Shooting Outside Gallery

Happy Photography New Year    Still wondering what your New Year is going to bring you?    I wonder at this time of year more than any other time if I've done enough to prepare for a prosperous and happy coming year. Most of the time I still have plenty left to do. I have to believe this is true for most all of you too. But at least we are thinking about it. And that's a great step in the right direction. We won't accomplish much without planning, and that's where I'm at right now. Can I do more, should I have done more to prepare? I suppose so. My plan was and is, to get outside more instead of this or that, and get more shots to work with and then sell. Thus I'm calling this blog post Happy Photography New Year. I find that I've been restricted somewhat in being able to accomplish much shooting lately, and the reason hasn't gone away. Still that's my goal. Goals are good, accomplishing them is even better. Let's see how I do. 

Merry Christmas to all my readers. I want thank everyone for reading all of my posts over the years. I wish you all the very best of this Holiday and of course a very happy and successful New Year. Now about all that is left is the wrapping of the presents, yes I usually wait until the last possible second to get the gifts under the tree. Peace and Tranquility and don't forget to shoot more pics. Maybe even with a DSLR for a change. That's what I use 90% of the time. How about you? ____________________________________________________________________________ To those who are wondering, when I took this photo, there was so little snow on the mountain, that I pulled back both Recover and Fill Light to 0, pulled back the Blacks, pushed the Brightness and the Contrast very high, and reduced Clarity and Saturation to -100 in order to achieve at least a semblance of a glow for an added snow feel. Then before saving I used Bicubic hich gave me a softer appearance when red

Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus Is it acceptable to wish my readers, or the public at large, just these two wishes? Or should one look up every religion's every country's customs to wish them a good season at or near this time of year? I guess one could make an argument either way. But it is enough for me, the sole writer at my own blog, to wish people the customary and religious tradition I grew up with. And in doing so you as the reader, can accept or reject, or emotionally supplant your own customary tradition as you read my Headline.  So accept my best of intentions and enjoy this holiday with your closest of friends and relatives. Be happy even in the midst of occasional differences of opinion or any other matters of worry or inflicted emotional pain. This holiday is expected to place a warm, glowing attitude within all of us. Turn on the Christmas music, deck your halls and other rooms, doorways and windows and trees and welcome in the joy.  One other

I guess you could say I am promoting a Webinar I just viewed, but other than sharing it with you my only compensation is knowing you'll learn about using tools for Target Adjustments using Photoshop. While I don't believe the webinar is available, you can head to the website to sign up for individual classes at affordable prices. The webinar was given by Tim Grey, who knows as much or more than anyone I know about using Lightroom and Photoshop. The tips presented were clear and well presented. Of course I always like to have a written tutorial but if you are familiar with using Photoshop, you shouldn't have any trouble. I couldn't pause the webinar but you'll be able to pause or stop and review his videos. Here is his website for reviewing his courses and the cost of each. Trust that you will find more than a few to learn techniques and tips that even if you already know Photoshop will add advanced tips to quicken your workflow. Comments below

For a slit second this evening, December 21, 2015, at 8:48 pm Pacific, Winter Solstice will arrive and be gone about as long as it takes to shoot this picture in bright light. Then its gone. Luckily the event triggers a daily increase in light every day throughout the Winter. The short days begin to recede as Winter approaches Spring.  Here's your chance to get a shot of this long-awaited day every year about this time. Your option is to hope for enough light from the moon, which will be a full moon on December 25, 2015. Best of luck and remember to use a remote setting and a locked open shutter so as not to cause camera shake. Then in the comments below include your Instagram or Flickr links to your pics.   

Remember the Vets in your family, and when you honor them, take some pics to salute them. They gave a portion of their freedom for your freedom. Giving back is due.

         

Old Growth in the Grove of the Patriarchs Mt Rainier   Description of the trail greets you as you begin    Timing is everything  New trees fall along the trial in every season. Some are small, some large. Luckily no one was posing for a photo when this one crashed onto the trail, nor was I. As you walk along the 1.5 mile trail the further you go the more you see larger and larger trees. Once you've reached the steel, swinging foot bridge, and it does bounce and sway, which warns you to go one at a time,  you are only a very short distance to the actual Grove of the 1,000 plus year old Patriarchs of the forest. They are massive, one reaching a circumference nearing 50' and close to 14' in diameter. The Grove of Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and Douglas Fir, is something we see rarely in all the hiking and trails anywhere, other than the Giant Redwoods. It's always worth the drive to Mt Rainier in the Ohanapecosh area in the SE corner of the Nat

Share This Website Sharing websites that you frequent, or get information from, is only fair to the author and yourself.  This blog is dedicated to sharing information with you, please share this website with others as both yourself and myself will gain. You'll gain insight or links to prints that I have available for sale, and I'll gain more readers and sales of my work.  Click here to Share and thanks  

It's High Time You Shot What You Like   I've caught myself reviewing my image files so many times, in order to weed out any imperfect photos, anything with blown out areas, or ones without any detail in the shadows, blur in the subject, incorrect subject framing and so on, just moving through the process of my preferred workflow. Then suddenly I'll question even why I spent the time shooting this subject. It was nothing I was particularly interested in, it simply fell into my lens. And that's ok if you don't have a subject in mind when you set out for a day of photography.  But over the years, I've developed a way to avoid this, being that time is so precious as I age, is to create a document with categories of shoots I want to newly capture or revisit.  I will even set into the document, a route link, a gps or an address, if possible. In the grand scheme it saves me a ton of time, as I know exactly where I am going. Sort of the front side of spontane

Soft Desert Flower Many sizes, mounts and frame options available

Daisy Pastel Many sizes, mounts and frame options available

Mushrooms in September Many sizes, mounts and frame options available

Soft Desert Daisy Many sizes, mounts and frame options available

Soft Crocosma II Many size, mounts and frame options available

'Soft Crocosma' Many sizes, mount and frame options available

Why Does Shooting Outside Exist?   To be honest, this post is asking for your help. I need to find out what you think of my blog. I'll post of few questions below that I hope you'll take a couple of minutes answering. The only effort is that you'll need to answer the questions by preceding the answers with a number as I have below. Thanks. So what is unclear here?  1. While the site url is 'outsideshooter.blogspot.com', the title is 'Shooting Outside'.  ?.  Is that confusing to you or can I continue?  2. Is this site about Tips and Tricks or my photography for sale? ?. Is it immediately clear to you or should I make some changes?  3. Did landing here give you what you thought you were here to see? ?. Or did you come here for a reason unrelated to the link and if so what was your reason for visiting? Three simple questions The reason I'm asking for your help is I recently paid for a study, which gave me results I fin

    Eye of the Croc     As I crouched to take this shot, mere feet away, the Crocodile never took his gaze off me for a second. His jaws were beginning to relax and slightly separate. I remember thinking I had forgotten to silence my shutter and wondered if that double-click would cause a reaction. I had to recall, without looking how much room I had behind me to jump back, if it did. I think I took almost a full minute to release the shutter, every second becoming more tense than the one before. And I thought to myself, I know you didn't get as big as you are, Mr. Croc, by missing often, but please just this once.    Clearly I'm here to write this so I survived the shoot, with nary a move on the Croc's part, but I have wondered since if it were mere luck. I guess I'll find out if I run across him again. Ever had a near miss like this?   Find it in print sizes as well as Throw Pillows and cell cases at my portfolio site   Rich Collins Image Cr

Who are You Creating Your Art for? There are artists who make a living creating art for their potential buyers. There are many more who do this and barely make a sale. Then there are artists who create their art, regardless if it is paper, clay, steel or photography, for themselves. Again some make a living, some don't. the rest of the short story: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/who-you-creating-your-art-rich-collins

Do You Shoot the Same Subjects Again and Again? What do you think it is that prevents most successful artists from ranging very far in their choices of subjects? Are you also caught up in capturing only a few subjects? Certainly you become more proficient at these few subjects, as you know well the parameters involving light, exposure, ISO, F-stop, among other settings. You can probably within a few seconds take out your particular camera body and lens, and produce really great captures. And there's a real satisfaction in that. But there's also great satisfaction in shooting outside your comfort zone.   Try Something New  Snowing with flash, converted to B/W  Macro in full sun Fireworks slower shutter speed  Post Processing If you've ever wanted to shake that habit and yet found it would take too long to master, perhaps your initial goal should not be mastering the capture. It could be merely exposing yourself to a new genre.  As a kid,

Today is a Great Day to Shoot Flowers Grab your camera and get out of the house today. I've looked and unless you are in the SE there is very little rain, some clouds, and light winds. Don't let any excuse stop you from going out for at least one hour, or depending on where you like, the rest of the day. Remember NO EXCUSES.  Even if you don't find flowers you might happen across some fungi. Nothing wrong with that.  Let me now where you went and maybe the rest of us will discover a new place. 

How Important is Socializing Online? So everyday, for some, many tim es a day, linking to Twitter, FB, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Tumbler, Stumble , and many others. The fact that so many exist and continue to pop up demonstrates a human need for contact or in some cases, for a business marketing approa ch. The why of this is less important here, than it is not going away. So until these sites start dropping off, it is clear, all of us, well most of us, will continue to visit, interact and share the content. But how much time we spend, is another thing entirely. And what we hope to accomplish.  What About our Art?  If you calculated how much time you spend on social sites vs accomplishing your art, your work, how would those calculations line up? Looking at how well your online sales are doing can you honestly say you are spending more time working on your art, than you are at socializing?  Its a question all of us face from time to time. There are t

New Art for sale     

Looking for Spring Bloom Shoots Depending on what part of the US you are in, filed blooms, like vast acres of blooms may be coming sooner than usual. Here is an article from Park Advocate that will whet your appetite. Read up on locations, then check locally and start your pre-trip planning well ahead of time.  Dreaming of Spring? 9 Great Spots to See Wildflowers  This article courtesy of http://parkadvocate.org/ Soon, national parks in some of the warmest regions of the country will begin blooming with a new season’s worth of wildflowers. What better way to shake off the winter doldrums—or charm your Valentine—than with the promise of a front-row seat at a national park to watch the landscape come alive with color?   And here's the read with photos of 9 locations. Personally I can hardly wait. 

    I have to Show my Fan Natic Attitude And because Seahawk Fans are known as the 12th Man       Who can tell who will win, but certainly because I am a Washington State artist I am placing my belief in the Seahawks.  Last weeks comeback in the last few minutes by the Seahawks was one for the record books. This Super Bowl, is being played by the two best teams, and they are both 4th quarter teams. If last weeks game was a nail biter, this game could be one too. Here's hoping Sherman's elbow won't prevent him from using his regular technique.    Russel will need to be able to reach his receivers and be able to scramble, but my feelings are unless he relies on more than running, the Seahawks will have a rough day. Patriots QB Tom Brady has 3 extremely reliable receivers but if they avoid Sherman, and make connections, the game could sway in favor of the Pats. I'm positive Pete Carroll has this covered, but I am often surprised by nickel defense ch

5 Day Only Sale   Offer expires 02/03/2015 Order your special one an 8x10" Canvas Print $45 But you'd better be quick , there's only a few left , and a few days left. Or if you'd rather order a Greeting card or a Throw Pillow here they are

Announcing my new website, displaying my new Photo-art and products,  a real step up in both viewing and purchasing for your home or office.                                                                  Rich Collins Photo Art Mandrill Can you imagine finding the exact right print in any medium from Luster paper, to Acrylic to Metallic, Canvas or Framed? Gift cards, individual or sets, from $4.95 on up. How about some new Throw Pillows for your couch? Or a Duvet Cover for your duvet?    Don't Forget Valentine Day Soft Desert Flowe r Add me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RichCollinsPhotography Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/OutsideShooter Add me on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107818080884479326165/posts Add me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/outsideshooter   Leave a Comment, a question or a request below  

(credit oregonlive.com) You Bet I'm a Fan ++ Go Hawks (credit mynorthwest.com) __________________________________ You can help me by visiting, commenting and purchasing my photography at  Rich Collins Photos

An Amazing Blog Please visit this most amazing blog of Bill and Melinda Gates        Regardless if you like or dislike the Gates Foundation, the couple, are really good people.

Can you explain how you shoot? Take a few of your best shots, and try explaining to someone the "how" of your shooting those particular shots. Why did you choose the physical position for that composure? Why did you choose the time of the day, if that shot was influenced by outdoor, natural light? Why did you change settings to achieve a specific capture? Why did you select a particular lens over another? If you were to go out again, could you duplicate that shot, in order to further perfect it? Would you make any lens or camera body changes? Would you treat it exactly the same way you did in a photo editing program, such as Photoshop?  Could you then tell someone exactly how to achieve the same effect, considering all of the above, assuming they needed advice? How to Accomplish If your answers to the above questions are more on the iffy side, let me make a suggestion that will help you in future OutsideShooting, (allow me license to coin a word).

Mandrill The Mandrill is an old world monkey from Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to Congo and are related to the Baboon. They are the world's heaviest monkey weighing up to 80 lbs plus. They typically show a deeper yellow cast to their teeth. I have brightened these, but if considering a purchase and you wish the original look, leave a comment and I'll upload the original.  To purchase the Mandrill in many mediums go to my site Pixels