February winning photo

We saw this really cool blue orchid in the grocery store and bought it to photograph it.  It was kind of disappointing when we figured out that they had just added some sort of blue dye (a fancy patented process they say) into a white Phalaenopsis orchid.  (sort of like those colored carnations you can get for special holidays but a little fancier)   If it blooms again it will be white.

It still made a nice photo and it won second prize in the Advanced category for the February competition at the St. Mary's County Camera Club.  If you want to read more about the orchids, here is the website for Silver Vase about their blue mystique orchid. http://silvervase.com/w/blue-mystique.php

January winning photos

I had fun in Adobe Photoshop with my first prize Advanced digital  photo for January 2013 at the St. Mary's County Camera Club. 

I turned the photo of a reflection of the Capitol in Washington D.C. upside down.  The photo was taken at dusk, creating the nice golden glow.

I also got an honorable mention for a photo of a Gyr falcon with his lovely white feathers.  Just don't ask me how to pronounce his/her name!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope it was cool!

Sharing some heart with you.

You are invited to view the Photography exhibit at the Lexington Park Library Art Gallery from February 1-March 15, 2013.  The artwork is on display across from the check out desk during the standard library hours.

 

Lexington Park Library

 



The many excellent photographs were taken by members of the St. Mary's County Camera Club and include 7 good photos by Jim and I.  Please take a few minutes to stop by to view the display and check out a good book or DVD at the same time.

Great Falls Virginia on the Wild Side

We visited Great Falls National Park in the morning recently after lots of rain.  It is a wonderful place to photograph the sunrise.  The current was strong and exciting.  I'd never even heard of Great Falls before moving to Maryland.  There is a quite interesting history behind the falls if you are curious, including a time when they tried to use it for a canal and it more recently had a carousel amusement.

 

 

The park is on the border between Maryland and Virginia in Fairfax County, near Washington DC.  It is a great place to visit anytime in the year.  It is also very popular for walking your pet (on a leash of course) and hiking.

Fun things to photograph at Great Falls include the C and O Canal, birds (like great blue herons, geese, turkey and black vultures), deer, kayaks and the falls themselves.

I am also including a photo of a rainbow in the falls.  How many colors can you see in my photo?

St. Mary's County Camera Club Photographer of the Year & End of Year Competition for 2012

I have been crazy busy in the last two weeks.  During the week before Christmas, I suddenly found myself in a full week computer security course called Security +.  I passed with a lot of hard work and no free time before spending the week with my family for the holiday.

This is a little late, but I wanted to congratulate the winners of the St. Mary's County Camera Club end of year competition, especially my friend Theresa Ford, who won the Advanced Digital Photo of the Year.  Way to go Theresa!!  Bravo everybody!

I still put my 2 cents in and won the prize for the most number of competition points for the year in their respective classes, called Photographer of the year, as well as first prize for the Theme photographs for the St. Mary's County theme with my Orange Pier Sunset photo.

Here are all the winners:
Advanced Photographer of the Year: Joanna Macaulay (177)
Intermediate Photographer of the Year: Stefie Bartley (169)
Novice Photographer of the Year (2-way tie):  Dennis Preus & Emily
Baldwin (129)
Runners up: 
Advanced: Sandy Robbins (123), BJ Ramsey (116), Al Scheungrab (114)
Intermediate: Matt Rhinehart (107), Jon Tom (103)
Novice:  Jim D'Intino (124)
 
ADVANCED DIGITAL:
1^st Place – Theresa Ford – “Plants 3474”
2^nd Place – Al Scheungrab – “Clingmans Dome Sunrise 1”
3^rd Place – Sandy Robbins – “Reflection”
HM – Al Scheungrab – “Clingman Sunrise”
HM – Jim Macaulay – “Turn Over a New Leaf”
HM – Joanna Macaulay – “EScreechOwl”
HM – Joanna Macaulay – “Old Boat”
INTERMEDIATE DIGITAL:
1^st Place – Matt Rhinehart – “Holy Reflection”
2^nd Place – Jon Tom – “Spiral”
3^rd Place – Stefie Bartley – “Auditorio de Tenerife”
HM – Jon Tom – “Overlook”
HM – Jon Tom – “Sunset”
HM – Stefie Bartley – “Teno Point Sunset”
NOVICE DIGITAL:
1^st Place – Scott Cote – “White Lily”
2^nd Place – Emily Baldwin – “KL Monkey”
3^rd Place – Jim D’Intino – “U S Grant Memorial”
Honorable Mention (HM) – Dennis Preus – “Ducks”
HM – Dennis Preus – “Spring Colors”
HM – Emily Baldwin – “Lord Murugan”
THEME DIGITAL:
1^stPlace – Joanna Macaulay – “OJ Pier Sunset”
2^nd Place – Stefie Bartley – “Sunset Photographer”
3^rd Place – Theresa Ford – “Alisa 2015”
HM – Dennis Preus – “Light”
HM – Emily Baldwin – “Hollywood”
HM– Joanna Macaulay – “Tree at Sunrise”
HM – Jon Tom – “Brunelleschis Dome”
NOVICE/INTERMEDIATE PRINTS:
1^st Place – George Taylor – “Egret”
ADVANCED PRINTS:
1^st Place – Al Scheungrab – “Glass Water Bottle”
THEME PRINTS:
1^st Place – Leslie Steinback – “Aimless Wandering”

 

My favorite autumn tree on the base

And everyone else's too! Every year I drive by a little picnic area on base with a gorgeous red leaved tree in the fall. It doesn't remain beautiful for long before the leaves fall off. Most years it rains or I can't find the time to take a picture of it. This year I finally managed to photograph it. I laid on the grass, viewed it from beneath and from afar. As I took the time to do that, every few minutes another person came to photograph it too. Amazing!!
Let me know if you recognize it.