Hi everyone-

Well its going to snow again! The weather man is saying that starting tonight we can expect another 4 to 8 inches of snow.

As a matter of fact in North Eastern PA and NJ they are saying that the conditions will create a snowicaine with lots of snow and very strong winds.

While normally I am all for it this may have some effects on upcoming travel plans. So much so that my mom, dad, sister and nephew have changed their travel plans to leave a day early just to make sure they get out.

So today I have mixed emotions. I love the winter and snow, I don't want to miss our flights, I am looking forward to better weather, I am going to miss playing in the snow... Oh well there will be more...lol

Here is a image from Yellowstone highlighting the beauty of the snow and winter, just to remind you that it's not all bad!!

Hi everyone-

Today's images were shot in Great Smoky Mountains National Park a few weeks ago. One of them is an HDR image and the result of combining six different exposures. The other is a single exposure with a good deal of photoshop work to it.

Can you tell the difference? Let me know which one is which.

That being said both of these images had a ton of photoshop work done to them after they were brought to the same spot. Meaning once I did the HDR and got the two images looking roughly the same exposure wise there was a ton of additional work done. That included, local contrast increases, selective color adjustments, adding a glow, curves adjustments, color saturation adjustments and a few others steps that I know I did can cant seem to remember what they were...

Anyway I hope you have a great day!





****UPDATE****

Hi everyone-

So in the comments Nick, Barry and Jan responded to my question and one of them is correct. That would be Barry. He surmised the second image was the true HDR image and he was right.

This image was shot at 6 different exposures and combines in Photomatix and then further processed in photoshop to create the final look. Here are the 6 images used to create the HDR:

alt="Photobucket">











The next image is the sooc image that i worked on in photoshop to give it a n HDR look.

Hi everyone-

Today I thought I would take the same images from yesterday's post and go about processing them in a different way. Same images, totally different look.

The basis for the look is a vertical blur. This is normally done in camera but I have decided to do it via photo shop. Once the image is blurred it becomes an abstract opening to door to just about any type of processing you can come up with.

The first image is pretty much just the blurred shot. The later images are all the same but processed an similar but different ways.

The nice part about this technique is that you really can't go wrong. But some will turn out better than others. I just like to experiment and let the process go where it takes me. The results are never quite the same.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone-

Here is South Central PA we have been enjoying the taste of a little early fall the last few days. Beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 70's. Very nice for the first week of November.

These conditions are just some more reasons why this is hands down my favorite time of year. Crisp cool mornings followed by pleasant warmer days followed by clear cool evenings. You can smell the smoke from wood stoves in the air and you can wear jeans and a sweatshirt all day and be just fine. Love it.

Another great part of this time of year is the fantastic color that blankets the forests and wooded areas around us. While not like Northern PA we still have a lot to see here.

That being said today's images were taken just a short drive over the Maryland border to a little gem of a park that I have not enough attention too in the past. It is called Catoctin Mountain Park. It is a small National Park and is the home to Camp David.

Obviously I have heard of the camp for years but never really new where it was. We figured it out a few years ago when traveling back and forth to see my sister while she was living in Frostburg, MD. This was not the fastest route to get there from our house but was clearly the most scenic.

Recently I spent some time in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and was a little early for the peak of fall color. But while traveling home I decided to take the route across the park and go home that way. Man was I happy I did.

I didn't have much time as I was trying to make it home in time to join my wife and daughter at a local Halloween parade. But I could not pass up the spectacular display of color and beauty in the park. I spent about 45 minutes photographing everything that I could before having to leave to make it home in time.

I can not wait to go back next year and explore more of this park on foot and without the constraints of time. One thing of note... You should always check the website before going as there are periodic closures of large areas of this small park due to increased security when dignitaries occupy Camp David.

Have a great day!