Favorites Part Twenty Two

This was taken in Hawaii at Hapuna beach or something like that. I really like the composition in it. It's maybe a bit too blue and the vignetting is a little extreme. I might have to go back and edit it. I did like how you can barely see the polka dots in Mandy's bikini though.

Favorites Part Twenty One

This is titled Brosef. It is my brother.I actually took this the first day I got my camera. It is just some on-camera flash with contrast boosted. Not a technically stunning portrait by any means, but I think it has an interesting expression in it.

Maybe it is because he is drunk.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/myotomy/2543060069/sizes/l/in/set-72157606668759786/)

Favorites Part Twenty

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/2705908517_e07eda6250_b.jpg)

This was one of the first pictures I had taken after being back from Hawaii back in July. I was in a bit of a funk because I wasn't finding Central Illinois to be as interesting to photograph. Mandy and I decided to go check out the West-Newell boardwalk with our dog and I figured I'd take my camera and see if it would put me back in the mood.

Good thing I did! It totally got me back into the frenzy and I ended up taking a ton around Danville during the rest of the summer. Sometimes it can be hard to appreciate what surrounds you as being unique or interesting, but you have to realize that what surrounds you is absent from people in other parts of the world... thus making it interesting for them to see. I.E. people that live on the beach dream of going to the mountains.

This was another one of the first photos where I touched the contrast slider. The wood was pretty boring to begin with, but a little extra contrast really brought out the detail in it. Looks like I went a bit crazy with the green in this, but oh well.. I was still new to editing. :-)

Favorites Part Nineteen

I took this when I was at a graveyard near Danville Gardens. This was one of the first times I achieved an effect I was surprised and happy with in post production. The glass in plain view is very grey and ordinary, but I cranked the exposure on this way up while playing around with it and was amazed at the colors that appeared.

It was kind of a stepping stone for me in that it encouraged me to try different things in post... which might be good or bad, depending on who you ask, haha.