I took these with my 50 mm F1.8 lens for full bokeh. I had to manually focus in order to get clear focus on her eyes. All of these were shot on a Canon EOS Rebel at ISO 400, 1/25 shutter speed, hand-held.
Archives for category: informational
Over the past four years that I have taught photography classes, many students have asked me about a place online where they can post their work. So, after several months of research, I formed Central Kentucky Photographers group on Facebook for that purpose.
I launched the first of the year and so far, there have been some beautiful shots posted there. I searched my list of Facebook friends and added 50 people initially, mostly former students and those whom I knew to be interested in photography. The group has now grown to over 150 members and membership requests are being answered everyday.
Even though it is named for a geographical area, I will add any member who wishes to post photos. Just send a membership request. I only ask that the photos not be obscene or pornographic. There are teenagers who are members.
I hope to return to blogging soon. Meanwhile, check out the talent from Central Kentucky.
There aren’t many covered bridges left in Kentucky. Most of the remaining ones are in Fleming and Mason counties. There is one nearby where I live, though, in neighboring Bourbon County.
This is the Colville covered bridge. It is still operational. It sits on a back road and spans Hinkston Creek.
It is located on Colville Road, off Ky. 36E, between Cynthiana and Millerburg. I took portraits of my teenagers there several years ago. They turned out great.
A must stop on the horse country tour has little to do with horses, but a lot to do with history. Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill offers visitors 3,000 acres of history on beautiful grounds. You can stay at the inn and dine at the restaurant. Period-costumed workers make products for sale in some of the buildings. For a photographer, the opportunities are endless.
Fall is one of the best times to visit, but the grounds are beautiful year round.
Many people were there the day we went taking family and graduation photos.
If you look closely in the bottom right corner of the above photo, you’ll see a photographer’s light rig.
For more information about this beautiful photo op, restaurant menu, inn rates and directions, visit here.
Always on the lookout for photo ops in gorgeous Central Kentucky. π
A couple weeks ago, while my sister was visiting, we took a little detour from our tour of horse country to go to the Incredible Food Show at Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington.
In addition to tons of booths with Kentucky foods and free samples, the guest speaker was “The Chew’s” Carla Hall.
She was really funny and cooked some food that looked really yummy (I didn’t get to sample).
I had to take a picture of this booth, because I have a “thing” for old campers. This one had been converted to a gelato wagon. Hmmm, maybe I can convince my hubby that I need a camper for this purpose (since we don’t camp).
Some places are just worth visiting more than once. Old Friends Farm, refuge for retired race horses, is one such place. I visited earlier this year with my husband and son and decided to take my sister there while she was visiting from out of state. Boy, does that farm dress up for fall.
The farm was founded over 10 years ago by Michael Blowen to be a retirement place for these athletes. It is funded almost entirely by donations.
There were a few of the horses that I didn’t get to see last time I was there, that were out the second time. Popcorn Deelites, above, is a movie star. He was one of the horses used to play Seabiscuit in the movie. He and his paddock mate are known as the “frat boys” of the farm because they are usually up to some type of mischief. When I was at the farm earlier this year, they were in a corner of the paddock and wouldn’t show the tour anything but their hindquarters. This day, they were much more friendly.
This is, in my opinion, the prettiest horse on the farm, and probably the most well known. Silver Charm, winner of the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, was in the barn during my first visit. This day, he was all about showing off.
To see my previous post about Old Friends Farm, visit here. For more information about the farm, click here.
A great place to fill your belly and your senses is the Windy Corner Market, just north of Lexington, KY. A horse country tour wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Windy Corner. It is literally surrounded by horse farms.
Visitors to the Windy Corner order at the counter from a Kentucky-style gourmet menu of foods mainly grown locally. Even most of the beverages (beer and wine included) are local. After you order, you find a seat either inside the store, on the screened porch, or outside and wait for your order. I almost always get the shrimp po boy, but the barbecue is wonderful, too.
The market is located at a crossroads along the Bluegrass Driving Tour.
Horses, living (above) and statuary (below), watch diners enjoy their food.
For more information about this Kentucky treat, directions, menu, ect., visit www.windycornermarket.com
Fall is the perfect time to take gorgeous senior portraits. Nature provides a stunning backdrop and natural lighting is more subdued due to the lowered angle of the sun. Another advantage is the abundance of props, such as leaves to add personality to the shot.
I set my F stop low for a nice blurry backdrop of color and set my white balance on cloudy when I initially took the shots. However, in post production, I changed the white balance to shade to add a little more gold to the pictures.
This senior not only wanted outdoor shots, but some of her in volleyball uniform as well. These were a bit tougher because they were taken in a dark gym. With the help of a tripod and remote shutter release, we were able to shine a flashlight on her during a long exposure to get good coverage of light.
I really love the way these shots turned out. The subject was very photogenic and had the most beautiful complexion. I did no post production work on her skin at all.
I have begun pinning ideas for winter portraits, because the leaves are all off the trees now and snow is in the forecast for next week. I plan on shooting those in a completely different group of settings. Can’t wait. π
A great place to spend a Friday or Saturday afternoon is the Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum, right in my hometown. I am proud to say that I played a very small part in making this museum happen when I was a reporter/photographer for the local newspaper years ago. I remember many interviews and photos of the blossoming project. I decided to share the museum with my sister, who was visiting from out-of-town.
The photo above is of a matte-board replica of Cynthiana around 1900.
The craftmanship of this model is spectacular.
There are so many great things that have either been donated or loaned to the museum. The objects are from every era of the county.
No tribute to the history of Harrison County would be complete without some tobacco, the crop that sustained this town for many years.
This dollhouse, which is visible from the street, is remarkable.
There is also a replica of Harrison County High School, my alma mater.
I love vintage toys.
You can definitely say the museum has a lot of fans. Har. Har.
For more information about the museum, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/cynthiana.harrison.county.museum
I took these pictures of agate slices several years ago and decided I wanted to make them into wall art. I thought they needed to be punched up a bit, though, so I applied a little HDR effect to each one. In my last post, I compared the difference between a regularly processed shot and the same individual shot processed in HDR. I have done the same thing here with the agate pictures, processing only one shot.
All of these were shot using natural window light from behind. I propped them in a window, placed my camera on a tripod and pulled in close for a lot of detail.
Experiment, always π
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