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In: birds, butterflies, Photography

I have been out and about with a friend and my cameras. So refreshing to look around and see small and colorful things in nature to photograph. The Painted Lady Butterfly was on the ground. It was just one of many in a butterfly tent. The colors and unique patterns on these are fun to shoot. We had to be very careful while walking. Then we saw flowers, cacti, rocks, and more. Everywhere we looked, there was something to shoot. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did taking them. More of my work is outlined on the Photography Page.

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In: creativity, Lifestyle, Photography

In Pixio is software to erase the backgrounds in images and make the part you love stand out. I just returned from and great relaxing weekend in Idyllwild, CA. The trees were alive with birds, squirrels and playful chipmunks. Getting pictures of the wildlife was easy; getting a shot without a busy background, was not. In Pixio software was introduced to me because of my interest in Photography. I would see adds for this product and see how it removed things from the background area of and image. Whether it is an animal or a person, In Pixio software understands the image and chooses theRead More →

Current Photos on Twenty 20

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In: Photography

Twenty 20 WAS a micro-stock site for selling photographs. Like Dreamstime, the customers search for a photograph that matches their need for advertising, a book insert, or web use. The customer is matched to the photographs and they see various prices for different sized pictures. My account on Twenty20 has photographs on many topics of interest. I often join the Twenty20 Challenge to see how I stack up against other photographers. Recently, I came in the top 10% under the category of Nature Zoomed In. The picture can be seen at the top header of this blog. Thousands of images are submitted, so, I amRead More →

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In: Lifestyle, Photography

A few days ago a friend told me of a mutual friend posting on Facebook about a monarch butterfly in her yard after purchasing a plant that attracts them. I love butterflies and Monarchs are endangered. The very same day that I viewed Toni Polucki’s post about her butterfly, I was in the backyard of my mother’s place looking for an opportunity to catch one of the small birds that frequents the yard in the late morning. This elusive tiny bird was not in sight. As I was enjoying the warm morning sun, I noticed movement in my peripheral view. There fliting around a largeRead More →

low angle photography of two roseate spoonbill flying under the blue sky

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In: Lifestyle, Photography

I spent an hour watching a webinar, TWICE, on photographing birds in flight. Most of the webinar covered that topic and some of it covered camera use. It was that subject that got my attention and caused me to watch again. What I discovered was I have lots to learn! This am I took my D850 Camera outdoors to test the information I thought I got from the better photographs webinar. I took several shots in various lighting situations, and then downloaded them to my computer. Some shots were shot into a shady area and others in the bright sun. The webinar had said theRead More →

Top 20% picture challenge

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In: Photography

Twenty20.com is a micro stock agency site with challenges. I have gotten into the top 20% in some challenges and for that I get excited. I have connected on Instagram with a few other photographers, one of which NEVER uses her phone for pictures. Her work is excellent. Her tagline is Shooting “all the things” Brisbane, Australia. I should consider creating one… Then there are others, one that shoots food. Lots of different food. Makes it look yummy. I love the Twenty20 challenges when I have something to submit. Sometimes the categories don’t match my shooting at all. And then there was this one…I endedRead More →

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In: birds, Photography

The gray bird sat at the top of the tree across from the drive and made many diverse and beautiful sounds. I wasn’t sure at first it was a mockingbird. Then one morning I had the privilege of taking a picture of this bird with a 600 mm lens. I was amazed and pleased that the images were crisp and clear of the golden eye and white and black striping on the wings. Google images verified the ID. A Mockingbird.

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In: Photography

Getting images that are free for re-use Head over to images.google.com to do your search. Once your image search is on the screen, select Tools, then Usage Rights, then “labeled for Reuse”. The images that appear on the screen are already labeled to be used at will. If you do not find the image you want, there is probably a good one at one of the public domain photographic sites. Check them out instead of taking a risk on the images from a general Google results. Or find a picture you really like at Shutterstock. I can recommend their quality and variety. They even haveRead More →

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In: birds, Photography

Not all Internet Pictures are “free to use” I was teaching a group about the use of images for promotional posts for their events. I realized how common it is for people to use images they find using a Google search and end up in hot water. Images on Google results are not available to be freely used. In fact most of the images you find are owned by major stock companies like Getty Images, Adobe Stock, iStock and Shutterstock to name a few. Powered by Shutterstock The images from these sites are exquisite and worthy of purchase. I recommend the use of these imagesRead More →