Expect the Unexpected

On Oct 14th,I was wandering around St. Mary's College of Maryland looking for pictures of leaves for a St. Mary's County Camera Club competition.   Often I don't find the photo I plan to get, but find something else even better.  I was amazed to see waterlilies in October in the small pond. 

The lily pads were interesting too.  If you are familiar with old video games, the leaves reminded me of an old game.  Feel free to guess. 

Then, I saw an unexpected treat near sunset.    With photography you always need to be prepared for the unexpected.  It is worth having several lenses with you just in case.  That's life I guess! 

By the way,  I didn't find any good leaf pictures that day, but  I hope to get some soon.

(See also Jan 6, 2011 for a similar theme blog post)

Kelby Worldwide Photowallk 2011

I participated in the Kelby Worldwide Photowalk on Oct 1st at Historic St. Mary's City.  It was a gray day, but the temperature was pleasant.  (last year's walk was in July when it hit 100 degrees!)  We got together for one big group shot at the beginning of the walk and then separated to wander around the grounds.  Costumed employees were a popular photo topic since the Dove (ship) wasn't in port.

Each photographer could choose one favorite photo to add into a contest to compete against other photographers in the rest of the world.  There was a local Photowalk Flickr page for uploading some of our favorite pictures from the day.  A number of the really interesting photos used a technique called HDR, high dynamic range.  By merging several or many files with different exposures, the photo appears to have extra depth and vibrancy, even on a gray day.  Enjoy!

St. Mary's County Fair Photography winners 2011

The County Fair highest honor was a photo of a ship at sunset with silhouetted birds flying around it.  Very Nice.  We all agreed on it, which made it very easy.

Life in St. Mary's County was a photo of an old car in Leonardtown Square.

Sorry, I don't know the names of the photographers.