Four of Fifty-Two

Four
Originally uploaded by desertskyblue

I worked hard this week taking photos around Provo in the cold and grey afternoons after work. I can't remember which night it was, but I took a walk down Center Street with my camera. I tried taking pictures for my DPS assignment "Streets" and nothing was really working for me. I took a few shots of street scenes (deleted them all) and several more of old buildings, some built more than 100 years ago. Before I could get back to the Jeep, the wind gusted to 70 miles an hour and the temperature dropped well below freezing. Once again, my fingers ached from the cold.

Saturday morning finally arrived and the sun rose from behind the mountains and the sky was brilliant blue. Clouds still lingered around the valley and would eventually block the sun, but for those few moments of blue sky and sun...we took a walk down the river trail with camera in hand.

The snow fall from the night before was spectacular. Every branch, every rock, every bit of fence was covered with sparkling snow. On our walk, I stopped about every 5 feet to take another shot. At one spot, I stood viewing pastureland.

I wasn't sure I could even create panoramas with PSE, but I got out the book and sure enough I had the tools. So, I thought I'd try creating a panorama of this beautiful setting. I took 2 different series of shots...3 shots in the first series and 4 in the second. After downloading the images to my computer, I went with the series of 4 shots to attempt my panorama. I got the book out, followed the instructions and within a few minutes my first panorama was born. I adjusted the lighting and color a bit, and cropped it to even the edges. I was surprised and happy with the result.

The other lesson I learned this week, with help of Rampant Photos, was how to change the perspective of a shot. While on my frigid walk down Center Street, I took pictures of the older buildings. I stood in the middle of the road which forced me to shoot at an odd angle to capture the detail of the building above my head. I didn't like the angles, but didn't realize I had the tools to make the adjustments. Rampant Photos gave me the key word to look for in the index of my manual. There it was...I practiced and adjusted the angle in the photo with much better results.

Tomorrow I'll begin again...