About the word Shekinah

The word Shekinah (shuh-kigh-nuh) means dwelling. It refers to the visible manifestation of the presence (or Shekinah Glory) of God. A luminous cloud. It is the very presence of God on earth. (see Holy Bible-Exodus 24:9-18)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

HDR-style editing technique

If you are into photography at all, you've surely heard of HDR images. For those of you who haven't heard of it, HDR stands for high dynamic range. Usually, you would take 5 or more images at different exposures and combine them in a software program. The idea is to bring out more detail in an image, especially in the shadow areas, while not clipping the highlights. There's a lot more to it, but I won't go into all that here.


I have been hesitant to delve into this area of photography because as far as art goes, I am a bit of a purist. I once took a watercolor painting class and did poorly because I like pure color and the opacity of the medium eluded me in practice, no matter how much I tried to keep a light hand. In photography, for the most part, I like images that look as real and natural as possible.


HDR can look very natural or very un-natural. HDR has the ability to enhance an image in a way that will enable it to look more like the scene looked to the human eye sees, but when overdone/over processed it just looks hokey to me. If you're going for hokey, or even artsy then I'm okay with that; but when it's supposed to be a photograph, it should be done with extreme caution so as not to overdo it and take the realism out of the image. I do believe there is a place for both.


So, this is one of my first images that I have edited this way. It was actually done in Lightroom 2, from a single RAW file. I learned the technique from a post at Digital Photography School's site. I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. You can view it larger in my "Artistic" gallery, if you want to see it larger. Let me know what you think...does it look realistic enough? Is it too cartoony? Not cartoony enough for you?

Update: Here's another...

...and, one more...


Sunday, May 16, 2010

Broken Fence-Free Wallpaper Download!

I just love old barns, old structures and old fences so I decided to offer this image as my latest free wallpaper download. This image was taken in Gem County, Idaho.

By downloading this file, you are agreeing to certain license usage terms. If you do not agree to the terms, please do NOT download the file.

If you would like to use this image as your computer background,
Please CLICK HERE and follow download instructions. Please also leave a comment.

*If you know someone who would like this download, use the share button; please DO NOT send them the file yourself.

ENJOY!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Snake River Birds of Prey Festival

Last year I attended a wonderful event! It's the Snake River Birds of Prey Festival, and it's coming up again! It will be held May 14-16 in Kuna, Idaho. It offers tours, lectures, and children's activities.

The lectures are very interesting and informative. There are falconers on site with live raptors as part of some of the lectures and in the vending hall. You can view them up close and ask questions about them.


I went on one of the tours last year. It was the Burrowing Owl Tour and it was an awesome experience! Below is one of the pictures of the owlets, just over a week old, I took on that tour. Click here to see more of the photos and read about my experience.

This year I plan to attend again, and I hope you will, too! Next year I will probably be a vendor there, but in the meantime, you may purchase my photography as fine art prints, framed or unframed, as well as greeting cards.

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