point and shoot: naturally occurring; genuinely unforgettable

the last point and shoot post was a lot of fun.  we focused on the people of the summer, now let's do a little reflection on the natural things. 

a lot of you liked the music so i'm going to continue that tradition. enjoy a wonderful ella fitzgerald remix!

 

ella fitzgerald - slap that bass (remix)

 

these are pictures that wrapped up the summer at the beach and random adventures around north and south carolina (georgia pictures next week).  frome cemeteries to oceans, awesome things are everywhere.  let's begin.

cemeteries:

  it's not a weird fascination, it's more of a family happening.  when i was a youngin' and it was take your son to work day... i was not thrilled.  i ended up in an office in a "memorial garden" (cemetery) and saw funerals.  oh well.  i don't think it messed me up too much.  well, i visited the places i knew so well and took a few pics.  the one on the left, i loved the framing of the memorial tower by the clouds and the somewhat unkempt and weedy brick path around it. 

call me the sentimental patriotic type but in college everytime i heard the national anthem and had the flag waving, i always teared up.  of the thirty or so pictures i took of the flags at the park, the action, background and flowers turned out the best in this one.   also, as i am watching the rutgers vs. unc game i am reminded of the seventh anniversary of 9/11.  a bit of a downer, but i'm glad this post can be somewhat patriotic.

 

flora:

by far the easiest thing to photograph... flowers.  i guess the hardest part is finding interesting enough flowers to photograph. 

this first photo was from a bored saturday in the neighborhood and an unsuspecting bumblebee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

again, i snuck up on this poor flower and got it good.  did a little bit of contrast work with curves because the colors were a bit washed out.  a simple but classic petal picture.

to the left, well... it's a plastic flower.  i just had to find a place to put the picture of the hummingbird. this guy and its red-throated brethren would hangout outside our window and come by and sip our sweet nectar.  weird fact... if you don't make the hummingbird juice with enough sugar, the poor bird will die because it gets full off of water and is not fully nourished. so don't say you never learn anything on my posts.

 

the beach:

i love the beach.  i most likely will retire to the beach and enjoy the magnificence that is the tides going in and out.  this first photo is not spectacular and the lighting could definitely be better but i do like the rust on the sides, the lonely, turned over beach chair and the questions of how long has that bucket been under there and why were they left to weather away?  moving on... if you give me a good consistent beach sunrise, you have me hooked.  this first pier picture was taken with minimal exposure and a bit of contrast adjustments to darken the pier.  a great radiance from the sun, the shades of yellow to orange and the flat line of the horizon puts a smile on my face. 

this next one may seem familiar. does it? it's the exact same picture as the first picture that started the article.  again, fun with photoshop but the first picture is fairly believable.  i do like the original, because of the underexposure, it creates an ambiguity of sun or moon. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

ah, and then my favorite.  the colors duke, the colors!  the most intriguing part of the picture is the difference in the sky above pier and below the pier.  great texture in the clouds.  that's about all of i've got. until next time.  take pictures and if you have some favorites, send them my way and we'll have some guest photographer appearances.