Zoo outing in the Heat!

These are two shots from a recent quick trip to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. It was close to 90 degrees so I did not hang around too long but managed a few decent shots....
I really like this flamingo shot...might be one of my best as far as the look and feel i get from it.
All i am doing these days is some basic post processing along the lines of clarity contrast and brightness. Also I give a vignette to the shots...
I can't seem to post one with a bit of vignette. Might be cause I read it helps keeps the viewers eyes in the frame. I think though I am over doing it a bit.....

Had the day off sunday so I decided to get out and take some shots.....
Wasn't sure where i was headed and had a few spots in mind but remembered this place. I drove past several times and just caught the hint of a nice little stream. Once I pulled in there were loads of people and kids and cars and sunbathers and all sorts of things going on behind the trees. I used Qtpfsgui on these two and the landscape shot i actually used two layers one to glam blur the leaves of the trees and the rest sharpened. I like the looks of both and took many more some of which you can find on my flickr stream. It was a real neat little spot to shoot and probably not so much of a hidden gem as I originally thought.

These two shots are a few of the 100 plus shots I took of my buddies amazing 04 cobra. Might look like jsut a mustang to most but this would crush most cars on the streets around my neck of the woods....any production sports car made in the us most likely.....609hp at the rear wheels is nothing to scoff at! Talk about a neck snapping take off I am sure this will accommodate.
Beautiful car which get babied better than Angelina and Brad's kids.....anyways i have about 10 more on my flickr page. you can see them by clicking the link to the right of this.
Hope you like them.... I really feel some came out great for only a simple set up. Next time I want to do a set up with some off camera flash at night!

Spring time Finally here....

It's been a couple of great days lately for photos of clouds and landscapes....I am partial to big pillowy clouds with back light from the sun. Both of these have been played with a bit but for the most part the sky was blue fading to orange as the sun set.
I look forward to taking more shots like this in the future....hopefully with some great subjects involved!

These two seem to love my neighbors tree and live in a little house on the other neighbors garage....so I get to watch these guys fly back and forth like a cat on crack! They never seem to sit in one spot so the fact I even got these two shots amaze me considering I was using a 55-200mm. Not that far away from them and yet decent shots. I'd like to get into birding but don't have the lens i need to break into it the right way. I think i am going to start a "Help Brad Get a Lens" fund.
Seriously though i really enjoy watching these guys since I am a bird lover to begin with.

I'm throwing this photo up due to the fact I love the look of the beard and the eyes...so smoothed out and almost reminds me of the paintings you see from the 50's and 60's of Jesus. Really soft and smooth looking. Not that I am comparing us two.
I really am lacking inspiration to go out and shoot even though the weather is getting so nice....except for the week of rain coming its not time to get out and create those great shots and try to upload one or two without an hour of processing.....
I have been asked how this look is achieved.....So here is the short answer.....
1st- I duplicate the photo and sharpen one for the eyes and increase brightness and contrast.
2nd-with sharp layer on bottom I take top layer and do a glamour blur action on it which basically just selects areas to be smoothed out so to speak. I use to use the available action online but after using it enough I figured out my own method
but the action itself works great. Here is the trick after applying the action completely I reapply a blur but only the blur I do not continue through the entire action. I cancel after the blur is applied and then delete the layer mask which the action creates.

That is basically it after some color adjustments and erasing the eyes on the top layer to expose the sharp brighter eyes underneath. Any other questions lease feel free to ask!

Well, I've been MIA for a while so I figured you deserved a few extra shots. I have realized that my Journey Through The Viewfinder has turned into a Quest to master Photoshop! I have really had more time than i should have lately since being out of work a few months. I decided it was as good a time as any to get my CS3 skills up to speed. These four shots are really just a few examples of the different types of processing I am learning and there are so many more. I am still trying to figure out the niche I think i fit into but finally I believe I am getting closer. There are tons of portrait photographers out there so thats out. I don't travel a lot so a National Geographical style of photography is not going to happen any time soon. Photojournalism is not one that particularly interests me for many reasons but mostly I feel its a bit of an intrusive style of photography. Nothing against them, I just dont think I would be comfortable enough to get in the places and settings to get the shots for newsprint.
After eliminating some types of photography I thought about all the processing I am doing. It really is an art form to me and from feedback others believe it is too. I asked myself how can this art be an asset to me? YAHTZEE!!!!! How about a business taking others photos or photos I have taken and give them an artistic spin? I think the right plan of attack and marketing and this might work. It could be your pet pooch chasing a ball or the house of your dreams or the birth of your first Grandchild.
Whatever you wanted done, hopefully i have a style that will work to create a more magical catch of a single moment.
So with this decided now its on to figuring out the actual execution of something like this......but hey, don't all great things start with an idea?