Revisiting Fall

I didn't seem to have near enough time to get out and enjoy Fall this year.  I managed to get a trip out to Forest Park.  We've been busy planning a wedding for my oldest, so I haven't had much time for photo editing.  Thought I'd go ahead and post a few of the photos from this year's ventures out.

Desert Photography

My husband and I took a trip to Sedona, Arizona a couple weeks ago.  Except for the hiking required to get these beautiful shots, I was in heaven!  This little valley surrounded by red mountains is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  The last day we were there, we woke up to snow covered mountains and big snowflakes out our window. 

This photo actually taken over looking Phoenix.

The following photo was created using HDR (High Dynamic Range), which is when you merge 2 or more exposures of the same picture to capture detail that your eye can see but the camera loses during exposure.  This one was done with 3 different exposures.

This one also done with 3 exposures.

Homecoming Session

My daughter and I spent the afternoon out the day of her homecoming dance.  She has become one of the most beautiful young ladies I know...I am so very proud of her.  After our shoot, we had lunch at Dr. Jazz in Lebanon.  The owner was nice enough to offer letting us take a picture of her at the soda fountain counter. 

Sun Stars and Lens Flares

When John had the idea to shoot the Arch with the sun behind it, I was reminded of something I had read about creating sun stars in photography.  This can be done with any kind of lights...tree lights, street lights, sun, stars.  In manual mode, set your aperture really high like f18-f22, then adjust your other settings for correct exposure.  Here are a few I created this weekend. 

My aperture wasn't high enough to create the sun star in this first one, but I got a lens flare, which still gave it a nice effect.

This, although looks like a night shot, was taken late morning.