MWT – Flocking Birds

In the 15 years that I’ve lived in my neighborhood, this is the first year I’ve noticed any bluebirds, robins or waxwings.  Small groups of birds such as doves and finches have always come around, but I haven’t seen any large flocks until recently.  And, I don’t find them everyday.

Of the flocking visitors, Cedar Waxwings are the most shy.  So, I was thrilled to be able watch them for a few minutes the other morning, and sneak a few shots.

Zoomed in all the way, this was the best picture I could get.  Their colorful bodies remind me of rainbow sherbet and I like their black masks, and bright yellow tail tips.

I haven’t figured out how to photograph a flock in flight yet, but I’m working on it.

See what’s happening in different corners of our world at “My World Tuesday” here.

Yellow in the Desert

Here are snapshots I took on walks last week featuring the color yellow.  I’m using Windows Live Writer to publish Polaroid style images that I tilted just for fun.  I hope you don’t get dizzy looking at them.

To visit Mellow Yellow Monday, click here.

Have a great week!

Dabbling in Motion Blur

I followed this Photoshop Essentials tutorial on how to make a photo look like the Bourne Ultimatum movie poster.

Here's a copy of the movie poster with Matt Damon to show what the effect looks like:





The technique uses a motion blur filter on everything except the subject. Also, the image is colorized, and a noise layer is blended in to give a slightly gritty look.

It can be rather time consuming to get this effect because the subject is masked twice. Once to add blur to the background and again to change the color of selected areas.

At first I didn't think the photoshopped images looked like they were in motion. But after staring at the a blurred image for a few seconds and then back to the original, the original looks surprisingly stationary.

Purposely adding blur and grain to images is a new experience for me. As a beginning photographer, those are the types of things I usually try to avoid. These first exercises in motion blur aren't exactly dazzling, but they have opened up a new realm of possibilities for me.

It is exciting to see what can be done with motion blur. Smashing Magazine shows 45 beautiful examples to amaze and inspire you.