The A. Ravenal Jr. Bridge in Charleston, SC has had many impressive photographs taken over the years.  I recently had the opportunity to take a quick drive over the bridge.  Wish I could of stayed to photograph the entire bridge with better lighting.  But, you take what you can when it presents itself.  This is a Before shot taken through the windshield that I was able to take while driving across the bridge.  Note: I was not driving, but in the passenger seat.  The driver was hell bent on getting across, so this is a quick grab shot.
The After image was the result of processing in Lightroom, Photoshop, and an adjusted Serge Remeli  B/W preset. Comment below if interested in the details of my processing workflow.  I like to think this is a good example of a photograph taken in the harsh afternoon light and presented as a dramatic and artful image. 

Just updated the following portfolios with recent images.
Abstracts - Blurred Trees
City/Urban Landscapes - Steampunk Benches
Just Black and White - Sentinel Dome Trees
Landscapes - Yosemite Tree Line, Half Moon Bay Barn, Canyon of the Eagles Sunset

Decided to play around with some different images in Lightroom and ON1 Photo 10.  What do you think?

These past weeks have been filled with many hours of preparing for and participating in local art endeavors.
First, was preparing entries for the Lake Granbury Photo Group Exhibit that opened on January 23rd and runs until February 27th.  I was fortunate to have 3 images accepted for the exhibit.  Two of which were somewhat different for me.  One was an abstract of sand ripples that was originally photographed at a beach in Oregon several years ago and now processed utilizing todays computer/darkroom technology.  The other is a winter scene taken locally and processed to give it a pencil/charcoal appearance.  I think it tells the story more dramatically than if it were processed as a normal digital print.  Honestly, I was concerned that the selection committee for the exhibit would reject both prints on the basis that they were not photographically realistic to be considered for a photography exhibit.  NOTE: this is an issue that I have been expressing for several years, that if an image is taken with a camera and then processed digitally with todays technology, the end result is still a photograph.  See my blog of January 15th - When is a Digital Photograph not a Photograph.  I was very pleased that the committee agreed, and that the images were worthy of being accepted.

Second, I've been a committee member for the Stars of Texas Juried Art Exhibit for the past 16 years.
(www.starsoftexasjuriedartexhibit.com)
The committee has been meeting since September in preparation for the current exhibit which runs from February 7 to 19, 2016. This is a regional exhibit/competition that receives art from throughout the state.
This year we had 152 artist from 43 cities submitting 343 pieces of artwork.  All mediums of art, from traditional paintings and drawings to sculpture and photography compete for the $7250 in prize money. All the details can be found on the website, including the prize winners.  I am proud to say for 13 out of the 16 years I have had at least one photograph accepted in the exhibit and have won awards in several of those years.  The 3 years I missed was due to being Chair of the committee and did not enter for conflict of interest reasons.
i bring this up simple to explain why I haven't been posting on the blog for these past few weeks.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!!
​BTW, this is the photograph that was accepted for this year.