Month: December 2016

Nature Photography Calendar

As 2016 rumbles to a close, I’m preparing for a busy 2017. I expect 2017 to be a year of practice, focus and growth.  I  look forward to a July expedition to Iceland to explore and photograph the marvelous scenery there.

But we would not wish to say good-bye to the sights and memories of 2016 without a chance to reflect on them. A September trip to Hawaii and Maui provided most of my year’s photography opportunities. I’ve assembled some of the best images of 2016 in a Nature Calendar, and I am making it available to you. Measuring 14″ wide by 22″ long, it is printed on premium card stock.

#calendar, #naturephotography, #landscape, #birds, #flowers
Memorable landscape photography from Hawaii in Cathy Kelly’s 2017 Calendar can brighten your home or office, available for $26 plus shipping.

Order online here.
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Taking a Walk in Hawaii

In taking stock of the photos I shot in 2016, I came across this photo I shot with my Nikon D800 while taking a morning walk in Hawaii: a bright orange crab perched on coastline lava. It’s definitely fun to take a vacation in a faraway land where the wildlife and the plant life offer a visual surprise. Take a look at those eyeballs!

#crab, #hawaii, #wildlife, #nature, #lava, #orangeandblue
Look who I met on my morning walk. Hawaii is another world with amazing wildlife.

 

 

Tropical Christmas

It’s such a busy time of year. While the rest of my family members are on the highway or in the shops today, I am grateful to have a few quiet moments to work on some special photos from 2016.

This tropical bloom from the Big Island of Hawai’i says Merry Christmas to me today with its brilliant magenta and green colors. Can you identify it? Could it be ginger?

#hawaii, #pinkandgreen, #christmas, #tropical, #painting, #topaz
Merry Christmas from tropical Hawai’i. Photo processed in Lightroom, Photoshop and Topaz Simplify.

First Day of Winter

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Niagara Falls, from the United States pier on a wintry day.

The first day of Winter may be tomorrow December 21, but the icy cold weather is already here. When I go outside to walk my dog in Sewickley PA, I think about what Niagara Falls looked like after an exceptional winter in April 2015. Brrrr.

Victorian Crowned Pigeon

The National Aviary is an interesting family outing for folks in Pittsburgh, especially over the holidays when the weather can be frightful. When you visit, you will have a chance to meet William and Mary, two Victorian Crowned Pigeons, roaming around among the visitors in the Tropical Rain Forest.

#bird, #victoriancrownedpigeon, #aviary, #tropical, #nature, #topazlabs
Is this William or Mary keeping an eye on me?

This bird named for Queen Victoria is the largest pigeon in the world, and it comes from Northern New Guinea. I like its colors and fancy crown. I processed my image with Topaz Simplify.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

I see green grass out my window today, but it’s starting to snow, and the blustery wind blew my hair up and in every direction. I was so cold, I had to come inside and take a hot shower!  I’m reminded on this photo I took six years ago today after a fresh snow fall.

I used a textured brush tool in Photoshop to reveal the image through a layer of solid white for a notecard. It almost looks like I have scraped the fresh snow off my window.

#winter, #snow, #december, #tree, #howto, #pennsylvania, #sewickley, #photoshop, #cold
Brushstrokes reveal a wintry scene of a snowy tree, shot in December 2010.

A More Colorful Time

Today Nature is giving us bare trees and gray skies in the Pittsburgh region. I’m thinking back on a more colorful day at Sewickley Heights Park. I captured a photo of the foliage lining Tortilla Flats. Today I made a painting out of it with Topaz Impression. Does this painting make you feel a bit brighter inside?

#topaz, #foliage, #sewickley, #fall, #autumn, #pennsylvania
Foliage at Sewickley Heights Park. Memories of a brighter day in Pennsylvania

“Pull over. I see a photo.”

You know when you are driving along, and you see a striking scene, and you think to yourself, “I really should pull over and get out and take that photo?” You say that because you know the scene will never present itself exactly that way again. Well, this time I had my camera with me, and I did pull over, get out and take the photo.

Driving past Allegheny Country Club on a crisp Fall afternoon, I was struck by the contrast between the sunlit clubhouse and the darker sky as well as the stark nearly leafless tree in the foreground. What do you like about this scene? The red tree? The combination of feelings in the image: both the warmth and hints of chill? Do you get the feeling that this day might be on the cusp of Autumn turning to Winter?

#Fall, #countryclub, #ACC, #sewickley, #trees, #warm, #chilly, #pennsylvania
Late Fall day at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania.