Special sights seen: LAPC

April 2, 2023April 5, 2023 / SoyBend / 18 Comments

Today I’m sharing some special sights seen nearby.

I found this cool geode slice recently. It almost looks like it has an animal’s face on it, doesn’t it?

…Or I used a mirror photography effect on an oval stone. The pointed thing on the very bottom is all that shows of my hand holding the geode.

I flew over this desolate-looking landscape on a recent trip.

…Or I took a picture of a sculptured seashore and cropped it. This area measured about two foot by three foot.

One day, I saw a flight of four dragons migrating across the sky.

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A plane dreaming of flying: Wordless Wednesday

March 8, 2023March 4, 2023 / SoyBend / 5 Comments

A plane dreaming of flying at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, McMinnville, Oregon

Wordless Wednesday

Memorable pictures of 2022: LAPC

January 8, 2023February 24, 2023 / SoyBend / 16 Comments

Today I’m sharing a dozen memorable pictures of 2022. I’m including photos of history, nature, and culture.

In the first one, I used infrared processing on a picture of Mt Rainier and I also added a colorful eel image. The challenge prompt was “surreal.” I had fun with this one!

The next picture is of a quilt at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. In addition to being beautifully crafted, this one had a message of kindness. I took so many pictures of the show, I divided it into three posts.

The next picture is of an unexpected guest in our backyard. This Barred Owl feasted on the ample supply of Pacific Tree Frogs breeding in our pond. From then on, our nights were slightly quieter.

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Lighter and darker nature pictures: LAPC

November 7, 2022January 6, 2023 / SoyBend / 13 Comments

I’m showing lighter and darker nature pictures to go with the lens-artists photo challenge of “exposure” this week. Sometimes I frame a shot with lighter and darker settings; other times I make changes during the photo editing process.

The first two pictures are of maidenhair fern growing along the trail in Silver Falls State Park. In this case I like both versions. Maybe it’s because I like all shades of green. 🙂

The next two pictures show a mountain peak near Mitchell, Oregon. The first shows the structure of the rimrock at the peak and the second brings out the clouds. I prefer the darker, more evil-looking, version.

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Storm over Playa : 1-to-3 Photo Challenge

July 31, 2022August 27, 2022 / SoyBend / 12 Comments

In early June, while participating in a Great Basin Natural History workshop, I took photos of the storm over Playa. Playa, located on the shores of Summer Lake, serves as a retreat for artists and scientists looking for a peaceful place to do their work. They also offer a limited number of workshops.

We had an unusually wet spring here in the High Desert. This photograph shows a big storm over Playa. I stayed in the two-story cabin pictured and had commanding views of the Basin and Range landscape. High winds were pushing dust storms into the air near the lake’s shore.

I’ll be showing how I processed this picture three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021. Prior to trying out the various effects, I slightly increased the contrast and brightness.

The first two show the original photograph and the same picture with a Retro effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Retro Lab>Process 2. This effect slightly blurs and darkens the edges and increases color saturation. I thought this effect made the center appear brighter and gave the photo a vintage feel.

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Powder House building: 1-to-3 Challenge

June 30, 2022July 21, 2022 / SoyBend / 6 Comments

The Powder House building, near Prineville Reservoir State Park in Central Oregon, makes a great subject for photographs. This historic rock structure was once used to store gunpowder. It’s located next to a popular boat ramp on the reservoir.

I’ll be showing how I processed this picture three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021. Prior to trying out the various effects, I increased the contrast, brightness, and white balance slightly.

The first two show the original and the same picture with a Retro effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Retro Lab>Surreal. This effect blurred the edges like a vignette. I thought this effect emphasized the door in the building. It looked like a portal to another place surrounded by misty fog.

The next two show the original and the same picture with a Time Machine effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Time Machine>Albumen. This monotone effect reflects a technique used in the 1850s-1890s. It works well when you’re trying to emphasize the history of a place. A picture such as this might have appeared in newspapers of the time.

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A colorful walk in Portland: 1-to-3 Photo Challenge

May 20, 2022May 27, 2022 / SoyBend / 6 Comments

Today I’m sharing a photograph of a colorful walk in Portland processed three ways. We visited the Portland Japanese Garden in October 2021. The fall colors are a photographer’s dream!

I’ll be showing how I processed this picture from the garden three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021. Prior to trying out the various effects, I increased the contrast slightly.

The first two show the original and the same picture with a retro effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Retro Lab>Hue 90. This effect blurred the edges like a vignette and cast a green glow over everything. Even the carp in the foreground is green! It’s easy to imagine this as a strange world in a fantasy or science fiction book.

Lost Forest Pine tree: 1-to-3 Photo Challenge & TTL

March 24, 2022May 26, 2022 / SoyBend / 14 Comments

Today I’m sharing a photograph of a Lost Forest pine tree processed three ways. The Lost Forest is a geographically isolated forest in the High Desert of Central Oregon. A visit to this unique forest inspired me to write a short story.

I’ll be showing how I processed this picture three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021. Prior to trying out the various effects, I increased the contrast and vibrancy slightly.

The first two show the original and the same picture with a box camera effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Time Machine>Box camera. I was pleased how this effect enhanced details of the tree’s structure.

The second two show the original Lost Forest pine tree and the same picture with a warming filter effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Film and Filters. I chose the Warm earth tones option with an orange warming filter. This effect made the tree’s red bark stand out. The puzzle-like bark of ponderosa pines is one of their most interesting features. This effect also highlighted the bare branches better than other effects I considered.

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Gentian in Yellowstone: 1-to-3 Photo Challenge

February 26, 2022May 26, 2022 / SoyBend / 13 Comments

I’m sharing photos I took of fringed gentian in Yellowstone National Park last June. We like to visit in the spring so we can take pictures of the wildflowers in bloom. This gentian can be seen on the trails overlooking Old Faithful. It’s the official flower of the park.

I’ll be showing how I processed this picture three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021. Prior to trying out the various effects, I increased the brightness and sharpness slightly.

The first two show the original image and the same picture with a geometric effect. For this image I went to Effects>Geometric>Circle>Default>Wrap. It makes it look like a delicate ornament surrounded by more flowers.

The next two show the original image and a vignette effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Vignette. I darkened the frame slightly. This a great effect to use for flowers since you can blur out the background and sharpen the main subject.

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Double Arch, Arches NP: 1-to-3 Photo Challenge

January 31, 2022May 26, 2022 / SoyBend / 10 Comments

I took photos of Double Arch while on a trip to Arches National Park, Utah. I’ll be showing how I processed this photo three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021.

Prior to trying various effects, I increased the brightness, contrast, fill light, and clarity. Since this photo was taken from a distance, I also adjusted the sharpness.

The first two show the original image and the same picture with a Film and Filters effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Film and Filters. I selected Warm Earth Tones from the first pulldown menu and Warming Filter from the second one. The filter intensified the color of the arches and darkened the sky.

The next two show the original image and the same picture with an Infrared effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Infrared. This effect softens the edges and highlights the contrasting vertical lines of lichens on the arches.

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Pronghorn near Prineville: 1-to-3 Photo Challenge

December 31, 2021May 26, 2022 / SoyBend / 15 Comments

I saw this herd of pronghorn near Prineville, Oregon last spring. I’ll be showing how I processed this photo three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021.

Prior to trying various effects, I increased the brightness, contrast, fill light, and clarity. Since this photo was taken from a distance, I also adjusted the sharpness.

The first two show the original image and the same picture with a Film and Filters effect. For this image I went to Effects>Film and Filters. I selected Vibrant Foliage from the first pulldown menu and Warming Filter from the second one. The orange filter brought out the pronghorn’s tawny coats. The vibrant foliage filter enhanced blues and greens in this scene.

The next two show the original image and the same picture with a Hot Wax Coating effect. For this image I went to Effects>Artistic Effects>Hot Wax Coating. This effect gives an almost comic book-like effect with enhanced edges. The images appear to be coated in a thin layer of wax.

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Mount Hood in October: 1-to-3 Photo Challenge

November 20, 2021May 26, 2022 / SoyBend / 17 Comments

I went on a road trip near Mount Hood in October and took this photo of the mountain. I’ll be showing how I processed it three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021.

Prior to trying various effects, I decreased the brightness, increased the contrast, fill light and clarity, and used the local tone mapping setting. I made these adjustments because the gray and white mountain blended into the cloudy gray sky. Cloud cover can block your views of Mount Hood in October so we were lucky to see it on this overcast day.

The first two show the Mount Hood original image and the same picture with an enhanced edge effect. For this image I went to Effects>Edge Effects>Enhance More. I like this image because it showcases the trees in the forest.

The next two show the Mount Hood original image and the same picture with a film and filters effect. For this image I went to Effects>Film and Filters. I selected Vibrant Foliage from the first pulldown menu, Cooling Filter from the second one, and increased the filter density. This effect’s blue filter highlights the sky more.

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A portal in Portland: Monochrome Monday

November 8, 2021October 31, 2021 / SoyBend / 8 Comments

When I saw this woman in a cape pass through an arch, it looked like she entered a portal in Portland. I imagined her entering a distant mystical land. Infrared processing enhanced the mystical theme I attempted to capture.

Monochrome Monday

Windmill at Fort Rock: 1-to-3 Photo Challenge

September 16, 2021May 26, 2022 / SoyBend / 6 Comments

I thought this windmill at Fort Rock would make a good candidate for showing three ways to process a photograph. I used the photographic effects in Corel PaintShop Pro 2021. This picture was taken at the Fort Rock Homestead Village Museum in Central Oregon.

Prior to trying other effects, I decreased the brightness by 4 and increased the contrast by 10.

The first two show the original and a platinum processed image. This processing was popular from 1873 to 1920 but was discontinued due to the high costs of platinum. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Time Machine>Platinum. I tried black and white processing but liked the slightly warmer tones of this effect.

The second two show the original and a cross process image. This process resulted from mismatching the film and development chemicals on purpose. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Time Machine>Cross Process. This effect oversaturates the colors and they really pop.

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Daisies Three Ways: One-to-three & Friday Flowers

August 27, 2021May 26, 2022 / SoyBend / 8 Comments

Here are pictures of daisies three ways I took on the Mill A Loop trail in Bend, Oregon. I used Corel PaintShop Pro 2021 to do the photo processing.

The first two show the original photo compared to a soft focus adjustment. I think it works well for these soft flowers.

The second two show the original photo compared to a colored edges effect. I like to draw and this effect created a work of art, minus all the erasing I usually do. 😉

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Seeing things differently with photo edits: LAPC

June 27, 2021July 9, 2021 / SoyBend / 20 Comments

Photo editing is all about seeing things differently. I had fun with my Corel PaintShop Pro editing program in this post.

Making colors shine

I was impressed by the rainbow of colors at our local Farmer’s Market. This photo looked like it would be a good candidate for the kaleidoscope special effect and I was right. Wow!

Seeing things differently kaleidoscope of veggies

The color or the structure?

I took this picture near Grizzly Peak in Wyoming and I couldn’t decide which edit I liked better — color or black & white? The blue sky in the background pops in the color version, while the structure of the trees gets your attention in black & white.

Eliminating distractions

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Using digital magic to edit photographs: LAPC

February 7, 2021February 14, 2021 / SoyBend / 24 Comments

I like using digital magic to bring out the best in my photographs before I post them. I use Corel PaintShop Pro, a less expensive alternative to Photoshop.

Clean up an image

This is a slide I kept in my tent during fieldwork and tiny spots of mold had grown on it. They couldn’t be removed physically so I used a digital scratch remover and cloning tool to erase them.

Edting with digital magic — Steens Mountain, Oregon (Unedited)

Purple mountain majesties Steens Mountain, Oregon — Steens Mountain, Oregon

Crop an image

I took this picture of a pair of burrowing owls at the High Desert Museum. There was a lot of glare on the window of their enclosure. I cropped the photo, and in the edited version, they look like they’re in a natural setting.

Editing with digital magic — Burrowing owls, High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon (Unedited)

With two you can share wisdom. Burrowing owls at High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon 2016 — Burrowing owls, High Desert Museum, Bend, Oregon

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Reflecting on my lunch: Wordless Wednesday

January 27, 2021January 26, 2021 / SoyBend / 2 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

Owls in the mist – Images & poem: BWPC

October 16, 2020February 14, 2021 / SoyBend / 10 Comments

Owls in the mist
glide into view
on silent wings

Owls in the mist, great horned owl 2020 — Great horned owl

Pondering us
Through eyes,
Round and wise

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Focus on the form of cactus: LAPC

October 3, 2020October 1, 2020 / SoyBend / 7 Comments

The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week is Symmetry. I decided to focus on the form of cactus in my garden by showing them in infrared. It highlights their prickly symmetry well.