Chickadee

Chickadee
Originally uploaded by RickBlythe.

Here is a photography of a Chickadee on my left hand. It was a bit of a trick holding my Nikon D70 in my right hand, and holding the Chickadee with my left, but thanks to the lack of shutter lag I got the shot. As soon as the shutter clicked the bird was gone.

[Click on the photo for a larger version]

Taken at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario.

Good Digital Photography Books

Digital Photography Books

1. The Digital Photography Book - the biggest seller of any kind - by Scott Kelby
2. Understanding Exposure - a classic and always popular on DPS
3. Complete Digital Photography - third edition
4. Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D Digital Field Guide - interesting to see a book on a specific camera ranked so highly
5. Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color & Composition in Photography - another updated edition
6. The Perfect Portrait Guide: How to Photograph People - I’ve got this on my desk ready to read
7. The Photoshop Channels Book - another Scott Kelby book
8. The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers - and a third one from Scott (you guys love this guy!)
9. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Digital Photographers - it’s no wonder this is popular
10. Beyond Portraiture: Creative People Photography - a new one to me
    

Glow Effect in Photoshop

Want to know how to add a really cool glow effect to an image using Photoshop? You've come to the right place. This method creates really sharp looking glow effects using a combination of Photoshop's layer styles, the pen tool and colour blending. The end effect is quite stunning and hopefully you'll pick up some tips you didn't know before. The overall effect is very nice, simple and effective. Though I wouldn’t say it is hard to figure out how to do this effect, it is a very well presented tutorial and should help many people who are in the earlier stages of the learning process.

Read Advanced Glow Effects

Slow Sync Flash Images

Check out this series of images that all use a fun and striking technique called Slow Sync Flash. This technique combines a slower than normal shutter speed combined with a flash during the exposure. The technique can produce some stunning images not possible any other way. Worth a look.

Photo Composition Study | Elora Gorge

Elora Gorge
Originally uploaded by RickBlythe.

Here is another photographic composition I quite like. Can you tell me what is the fatal flaw of this photo?

Hint: To properly fix this, I would need to take two (or more) photos of the exact same scene (click photo to find the answer).

Some Good Photoshop Shortcuts

Here are 30 secret Photoshop shortcuts that Nick La has learned from years of experience.

What he means by "secret" is that these shortcuts are not documented in the menus. Keep reading over at Web Designer Wall and you will find how these shortcuts can speed up your productivity. Handy shortcuts for making photoshop easier to use. He bets you won’t know all of them!

Photoshop Secret Shortcuts

Do it Yourself Night Vision

DIY Night Vision - Funny bloopers R us

Wildflower Composition

2007_09_04_14_35_44
Originally uploaded by RickBlythe.

How to compose photos of wildflowers?

Here is a shot I took today of some New England Asters. Notice how the background is uncluttered and the blooms are slightly off-center?

No processing has been done to this shot after the fact. What do you think?