And now for something completely different....

The good news - I've had a great 2019 collecting images.  The end of 2018 saw a number of aircraft and nature images come into my collections as well.  With all these recent images to review, edit and write about one would thing that is a good thing, and it is and was.
The bad news - I've lost the time, and the effort, to develop the digital art side of the hobby.  I've had a lot of pictures I wanted spend time with.  In prior years, I could could play with HDR to 'alter' the looks of photographs, to make that my art.  I've missed that over the last few months.
In December of 2018 my art 'direction' was to be able to work a illustrative image.  I ended up purchasing a program to help me a along with that effort, that I often refer to as 'painting'.  Call it getting lazy, trying to get something out fast.  But while I was looking, I played with Photo Shop exploring all the filters, and colors, and shades - a lot of fun things that don't make the YouTube videos.
I had forgotten about this work until a few days ago when looking for photos to put in the Nine O Nine post.  I didn't post it in December.  Not sure why, maybe brain freeze?  But as I look at this image now, and what I was able to do with it - time to post.  
All I would say about this is it is how I would see a B-17, in it's own era looking at the skies awaiting its next call to serve.  Maybe it is too many movies, but I don't see many sunny days in the area around the aircraft.  It has a crappy job to do, but as the people who flew it they were going to do the best they could.  Dark.  If I cold draw, this would be it.

Looking Forward

I think this works,it does for me.  The photograph is OK, but in my head this tells the story a bit better.

Thunderbirds and an Eagle - You're Never Alone

Time to get my Airshow on.
I'm not quite ready to get my full Airshow on, as there is a weekend coming up and I'm sure to find my way to the Refuge for a few hours.  But it is getting close.
So I started to think of something different.  What if.....
I've got the Eagle pictures.  I've got the aircraft pictures.  This should work.
The Eagle picture is from earlier this year.  It is quite small in the picture, but in reality it doesn't need to be perfect.  The background sky is close to the cloudless sky of the Thunderbirds, so should be close anyway.  
The Thunderbird picture is from this post.
The rest is just Photoshop.
The hard part was the decision on how large the Eagle and the opacity.  And what would you call this?
This was clearly a departure for me.  A little growth.  A little fun.  

And then I thought - how would the paint look?

I'm going with the non=painted version for the screen saver collection.  Until I change my mind.

B-17 Engine (Close Up)

I was fascinated by the radial engines on the B17.  The thought of getting 9 cylinders to fire when they are supposed to and run for hours on end and not look like a conventional block engine baffles me.  I'm also fascinated by the variable pitch propeller system.  I (used to) know a little bit about how all that works from a prior life.  But the props on a C-130 are driven by a jet engine and not cylinders.
Some of the categories in my photo club deal with machinery, so I took a number of close up shots.  This could also be a self portrait and somehow I managed to get myself in the lower left - along with shadow.

1/500   f/9
Aperture Priority
ISO 400
Focal Length 18mm
Focal Length (35 mm) 27 mm

Old Lobster Traps

This was taken along the walkway to the Rockland Lighthouse.  All along the breakwater were old broken and dented lobster traps.  The yellow colors of the 'seaweeds' along with the green(?) of the plastic coated traps made for an interesting sight.

1/25 f/11
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
Focal length 50 mm (75 mm for 35mm film)

Photo Set

Laurel Lodge - Alternate View

This is certainly an effect that either appeals to you or not.  I tried the same effect on the Point Betsie Lighthouse.  Need to look at it more in different scenarios.

Balloon Day - 2010

Saturday was Balloon Day for us.  We started with our long awaited and multi-scheduled Balloon flight.  The rest of the day was spent in Frankenmuth, MI for a balloon festival (and doggie festival).  The holiday weekend so far has been wonderful and except for a Friday night/Saturday morning work issue - has been perfect so far.

The total day has expanded my use for photographic tools and tricks to get some really good shots.  So far this weekend, there have been over 150 shots.  I had to throw away about 10 for either unfocused or some other rookie mistake.  For shots in changing environments - and no shots in AUTO - it was a good day.

The ISO minimum on the D90 is 200.  For the day, I could have used much lower.  So I was really forced to using some tricks - and for the most part came away with some really good shots.

First, I used a polarizer almost all day.  For the early morning balloon ride, there was enough light at 6:30 AM to allow the polarizer to work.  Later in the day, with full sunlight I could set the WB to Daylight and back off the exposure by one full step.  That setup seemed to work for most of the day.  As dusk approached, I could move the exposure back to normal in increments.  For the balloon glow, I had the ISO set to 650 and the exposure upped by a step.  For the most part, the night shots turned out real well.

So it was a great day - had a lot of fun.  And have a better idea for the Nikon settings for a sunny day!

1/50 f/8
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
Focal length 50 mm (105 mm for 75 mm film)

Belle Isle Fishing Pier

On my recent day-trip to Belle Isle, I walked on this old fishing pier.    In the background is the city of Detroit skyline.  This would be a great place to freighter watch.  I'm not real happy with the light pole on the right, but if I try to remove it, the light fixture on the left front pole disappears.  And I'd like to get it so that it isn't straight out from under me.  (When I learn to hover above objects - I'll get it right!)  As in all these types of shots, I like the wood grain.

1/250 f/29
Aperture Priority
ISO 400
Focal length 42 mm (63 mm for 35mm film)
Photo set

Point Betsie Lighthouse - Another View

For my portfolio project - more experimentation. This is my favorite shot of the Point Betsie Lighthouse with a bit of a different twist for me.  I'm trying to go with a sketch effect.  I started out trying to get the red roof selected. but just didn't work lout for me.  Trees are in the way.  So started looking for more options.  I stumbled across this sketch effect.   Something new for the bag of tricks.

Butterfly on Flower - Alternative

I've been trying to expand my eye and talents.  I read somewhere that the singular color object is out.  It may be, but I like this one.  The photo is a butterfly in a flower bed.  The flower bed is on the south shore of the UP, at the visitor's center.  We were traveling from the Soo to deliver Julie to Grand Traverse.

The original photo is much larger and unfortunately has some sidewalk in it.  That had to go, and any chance to blow it up much larger also went out the window.  (Somewhere - there is a fractal in my future!)

Anyway - for a project I'm working on I need to take a photo and make variations.  One of the variations was a Sepia effect - which would be my first shot at that.  While playing around - this showed up.

1/800 f/7.1
Auto
ISO 400
Focal length 135 mm (202 mm for 35mm film)

Point Betsie Lighthouse - Wow

This is different.  For a project I'm working on, I stumbled on this effect.  I kind of like it.  Out of the box, there isn't much to change here.  If I really wanted to tweak it - I might play with the roof a bit.  Not much of a story here - other than I now have a new effect.  This is going at some point to the club.....