Gone Panorama Crazy

 Lately, I've gone a little crazy with the Panoramas...I discovered that with Photoshop it is super easy! All you do is click file-new panorama, select your photos, click ok and let her go!

The panorama below was taken behind the building where our church meets.

 At The Beach

The panoramas below were taken at our family's vacation to Galveston

This was the view from the beach house that we rented:

This one is my favorite, we were collecting shells near the San Luis Pass

 On the Beach...

 Our Beach House (from behind)

(Now, try and guess where the seam lines are. :))

Around Our House
Notice that my brother, J.Michael is in all three photos I used for the panoramas below.

Sometimes a little cropping is necessary but other than that it is super easy! Just make sure you watch your exposure so that the pictures will 'sew' together seamlessly. Always err on the side of overlapping-it is far easier to merge duplicate information than to try and re-create what's not there.

Location, Location, Location!

Sunsets, it's all about your location. The difference between a good sunset photo and a spectacular one is not the sunset or even the camera, it's what's in front of it. A busy, messy foreground can ruin a beautiful sunset but a simple, elegant one can make it into a masterpiece. I used trees, water, cows, and a fence in my photos, but there is a wide variety of foregrounds you can use, from skylines, to lakes, to mountains, to people, to small plants and animals! Be creative, use something unique or unusual. If possible, plot out your photo hours before you take it. Know exactly where the sun rises and sets, what time it is at it's brightest, and know the best location to view it. Now, look around, what objects (great or small) can you use for an interesting foreground? In the last photo I tried something unusual and broke the symmetry of the trees by adding a reflection of my sister and grandmother in the water but letting their actual persons fall dark.

Experiment. Try different things and see what you like best.

Callaway Gardens-Day Three-Swamplands of Mississippi

A Davis Christmas

A Davis Thanksgiving

Mornings First Light

All is quiet as I walk through the woods, the wind blows gently through the trees, the dew glides softly over the grass. The birds have ceased their singing, the crickets their chirping. I blink as the first light of morning begins to chase the veil of darkness away and stretch it's light across the darkened woods.

As I reach a clearing I am met by a burst of light. Pinks and purples meet my eyes in glorious unity. The birds begin their first song of the morning, the trees begin to sway in tune with the wind. Sunshine and warmth bathe my face, while the cool wind still wisps at my hair. Rays of sunlight gently touch the earth as if bringing life to a dying land. I look to the east and see a brilliant ball of flaming yellows, oranges, pinks, and purples, gradually growing brighter as it rises in the eastern sky.

This beautiful phenomenon is what we call a Sunrise. And as you likely already have guessed, sunrises and sunsets are this week's theme.

Tips

• For Sunsets I recommend a tripod and a long shutter speed to capture enough light. But try different shutter speeds, apertures, and exposures for different effects. It is recommended that you set your exposure to the bright area around the sun, not the sun itself. You can do this either by manual exposure or centering your image on the place you wish to set the exposure to, then hold the shutter down half way, then-while still holding the shutter down half way-arrange your photo the way you like it, at this time you take the picture.
  

• Choose your foreground wisely, charming landscapes can mean everything in Sunsets/Sunrise photography. But keep it simple, the sun is your main subject.

• In terms of finding good sunsets...just keep an eye out. I generally only get good sunset/sunrise pictures when I 'm on vacation-too many trees here...Know which way is east and west, have your camera ready, and perhaps even some locations for foreground already scouted out. That way when a magnificent sunset or sunrise manifests itself you are ready.
  

Hope this helpful,