Photo or Painting?

Some photos resemble paintings.  The motion, the light bring a surprising outcome.  As if a painting comes out of camera.  I love to paint with the light and motion of a subject.  Here are some photos that I took for you to enjoy:

This one is one of my favorites.  The day was really cloudy, but this capture of the moment was priceless.

Sometimes the blurriness gives that special effect that looks like brush strokes of a painter.

Abstract photography also looks like abstract paintings.  These are moving reflections in the water.

It is a wonder what photography can do.  It let us see what we normally would just dismiss or simply look and forget.  Photography is capturing the moments that can stay with us forever.  It is an amazing art that let us live in the now.

Tags: art, beauty, fun, inspiration, nature, photo, photo gallery, photo inspiration, photo or painting, photo tips, photography, photography or painting, photos, picture, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, reflections, wonderocity

Sky Imagination

Sometimes when looking in the sky, we see painted pictures.  Our imagination see animals, waves, dancing ladies, hearts, and even words.  Here is a collection of pictures where you can see something in them.  What do you see?

I see a dancing lady, and below a lady with a big hat.

I see a sun heart

I see “I’m”

I see a number “20″ or a dragon with a big tail.

I see on the right corner – head of baby elephant

I see a huge heart

I see an elephant

I see a head of the dog

I see a word “Hi”

I see a man on his knees praying.

I see a giant dog bone.

I see a mountain climber

I see a giant bird

I see Lo and with a bird forming Lov as in Love

I see an Opera Singer or Giant Dinosaur

I see a Sea Horse by the sun

I see “I” and “heart”

For more sky wonder, you can see Imagination at Play

Tags: art, beauty, cloud imagination, clouds, fun, inspiration, love, me, nature, photo, photo gallery, photo inspiration, photo tips, photography, photos, picture, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, wonderocity

Water Paintings

Sometimes you can find a wonder in unexpected places.  We were visiting a friend, and in the bay he had a bright yellow catamaran.  As I went to look more closely, I was mesmerized.  The reflections on the water underneath became the ever-changing paintings that left me awed and inspired.  The fluidity of water, and small ripples made this incredible show that I captured with the camera:

This is how I got these pictures beside two catamarans.

Even a reflection of the pole in the water stood out.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Tags: art, beauty, fun, inspiration, me, photo, photo gallery, photo inspiration, photo tips, photography, photos, picture, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, random thoughts, reflections, thoughts, wonder, wonderocity

Sun Halo Wonder

I saw something incredible in the sky and it took my breath away.  There was a beautiful rainbow all around the sun.  Many people were going about their day, not noticing anything unusual right above their heads.  I stood in awe, as I captured the sky wonder.  I noticed this beauty only last year, and since then I see sun halos several times per year.

To shoot a sun halo is pretty complicated because of its gigantic size.  Plus, it is a bit boring if we capture it only on photograph, especially if the rainbow is faint.  So, how to capture this beauty that would fill our minds with wonder?  Here are some ideas:

As in every photo, composition makes up a picture.

This is my very first time when I saw a Sun Halo.

I stopped by palm trees to get some composition.

“Squeezing” a sun to make a rainbow.

Greeting the sun.  It was not easy to make this shot because I was out in the open without a tripod.  So, I put my camera down, and gently leaned it against a taller grass.  I lined it up towards the sun, but not sure 100% what I was shooting.  I came toward the camera, extended my arms and voila! I got this shot.  Experimenting sometimes works.

Bald Eagle and Sun Halo in one day! Magic of nature!

Palm tree and Sun Halo

Catching a sun in my palm.

Making a Sun Dog.

Catching a sun and a bird.

Here I aligned a glossy paper heart’s hole with a sun to get this magical effect.  This is by far my most favorite capture.

So next time if you see a sun halo, what can you create?

If you wish to learn more about sun halos and how they are formed, you can click this link.

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Color Red Photography

Sometimes photography is all about a color, and the most that stands out is a color Red.  It makes a gloomy day more interesting.  It gives an energy and power.  It is a color of passion, love and life.

Red color flowers stand out in the garden.

In fashion, the touch of red brings out sexiness, like these Christian Louboutin heels.  (See shoerazzi.com for more great shoe goodness)

Red brings out fun, summer feel and vacation.  This is my friend Sandy dressed in Dalia Koss necklace

Deep red color top and turquoise makes a great match. Jewelry by Dalia Koss.

Red dress in this photo makes a woman beautiful, and mysterious.

Even red light reflection on the street makes otherwise gloomy rainy night like a painting.

Red accent like this red toy makes already cute picture more powerful.

This one is an interesting moment.  I captured a giant moon right next to the red light through car’s window.  It made the sky surreal.

Red paddle boat makes this scene even more magical by giving a great contrast.

Love is in the air. Red Macaws are grooming each other.

Red sea of flowers

Red dragonfly is a sure stand out in a green background.

Sometimes a red color is a great protection for insects.  It is warning for birds not to eat them.

Red sunset adds a drama to the sky.

This Red horse statue brings out excitement to the city.

Red strawberries add a delicious touch to this yogurt.

Red bromiliad looks like a natural firework.

Red color makes the overcast day so much prettier.  It brings a sense of adventure.

Red brings out a huge contrast into a magical day.

Of course, nothing can beat a red sports car.  This Ferrari makes my heart skip the beat just looking at it.  It has a sense of dangerousness, hotness, and adventure.

The red color adds a fire and passion in our lives.  Where can you find yours?

Color Green photography

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Photography Tips

A painter picks up a brush and expresses what is deep in his or her heart.  A photographer does the same.  The only difference is that photographer’s tool of creativity is a camera.  To an ordinary eye, it seems like it is a point-and-shoot, not a big deal.  However, it is not that simple.  See, the real photographer captures what is inside his or her heart using the outside world.

There are so many photographers with simple and gigantic with telescopic lenses cameras.  There are beginners and there are professionals.  Yet, some photographers stand out more than others, and not necessarily the ones with the best cameras around.  Why is that?  There are point and shoot and go people, and there are real artists.  What distinguishes artists from regulars?  They are masters of what they do.  They are masters of their craft.  They have an artistic eye and open heart and use them to create magical masterpieces.

How do they do that?  We can learn from them using these techniques:

1.  Capture what is in your heart.

2. Shoot with the feeling (this should come naturally).

3. Be aware of surroundings.  Notice things other people miss.

4. Use imagination, be creative.  Try different angles, textures, focus.  Do not be afraid to experiment.

5. Do not let anything stop you (rain, dark, etc.).

6. Follow your gut feeling.

7. Be patient.

8. Be your own boss (do not follow rules, be different).

9. Practice makes it better.  Know camera as your best friend.

10. Have a camera always ready. You never know what you’ll see.

First and foremost, capturing what is in your heart is a main and most important ingredient.  If you shoot what you do not love or like, pictures always will look crappy.  Now, if you capture something you love, it will show in your pictures.  You’ll give a special attention to your subject and even might find better angles to shoot.  The connection to a subject will make a whole world of difference.  If you love people and fashion, for example, specialize as a fashion photographer.  If nature and animals are in your heart, be a nature photographer.  Some photographers are skilled in various areas.  They bring love and undivided attention in anything they choose to capture.

Second technique is an extension of first.  If the first step is utilized, second technique should come naturally.  When capturing a subject, bring out a feeling.  Get to know the subject.  For example, in shooting a rose, smell it, admire its beauty.  Bring that awe and fragrance into a picture.  While capturing animals or birds, get to know them, study their behavior.  In shooting pets, play with them, bring out the cuddliness.  Look for traits of personality and capture the right moments.  In capturing people, get to know them to capture a real essence of them.  While shooting places, get to know the history and feel the energy, capture the light.

To have a great photographic eye, you got to be aware of surroundings and be present.  This way you can notice things that others miss.  Being in the now will surprise you what kind of things you start to notice.  You might be seeing the same things everyday.  However, if you look more closely, you can always notice something new.  For example, you go to the park and follow the same route.  If you are aware of your surroundings, you might notice a new flower or tree blooming.  In capturing people, you might use a different angle, different background.  Also, there might be an animal camouflaged.  Many people might drive or go the same routes, and they might not notice what is in front of them.  To be aware of surroundings all the time, it might bring some surprises.

In creating pictures, do not be afraid to use your imagination.  Be creative.  Try different angles, textures, focus.  Do not be afraid to experiment.  Bring your camera to the ground, shoot from up, sideways, upside down.  Let your creativity flow.  Make up backgrounds, shoot a splash of color in a dull places.  Capture different emotions, movements, surprising angles.  Sky is the limit to your abundant creativity.  Do not be afraid to be different, odd, unusual.

Once the sun goes down or starts raining or snowing, we find ourselves cooped up inside.  However, we miss some best shots.  Surprisingly, we can make the most creative shots in these conditions.  Rain brings the best reflections and raindrops that look like diamonds.  The night brings the splashes of colors.  Do not let any weather condition stop you.

Another technique is always follow your gut feeling.  If you do, you’ll find some great opportunities to take pictures in certain places at certain times.  That’s how I found much of wildlife and got pretty close to them.  Your inner knowing knows the best.  Never deny it.

Patience plays an important role as well.  It is easy to shoot a bird and animal standing.  Now, if they are in action, it is so much more interesting.  It brings out aliveness and personality, a moment.  Sometimes, we got to wait for a right timing, right light, right motion.  Also, the same goes with people.  We can take numerous shots and may not like any of them.  Now, if we have a subject to relax, or surprise them unexpectedly, or taking candid shots, we can capture their essence and personality.  I remember one winter my toes were getting cold in the water to the point of numbness, but I captured the most incredible pelican family fishing photos.  Patience is the key to find that right timing and right moment that pays off tremendously in creative shots.

If we would follow all the rules, there would be no creativity left and all the photos would be the same.  Be innovative, create something that nobody created.  Rebel because in being a rebel, all creativity comes out.

Of course, then comes practice.  In shooting constantly, we get to know our camera as a best friend.  We start from basics.  Then we get closer, then we try out creative shots, then experiment different angles, different lighting, different moods.  With practice, our hands become more steady in cases where we do not use tripod.  With practice, our pictures become better and better.  We see our subjects differently; we incorporate different techniques.

At last, always have your camera ready.  You don’t want to miss what you suddenly see.  You don’t want to miss opportunities that present themselves.  If you do miss the shot, just take time to enjoy what you see.  Do not beat yourself up that you have no camera ready.

My camera is my constant companion.  It taught me to be in the present, to enjoy every moment, to see things that many people miss.  Through camera, I capture moments that take my breath away, surprise me.  Through photos, I tell stories what I see, feel, touch, experience, hear and love to share with others.

See how to shoot your beloved pet here.

Tags: art, beauty, digital photography, fun, how to photography, inspiration, life, me, nature, opinion, people, personal, photo, photo gallery, photo inspiration, photo samples, photo tips, photography, photography techniques, photography tips, photos, picture, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, reflections, thoughts, wonderocity

Nature’s Paintings

If we look closely, we can see the most beautiful paintings created by nature.  They are filled with color and detail, and they are ever-changing.  Nature clears our mind and fills us with wonder.  Here are some of my photos of water.  The reflections and ripples cause an incredible effect that leave us inspired and awe-struck.

Reflections of forest

Reflections of the sky

Reflections of fence in rain water.

A pond full of stars

Reflections of tree in ripples

Fish swimming in Monet.

Colors of trees in reflections

Sun stars on a cloudy day

Huge ripple

Moving water in the creek

Little Blue Heron fishing on a sun path.

Two turtles looking on in our Princess reflection

Fish point of view

Rain water in the creek

Floating leaf creates a 3-D effect.

The next time you are by body of water, look more closely, and you’ll see the most amazing paintings created by nature.

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How to capture incredible sunsets with your camera?

Sunsets always take our breath away.  They capture our imagination, fill our world with colors, and leave us awe-struck.  It is like a huge canvas filled with different colors and textures.  Some of them are dramatic.  Some of them are cloud-less.  Some sunsets set a cheerful mood.  Some of them brings out our uncertainty.  It depends on our mood and what we see and feel inside.

How to capture this beauty?  How to capture what we feel inside?  As in every art, capturing the photos always reflect our inner state of being.  Do we focus on dark colors and drama? Or are we drawn to cheerful orange and red?  Do we have our imagination play with the clouds?  Do we use our imagination how to shoot creatively and in extraordinary ways to capture that awe-inspiring moment?

Here are my captures to inspire you, my readers:

Timing is everything.

Golden hour is the best time to take pictures.  Golden hour happens an hour before the sun goes down.  It makes everything aglow and the colors become warm and pleasant to the eye.

At sunset even ripples in the water become like a masterpiece.

A setting sun through palm tree leaves adds mystery and makes a photo like an abstract painting.

Sometimes it takes a little creativity to see a beauty in unexpected, but ordinary places.  This is a reflection of sunset on my car’s window right after the rain.

The storm cloud is lit up before the sun goes down.  Sometimes incredible views are right behind us.

Sunset colors reflect of the building.  Reflection effect was caused when I put my camera on the top of my car.

Mickey Mouse sunset

Sail into your dreams sunset.  It has that vacation feel, isn’t it?  The sun rays adds that extra touch.

The clouds at sunset runs our imagination wild.  This is one of my favorite sunsets that I captured.

Sunset-colored sand turns into gold when capturing at low angle.

Golden sunlight, blue water and seagulls at low level makes this moment magical.

Romantic moment

Enjoying the a spectacular sunset

The spectacular sunset with incredible clouds

The little girl playing with the sand and water.  This heart-warming moment seems like has a story behind it.

Fishing at sunset

At golden hour, the whole beach might turn into gold.

Sea grass at sunset on the windy day

A peaceful eve.

Who is walking who?

Sometimes sunsets are out of this world.

Brushstrokes of orange

We can make a great framing for a sunset.  I zoomed in my camera in the peek of trees and buildings

I believe wild fires caused this unusual sunset.

Even buildings become beautiful at sunset

This incredible sunset was caused after tropical storm.  Again I used the top of the car to cause this unusual effect.

Go capture a sunset tonight.  Use your imagination.  What will you see? How can you create your magic?

Tags: art, beautiful sunsets, beauty, fun, how to capture incredible sunsets with your camera?, inspiration, life, me, nature, photo, photo gallery, photo inspiration, photo tips, photography, photos, photos of sunsets, picture, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, random thoughts, reflections, sunsets, thoughts, wonderocity

Silhouettes

Like shadows, silhouettes add mystery to photography.  The silhouettes appear when the light is low and when it is behind the subject.

A silhouette of David at Ringling Museum

We were having fun with different poses when the sun went down.  This is my friend Sandy.

Great Blue Heron at sunset.  The colors of sun down makes this picture warm.

As the sun was going down, I spotted the lone pelican.

A couple was having fun.  I shot this from low angle.

This photo seems have a love story behind it.  The elderly couple sits at the park while sun protrudes through the tree.

Dolphin statue at the park in sunlight makes this picture magical.

This one is interesting.  There was a light at Black Bird Gallery.  I lined up the decorative tree and a statue of black bird against the light and this is what I got.

Here I aligned a bench with reflection of the sun on the water. The silhouettes of bench and sailboat and stars make the scenery enchanted, relaxing and dreamy.

Here is Raj, our cat on the car roof against sunset light. He is waiting for the dark to come, so he can cause trouble.

Brown Pelican at sunset.

Palm trees against interesting sky makes this tropical scene inviting.

I really enjoyed to make this picture.  I aligned the path of sunset with fishing Little Blue Heron.  The night was cold, that’s why the colors are subdued on the water.  It looks like the bird is walking in the painting.

Wish you lots of creativity.  There is always a magic near us if we look a little closer.

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Catching a light

Photography is a great way to be creative.  We can paint a picture of what we see in artistic ways that can capture our eyes and our hearts.  I love sun and moonlight.  I love to create magic using light and my imagination.

Here I captured couple’s hands creating a heart at sunset

Crystals are a fine way to capture sunlight.  Jewelry courtesy of Dalia Koss Unique Jewelry

Added sunlight makes a beautiful Swarovski crystal jewelry come alive.  Jewelry courtesy of daliakoss.com

This one is magical way to capture sunlight.  I took some water from the pond and I aligned reflection of the sun with my hand.

The sunlight and aligned branches forming a heart makes this scene amazing.  Isn’t it?

This one looks like a diamond.  It is a drop reflecting a sunlight.

These two pictures got lots of attention on Flickr.  I aligned Super Moon light with fishing Great Blue Heron.

A true Elegance in Moon light.

This one was a fun way to create magic:  sun rays in between my fingers.

Reflection of sunlight in the bay and sun among the branches made this picture colorful and interesting.

The sunlight reflecting from glass table on an orchid petal made a rainbow effect.

The palm tree branches in a sunset light.

Rain drops in a sunlight made this moment like an enchanted forest.

Sea of stars.  I caught them when the breeze blew at the pond making star ripples.

Spiderweb at sunset makes a rainbow of colors

Even man-made light can be magical.  This is an interesting light show and a reflection of it.

A statue at art show.  Add sunlight and reflections, and it becomes magical.

This is one of my favorites.  I caught a sun halo and a sun though the hole of this paper heart.

It is amazing what we can do by adding our imagination to every day life.  What do you think?  What can we create today?

In making sunlight magic, I got to warn you, though:  Do not point camera directly at a strong sun, be careful not to damage your camera’s sensor.  Also, do not look at the sun directly.  Use common sense.  All else is a great fun.  Enjoy.

Tags: art, beauty, catching a light, catching sunlight, fashion, fun, hearts, how to photography, inspiration, life, me, nature, photo, photo gallery, photo inspiration, photo magic, photo tips, photography, photos, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, random thoughts, reflections, style, sunlight, thoughts, wonderocity