sunflowers. Looking upwards makes them look rather different.
Perhaps your third shot needs a touch more exposure in my opinion, as you second is so bright and sunny!

[Kaye]

Just played with the images of the geese, and the cardinal....better? Worse?

Nice shots DocJazz. I prefer your two original shots rather than the edited ones you posted. Bit too much saturation in the edited ones I think. Just my opinion.

[DoctorJazz]

OK....and thanks! I see what you mean about the editing.

[patnanna]

Looking up at the beautiful sky at Lake Powell, UT. My first picture is as the sun was setting on one of our days at the lake. The second is at a sunrise, but I was trying to get the spider. Any ideas on how I could have made this picture work? 3270

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[honeygram]

Hello,
I am a new student and today is my first day. I hope I do this the right way! This last weekend I attended the International Lineman Rodeo in Kansas City, MO. My husband works for Walton EMC in Georgia and he was a judge while our team of Apprentice Lineman competed. I took pictures of each of our men while they were up on the poles, and I saw an awful lot of sky! We saw clouds, sun, and everything in between. I hope you enjoy these pics as much as I enjoyed taking them!

[Kaye]

Looking up at the beautiful sky at Lake Powell, UT. My first picture is as the sun was setting on one of our days at the lake. The second is at a sunrise, but I was trying to get the spider. Any ideas on how I could have made this picture work? 3270

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Patnanna,
Love the silhouette affect of the sunset one, although is not quite horizontal.

Re the spider shot, were you shooting this through glass?

[Kaye]

Hello,
I am a new student and today is my first day. I hope I do this the right way! This last weekend I attended the International Lineman Rodeo in Kansas City, MO. My husband works for Walton EMC in Georgia and he was a judge while our team of Apprentice Lineman competed. I took pictures of each of our men while they were up on the poles, and I saw an awful lot of sky! We saw clouds, sun, and everything in between. I hope you enjoy these pics as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Honeygram,
I like no. 4 shot - nice and clear. Glad it is not me up there!
It looks like you had all the seasons in one day with the variations in the sky.

Good luck in the course - enjoy it.

[patnanna]

Patnanna,
Love the silhouette affect of the sunset one, although is not quite horizontal.

Re the spider shot, were you shooting this through glass?

My husband is always telling me to straighten my pictures, I am still not very good at using Aperture or Photoshop to get this done.

No the spider shot was not taken through glass.

Thanks for the help.

Anna

[Kaye]

Hi Anna,

Photoshop just takes lots of time and practice. I still have heaps to learn. I just learn from using it and from my mistakes.

As it is a lovely shot, I hope you don't mind, but I quickly straightened it on Photoshop (well nearly straight). Straightening a shot will always take away the uneven edges of the picture, so the image will be slightly smaller. I guess it is always an added advantage to try to take it straight in the first place, but I also take lots of crooked shots as I am often at funny angles.

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[eyerkish]

This picture was taken out at Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas, NV. While hiking on a trail, I came across an area that had been burned. As I looked at this tree, I saw the cloud behind it thought it would make a nice picture.

[Kaye]

Eddie, I love the burned tree silhouette against the blue sky.
Was this the natural colour of the sky, or did you add a little saturation?

[eyerkish]

Eddie, I love the burned tree silhouette against the blue sky.
Was this the natural colour of the sky, or did you add a little saturation?

Hi Kaye,

I added just a little saturation. I was using a basic editing software on my work lap top as I was traveling at the time I took this photo. I am going to see what I can do with it in Photoshop once I get on my computer at home.

[debgay]

Here is a hydranga I took with the sky in the background.


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[Kaye]

Welcome to Proud Debbie. I am sure you will learn and enjoy heaps, and please feel free to ask any questions.

Your shot is not bad, but your "hydranga" is looking a little weary.
Anyway, Weekly Photoshots is here to give you some "ideas" of what to shoot. Perhaps you can try another shot looking up at the sky..... when you look up, surprisingly enough, there are many many things of interest to get shots of.

I look forward to more of your shots. (I do like your shot in POTM competition). Keep posting!

[debgay]

Thank you for your comments Kaye.It was a few weeks ago I took that shot so its the end of the season.I will use your suggestion.

[Kaye]

I thought I would attach another one....This is Bougainvillea.

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[k38871]

Was trying to capture flag waving in wind



<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35082447@N07/4099761403/" title="100_3156 by kristinwarren38871, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2701/4099761403_c6f9d5e77f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="100_3156" /></a>

[Kaye]

Hi k38871,
I am not familiar with Flickr, but this looks like a mighty looooong link!
Perhaps try again, or download to your gallery, then try to link to this thread that way.

[superscoobi]

ok, i dont really know what i am doing here; as this is my first post and i'm not to sure what the competition is other than skies. I apologise (:

[Kaye]

Very nice superscoobi. I think this flower is called a Hypiastrum. (Not sure of spelling).

Welcome to Proud. Your first post has worked so keep posting away.
The threads like this one in Weekly Photoshots (Looking up to the skies), is not a competition. It is just to give members some ideas of what to shoot.

To find the competition; from home page, go the Photo of the Month, then POTM Galleries. There is always a theme to follow, and this month's theme is "Broken Rules". Feel free to enter if you wish.
Hope this help a little.

[ca7696]

I took this picture inside a sugar mill looking up.

[Kaye]

I really like this ca7696. What a great idea. That is why I started this thread, as sometimes we forget to look up, and we miss some great opportunities.

[welshtommo]

Looking up at a hot air balloon gliding over the Masai Mara at sunrise....3700

[Kaye]

Really nice shot welshtommo.

[DoctorJazz]

More geese today. One cropped image, and the original image.

[Kaye]

Hi Sandy,
Nice sky and silhouette, but geese are a bit blurry... I guess you were on full zoom for this, and perhaps hand held??
I try plenty of these hand held, and most often get BLURS also!

[DoctorJazz]

Hi Kaye,

Yes and Yes! I'll keep trying !

[johnnya]

A photo I found from our trip to Hawaii last year.
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[Kaye]

Very nice johnnya, Frangipanis are one of my favourite flowers (very tropical).
A little more exposure on the Frangipani petals would have been good, but difficult with background sunlight.
I would try to shoot something like this from a different (or try various angles) to avoid the brightness.

[welshtommo]

Thank you very much!

[johnnya]

Thanks Kaye

[sandrad600]

This is my first time putting anything on the forum. I hope that I attached it right!
Anyway, I played a bit with photoshop to make the sky and colors really pop! Let me know what you think!

[eyerkish]

This is my first time putting anything on the forum. I hope that I attached it right!
Anyway, I played a bit with photoshop to make the sky and colors really pop! Let me know what you think!

Hi Sandra and welcome to the forum. Very nice shot!

[ladyups]

Nice shot, Sandra, and welcome to the group!

[Kaye]

Hi Sandra,
A big welcome from me. Hope you enjoy the forums.
I enlarged you shot and thought it was absolutely great!

[DoctorJazz]

Here's a sky image I took recently, getting used to using a polarizing filter.
Little if any editing.

[Kaye]

Nice shot Sandy.

[mdonahoe1]

Thought I'd pick this thread up for something new!! A shot of bouganvilla against the sky!

[kjkwrd]

Here is one of sunrays shining on the river in our city.

[Kaye]

Thought I'd pick this thread up for something new!! A shot of bouganvilla against the sky!

Marianne, this is such a pretty shot. The flowers stand out nicely against the light blue sky. Pretty good detail in these for looking upwards also.

[Kaye]

Here is one of sunrays shining on the river in our city.

Nice capture of those rays kj, and the glow on the water.

[mdonahoe1]

Thanks Kaye. This could be a fun thread for me as I recently moved to Southern California, which is soooo different from the desert of AZ!! Lots of opportunites here!

Marianne

[Kaye]

That is great news Marianne.... more practice, more fun and more shots to show us!
You can also start your own thread in Weekly Photoshots if you like.

[eosmurf]

Hi Kaye,
Not sure if these fit the bill but wanted to have a go!
Ciara

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[Kaye]

Hi Ciara,

Yes, these certainly fit the theme of this thread.

WOW, No. 2 shot is just soooooo beautiful. Magnificent clouds, moonshine on the water, and lovely silhouette. I also love the composition, and nice detail.
Overall, a really stunning shot in my opinion.

No. 1. Nice shot also, but the focus really needs to be on the Parrot in this one.
(This looks like a Lovebird to me... do you know what it is). I used to have Lovebirds.

[eosmurf]

WOW Happy Dance :)
A WOW out of you Kaye means a lot - you are always very honest but nice with constructive criticism so to get such a positve from you is great because I know it really counts for something (one small admssion though - it is actually low sunlight, coming back from a day trip to the Great barrier reef and I shot directly into the sun - I also straightened it as the sea was on an angle - we were on the front of the boat).
As for the bird - no idea - thought maybe a rainbow lorrikeet? whatever they are there are heaps of these around where I live along with cockatoos and they grey and pink ones - galahs? - that is something i will miss about Oz. The focus is almost on him/her but got the bum more than the face! (can i say that on here?) It has been cropped a lot - only had 18-55mm lens so couldn't really get close enough / focused enough (also think I m having a few focus issues getting used to my new 500D - love the possibilities but miss the old point and shoot infinity focus sometimes - haven't worked out yet how to get that consistently with the Canon - also AF isn't always quite right and need to learn how to change AF points manually).
Thanks again, I am off to complete my happy dance!
Ciara

[Kaye]

Ciara, you are probably almost about to move, but I will post this anyway.
I did think twice as to whether it was the sun or the moon.... but IMO, no difference. It is still a WOW shot. You should post it in Photo Critique Corner so more members will view it.

Happy moving :)

[eosmurf]

Still have a couple of days to go Kaye, the actual flight is wednesday night, lot to do in between but getting there and this gives me a nice break from all the running around. I can post it as you say, which category would be best? I think this and those other leading lines shots show i was taking better photos before without all this stress, limited time and geography and doing it for an assignment. Hopefully will get back to that once I am over there. Will certainly be moving around for the first few weeks so lots of opportunities hopefully.

[Kaye]

Ciara, not really sure what category to post it to... guess when unsure, put it in MISC.
I think taking photos when you HAVE to find something is so different. You have plenty of time to complete your course, so may be better as you say to wait until you are more relaxed.
You will be out one day and just see the perfect shot.
Have a lovely trip if we don't speak again before you leave.

[eosmurf]

Thanks Kaye, I have put it in Misc, will be interested to see what people have to say. Ciara

[judyg0313]

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I haven't tried this before so please bear with me but I thought this photo might fit the order of the day. Thanks for viewing..

[Kaye]

What a great image Judy, and welcome to Proud.

[judyg0313]

Thanks Kaye, I guess I should have posted that I shot it at my home. He was flying over and I just couldn't resist..

f7.1
1/400 sec
ISO - 100
250 mm

And thanks for the welcome...

[Kaye]

You are most welcome Judy. I look forward to more of your shots in Photo Critique Corner.

[eosmurf]

Nice shot Judy, not an easy one to capture, and welcome to the Forum from me too!

[judyg0313]

Thank you very much...He was right over our house...I took several of them. This one had the best sky..