Christmas Card ~ 2009

I have seen a lot of our members' Christmas cards on Flickr and Facebook and they are of the highest quality and creativeness. I'm just going to post a few snapshots that I added text to and try to pass them off as Christmas cards. I used to hand paint my cards and had a different one for each of my friends. I thought using Nikon and Corel would be easier, but it's turned out to be a labor of love. Enjoy and I'll add a few more later. And a Merry Christmas to everyone, especially those who have perused my photostream and left a nice comment.

Autumn Challenge

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldetownephotos/4087705772/

Click on image for full screen

Fall is just now getting to the coast with about 40% of the trees changing. Autumn doesn't necessarily mean colorful trees, but it is one of the main events. I'll go ahead and post what I got in Colonial Williamsburg last week and see what happens. I've posted some more on my Flickr Photostream if you get a minute to peruse my 2,334 images.

Bloggers' Community Photo Challenge on Vacation

The Bloggers' Community Photo Challenge will resume in August. Come back then and join in the fun and sharing.

Retouched with Paintshop Pro

re: A Little Help Sunflower Kat's image from the Bloggers' Community Photo Forum

Live concert shots are sometimes difficult. Someday I may have to take a few minutes and compose a list of tips to share. But for now: I would wait until the lighting was better ( if the stage guys ever change them ), then catch the performer in a pause ( it helps to know the song ). A singer always has the microphone in the wrong place ( usually in front of his mouth ). Highlights are hard to avoid, especially if the performer is bald or sweating.

I didn't write down all the steps I used in the post-processing, but it was more than one-click fixes. I'm not real familiar with layering so some of this was done with two images and copy-and-pasting. Different areas had to have their own adjustments.

Bonus Pic

I must have been having a senior moment when I was posting my entry for the Mailbox Photo Challenge. I meant to add this to the post as an extra. It's my next-door neighbor's mailbox and I used it for making New Year's cards for 2005.

Photo Challenge - Mailboxes

Take the Bloggers' Community Photo Challenge:

http://communityphotochallenge.blogspot.com/2009/03/community-photo-challenge-mailboxes.html

I've seen a multitude of mailboxes that I'd like to shoot, but this one is a favorite from the past. There is a story behind it's owner, but there's not enough space here. But I will say that everything in her yard, including her house, was purple. I guess that's why they called her "The Purple Lady".

Bloggers' Photo Community Challenge - Birdhouses

http://communityphotochallenge.blogspot.com/2009/03/community-photo-challenge-birdhouses.html

These are just for grins. They're in the wrong order anyway.