Now, if you follow along on my Facebook page you might have seen that I got a job to photograph some restaurants at the airport that were constructed by Trinity TransCon. Well, that finally got on the schedule for this past Friday. One condition though, was that we needed to photograph the spaces after they closed. That meant a very late night at the airport. We finally got the restaurant I was really looking forward to shooting - The Salt Lick. It's a cool-looking bar-b-que place with a big open fire pit in the cooking area. This was going to be fun. That is until we got there and found the doors locked and no way to turn on the fire or any lights (no lights!). Wow, so, my job just became photographing the place with none of it's built-in lighting (at night, remember).

So, let me tell you how I created this image. (You will see the original image lower on the page.)

Fortunately, I had just bought a video training series from an amazing architectural photographer in California named Mike Kelley. He has a technique for creating very distinctive images using some pretty simple equipment and some useful tricks in Photoshop. The main idea centers around selectively painting areas of the scene with light from a handheld flash. All of those individual photos get combined into one finished image by overlaying the lit areas. The technique is something that gives you full control over lighting every part of your space without needing tons of lighting. All it takes is a way to remotely trigger your camera and something to fire your flash remotely. (A great tool for remotely triggering your camera from your tablet or phone is called CamRanger. I actually use this cool thing and a free app on my tablet. I use PocketWizard Flexx TTs to fire my flashes. I have tried the cheap flash triggers and been really disappointed. PocketWizards just work every time.) OK, enough of the commercial, let's look at where I started. Below is the base image I started with (and what the space actually looked like). Amazing, isn't it?

I first started by lighting the wood ceiling in multiple places like this.

After I felt like I had covered all of that area, I worked on lighting the sign.

I knew that I need to get some light on the stainless hood too.

I also knew I needed some more light on the wood and stone in the front.

Finally, here is a quick animation showing how I stacked it all together (along with the rest of the editing) - 13 photos total.

So, there you have it. That was my first attempt at light painting. I was happy to have a solution for the situation I ended up in. Now, I am not going to say I did the best possible job at it, but I am very pleased with the result. I have a ton to learn in using this method, but I definitely plan using it more in the future.

A lot of the images I got from this shoot were just close-ups of some of the decorations, and they just let me get those however I wanted. But there were 2 main views of the dining room that took a lot of work to stage well. I learned somethings from having a designer evaluating my images on the spot (hooked up to my tablet for immediate viewing). I also got to put some things into practice that I have read about or been studying. It was nice to take a test shot and realize that an area needed more light and be able to do it. Hey, maybe I am getting the hang of this (with still a long way to go).

So, I wanted to put together this post to show you some of the places where I got to do just that.

View number one was the main view they wanted. This angle let them see the dining room setting, the decorations on the service table and the decorations on the mantel reflected in the mirror. I am going to start off by showing you my first test shot. You can see that the fireplace is much darker than the rest of the image. It's not the main focus but it should be bright enough to be more evident.

In this shot you can see that there is much more light in the background. This is better, but the final image still needed a lot of work.

This is the final shot. I backed up to get more of the tree on the right and more of the light fixture. I also lowered the camera to get more of the table. We moved the chair that was between the dining table and the service table. We also moved the chair in the living room to allow the fire to be seen. We also moved the candle and replaced it with the flower arrangement. Finally, we took a framed picture off the wall on the right hand side because you could only see half of the picture in the reflection which made it look like the picture disappeared into the Christmas tree. Overall, I think the final version is a much stronger image.

The second view was from the opposite side of the dining room. The challenge was to not let the lights look "blown out" (so bright that there is no detail). Fortunately they were on dimmers, so we turned them down really low. That was great for the lights themselves, but it caused the details at the back of the room to be too dark.

I added some flash using an shoot-through umbrella to get some light on the chairs, the serving table, under the dining table, and on the place settings and flowers. The difference is subtle, but it is enough to lighten up those dark areas without looking unnatural.

This was a portrait orientation of the same view. The problem I had was that the bottom of the chairs and under the table were not getting enough light. So, I shot one of umbrella flashes under the table to remove those areas that are too dark and draw unwanted attention. The test shot is on the left, and the shot with the fill-in flash is on the right.

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This next view was another case where the background area needed a bit of work to keep it from being a distraction. I tried the light 3 different ways: hall light on (left), hall light off (center), and low level of flash (right). I used the third one so that the the background was not too bright so that it washed out the flowers and not too dark so that it was a big dark blob.

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And finally (thanks for sticking around), this is my last example. I liked this view of the place setting with the Christmas tree in the background. I shot this one a little differently than the others. I focused on the Foreground and really blurred out the background. I liked how it looked, but I felt like the place setting and the flowers were too dark since they were the focus. Again, on the left you can see my test shot. On the right you can see the difference in bringing in some extra light from above to highlight the plates and napkin, the flowers and add some sparkle to the crystal. Again, subtle, but I think it was worth it.

There you have it. So far, this has been my biggest learning experience in a home shoot.

Here are more of the shots if you are interested.

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For those of you still here, I'll tell you a bit about it. I had a family get in touch with me about photographing some handmade jewelry that is done by one of their daughters. She makes small horse sculptures out of wax and then has those cast in sterling silver for necklace charms. She started this jewelry business a few years ago and wanted to make some changes to the current photos they had and work on a new branding for the products. We decided to start with doing one piece to use in a magazine ad and then come back later and shoot all of the other pieces for the website/Facebook. We talked about two main ideas for doing the charms. One would be the horse "floating" on a solid background with no other props. The other was to stage the shot with the charm and some other items that come with the product (nice wooden box, leather strap, etc.).

This was the first option I shot. I used a piece of monofilament thread to suspend the charm to make it stand up on its own. I knew that using such a thin, almost-transparent string like this would be easy to remove in Photoshop to give it that floating appearance. For the lighting I knew that I needed to light it evenly from both sides to minimize shadows but not so bright as to lose the detail in the metal. My favorite part of the effect I got was actually an accident. I had set a white, shiny binder behind the setup to block some backlighting from a window. I had a third flash on my camera and pointed it at the binder. It reflected into the glass and gave a nice highlight behind and below the horse. In case you are interested you can see my really professional setup for this shot. I am fairly pleased with the result.

So, this is the shot they chose. It's pretty consistent with the style they currently have, and I think it shows off the piece well. They were looking for something that was not cluttered but still showed more of what you get with the piece. The card in the back comes with the charm. Each horse she makes is based on a real horse, so the pieces are named after the horse. This one is Lucy. She is a favorite. To light this one, I used an umbrella off to the left of the image to light it all evenly. I also used a flash above the scene with a homemade snoot to focus the light. I pointed that slightly in front of the horse to light it well and get rid of the hard shadow of the horse on the box. It also makes that area of the image brighter than the left side to keep the focus on the horse. Again, check out my super-fancy lighting arrangement.

So, that's my first product shoot. It was challenging, but fun. It's a good exercise in making light work the way I need it to. I am looking forward to shooting the rest of their pieces. I'll let you know when that happens.

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The coolest part was when we landed. The owner told me that he was going to pick up a new plane for them to use in the flight school. He asked if it would be possible for us to do some plane to plane photography of the new aircraft. He wants to take his Cessna up with the windows off and get some shots of his new plane with something like downtown Fort Worth or Cowboy stadium (AT&T stadium?) in the background. How cool would that be? I really hope that works out, and you can be sure you will read about it here when it happens.

So, here are my favorites.

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This was my overall favorite.

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I had to get a shot of my office building.

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I liked having the wing in this shot. I feel like it gives some context to the scene.

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This was the propeller from the Cirrus Turbo. I took this one between my 2nd and 3rd flights.

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I just liked the view of the instrument panel and the control tower.

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Here is my new favorite bridge in Fort Worth.

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The day was really hazy, but I still liked this shot of downtown.DSC_6416

This was such a cool day. Aerial photography was much more difficult than I expected. Sometimes it was difficult to even frame the shot with all of the turbulence. I would love to go up and shoot again, and I am looking forward to possibly shooting the plane-to-plane shots. Fun stuff.

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So, what am I writing about this week? Well, we decided that on this last week we would also write down what we have learned or how we have benefited from this project. That's easy...I have been pushed. As I have spent this last year breaking into my pursuit of photography I have had a huge amount of support. Many people have told me they like my photography. I have sold a lot of artwork. I have even been hired to photograph 3 beautiful homes. But, I never had anyone tell me what was wrong with my images. Mind you, I'm not looking for people to point out everything I do wrong in my photography (the list is long), but getting constructive criticism was new to me.

Here is the best way I can think to put it: I have had a photography sensei. He is an intense photographer and has high a very high standard. He has not been negative about my work but has always had input into how to make the lighting better or the composition stronger or where my focus should have been (or even that I should just delete a shot). So, he has pushed me. And that has been really good. I think I have improved dramatically over the last 7 months.

Thinking about what to write reminded me of a story I heard recently. I don't remember the details exactly, but I will convey the intent still. The story was of a young piano player. He played a performance at a grand venue. When he finished, the audience erupted in a standing ovation. The man left the stage as expected. The man in charge of the theater came back to tell him he should go back out for an encore because the people loved him. He looked out from the curtain and saw one man still sitting. He said he would not go out for an encore because of that man. The theater owner told him that was foolish to not go out because of only one person, since all the other people were amazed. The piano player said, "That man is my instructor. If he is not standing, then I have not done well enough."

Well that leads me to the only image I am going to put on this page. We had a theme about 2 months ago to reshoot something we had already done in the past. I went back and reshot the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. When I showed this photo, he said "I've got nothing." That was my moment of have the instructor applaud my performance. I nailed it in his eyes. That was a big deal.

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So, that is about all I have to say. These homes that they build are beautiful. That makes my job much easier.  I am going to just highlight some of favorites. Creating these images was not easy, but I feel like improved a lot from the last luxury home I did. Every picture you will see is composed of 3 shots taken at different exposures and combined later to get a broader range of exposures (light to dark).

This is their formal living and dining space. Very nicely designed as you can see. I took a shot of this room when I first got to the house, but ended up coming back to reshoot this because the late evening light was so nice coming through the front of the house.

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Arches. They are all throughout the house and really amazing. I love the light fixtures they use and the interesting patterns they cast on the ceilings.

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Here is the master suite. It had this great entrance into the outdoor living space (with fireplace).

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The master bathroom was, um, nice.

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You could tell that this kitchen and living area were designed around hosting. It seem like such a great space for congregating. The living room wall had 4 sets of French doors leading to the pool and outdoor living area.

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This was the upstairs area. There was also a workout room, bedroom and balcony up here.

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This study was amazing. Wood everywhere and a nice view of the pool.

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Finally, here is the pool and outdoor space. It had a great Roman bath feel to it.

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This was another really great opportunity for me. The photography was very challenging, and I know I still need a lot of improvement. I am also amazed that I was able to do this again for them. I love this work more every time and can't wait for my next opportunity.

By the way, here are the rest of the images from the home.

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Really, this theme is bigger than just a weekly challenge idea. It's the thing that can set a person apart from the crowd. What makes my artwork worth hanging on your wall? Why would someone hire me to shoot their interior over the next guy? I once read an article where the author suggested looking at the photograph you are about to take and ask yourself one question: Have I seen this photo before? If the answer is "yes" then don't take the shot. It's been done before. That idea resonated with me, because I was already trying to do just that. I really do make an effort to be distinct in my photography. I do try to learn from other photographers, but I don't want to copy them. I want to be me. I think these Coldplay lyrics put it well:

You could take a picture of something you see
In the future where will I be?
You could climb a ladder up to the sun
Or write a song nobody had sung
Or do something that's never been done

My first idea was flowers. I have taken a lot of flower picture, and, no doubt, will take lots more. I usually avoid the dead ones though.

DSC_5290 I saw pictures of these fields when they were in full bloom - incredible. I didn't have a chance to go see them, but I drove past them on the way to Houston. I can tell you I was the only one out there while they looked like this.

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My second idea came from something my wife told me about. She had seen some images from a photographer who does underwater portraits. Underwater, wearing regular clothes. That gave me the idea of having all my kids jump into a pool with all their clothes on. This one didn't come out exactly as I had in mind, but it was fun to do.

I'm not sure if I have abandoned normal convention to become my own version of a photographer, but my goal is to be doing something that's never been done.

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The place I had in mind for the empty/busy contrast was the downtown Fort Worth train station. That proved to be a bit difficult. We don't exactly have a train station that's like a New York subway. The platform is nice and the main lobby is beautiful, but I had this idea of hundreds of people standing along the track waiting for the train and reading newspapers (or, realistically, just staring at their phones). Or I pictured being inside the main lobby with a huge crowd moving through the station. I went to the station multiple times and never saw anything close to that. I didn't go before work, so maybe that's the secret, super-busy time. If anyone knows what that really busy time is please let me know so I can try this again. Oh well, I still got something I was happy with (even though it took a fair amount of time and some Photoshop trickery).

So, my location for getting the scene in different lights was the Tarrant County College campus downtown (Trinity River Campus). This is the location that used to be the Radio Shack Headquarters. It's a very cool looking campus. I focused on the water feature. First, I went during the middle of the day...in July...in Texas...with no shade. You can't tell in this picture, but I actually melted. Surely there should be some reward for my bravery. Or not.

For this shot I added a bit of an effect on this to make it look like a miniature. Honestly, it's tough to get something interesting in the middle of the day.

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This theme was probably the most effort for me of any of the past themes. I spent a lot of time planning and researching and a lot of time out shooting for this one - at least 3 trips to the train station and a couple hours at the college campus. Overall this was a good project.

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This first image needs some introduction and explanation. As I mentioned above, a macro lens is great for getting really close to an object. There is a downside though - a very small depth of field. If you want to understand a bit more about what effect the depth of field has then go check out the top half of this blog that I wrote a while back. Go read it. I'll wait... Foreground/Background in Focus. OK, to continue, a macro lens has a really narrow depth of field. That means if you are photographing something that extends back into the field of view it will be progressively out of focus. This can be a nice effect, but sometimes you want the entire object in focus. Well, too bad. That's just not possible. At least it's not possible with only one image. This photo of the pocketwatch is actually not one photo but eleven. Yes, eleven shots to create one image that looks like what you would expect to see. The technique to achieve this is called "focus stacking" or "focal stacking". The method is to photograph the object with the focus set to each area that you want to ultimately be in focus in the final image. In other words you focus on the area closest to the camera and take a shot. Then move the focus slightly farther out and take a shot. Continue this process until you reach as far into the frame as you want to be focused. Then all of those images can be combined into one image using the focused area from each shot. Here is an example of some of the images I took to create this one. I know the image is small, but you should be able to see how the focus moves from the front of the watch to the back in that series. This was a fun experiment and something I will definitely do again.

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While the objects were small, I think I created some big images. Macro photography is another fun field with endless possibilities. Leave a comment if you have other small object ideas.

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So, what does all of that have to do with this blog post? Well, as I spent time in the city, I noticed 2 majors themes in the city of Gent - the canal through the middle of the city and bikes. Bikes. Were. Everywhere. Obviously bikes were the main mode of transportation in the city. It was so cool to see them chained up to the railing or just leaning against a wall. It just seemed so...European. I knew I had to get "the shot" of bikes. I had an idea of what I wanted, and then as we came across the scene below I knew that was it. Sometimes in photography you just know when you nail it. You get a shot and know that there is no point in trying to do anything else with it. The image below was just that. It was definitely my shot of the day, and, in my opinion, was the shot of the trip. When I got home from the trip I didn't have to decide which picture to print to go above my fireplace. I only had to decide how big I wanted it.

But, really, why focus on this photo? Simple. This is the first photo I ever sold. I posted many of my images from the trip while I was there. I got a lot of very positive feedback and even some extra interest when I got home. This shot proved to be a favorite of someone else who wanted a copy for herself. I really had never considered selling my photography. It was equal parts flattering, exciting and scary. However, I realized that I really loved the idea of it. What an amazing thing that something I created would be displayed in someone's home! So there you go. That's why I am singling out this picture. One year ago, this was the first print I ever did for myself and the first print I ever sold.

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I thought I would also include how it looked right off of the camera. Like I mentioned above, I loved the shot right when I took it. The scene was perfect. But it needed something to make it great. First thing was to crop out the area in front of the first bike. There was way too much dead space there. Then I sharpened the image and added some contrast. I darkened the bottom right corner to make the hole in the brick less noticeable. Then I removed a good amount of color from the image. True black and white just didn't work for this, but I didn't want full color. Desaturating (removing the color) it by about 50% felt just right. It gave the image a more timeless and classic feel. A little color was needed to add some interest but not so much as to be a distraction.

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My kids have asked me what my favorite picture is of all the ones I have taken. Easy. This one. I love it. Not only do I think it's a great shot that captures the feel of my trip to Belgium, but it has a great deal of sentiment to it. This is a special photo to me.

Here are more images from my trip if you are interested.

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One of the first things I thought of was weeds. Near our house is a field with some really huge, amazing thistles. They're giant. They stand probably 3 feet high and the flower is probably 3 inches across. So, even though they are pretty, they are evil weeds. (Although, my wife has threatened to stop there some time to cut some of them because she likes them.) Well, I wanted to get one of the thistles with some wildflowers in the background. However, in typical weed fashion, they were not cooperating. They all pointed the wrong way or didn't have the right background. This one below was the best I could get for that idea.

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I did find this dandelion that was cooperative (and also huge).

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This one was my favorite, but it didn't have the wildflowers in the background. Oh well, it's still a weed, so it's a field flaw (even if it is pretty).

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I couldn't decide between this shot and the next, so here are both.

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So, there you have it. Flaws. But, please don't tell me if they are wrong.

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Well, that was a strange diversion, but seriously, this is the best version of these photos ever. Now let's get on with it.

For this set of images I went back to week 1 of our challenge. The theme was to shoot the same thing every day for a week. My "thing" was water. I did this water drop on the first day and really felt that I could do much better. I did some reading on how to place the lighting and what to use for the container and the drops. I was happy with my lighting, but I didn't have as much control over the drops. Once everything is in place, it's all about timing. The color in the water came from the color background. The water picks up the reflection of the flash on the paper and takes on whatever color paper I used. Overall though I think the result is good.

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The blue lighting on the building worked really well with the color of the sky and reflection in the water.

DSC_3256 I wanted to get the moon in the shot, and on this one I also changed the white balance (the way the camera interprets how it "sees" white). This allowed me to get a different look in the color of the lights.

DSC_3271 Finally, I thought it would be neat to get the contrast in lighting between the restaurant and the neon blue.

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This was a really good exercise. It was good to go back and look for ways to improve what I have done in the past. It was really good to be successful at doing better than I have done in the past. So, I hope you enjoyed the rerun.

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I went to scope it out on Tuesday to get some ideas. Wow, nothing! This is a strange piece of art in a really odd place (at least as far as photographing it goes). Take a look on this map. See the beautiful view on every side of it? Neither did I. Something ugly (no offense to the store owners) is in the background from everywhere you stand. The cutouts for the water are not symmetrical, so there is no way to get a shot of it with any balance to it. You can't really look through any of the cutouts to see anything cool (not even a view of downtown, which can be seen from there). Plus, the night I went to take pictures one half of the directional lighting for the sculpture was burned out, so half of the thing was in the dark. This was going to be tough. Here are some pictures of it on the artist's website to give you an idea of what I was working with. As you can see, it's not the most exciting subject, but that's part of the challenge. Sometimes you have to make the best of what you have.

I thought the stone was nice, so I wanted to get it up-close. I also liked all the layers, textures and shapes from this perspective.

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I got this one in the daytime obviously. Even though it wasn't hot at the time, the water just looks so cool and refreshing.

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I ended up getting an image that I was happy with, and it was certainly a good exercise. How do you take a good image of something that may not be interesting to you? How can you make the best of what you are presented with? How can you introduce something else into the scene to add some interest? I don't know if I made the best representation possible of this artwork, but I think I did my best. And, if I do say so myself, I think my shot is better than any other pictures of this thing that I have seen (including the ones on the artist's site). Now, I'll have to wait and see if my photogra-friend did better.

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1. A picture or relief carving on three panels, typically hinged together vertically and used as an altarpiece.
2. A set of three associated artistic, literary, or musical works intended to be appreciated together.

How is that for an lead-off?! Who knew you were going to learn Greek on a photography blog? I'll throw in even more amazingness... it's "triptyque" in French. That sounds even better. I think I'll start using that version instead.

This week's theme was my suggestion. I think. We put our suggestions into the "hat" so long ago that I'm not entirely sure. However, since you are reading my blog, it was my idea. And it was a wonderful idea. The best! Or at least it was a good topic that I have wanted to do for a while now. I am really pleased with what I got, and I feel like all of the submissions make for strong art pieces. It was nice to have a more serious theme since we have had several weeks of more silly (or at least, less-than-serious) themes.

Why use the idea of a triptych for a photo challenge theme? In the design world groups with an odd number of items are more aesthetically pleasing than groups with even numbers. See for yourself. Look around, especially at good design, and see if you agree. Even-numbered groups can work in some cases, but usually an odd-numbered group is better. Having a central image gives your eye an obvious place to begin and then work to either side to find more of the artwork. Besides, you're reading this on the internet, and everything on the internet is true. So there.

There are two main ways of creating a triptych (or triptyque for my French teacher mother). One is to use 1 image and split it into 3 sections for display. The other is to use 3 images that have a common theme between them. I went for the second option in this exercise because I have wanted to have some options in my portfolio that are intended to be displayed as a group.

Intro. Done. Move on to pictures, Matt.

"Some may boast of prowess bold
Of the schools they think so grand
But there’s a spirit can ne’er be told
It’s the Spirit of Aggieland."

What's that? Not everyone loves the Texas Aggie class ring? Nonsense. It's the best. I played with my dad's ring as a child and longed for the day I had my own. I have photographed it a few times, but I think this is the best one yet. Doing all three sides of it was my wife's idea (but I came up with the execution here). Go here to read about this amazing symbol of the tradition of A&M (and what all the elements of the ring represent).

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"Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness." ~ Psalm 29:2

This is the first time I have shot Christ Chapel Bible Church. I love that even though it is so big, it still looks like a church. I didn't go during a great time of day, so I would like to try again with better light (and some clouds!). It's such a huge building that it's hard to decide what to focus on. I'll have to go again.

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"I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that.  It is a mystique closely approximating a religion.  And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox.  But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing.  For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America.  Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans." ~ John Steinbeck

What more can I say than that? It's Texas. It's awesome.

This was a good theme, and, once again, I didn't even come close to exhausting the possibilities. Thanks for reading. Leave me some feedback if you have ideas for what might make a good triptych.

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This is certainly my favorite church (chapel, really) in Fort Worth. It is special to me because our church used to meet in this building when our church first began, and it is where I got married almost 17 years ago. This is the Marty Leonard Chapel at the Lena Pope Home.

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This church is the Anthony Chapel in Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was designed by the same company that did the church above. The architecture was amazing (as was the location). I tried to get the same pictures of it that I have of the Marty Leonard Chapel.

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This is another church I just keep going back to shoot. It's close to my office and so beautiful. It is the First United Methodist Church near downtown Fort Worth.

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This is my church, Fort Worth PCA.

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This last one is Trinity Hills Baptist Church. I was out shooting something else that night and saw this building as the sun was setting.

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I will conclude with this one even though it is not a church (since it's Easter).

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Thanks for reading. If you are interested in seeing more I have a whole album of churches.

I have an email newsletter to send out monthly to keep people up-to-date on things they might have missed. You can sign up here, and I promise not to bug you with anything other than updates.

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

This was one of my original ideas for this theme. I didn't think of this as comparing the scale of one item to the other but considering the scale of something as small as an acorn that can become something as large as these trees. I took these at the park at the Trinity River. This was not easy to do this day because there was about a 20 mph wind blowing sand all over me and my camera. I could hardly see from all the dust. I know, it's tough work being a photographer. Anyway, these trees in this area are incredible and huge. I love being able to enjoy things like this so close to my office.

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This was a fun one to do. I don't have the coolest, most photo-worthy vehicle, but I just needed some parts of it. I tried a lot of options for conveying this idea, but this one came out the best. I took a bunch of shots, put my things away and thought I was done until I realized how dirty my tires were. So I cleaned my tires, sprayed the driveway down with water, got everything out again and got this shot. It's amazing how much nicer a car shoot looks with clean, shiny tires and wet pavement. It's all in those little, extra things, folks. By the way, this toy car is one of about 10 that stay inside my truck. I'm not sure where they came from or when they showed up, but they have been in there for years and the kids play with them any time they ride with me.

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I took some shots downtown one afternoon. It was cloudy, windy and cold, but I got a couple shots I was happy with. Now, this one below is not a great shot, and I have certainly gotten better ones of this building, but scale was the theme. If you look in the center at the bottom of the shot, you will see a small black blob. That's me.

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For this shot, I didn't have anything in mind to compare it to for scale. I just thought this was so cool at illustrating the size of buildings like this. The super-wide angle lens I used helped exaggerate the height. I thought the flat grey sky helped with making this shot black and white (which is what I had in mind for it). This is the Carter Burgess Plaza (or whatever it is called now).

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So, I am finally down to my favorites. I'm not sure that these really illustrate the theme of emphasizing scale, but I don't care. These photos are great. This was another series that I took lots of shots in different poses. The light was decent outside. It was getting dark and there were clouds, so it was like shooting inside a giant softbox. I liked the background on this one and the pose was good, but the light on everything else just seemed boring. This worked well in black and white, and I added some noise to it to make look like an old photo (and to disguise how yellow my Stormtroopers arms and legs are).

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Looking at what the rest of what I got from these made me realize I needed to go back out and get the lighting right. By this time it was almost dark, so I took my flash out and tried a few different areas for placing it. I ended up putting it behind some of the branches of the bush next to where I was shooting and pointed it into the main area of the bush. I was going for a look as if they were in a forest and the sun was going down off to the right. It threw the long shadows on the ground and gave enough light to look like it was getting dark everywhere else. You may have heard me say in the past that shooting Legos is hard. Well, I was really pleased with this shot. It's my favorite Lego picture I have ever done. Plus, I got a chance to work on my lighting, which is a weakness of mine.

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Well, this theme ended up being pretty fun. I hope that you enjoyed what I posted, and stayed tuned to see what the theme is for next week.

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I really enjoy shooting flowers. I'm sure I don't need to tell you why. You know how beautiful they are. They are made that way right from the beginning. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." ~Matthew 6:28-29 It doesn't matter if it is an entire field, a single rose or a close-up of a single petal - they are amazing. It's also amazing to me that the closer you inspect them the more amazing they are. Really, find a sunflower and look at it with a magnifying glass. You have no idea how much stuff is in there (and according to my wife, all that stuff has a purpose). Keep on reading to see a macro shot of one so you can see what I mean.

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." ~Claude Monet

I feel that way about this photo. I took this shot during my first photography project. I called it "30 Days of Beauty," and the challenge was to photograph something beautiful each day and share the results. Starting that project is what made me realize I wanted photography to be more than a hobby. The first picture I took in that project was a butterfly on some flowers. The picture below was day 12 of the project and one that made me see that I could actually create something beautiful (or at least an appealing capture of something beautiful). This image is what I use for my business cards.

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"Pansies in soft April rains fill their stalks with honeyed sap drawn from Earth's prolific lap." ~Bayard Taylor

This is in a bed at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden that is changed out regularly. We were there on a very sunny day, and the color on this area was just amazing. It helps that the flowers look like they go on forever (which they actually end abruptly right outside of the frame of this shot).

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” ~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

This is one of my favorites. I had just gotten a new macro lens (used for taking extreme close-up pictures). This was on another trip to the botanic garden. Usually a photo should be extremely sharp (perfectly in-focus), but I think the softness of this one really makes the shot.

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“The sunflower is mine, in a way.” ~Vincent van Gogh

This shot was from another 30 day project I did last year. The theme for that day was "Something Close Up." I'd say this one qualified. I actually took this in my backyard, if you can believe it. You don't have to go far to find something beautiful. One of my daughters planted this in a flower pot outside of her bedroom window (they grew to about 10 feet high). I had to do some twisting of the flower and hold it still with one hand while I took the picture (the slightest wind makes macro shots out-of-focus), but as soon as I snapped it I knew that it was the one to use. Once I got it on the computer I could not believe how amazing it looked that big. I had no idea all those shapes and patterns were in there.

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"A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books." ~Walt Whitman

This was another backyard shot. I had never really paid attention to how these look as they begin to bloom (even though we have them almost every year). I was pretty amazed to see this star shape. The petals also have a shine to them like they are covered in glitter.
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"Bring me home some flowers from your trip." ~Mrs. Jones

Many years ago, I went on a mountain climbing trip, and my wife was not invited (sorry, it was a guy trip). She wanted to go but since she couldn't she told me that I had to bring her back a picture of some flowers (we were going to Wyoming). It became a tradition that I take pictures of flowers on any trip when she doesn't get to go. Of course I take them when she is there, but I find something just for her when she isn't there. The shot below wasn't on a trip, and she was actually with me, but it is one of her favorites. We were at a wedding, and I had to escape during the reception. I found this out in a field at the Dallas Arboretum where the wedding and reception were held.

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I did "pick" this one for her for Valentine's Day this year.

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Thanks for making it this far. I really do appreciate the support you all have given me in my photographic endeavor. If you are interested in seeing more I have a whole album of flowers.

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If you don't know about it, I have a friend who co-owns a luxury custom home builder in Fort Worth with his brother - Glendarroch Homes. About a month ago we started talking about me doing photos of one or more of the company's homes to use in an ad campaign they are running in Fort Worth, Texas Magazine. I saw this as a great opportunity to get into an area of photography that has interested me for a while - architectural and real estate photography. I'll be honest - I'm not great at taking pictures of people. I know this, and really, I'm not all that interested in improving. I want to take great pictures of may family, but beyond that, it's just not something that I hope to excel at doing. I love nature photography, and i have really enjoyed the shooting I have done with churches and other interesting buildings. So, I wanted to jump at this chance to break into a new area.

As I mentioned earlier, this was actually the first time to be hired to do any photography. I've sold prints and calendars and such, but I have never been sent out to do something specifically for a client. That's a whole different thing from taking photos of whatever grabs my attention. This time I had a specific audience. Could I capture what he wanted? Could I represent his company in a way that he and his brother would be happy with?

So, how did it go? I spent a lot of time researching, looking at work he had gotten done in the past, looking at successful architectural photographers' work, reading, thinking, planning, etc. And guess what. It was tough. It was a harder task than I was expecting. Things didn't quite go as I thought, I was lacking some equipment that would have made things easier, and it took a lot longer than I thought it would (of course). Getting started once I got in the house was the hardest part. I felt like I just froze, not knowing how to begin. However, the more time I spent, the more comfortable I got, and things went smoother. I am very happy with my results for it being my first time to do anything like this. I hope the builder is happy, and hopefully he will use one or more of my shots in a magazine ad. You can be sure I will be letting you know if that happens. I'll also definitely being saying "yes" if I am asked to do this again. It was a challenge, but I was a challenge that I liked and an area I would like to master (or at least semi-master).

Well, I assume you are not here for my writing but for the photos, so let's get on with it. I am going to just highlight some of favorites and give a link to all of the shots at the end (so keep scrolling). Creating these images was not easy. Every picture you will see (except one) is composed of 3 shots taken at different exposures and combined later to get a broader range of exposures (light to dark).

Don't tell anyone, but a movie wasn't actually playing when I took this. (I added the Lord of the Rings image after the fact - shhhh.)

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Here is another interior photography trick I learned about. A typical shot (or multiple shots combined) will not allow you to see out windows. Usually the windows will just be a big, white blur since the interior is so much darker than the outside. So, you can take a shot exposed for the outdoors and combine that portion of it to your image to allow the viewer to see the interior and exterior in one shot (more like your eyes can do already). It's something that is expected when looking at real estate photos even though people may not even realize they expect it. When you are selling a home (especially one like this) you can't very well tell the viewer, "Sorry, but cameras don't really work that way, so you can't see what's outside."

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This was another tough shot to do. The doorway to the right is to the wine room. It was much darker than the rest of the shot, so I had the opposite problem as the one above. In order to get this I had to take a 4th picture that was very over-exposed in order to get enough light in that area. This problem would be easily solved with additional light, but I don't have any (see reference above on lacking equipment).

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The home had these amazing ceilings in many areas, and I really like how this shot emphasizes them.

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Here are some obligatory kitchen shots (it was a beautiful and huge kitchen, of course).

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I went with some softer color and lower contrast on this one to give it a more country kitchen look.

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The living area had some amazing stonework and was so nicely decorated.

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Here is my favorite shot. This was taken from the master bathroom looking into the master bedroom. I like that the whole room is not visible, and I intentionally softened the color and contrast for the warm and calm look. I was going for a look that would invite the viewer right into it. I think I got it.

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Well, ultimately this was a really great opportunity for me. It was a major stretch in so many ways. The photography was hard, and I know there is a lot of room for improvement. I also know that the builder took a risk letting someone do this for the first time on such a high-end home. Starting out at the best is pretty intimidating.

Thanks for reading and thanks to those of you who have followed along with this whole thing on my Facebook page. If you would like to see the rest of the photos they are in this album.

I have an email newsletter to send out monthly to keep people up-to-date on things they might have missed. You can sign up here, and I promise not to bug you with anything other than updates.

I think the effect of this one came out the best out of all I did this week. I wish I had some better color for this one, but since I am a bad painter it seems to be fairly appropriate to have a bad fake painting. Focusing on my hand made it seem like the townhomes were model size.

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I took this one off the other side of the bridge where I stood to take the picture above.

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These were fun to do, and my son was really patient with me (since we were out in this field for a long time). This one came out well, with his hair being lit be the moon.

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This one isn't quite so fun and isn't as interesting without knowing the details. The nail is actually huge as you can see on the right. In the shot on the left it was about 6 feet farther back from the hammer, but since I zoomed in on the 2 objects, the camera lens compresses the distance. Here is the very glamorous behind-the-scenes shot of my setup.

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I saw this one one evening and got in the right place at the right time.

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I got my wife to do some "modeling" for me.

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Here is my favorite. I got my 3 daughters to pose this one for me. The one who is floating away is just the type who would float away on some balloons if she could.

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I know that no one will be wanting to print a copy of these, but they were a lot of fun to do. Plus, most of these can be done with even the most basic camera. Look around and try to find some fun ways to trick the eyes.

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For this week I wanted to find buildings, bridges, etc. that have repeating designs, but I also wanted to find areas of repetition that weren't exactly the same thing repeated (non-identical repetition). I don't think I was really able to do that part of it like I had hoped. I also had some ideas for setting up some scenes to convey it (as you'll see). I didn't really achieve everything I wanted with this, but I found a lot I was happy with. We went on a short vacation in the middle of the week which meant I probably missed some things at home, but oh well. Now, on to the pictures.

So, if you can believe it, this was the first time I have ever gone in the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum. The building is beautiful...the art (in my opinion) is not. Seriously, there is a stick on display when you first walk in! Funny that a building that is so precise and uniform has such chaotic artwork on display. This is definitely a favorite from the week. I need to go back and get this place at night (and not in the winter, so there is some actual color in the background).

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This is the Lancaster Avenue bridge. The topside of it is fairly plain, but the girders are so cool. I've shot this bridge before but not like this. My wife was sure I climbed up onto the underside to get this shot, but no, I just found a spot where you can stand at this height. It looks like the supports go on forever.

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This is another place I have shot many times, but it's just so beautiful (and really close to my office). I wish I could get some shots of these arches without all the cars on the road. That's why I cropped this one as a square.

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For this one, I was getting out some supplies to do the next picture. I saw a bag of dice in our "school closet" (we homeschool) and thought it would be cool for this theme. There's not much to explain about this one - it's dice, in rows, with a reflection. In fact, that's what I think I will name it.

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This was one of the first things that came to mind. I'm sure you've seen something like this before...but not from me. I like how the lighting turned out.

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We went on a short vacation, and I found this line-up by the pool. I would have loved to straighten all of these and adjust the backs of them, but the pool gate was locked. Alas, I had to settle for pseudo-order.

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This was the outside of the indoor waterpark we went to on our vacation.

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And finally, just because I also love to be overly-literal. How's that for repetition?

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So, that's the end of this theme. This one was fun for me, because the ideas are everywhere. What will next week bring?

So, that's the end of this theme. This one was fun for me, because the ideas are everywhere. What will next week bring?

OK, enough of the repetition. Thanks for reading.

I have an email newsletter to send out monthly to keep people up-to-date on things they might have missed. You can sign up here, and I promise not to bug you with anything other than updates.

I'll show you what I got for the week. Try to contain yourselves.

This is my favorite from the serious ones I took. I took a trip over to Avoca coffee shop. Take a look at the before shot to see what's missing.

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This idea was thanks to my kids. Here's my oldest daughter "reading."

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This one was my son's idea. I would have liked to do this shot in a much prettier bathroom, but sometimes I have to work with what I have.

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I spent some time wandering around the Botanic Gardens on one of our beautiful February "spring" days. I liked this line of trees that were completely bare (missing leaves?) and thought converting it to black-and-white would really emphasize the contrast between the white bark and the sky. DSC_0245

This one didn't come out as well as I hoped, but the idea was there. This spot just needed and old couple sitting in it enjoying the gardens and the cool day.

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This was another one from the garden. They had a bed that was mixed with pansies and poppies. The poppies looked really cool as they were starting to bloom. It's just missing the flower.

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On Friday, my wife and I went on a Segway tour. It was so fun. What's missing here? Someone holding this thing up. Crazy! (By the way, the sign on mine said "Riding a Segway from Segway Fort Worth is more awesome than a shark high-fiving a bear in outer space, during an explosion.")

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Something seems missing here too.

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Ok, now this shot isn't technically the best, but it is definitely my favorite one from the week (and featured some great acting, by the way). And so that my wife doesn't look like she doesn't feed us, the food really isn't missing. It's all on the counter.

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And here's one last one before you go. So, what's missing? Well, my artwork on your wall, of course.

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This week was tough, and I have to say that it wasn't the most fun or successful shooting I have had. I guess that's why it's called a challenge isn't it?

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*warning - photo-geek content ahead*

So, how does the whole out-of-focus part work in a photo? When you take a picture, there is a certain area of the shot that is sharply in focus (assuming you focused well). The starting and ending point of the focused area is called the "depth of field." That just means how deep in the image is the part that is in focus. This can be anywhere from only being inches (or smaller) deep in the shot or can extend to the entire image. For the most part this depth of field is controlled by the size of the aperture (the opening that lets the light in) - the bigger the opening the smaller the focused area; the smaller the opening the more of the image is in focus. There are many for factors that cause this effect and this is a significantly oversimplified explanation, but let's be honest...you probably have either stopped reading or fallen asleep at this point.

I put together an example using the same image to show how depth of field changes as the aperture size decreases. The picture below was taken at f/1.8 on the left (huge opening) and progressing to the right with larger and larger depth of field (smaller aperture). You can easily see how the in-focus area changes. Having a narrow depth of field can be really helpful to remove a distracting background like the one in the example. So in order to accomplish the theme for this week I had to take one photo with the focus point in the foreground which blurs out the background and then take the same picture with the focus point in the background which blurs out the foreground. Got it?

ApperatureExample *end - photo-geek content*

OK, sorry about that. I just had to get it out of my system. I promise you won't learn anything else from this post.

Welcome back to those of you who dozed off or finally came back after the boring bit. On to the photos for the week.I'm just going to show the pictures in the order that I took them, since I'm not sure that I have a favorite shot for the week.

The first day I went out, I was actually headed someplace else, but passed by the First United Methodist church downtown and had to stop. I have shot this church before but mainly had focused on the architecture of it. The statue in the front seemed like a great spot to get the effect I wanted.

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After my stop at the church I headed over to Oakwood Cemetery. I had seen pictures from there, and it looked like a cool spot. I plan on trying some more things from that location.

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Self portrait?

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The next day I went down to the Stockyards. I wanted to get some shots of those really great brick walkways. I found one isle with no one on it, and got some shots that I really liked.

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The last day of shooting was with my super-cool brother-in-law who is a Fort Worth Motorcycle Police Officer.

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Just for the irony of it...

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This week's theme was harder than the others, but I think it really could be fun to explore this more and work on telling a story with seeing something more in the second shot that reveals more meaning in the first shot. Maybe I will revisit this some day.

Pop quiz: Which makes the depth of field larger (deeper) - a bigger aperture or a smaller one?

I started an email newsletter last month to send out monthly to keep people up-to-date on things they might have missed. You can sign up here, and I promise not to bug you with anything other than updates.

To get my downtown shots I wanted to be up high. So, I just took a shot and asked the security guard if I could go on the roof of my building. He said, "Sure, just come get me when you are ready." I have been up there before, but it was the middle of the day in the summer. Yeah, not very smart. I got some cool shots but nothing like this. Of course, this time it was about 40 degrees with a 10 MPH wind. Not so smart either, but it was so amazing watching the whole city change as the sun went down. The buildings slowly showed their lights as the sky got darker. The buildings also continued to reflect the sunset colors even after the sunset wasn't visible.

Here is the photo for the week. It is definitely a favorite. This is 4 shots stitched together. It took a lot of work to make this look good and not like some camera-phone panorama that looks all curved. I'm sorry that I can't really post this very big, but at about 50% of its size it stretches across two 20" monitors. It's huge (and the versions below is cropped). I would love to print this, but I can't find a size that I can print that won't cut off about half of the width. You can see the reflected sunset in the two Bass Towers in the middle of the frame.

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Here are some more shots I got while playing around 10 stories above Fort Worth.

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This is looking down at the corner of Summit and Lancaster.

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You can see the reflection of the sunset better in this closer shot.

DSC_9718 Here is the carnival at Will Rogers Coliseum about a mile and a half away from my office (still from the rooftop).

The only other shooting I did was just for fun. Sparklers! (One from each kid.)

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This was a fun week, and it certainly makes me want to shoot at night more (and on top of buildings).

Leave a comment below if you know of any taller buildings I can get on (or maybe even fly over them)?

I started an email newsletter last month to send out monthly to keep people up-to-date on things they might have missed. You can sign up here, and I promise not to bug you with anything other than updates.

So, here is my official submission for the week. My youngest child with her great-grandmother. I shot it intending to convert it to black and white, but after working with it it was obvious it needed color. Other than that it came out exactly like I wanted.

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While I was doing this my wife wanted me to get a picture of her grandmother doing "walkie round the garden" on our daughter's hand, since it is a childhood memory of my wife's.

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This was actually the first day I shot anything for this theme. I have photographed Legos before, and every time they are more challenging than I expect. The two guys in front and the rover are mine (about 30 years old) and all the aliens in the back are my son's.

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The second day of shooting was out on the Main Street bridge heading into Downtown Fort Worth. I wanted to get a shot of old The Fort Worth Power and Light Company Power Plant (built around 1912) and the Trinity River campus of Tarrant County College (formerly the RadioShack headquarters - built in 2004) together at sunset. It proved harder than I thought.

DSC_9407 I hung around till dark to get some shots of the courthouse. That counts as old and new in the same shot, right?

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My final day of shooting was with camera gear. I borrowed a friend's vintage cameras that belonged to his grandfather. I borrowed another friend's new Nikon to contrast against the old school.

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This was a really cool theme, and I am really pleased with the results. This might have been my most fun week and topic so far.

For future themes, we have each submitted 10 topics. We are going to print out the choices and randomly draw one each week. We also are going to offer each other one thing we like about the other's submission and one suggestion for improvement. I am really liking where this thing is going.

Leave a comment below if you have some feedback.

Also, I am looking at starting an email list to send out monthly to keep people up-to-date on things they might have missed. You can sign up here, and I promise not to bug you with anything other than updates.

I didn't get out much this week to shoot (only 3 days, in fact). My official entry for the contest is a shot of Broadway Baptist Church near downtown Fort Worth. I had never seen the church before, but it really caught my attention as I drove around that day looking for interesting buildings downtown. (I really would love to shoot more downtown, but I never remember to bring change for the meters.) So, this church grabbed my eye with the amazing steeple. Most churches these days look like a Rec center, so I love seeing a church that looks like a church. For this shot, the moon was still out and made a nice accent to the details in the steeple. Of course, I had to stand in the middle of the street to get this angle, but I survived.

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The second day I went out was to my favorite architecture in all of Fort Worth - the Marty Leonard Chapel at the Lena Pope Home. I got married there almost 17 years ago, so it's pretty special to me (not to mention beautiful). I didn't submit any of these as my entry since I shot this place before. I did try to get some different views of it though.

I've never actually walked around to the front before, so I wanted to get one from this view. After I left, I realized that I could have waited 30 minutes or so and the sun would have come right through the ceiling glass and the front window (more patience needed).

I turned 90 degrees from how I have taken this picture before.

I have a few more from this day in my Churches album.

The third day was on a trip with the whole family to walk around downtown Fort Worth. I got these shots of the Bass Towers that I was really pleased with.

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Week 2 is in the books. So, what should we do next week?

So, how do we do that? What makes you more interested in what I do? He liked the idea of blogging as a means to connect more with people. I hope that it is something that makes what I do more personal to other people. Plus, writing out what I am doing should hopefully make me more deliberate and intentional about my photography.

Now, what does that have to do with the title above: "Focus - Photo Challenge"?

While we talked, he came up with the idea of a weekly challenge to "compete" against one another. The thought is that each week one of us will provide a project/topic/theme for the week along with any restrictions to it. We will work on the project throughout the week (without knowing how the other is working on the same theme) and then submit the work to each other on the next Monday. We will get a chance to critique, praise or suggest ideas for the other person's finished product. The point would be to push each other to improve and encourage each other to try new things and grow. I know I don't want to display my work to another photographer without feeling pretty confident in what I have done. Plus it will be very helpful to get input from someone with different taste or experience or expertise. The next week the other person picks the theme, and we go through the whole process again.

The theme for week one: Shoot the same thing, anything, differently each day.

My "thing" is water. I love to see water, to hear it, to be near it. I picked it in hopes that I could convey many of the different natures of water - movement, stillness, reflection, refraction.

My first idea for the week was water drops. I have wanted to try shooting this for a while. I need to improve a lot on my lighting and focus, but it was a fun experiment.

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Day 2 was a challenge for sure. I had wanted to try something I had seen before that had to do with a pattern being refracted through a wine glass. My lighting was way off for the effect to work, so I scrapped that and went with bubbles(!). I used my same setup for the light refraction but put the pattern under my wine glass rather than behind it and moved my flash next to the glass. I added some canola oil to the water and added a few drops of dish soap to separate the oil. Then using my macro I dove into bubble land.

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Day 3 did leave me with much time for pictures. My family went to the Titanic exhibit at the Ft Worth Science Museum, so I did get a chance to take a shot of the waterfall in the courtyard. I've taken pictures of it before, but tried to do something a little different with it.

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For day 4 I wanted to get some water in motion. I've shot the spillway at the Trinity a few times before, but it is a really cool spot - especially with all the recent rain. Again, I tried to get something different from a place I have already photographed.

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Day 5 led me to the downtown campus of Tarrant County College. I had never been down there before, but I knew there was a nice water feature. It is a really beautify set of buildings. The emphasis in this shot seems more to be the campus and highrises, but the water is still prominent.

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For day 6 I wanted to get some reflections on water. There was rain in the forecast, and I didn't know if I would have any other chance to get to some water. So, this is some standing water in the creek in our yard.

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So, there it is. Photo Challenge Week 1 is done. Now to come up with a theme for next week... Leave a comment if you have a suggestion.

For my first entry, I am pulling a favorite of mine from Belgium - the couple on the bridge. This was taken on the 2nd full day we had spent in the town of Ghent. We were familiar with the area at this point and knew some places that we still wanted to shoot. The streets in the city were these amazing paver stones (see here http://www.focusfortworth.com/p11090080/h4339262a#h4339262a). The bridges there are simple but beautiful, and I really wanted to get a shot of these buildings from the bridge with the road in the foreground.

DSC_3000 This bridge is actually used by vehicles (mostly delivery trucks and commercial traffic), so that presented some challenges. I would move to the center of the street and sit down only to hear a bus coming and have to jump up out of the way. I tried this a few times without getting anything I liked. I finally got out there with no traffic coming and got a good spot, but there were tourists on both sides of the bridge and a big, white delivery truck just over the hill. I was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the road, leaned over with my camera almost on the ground to keep from seeing the truck. I had seen this couple walking up the bridge before I got into place. In fact, right as they came into view, they stopped and kissed. I was disappointed that I missed it, but they would have been much smaller in the shot and wouldn't have had as much impact. I was able to catch them as they were looking at each other and got this shot right before another group walked right in front of them.

So, here is the "before" shot (underwhelming, I know). Obviously, it's crooked (I was sitting in a road and dodging buses, what would you expect?), but that is an easy fix. So, I straightened it and cropped out the tourists on the left. This made the couple a larger part of the photo and the obvious subject. I felt like the green tree and green umbrella were distractions. There is also a blue sign that is visible at the top of the hill, so the color needed to go. I went with the sepia tone since it worked well with the buildings and gave a nice romantic, older feel to the shot. There are some more things in the photo that I feel should be fixed still, but I'll handle that the next time someone buys a print of it.

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For some context, below is where I was for the picture.

PhotoLocation So, there you have it. There was some adventure in getting this shot, some thought and some being in the right place at the right time.