Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Post needed a photo so…. Squirrel!
-click to enlarge-
I am sure many of the photographers that might read this are using Adobe products to do their post processing. Recently Adobe announced that their next iteration of Photoshop would not be CS7, but rather a subscription model called Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud). As one would guess, this has caused some confusion, consternation, and internet rioting over the changes.
Part of this new setup is due to the high rate of Adobe Photoshop piracy. One feature of Photoshop CC is to have your installation check in with the Adobe servers at least once a month to ensure that you are paid up and licensed. I have no problem with this part of using the “Creative Cloud”. I have legit software, and don’t have a problem if Adobe wants to verify that. Stressing that this is the main impetus for the changes does not seem genuine, however. I think the part Adobe is more concerned with is effectively raising the prices of their software, but under a new system so it is not as easy to directly compare.
So lets compare!
The last change Adobe made to Photoshop licensing involved the upgrade paths. Previously you did not have to buy every version of PS, you could skip a few and still upgrade to the new version for approximately $200. Then there were some controversial changes to this program that required you to purchase every version or you would no longer get a “discounted” new version/upgrade. There were some changes to this along the way but I think this is how the system eventually was implemented. I recently upgraded from CS5 to CS6 for $200 plus tax (I live in Canada). Lets crunch some numbers without the tax, and assume a customer that had planned on upgrading to each new version on the old 18 month cycle. The new system requires an investment of $20 per month for just Photoshop CC.
| 18 month upgrade: $200 over 18 months |
$11.11 per month |
$133.33 per year |
| Photoshop CC Subscription model: |
$20 per month |
$240.00 per year |
This is an 80% increase per year just to use Photoshop.
I have to wonder if Adobe will stick to this plan, or at least the pricing it released today. Almost doubling the cost of your software for existing users is something any company knows will draw some ire. Hopefully Adobe was just testing the waters today. I’m not against the need to verify a license, nor a monthly subscription model, but a price increase on this scale is going to be rather hard to stomach. I just wish there was a viable alternative…
Tags: adobe, adobe photoshop CC, adobe photoshop CS, licensing, software
Posted in Photography, Post Processing | 9 Comments »
New photos from Clayton Beach at Larrabee State Park in Bellingham, WA.
A winter sunset at Clayton Beach in Larrabee State Park – Bellingham, Washington State (-click to enlarge-)
In March of 2012 I visited Larrabee State Park in Washington State. Both of these photos are from Clayton Beach and show the interesting foregrounds possible on this sort of sandstone beach.
One of my favourite features of Clayton Beach was the sandstone along the edge of the ocean. Most of the “beaches” that I know in this region are either sandy or are a rocky beach that is rather slippery. The usual barnacles, mussels, and algae such as Fucus distichus are still present. As they are on a sandstone surface, however, the rocks are not very slippery even when wet. It feels a bit like walking on sandpaper – and it was nice to not have to worry as much about falling on my butt!
Sunset light on sandstone formations at Clayton
Beach in Larrabee State Park – Bellingham, Washington State (-click to enlarge-)
Other than just providing a non slip surface to walk on, the sandstone provides some great textures and shapes (called Tafoni) for the foreground of a photograph. Both of these images have interesting shapes in the foreground, though the second is more pronounced with more visible pockets of erosion. My previously published photo from Larrabee shows a larger sandstone formation.
I have a new gallery of Ocean Photos on my website which includes more from my trip to Larabee State park. More Ocean themed photos are on their way…
Tags: beach, bellingham, bellingham bay, clayton beach, larrabee state park, ocean, sunset, tafoni, washington, whatcom county
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
Tulip Flower
-click to enlarge-
Last week I headed into Vancouver to photograph some of the spring flowers at Queen Elizabeth Park. The flowering Cherry Trees were out in full force, but they are so popular each of them had a crowd of tourists, locals, and photographers around them. I chose instead to concentrate on some of the other flowers in the park.
Sometimes direct sunlight can be a tough condition to photograph wider landscape scenes. These tulip flowers, however, were nicely lit in the bright sunshine. I like how the cup like flowers appear to be lit from the inside when the sun shines on them from this angle.
Tags: british columbia, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM, queen elizabeth park, spring, tulips, vancouver
Posted in Photography | 2 Comments »
Cucumber tendrils in a Greenhouse in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia
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A bit of an older image (photographed in 2011) but I found a lot of photography opportunities with my Canon 100mm macro lens and these cucumber tendrils in a backyard greenhouse. I photographed the leaves and the flowers from a few angles but settled on these curled tendrils as the most interesting aspect of these plants.
More of my macro photography can be found in the Macro Photos Gallery.
Tags: cucumber, fraser valley, greenhouse, leaves, macro, summer, tendrils
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
Panorama of Mount Cheam in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia
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This is a panorama of Mount Cheam, a familiar sight to anyone living or often traveling through the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. I made this photo by the banks of the Fraser River in Agassiz just after sunset in January. The time right after sunset is often referred to as “Blue hour” and you can see why. I often like to photograph city buildings in Vancouver at this time as you can still see the outlines of the buildings against the sky (unlike when the sky is darker). I find this is also a great time to photograph mountains – so it is worth hanging around after any potential sunset light or alpenglow has faded. Always wait until the light is gone!
Tags: agassiz, blue hour, british columbia, canada, evening, fraser valley, mount cheam, mountains, mt. cheam, panorama, panoramic, peaks, snow, sunset, winter
Posted in Photography | 2 Comments »
Fall Maple foliage and the Bloedel Conservatory at Queen Elizabeth Park
in Vancouver, British Columiba, Canada
(-click to enlarge-)
Another one of the photographs I made in October at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I liked the look of this waterfall (enough water, but not too much) along with the fallen leaves and some Fall foliage in the Japanese Maples hanging over the pathway.
More of my photography from Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Park can be found in my Garden Photos Gallery.
Tags: acer japonica, british columbia, fall, fall color, fall foliage, japanese maple, maples, parks, path, pathway, queen elizabeth park, trail, vancouver, water, waterfalls
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
Fall Maple foliage and the Bloedel Conservatory at Queen Elizabeth Park
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
(-click to enlarge-)
In October I made another trip into Vancouver to photograph Queen Elizabeth Park displaying some Fall foliage. Most of the colour was provided by various Japanese Maples (Acer Japonica) in the gardens there. I will probably return this Spring to photograph the Magnolia trees in bloom, as well as the tulips and other Spring bulbs.
Tags: acer japonica, british columbia, fall, fall color, fall foliage, japanese maple, maples, parks, queen elizabeth park, vancouver
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
Last bit of sunset light on Mount Baker/Kulshan from Artist Point at the Mount
Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State, USA.
(-click to enlarge-)
It always seems that there are either too many clouds or none at all when I have an opportunity to photograph Mount Baker. So sometimes I ignore it in favour of Mount Shuksan or one of the other nearby mountains available at Artist Point in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. This time, however, I like the small accents of light that showed up on the side of the peak, which gives this photo a bit more interest for me than others I made at the same time.
Tags: glaciers, kulshan, mount baker, mount baker-snoqualmie national forest, mt. baker, sunset, usa, washington
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
Ripe Highbush Blueberries (
Vaccinium corymbosum) in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada.
(-click to enlarge-)
These are some Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) I photographed back in August of 2011. I didn’t get the final editing done until now – but I wish I had processed these when I could actually eat some. Viewing these gave me a craving for some fresh Blueberries! Unfortunate that I will have to wait until around August before I can have some fresh ones again!
A few more photos of these can be found in my image archive: Blueberries.
Tags: berries, blueberries, blueberry, british columbia, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro, foliage, food, fraser valley, fresh, fruits, gardens, highbush blueberry, leafy, leaves, macro, orchard, organic, summer, vaccinium, vaccinium corymbosum
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
About Michael Russell Photography
Cell: (778) 878-9074
