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Blue and Gold Macaw #2

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Photo of a blue and gold macawThis is the same photo as the previous posting, but with significant work done with it. Notably I have blurred and darkend the wing at the right front to provide a sense of depth of field. To draw attention to the bird's eye, I used Photoshop's "Lighting Effects" filter placing a soft omni spot on his eye and also a spot light running from the lower right to the top left across his face.

Working with this photo made me think about what it might be like to get a parrot. Luckily right about the same time I ran across this story from NPR called A Delightful, Awful Marriage, all about the joys, and drawbacks, of letting a parrot move in on your life. Quite funny! And quite a warning!

This and other photos I have taken of birds can be found in the bird photo galleries. There's one for broadband visitors, and one for dialup visitors. Here are the links to each:

Bird Photo Gallery - Broadband Flash Gallery

Bird Photo Gallery - Dial Up Optimized
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Pink Bromeliad #4 aechmea fasciata

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Pink Bromeliad (aechmea fasciata) This beautiful bromeliad is flowering in a pot on my patio at the moment. I guess it must like my garden. I had it sitting under some trees in a pretty shady but bright spot for most of the last year since one of my neighbors moved and gave it to me. Once I saw all the blooms coming I moved it into the sun while it puts on its show. Its common name is urn plant or urn flower, and its botanical name is bromeliad aechmea fasciata. These plants are related to the pineapple, did you know? Please feel free to post any comments.
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What is Bokeh?

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Columbine at the Huntington Library gardens, shot at f/4.5 to throw the background into bokeh. © John Corney A photograph I took of columbines at the Huntington Library gardens recently has such a beautiful bokeh effect that I thought I'd use it as an excuse to talk about bokeh today — what it is, where the word comes from, and how to get it in your own photographs. What Bokeh Actually Is The word bokeh comes from the Japanese word boke (暈け), meaning "blurred" or "haze." It started being used by photographers in the late 1990s to describe specifically the quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photograph — not just the fact that the background is blurred, but how aesthetically the blurring is rendered. Good bokeh is creamy, smooth, and pleasing. Bad bokeh is harsh, distracting, or busy. Two lenses can produce the same depth of field but very different bokeh. It's pronounc...
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National Wildlife Federation 2010 Photo Contest Submission

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I have finally finished selecting and submitting my entries for this year's National Wildlife Federation photo contest. I submitted 25 entries in total in the mammals, birds, other wildlife, and plant categories. I put together this video presentation of my entries which can be viewed in HD  here at YouTube . Below is a low-definition version. If you'd like to join in the fun and submit your own entries, you have until July 6th to do so. Here's a link to the competition website .
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Bryce Canyon Rock Warrior

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While walking back up from the bottom of the Queen's Garden Trail back to Sunrise Point I noticed that in this rock formation I could make out the face of a Mayan or Aztec warrior chief. If you click on this image and look just below the center of the bigger image hopefully you'll be able to make him out. He has a big nose and a high headdress. It was a pretty amazing sight. I wonder if other people have ever picked this out. I think a lot relied on the shadows that were being cast at the time by the sun. Perhaps it doesn't look like a warrior if the shadows aren't just right. Bryce Canyon National Park website
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Waterlily

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Waterlily - Toned (c) John Corney 2009 Waterlily rendered in black and white with yellow split-toning. Subscribe by email Your subscription will begin only after you activate it by responding to the email you will receive from "FeedBurner Email Subscriptions" immediately after submitting this request. If you do not see the email within the next minute, please check your spam folder.
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