Category Archives: Photography

Waterfall and Leaf Framed Photo

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Several months ago my friend and I went on a trek through the Pacific Northwest. Of course, Oregon has some amazing waterfalls, and I was fortunate enough to capture a few good images of them.

One night, we stayed at a hotel in downtown Ashland, Oregon – a very cool town by the way. The hotel had a lot of old nature postcards of the local area, framed and hanging on the walls. In addition to the old postcard, the designer also added a local leaf from an indigenous tree, which was secured to the frame’s mat. I thought it was a really interesting way to present photos and local flora, and decided to give it a try myself.

I wanted the photo to look like an old time postcard. Usually, the colors are pretty saturated. I began with an image I liked, and used the photo editor on my phone to change things up a bit. The first photo below is the original. After brightening up and adding some color, I was happy with the final (second) image.

After printing the image on glossy photo paper, I cut it to about 3″ x 5″, the approximate size of a postcard. Then I cut a piece of mat board the same size and glued the photo to it. The photo now had the look and the thickness of a postcard.

I then glued the 3″ x 5″ photo onto a piece of mat board that fit my frame. I left extra room at the bottom so a leaf could be added.

The redwood tree leaves that I had gathered needed a little flattening prior to securing to the mat board. I placed them on a piece of plywood, put a second piece on top, and then added a brick for weight. I let that sit overnight.

I positioned the leaf on the mat board, secured it with white glue, and held in place with my harmonica. Hey, it was nearby.

Once the glue was dry, I placed the final work into the frame.

I am really happy with the way it turned out and will definitely do another one. This time from the Great State of Washington!

Shadow Shots

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A friend of mine went to Arizona for a couple of months to work. While there, she sent me several shadow based images.

Shadows are interesting because they provide the essence of the subject, yet often dark, elongated, and mysterious.

This is the shot that started the Shadow Shot Series.

In most of the shots, I used a simple photo editor on my phone to enhance the quality. Often, just increasing or decreasing the brightness or sharpness can make a significant improvement in the image.

For this image, I changed the shadow from black to a blue tint. Again, easily done on the phone’s photo editor.

This shot is titled, “Living the Dream.” It is exactly as it looked – no editing at all.

Out for a walk with my pup one morning, I snapped this crisp shadow shot. I lightened up the background to make the subjects pop out a bit more.

Don’t overlook any canvas. Even the living room wall provides opportunities in the morning light.

My advice – just keep your phone handy, which most of us do today, and snap away. If you have not played around with your photo editor app, do so. See what improvements you can make to your shots before texting. It really only takes a couple of minutes. I think you’ll like the results!