Nature Hike

My husband and I went on a couple different nature hikes this past weekend. I was able to get some pretty awesome scenic photos. That's my opinion at least! There were so many that I liked that I decided to display them in this slide show. I hope you enjoy.

 

 

Most of these were taken just down the street from my home, along the Gallatin River in Belgrade, MT.  A few were taken near a place we call Antelope, where Bill and his paraglider buddies go paragliding. 

 

 

ISO Speed & A Splendid Sunrise!

I have been practicing with my camera this week and learning about the ISO settings.   For those that don't know what ISO means, I will tell you what I have learned so far.  ISO stands for the International Standards Organization.  All photographic films are given a rating known as an ISO number that reflects their relative sensitivity to light.  The higher the number the more sensitive the film is to light.  Films with a higher number and more sensitive to light are faster.  Films with a lower number and less sensitive to light are slower. 

Here are some pictures I captured of the sunrise a few days ago.  All of these pictures were taken at the same time of day but each picture is using a different ISO number.  

These next few were taken about 5 minutes later

Aren't the colors just splendid?  The sunrise on this day was too beautiful not to capture on film. 

Now I'm off for some more studying and practice, practice, practice!

To Brighten My Day!

The ice is slowly melting

Can you see how thick the ice is? 

A Llama!

I love Llama's!

My most favorite thing of all to photgraph.

They are so beautiful!

Look at the Blue Sky!

Love the Blue Sky contrast with the white snowy mountain.

Beauty!

Perfect Mini Rose!

Awe... the birds are back! 

Love the blue of the sky in background

I thought this made a cool picture!

Ice melting off the pond!

You  see where its starting to melt along the shore line.

This just makes me Happy!

Just what I needed this week!  Signs of spring everywhere.  I love it!

Photos from a recent Road Trip

The weather finally cooperated with us and we were able to go on a short road trip through the Bridger Mountains and into the valley on the other side.  It was nice to get out of "dodge" for a few hours. It was nice to see some different scenery.  It was really nice that, even though there is still A LOT of snow on the ground, there was no snow on the roads.  We had a great time and we saw some really cool things, and I was even able to take a few pictures. 

These first 3 shots are actually earlier in the day before the Road Trip. 

We were up at the launch site of the mountain where Bill paraglides.

This beauty was laying down when I first drove up and all you could see were its ears and face and it would have been so cute. However, upon my approach she got spooked and stood up.  Still a cute picture though.

There were actually two of them.  So cute!

Yes!  They are American Bald Eagles.

Majestic

So Beautiful!

An old building (school house?) being restored. 

I can't wait for my next road trip.  There are so many places to visit around here and I can wait to share all my adventures and photos with you.

If you want to see and hear about all my adventures, please visit my other blog Our Adventures from Big Sky Country.

Beginning Digital Photography - Tips & Techniques

I'm just starting to learn the Art of Digital Photography and I am mostly teaching myself.  I can't afford to take any classes right now, however, I hope that can be in my future sometime.  But in the meantime I have a digital camera and I love to take pictures and I want to do it well.  So I am seeking information anywhere I can find it.  I've read the book that came with my camera from cover to cover, I have practiced taking photos and editing them using free software programs like Picasa.  And I have searched the internet for any kind of help in learning this art.  And I think, for a beginner, I have taken some pretty cool shots. 

One thing I have learned is that as a beginner I just need to practice, practice, practice.  Learn all the functions of my camera, experiment with how lighting affects my pictures, and experiment with my favorite subjects and the different ways to capture them. 

I have found a wonderful website that has helped me so much with tips and techniques on how to become great at digital photography.  Go to this link - Beginning Digital Photography  to learn more.

And here are some of my favorite shots I have taken. 

Out walking with my camera

I decided I wanted to practice with some photography and editing.  So I decided to go out walking with my camera yesterday.   And these are some of the pictures I took of the winter foliage around my neighborhood.  Then I played with them a little just to see what I could do and how they would turn out.  There are several pictures here and I hope you don't mind viewing them and letting me know which ones you like and/or critiquing me and giving me some comments or suggestions. 

I am a novice at this and just want to learn more about digital photography, editing, as well as learning all the functions of my camera. 

I did have fun and the getting out and breathing some fresh air made me feel so much better.

1.1

Added color and a soft focus

1.2

B&W with Focal Color

2.2

Original - No Edit

2.2

Soft Focus

3.1

Graduated Tint

3.2

Lightened it up a bit

4.1

Soft Focus

4.2

Added more color to the sky

5.1

B&W with Focal Point

5.2

Sepia

6.1

Graduated Tint

6.2

Full Tint with Soft Focus

6.3

Focal Point

7.1

Soft Focus

7.2

Added a little Shadow

7.3

Lightened up a bit

8.1

Sepia

8.2

Color Saturation

Just a Random shot of this crow w/focal point

Footprints in the snow

Thanks for taking the time to review and to comment.