Welcome to my 2024 blog, my musings about photography with a few photos sprinkled in.
Musings will be about once a month, with thoughts and photos about:
- Taking daily photos
- Contemplative photography
- Wabi Sabi Photography
- Self-Expression via nature and landscapes
- Photoautobiography and Photo Memoir
Thanks for coming to this page and reading about my photography.
Mary Ellyn Vicksta
Appreciating the Water that Surrounds Me
I've been trying to take as many walks as I can during January and February. The only time that I don't walk during the winter if the conditions are too icy or I have too many activities going on during the day and I just can't manage to squeeze in a walk.
After reviewing my photos over the last two months, I have to say that I really, really appreciate the amount of water that is a part of my environment. There are lakes, and channels, and rivers, and streams. We don't have the waterfalls that you find in other areas that you can be awed by, but we do have lots and lots of water power. That's the reason this area thrived because of the water power that supplied the flour mills and the paper mills. And also provided a way to transport goods from one area to another, including being connected with the Great Lakes. We have dams and locks to support the power of the water. Now, the flour mills are gone and the paper mills are few in number. The river area, in particular, is being revitalized with walking trails, new housing developments, and new hotels and eateries. New services, like kayaking trips and bicycle rentals, are being provided so that more people can enjoy what the waterways have to offer.
In January, there were many cold days when I was the only person walking on the Fox Trot Trail. In this image, you can see the historic mill area where paper making and woolen mills were popular. This area was transformed into condos over 15 years ago, interspersed with a few businesses. There is one mill left that is still owned and operated by the same family where you can get customized quilt batting.
This area of the river doesn't freeze over and the dams control the flow. Often the dams had interesting frost patterns during the winter months. With a little imagination, you can see that it's transformed into a face!
Sometimes the water suggest abstract images, especially when there is a mix of water and ice near its edges. These patterns change daily and part of their appeal to me is their changing nature. The walk on this particular day was extremely cold, but the patterns in the snow and ice were so incredibly rich that I kept on walking and kept warm by the enthusiasm when I would see and usually capture one ice abstract after another.
And sometimes you just point you camera downward and see an interesting pattern. I was walking along then saw the interesting bird tracks in the snow next to the water's edge.
I appreciate my winter walks along the river in particular. It's a wonderful place to appreciate the wonders of nature and wonders of water. All in my backyard, so to speak.
Now just a few more photos celebrating my winter walks along the Fox River....
New Editing Tools
I often don't get caught up in changing my processing tools. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of photo editing programs on my computer and photo apps on my phone and tablet. But I don't get excited much about exploring new ways of processing the last couple of years. After I felt comfortable with my workflow of downloading to LR and then slightly modifying using that tool the last couple of years, I often left my other tools alone. I wanted to shoot rather than to process.
Yesterday was different. I decided to spend the day exploring new editing tools that I could use on my computer. Part of this provocation was because I wasn't satisfied with my "Self-Portrait" challenge that I gave myself for the month of February. I took some shots, but they were more "selfie" than "self-portrait" and I felt that some of it was in the post processing.
One of the tools that I really enjoyed in the past for portraiture was OnOne's Perfect Portrait. I really liked the quick ability to whiten eyes and teeth and to easily brush away facial imperfections. It was my "go to" editing tool and I used it quite a lot when I was doing portraits for others. But change happened and the simple tools that I had in Perfect Portrait aren't as easily achieved in OnOne's newer product Photo Raw 2018. Not that I don't like Photo Raw. I do. It's just that I don't have the new workflow using this new product in my repertoire yet.
So, I started looking for other means to edit. And there are a number of programs out there that are really trying to simplify the editing process.
In the past, I was quite a fan of MacPhun's iPad and iPhone FX Photo Studio. It was one of the first iPad photo apps that I really liked and used extensively. But like most things app-wise, it eventually evolved to something else. And I bought a number of products that MacPhun had, but never really got into using them like FX Photo Studio. There was something about the simplicity of FX that I really liked.
MacPhun evolved recently into Skylum and introduced some new products. At first I just slightly paid attention to Luminar. Yesterday, I test drove it and really liked it's simplicity. Many of the aspects that I liked about their earlier product, FX Photo Studio, is a part of this powerful editing software. You scroll through a set of pre-sets that can be customized to suit your preferences. And if you really like the look, you can save that as well. Their mantra about being easy to use is exactly that. And, they have layering capability that is easy to use.
And I was able to produce a "self portrait" that I really liked. It fit in with what I was trying to achieve in the self-portraiture realm with using natural light. The B&W treatment was a bonus as I went through various "presets" and appreciated the look of "Noble Beauty".
I tried other new programs as well. I am a big fan of Topaz products and downloaded Topaz Studio when it first came out late last year. I didn't play around with it much until earlier this week. It's much, much easier to use than a former product. Since I have all of the other Topaz products, I have a wealth of choices that I used to use either as a standalone product or with Adobe Photoshop. My only little quibble with this program is using layers. I found it's layering capability a little more difficult to use, but I will continue to work with it to see if it's somehow there but I've overlooked it. Good news is that there are plenty of tutorials to get you started.
The good thing about Topaz Studio is that you have lots of effects or pre-sets to play around with. And play is a wonderful way to explore what is possible with Topaz products.
One of the images that I rather liked is this one. It provided the impressionistic look of me and my piano. Ironically, the music that is opened is from the Impression period of music (which I didn't realize until just now)
I would have to say that both Luminar and Topaz Studio are similar in the sense that they give you lots of presets that you can customize. And, if you like the look, you can save the preset. Luminar also has the capability to create a workspace so that you have your typical workflow tools at your fingertips for quick edits. In my mind that is an added bonus that I haven't seen in other desktop editors. And something that I think I am really going to like in the future.
And the last editor that I played around with was on my iPad, Affinity. I have the iPad version but haven't invested in the desktop version yet. There are a lot of tutorials and the level of sophistication is on a par with Photoshop. I wanted a pencil sensitive photo editor and that is what Affinity is. I tried compositing yesterday and was able to do that fairly easily after watching the tutorial.
I would say that there is a lot of power in this app and it's fun to work solely on my iPad using my pencil. There is a learning curve, however, and the tutorials are very great at explaining how to do things. It's just going to take me a bit to get used to how best to use this interesting program.
It was fun playing with different editors yesterday and I think I am going to have an edit day at least once a month to explore options and to look at things a bit differently. Plus, I really, really want to learn how to do portraits in Photo Raw 2018 and I know that there is an exciting series sponsored by OnOne to do just that.
The Lament....and then the Realization
The Lament...
As I look over my photos taken since the beginning of the year, I am appalled by their sameness. There doesn't seem to be anything special. Then I made the mistake of looking over photos from last year or just previous years at around the same time and there just doesn't seem to be the same richness or diversity in the images.
What's different?
The weather. Instead of having consistent days of temperatures in the teens to twenties in Wisconsin, we've had erratic temperature variations. We may have snow on the ground for a day or two, then the temperature rises to uncharacteristically warm amounts and the snow melts. There just doesn't seem much inspiring about brown grass and brownish black tree trunks. The zest for color and variety that is usually a part of Wisconsin's winter just doesn't seem to be there.
And then the temperature plummets. It's cold and no snow on the ground. It causes you to think twice about even venturing outside.
The Realization...
I decided to scan my photos one more time on an especially bleak day. To my amazement, there is a whole host of wonderful photos. I just have to be more open minded about the ones that have potential and represent something different and exciting to me. Most importantly are the wonderful "moments" that I caught with my camera and can re-live as I review them often.
This first photo was on one of those warm days. The ice sculpturing activities happened when the temperature was nearer to zero than I like. I took note that there were some wonderful sculptures in the downtown area, but didn't take a walk to seriously photograph them until the temperature was a little above freezing. On my walk, I discovered that the high temperatures had destroyed most of the sculptures that were in the sun. They were just broken pieces or melting bases.
The ones in the shade, however, were still in good shape. This particular sculpture of a woman was even enhanced by the presence of a red carnation. I took several photos while across the street in-between the cars and then crossed the street to take even more. I was amazed by the amount of detail and how much of the "ice" was still present. And the rising temperature gave it a bit of a glow that was enhanced by the brownish building in the background.
And then there were many walks along the Fox River trail that resulted in many beautiful views of the Eagles. Eagles hovering and catching a draft in the skies. Eagles roosting and munching down part of their catch from the river. Eagles in their nest. Always a thrill to see these wonderful, majestic birds, and to realize that they've made a comeback to our area.
On this particular day, it was a wonderful experience to observe this Eagle watching for the right moment to swoop down to catch a fish on the Fox River.
And then there is some serendipity that leads to interesting shots. Fortunately I always have some sort of camera with me. I was actually running an errand and saw the colors starting to form. My vantage point wasn’t that great so I considered close-by locations. There were a number of power lines that tainted the colorful display that was unfolding.
I realized that a pretty good vantage point was close by called Waverly Beach. I had taken photos there just the other day and the way the sunset was lining up, it seemed like it would be perfect to capture the color without power lines or building structures in the way.
I quickly drove to Waverly Beach, hoping that the stop lights would be in my favor instead of causing me to miss the color. I turned into the driveway and looked backwards to see if the light was still colorful and was pleased to see that it was but fading fast. I had to quickly take these shots. As I got out of my car, I love the way that the clouds reflected the color of the sunset. And having the two cars with their headlights on while on the ice of Lake Winnebago really adds to the experience. As quickly as I captured the couple of photos, then I watched the colors quickly fade. Ephemeral, but the wonderful memory is captured in my mind's eye as well as in this photo below.
There are many more. I realized that this winter did have some photo gems. Sometimes it just takes a review on a dismal day to really appreciate some of the wonderful photo moments that I've had this year thus far.
Quick Reaction
I was waiting on our way back from Bend, Oregon. There was a huge traffic back-up that lasted for an hour and a half. Most of the time our view of the Detroit Lake was blocked. But at one stopping point, we had this beautiful mountain view. My camera was packed up in the second row of my car. My daughter who was sitting in the passenger seat couldn't easily get access. Finally after a bit of squirming, I was able to reach my camera bag, grab my camera, and take a shot before we inched forward. Quick reaction while stuck in traffic and a shot that was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.
Things that You Overlook
During January I've spent a lot of time along a walking trail that skirts the Fox River. Often I walk from my house and join the trail. If I take the long way, it can be a 7 mile walk, or I can shorten it by parking by the trailhead and enjoy just a short stretch of the River.
The River is why the town is built where it is. It was the transportation route for goods, products, and the paper industry. There are locks and dams to facilitate its flow. And the river was used to power the first hydroelectric house in the world. Quite an astonishing history.
I became intrigued with walking on this river trail to see what catches my eye over the month. There are a lot of things that you simply overlook as you hurry by or drive by. I was intentionally slow so I could capture the area with all of my senses and take photos of things that struck me at the moment. Little things. Ordinary things.
Footsteps in fresh snow is one of those little things that people often overlook. They are too busy creating their own footprints and often don't see the patterns that others make. I saw this on the trail where one brave individual decided to venture out and explore off of the city maintained and "clear of snow" asphalt path.
Other little things are the amount of color that you can see on a Wisconsin winter day. There are whites, but there are also lots of other colors, if you just look. This is right after a light snowfall, where the snow is hanging onto the red sumacs. Light was such that the reds really stood out, especially against the barren trees in the backgrounds.
And then there are days when you look up and see the unexpected. Tucked away in a grove of trees close to the river, was an Eagle. I think I tried to capture it in mid-flight while it was hunting on the river. That capture wasn't successful. But I just happened to look up and saw him perched. He just sat there at first and I was able to maneuver around a bit more and take a few more photos.
The next photo is not an everyday experience, but one that you can capture if you look at the world around you and just explore and then make discoveries. I was pleased to see that my Eagle friend had been successful on his hunt as he eats away. Its prey was carefully guarded so it did take some walking around in order to see what he was up to.
I wasn't looking for Eagles, I was just walking along and seeing what I could see. And I kept walking to see what other discoveries I could make, this time really focusing on the little things. And I smiled as I saw this park bench decorated for the holidays. Great view of the river. It could be that the benches benefactors decided to decorate the bench in memory of their relatives. It could be that one of the frequent users of this bench wanted others to experience a little cheer over the holiday season.
And sometimes the water itself delights. Some parts are frozen. Some parts are freely flowing. What caught my eye was the reflection of some trees in the water that caused a very interesting abstract. I only saw this once on this particular day. That makes it especially special.
And sometimes you see things that just make you laugh. Here is the dam that on a very cold, cold day has wonderful icicles. This reminded me of a face, perhaps Santa like. It is those little things, with a bit of imagination.
