Visions by Vicki

Photographer Spotlight...WOW!

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:52:16 GMT

Time for a little bit of shameless self-promotion...

Greg Kiser, a very talented nature photographer in his own right, writes a series of monthly articles featuring other photographers. This month, he wrote a very insightful and well-written article about none other than...moi! Needless to say, I'm very honored that he felt I deserved to be featured and will try very hard not to let this go to my head. LOL Actually, it will inspire me to be more diligent in my photography--posting more photos and updating my website, as well as creating more prints. I LOVE photography and am very passionate about it. Being a Photoshop junkie doesn't hurt, either. :) So...I hope all my readers scoot over to "Photo Trek" to check out this one (and Greg's other articles, as well as his photos).

Tags: photography, spotlight, photo trek, article

Happy Independence Day!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:20:46 GMT

Just wanted to post this and wish everyone a Happy 4th. As I've said before, I've always been a bit sappy about our flag, so this is a great reason for posting an image I was playing with. Enjoy the barbecues and parties and fireworks this weekend!

Tags: American flag, independence day, 4th of July

AOL Community Photo Challenge - The American Flag

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:39:33 GMT

Our June Photo Challenge is for FUN only--The American Flag. Find a flag anywhere, on a flag post, a building, painted on something....or just the red, white & blue colors. You can even use a child's drawing as long as it has the red, white & blue colors.

This image is another one from my home town--Freehold, NJ. It's a memorial in front of the BPOE building and I grew up seeing it. I'm not sure when the flags and markers were added, but I get a chill when I see them. I titled this image "Remembrance."

Tags: photography, challenge, US flag, American flag, Americana, remembrance

Critiques vs. Opinions...

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:57:28 GMT

I've been a member of the Monmouth Camera Club, in NJ, for 2 years and have been involved in a number of "competitions." I'm still no expert, but have observed that some judges seem to follow what they believe are iron-clad rules of photography (Rule of Thirds, Leading Lines, etc.) in some cases, but don't apply these rules consistently. This angered and confused me a bit because they were being inconsistent and that didn't seem fair. Also, as far as I knew from all that I've read, these "Rules" are actually guidelines and NOT written in stone. I just read an article by one of the premier landscape photographers in the US--Alain Briot, Arts and Facts, The difference between judgments and opinions--and something clicked. It's definitely worth a read, so I suggest you go to his website and check it out. While you're there, browse through all his writings and photographs--he's really amazing! And...let me know what you think. :)

P.S. The original article referred to in this one was written for a different website, which I also highly recommend. The original article is titled Being an Artist.

Tags: critiques, opinions, photography, artist, essays

AOL Community Photo Challenge - The Magic Hour

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:42:26 GMT

The current challenge in the Photo Challenge is The Magic Hour:

The Magic Hour, or Golden Hour, is the first & last hour of sunlight each day...read more about this wonderful photographic time of day in the Challenge journal--and go there to view links to other entries for Judged and Fun categories.

Anyway, here are my entries for the Fun category. Since mine are not being judged, I decided to add 3 from a shoot at a local historic church and graveyard. This church dates back to the 1700s and is a wonderful place for a photo shoot. Hope you enjoy as much as I did...

Tags: photo challenge, fun, photography, golden hour, church, graveyard, steeple

AOL Community Photo Challenge - Landscapes in Color

Sat, 17 May 2008 17:47:28 GMT

I've been so busy this past week (and it's not easing up anytime soon) so I apologize for this being so late...so, I hope no one minds that I post my landscape anyway...

There were so many wonderful images posted (both Judged and for Fun) and I thoroughly enjoyed viewing them. This image was taken during my January trip to visit my son in Vermont. It's actually shot after leaving Vermont and driving through Adirondack State Park in New York. I'm a sucker for the American flag, wherever I find it so, of course, this one caught my eye and I had to pull over, back up and shoot it from a few different angles. Hope you enjoy it.

Tags: Photo Challenge, landscapes, color, photography

AOL Community Challenge - Landscapes in B&W

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:57:09 GMT

The current challenge: Take a Landscape photo in B & W or transform a photo into B&W. You can sepia tone the image, frame it, but keep in mind when framing, not to take away from the image.

Here's mine--taken from under the bridge on the main road in Winooski, Vermont, last January. I loved the clouds that day!

To view the other great landscape entries, go here and there.

Tags: blogplugs, landscape, photography, photo challenge, vermont

Variety Show...Round Robin Photo Challenge

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:25:06 GMT

My second attempt to enter the Round Robin Challenge: This photo is of the tent homes erected every summer in Ocean Grove, NJ. Each tent home takes on the character of the person inhabiting it...and they are really quaint. For more information about this wonderful vacation spot (you'll have to visit for the day or stay at a B&B, because the tent homes are owned by families who pass them on to descendants) check out the following links:

http://www.ogcma.org/

http://www.escapemaker.com/nj/oceangrove/oceangrove.html

http://www.oceangrovehistory.org/Home.htm

Tags: blogplugs, round robin, photo challenge

Community Photo Challenge--POSTCARDS

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:26:02 GMT

Ok...I'm back to entering for the fun of it--and it IS fun!

This is a great Challenge (Check out all the great entries!)...it gave me the chance to use some techniques I haven't used in years (mainly clipping masks). I had to do this in my Illustrator class back in 2002 and the technique works in PhotoShop, too. Anyway, it's hard to create a great image when the banner for this is so very cool--setting the bar way up there^!

So...here's my postcard, it's imaginary, but the trip was real and we just got home today. :)

Tags: blogplugs, photo, challenge, postcards, fun

Shocked, Surprised and Totally Thrilled...

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:20:28 GMT

I was very pleasantly surprised when I logged in during my trip to Orlando, Florida, for a week of total immersion into all things Photoshop, followed by a week at the 'best place on earth'..Disney World. Because I was going to be away, I wasn't able to judge the AOL Community Photo Challenge, so when Marie asked Betty to help out, I took the opportunity to enter one as a 'challenger'. I'm really honored that my image was awarded first place. Thank you to the judges and thanks to all those of you who have commented and congratulated me, both on my journal and on the Challenge journal. I know how difficult the decision was for the judges...the other 2 winning images were really great, as were the other entries. As I've said before, there is a lot of photographic talent in our little community. Well, this is my moment in the sun...next challenge I'll be back to judging and entering just for the fun of it. :) Thanks again, everyone!

Tags: Blogplugs, photo challenge, aged, judged