Anybody Out There??

This is just a shout in the dark...

Are you there???

If so, let me know.

These are my latest wildlife shots, taken about a week ago at Connetquot State Park here on Long Island.

Blogger Community Photo Challenge

"This month's subject is color...but NOT just color. We want to see you create something special color-wise. Something your camera did not see. Something you saw in the photo and created in post processing."

I played around with a photo I took in a studio setting. What I'm learning about working in a studio, is how to manipulate light and shadow. Before I worked with the color in this image, I altered it with the posterizing filter. What I was interested by was how this accentuated the shadow.

Original...




Manipulated color image...



Please be sure to visit all the other participants in this challenge. They can be found here.

Thematic Photographic - Glassy

This image is a submission for Carmi's photo meme Thematic Photographic where we are invited to explore capturing the beauty of glass.

The Bayard Cutting Arboretum, a New York State Park,

was donated to the Long Island State Park Region

by Mrs. William Bayard Cutting
and her daughter, Mrs. Olivia James,
in memory of William Bayard Cutting,

"to provide an oasis of beauty and quiet for the pleasure, rest and refreshment of those who delight in outdoor beauty; and to bring about a greater appreciation and understanding of the value and importance of informal planting."

The arboretum is a beautiful property and a true gem of Long Island. A visit here allows you to enjoy magnifient trees, informal gardens, wildflowers and ferns, and woodland and wetland wildlife. Prominently perched overlooking where the Connetquot opens onto the Great South Bay is the Bayard Cutting Manor House.




This magnificent window is one of four located in a single room of the manor house. I think the background of a big, old tree makes the window that much more spectacular.

Links to see the images of other participants can be found in the comment section here.

Blogger's Community Photo Challenge ~ Gardens

Even though this challenge has been posted for close to a month, I haven't been anywhere where the gardens are in full bloom. It's been an odd spring here on Long Island. It got quite warm in a spurt, but it has stayed relatively cool. So, the season has been drawn out.

My gardens don't have enough going on in one place to look like much as a whole. So, I decided to take some macro shots of what's blooming now. Enjoy the slide show below...





I hope that you'll take a minute and enjoy the photos posted by the other challenge participants. You'll find the links here.

Playing With Water

I was inspired to play with water by THIS shot that I saw as part of a macro photo competition at Pioneer Woman Photography. It got my curiosity going so I set up my camera on a tripod by the sink with an additional flash off camera. It's interesting to move that second flash around and see how it's angle and proximity to the subject affects the results.

I played around by varying the intensity of the water flow and I think I got some really cool results. Some of these make me think of gems floating in space.

Round Robin - Land and Sea

For the current Round Robin challenge, I'm sharing some images I took while in southern California in March. This is the rugged coastline in La Jolla Cove. The images were taken in series as the breakers crashed against the shore.









Please visit all the other photographers who have played along. Here's the linking list...

Carly... Ellipsis
Posted!

Karen... Outpost Mavarin
Posted!

Monica... Shutterly Happy


Carolyn... Ford Family Photos
Posted!

Hip Chick... Hip Chick Photos


Freda... Day One
Posted!

ellen B... The Happy Wonderer
Posted!

Suzanne R... SuzyQ421's Photo Blog
Posted!

Jama... Sweet Memories
Posted!

Ruth... Scrabble Queen


Sandy... From The Heart Of Texas
Posted!

Mary... Mary Tomaselli's Photos
Posted!

Gattina... Keyhole Pictures
Posted!

Baby Foxes

I have one friend out here on Long Island who is my nature photo buddy. We try and go out about once a week to take pictures, and one of our favorite places to go is Connetquot River State Park. We are there frequently enough that we know where to look for particular subjects. We've been lucky enough to learn of a fox den, and we have been even more lucky in having the opportunity to see and photograph a pair of baby foxes.