As part of the Photoshop Virtual Summit II (5 days long) I made a night sky version of my Gull at Dawn. Watching the summit is keeping me home and busy leaning.
I was told that my parents had their honeymoon at the Sherry Netherlands at 781 5th Avenue while my father was on leave during WWII (first two pictures). During WWII some hotels offered free stays to soldiers on leave. Coincidentally, Sherry is my name. My mother says my name wasn’t chosen because of the hotel. It may have been a subliminal choice.
For Norm’s Thursday Doors January 5, 2017
The old Plaza Hotel, famed for the children’s books about Eloise, is across the street at 59th Street and 5th Avenue. Next to the Plaza is Bergdorf Goodman.
OK, so the first two are not ducks. I photographed these on December 31, 2016 at the Pond at the south end of Central Park. I added some effects in Photoshop and OnOne.
The Mallards are in mating mode. They splashed around and chased each other making a ruckus.
I started with three images of a Brown Creeper photographed near the point in the Rambles of Central Park and made a composite using masks. The birds were not the sharpest, so I duplicated the layers, merged them, and used shake reduction on the birds. I also added a few adjustment layers in Photoshop.
I have been making photographs since our return to NYC in September and part of October, 2015. These were made at three locations: The Hudson River Greenway, The High Line, and Central Park, New York City. I enhanced the autumnal colors and shading in Lightroom and Photoshop. Softening or graying the greens and darkening the background puts the focus on the flowers and reds.
Took the Ferry from Manhattan to see the Botanical Gardens in Snug Harbor, Staten Island with a Friend and made these photographs of a few of the flowers. Summer heat slows me down a bit plus I had a lot of work to do for the Linnaean Society of New York, making the program and site with the 2015-2016 Schedule. If you live in NYC you might like to check it out at linnaeannewyork.org
I went for a trip with 3 of my birding friends to Bashakill Wildlife Management Area, Sullivan County, New York on the weekend of June 6th. The first day we spent by the lake. The following morning I took some lovely photographs of dawn at the lake. Later that morning we drove up Gumaer Road, alongside a stream of the same name; stopping here and there to listen, and occasionally spot, an Acadian Flycatcher, singing Dark-eyed Juncos, Veerys and a Wood Thrush. I didn’t have my Nikon 80-400 mm lens, which is being repaired, so I am sorry to say I couldn’t photograph two young ravens being fed some red meat. Lastly, we walked along the D&H Canal Linear Park. The area is lovely and bright green this time of year with many birds, turtles and other wildlife. I had a marvelous time. We saw 55 species of birds and other flora and fauna.
I experimented with black and white with added sepia tints. Each one required its own methods to get the best result in Lightroom’s “darkroom” for translating to B&W. I aimed to create a mood and accentuate certain details. Here are both color and black and white versions for comparison.
Landscapes:
Close-ups:
I was inspired by memories of an old B&W film Hiroshima Mon Amour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_mon_amour) where there is a small section where the lovers embrace in what looks like sparkling fallout.
The ones below are my vision, which is not so grim. I imagined skin being dusted with stardust. I created these images using a macro lens. The skin is dusted with flour, water and iridescent sparkles.
Sherry Felix - port4u 