Retouching Wildlife Eyes

I have this great image of a bald eagle close up. As you can see I have some great detail in my subjects eye already, but what if I want to go a step further and make that eye realistic and give it a little pop.

Most of us have been taught to add a layer and use a round brush with white and paint a dot to make a catch light effect and thus give the eye a bit of sparkle. This technique is fine as long as you don't look too close. My background in painting tells me I need more, more realism.

Add another layer mask then choose a sky color from the color picker.

Now paint a little squiggle in an arch motion in the eye like this.

Now go to filters> Gaussian blur. I use about 4.5 - 5 to soften my images. Also at this time drop down to the previous layer and do the same to the catch light dot we added at the beginning.

Now go back to the the blue layer and reduce the opacity. This adds roundness and transparency to the eye.

Here's the final image. Although the orinal image was acceptable, I like the added effect. Now if you're one of those people that frown on retouching any wildlife image then please disregard this article.

Amish Country

Amish farmer still using mules to hay. His little dog leads the way. I added some painterly effects to enhance the sky.

Strasburg Covered Bridge

I like to photograph covered bridges in case you haven't noticed. One of the attractions for me is their interesting history and probably the fact there are no covered bridges where I live. Although the bridges seem to look all the same, each one is very different from the other, be it construction, color, condition or location. When you walk through one of these magnificent bridges it's like walking back through time. You can just feel the history. Some are even haunted with great stories behind them. Either way they are a great piece of americana.

Wilbur Buds

In Lititz, Pa, H.O. Wilbur and Sons produced their first batch of Wilbur Buds back in 1894.

They developed a technique for depositing specially blended chocolates into a mould that resembled a flower bud and they called them Wilbur Buds.

The company now specializes in all kinds of molded chocolates and distributes them world wide.

Pretzels of Lititz

Pretzels have an ancient history, but the origin of the pretzel remains a mystery. There are many stories as to how the first pretzel was created, the most common being that in 610 A.D. Italian monks used scraps of dough to form the shape of children’s arms in prayer, with three holes to represent the Christian Trinity. They were called “pretiola” in Latin or “little reward” and were given to children who learned their bible verses and prayers.

In 1861, after eleven years as a baker, Julius Sturgis stopped making bread and established the first commercial pretzel bakery in America.

Their pretzel tour not only gives a complete history and demonstration of how the pretzels are made.

They also teach a hands on training course of how to properly twist a pretzel complete with certification. I am now a pretzel twisting fool with papers to prove it.

Coleman Bridge over the Pequea

The Colemanville Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that spans Pequea Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

The Colemanville Covered Bridge was originally built in 1856 by James C. Carpenter at a cost of $2,244. After being damaged twice by flooding, it was partially rebuilt in 1938 by Edmund Gardner and 1973 by David Esh. Lancaster county completely rebuilt the bridge in 1992 for $350,000.

The bridge has a single span, wooden, double Burr arch trusses design with the addition of steel hanger rods. The deck is made from oak planks. It is painted red, the traditional color of Lancaster County covered bridges, on both the inside and outside. Both approaches to the bridge are painted red with white trim.

This bridge has easy creek access and great for photography.

Erb's Mill

This was one of my favorite bridges from Lancaster county. The bridge was originally built in 1849 for a cost of $700. It was built on the Erb family's tract of land in the farming region along Hammer Creek. In 1887 the bridge was rebuilt by John G. Bowman for $1744. Today the bridge has been fully restored. It has easy access to the creek to get some great shots. I used a R-72 red filter to get the infrared effect on this image.

The Cloister

One of America's earliest religious communities, the Ephrata Cloister was founded in 1732 by German settlers seeking spiritual goals rather than earthly rewards. Gathered in unique European style buildings, the community consisted of celibate Brothers and Sisters, and a married congregation of families. At the zenith of the community in the 1740s and 1750s, about 300 members worked and worshiped at the Cloister.

This one is a four image panorama merged in Photoshop CC and finished off in Aurora HDR Pro. Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

Lime Valley Bridge

Here is a four image panorama of the Lime Valley covered bridge in Lancaster county, Pa.

Neff's Mill

One odd thing I found in Lancaster county was they don't really have a lot of areas around their covered bridges where you can stop, park and snap a few pictures. I saw lots of no parking and no trespassing signs near many of the bridges. To get this image I had to go on someone's property to shoot and didn't feel comfortable doing it so I just got the one shot and moved on. This could have been a tremendous image but the horses wouldn't co-operate in the short time I had, so for now it's just an image to say I was there once.

Long Horn

Impressive set of horns here. Some horns get to be six feet across. A truly magnificent animal. It took a bit of patience to get a good composition image but it was worth it.

Herr's Mill

Another covered bridge from Pennsylvania trip. This one is closed to traffic and needs to be restored. One of the longest bridges I have encountered as it double the size of most covered bridges. I am not sure if the doors are to keep people out at night or if they were part of the original bridge design.

Susquehanna Valley

I used eight images merged together in Photoshop CC to make this grand vista view of the Susquehanna valley near York, Pennsylvania.

Weaver's Mill covered bridge

Lancaster county, Pennsylvania has an abundance of covered bridges like the Weaver's mill bridge above. They are an interesting part of history and make great photography subjects. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members and flooring from the weather. Uncovered wooden bridges have a lifespan of only 10 to 15 years because of the effects of rain and sun. Wooden bridges with covers last for centuries. Bridges having covers for reasons other than protecting wood trusses, such as for protecting pedestrians and keeping horses or cattle from shying away from water, are also reasons for covers on the bridges.

Red & Yellow

Colorful lilies from my garden today.

WCM

Wallace-Cross Mill is beautifully restored. A great place for pictures. I got down into the creek to get this great reflection in the water. The day lilies were bursting in color and a great contrast on the red mill.

Old Mill

I decided to do a four image pano in infrared to Baumgardner's mill. I used a long exposure along with a R-72 red filter to get the infrared effect. The four images were then stacked,aligned and blended together in Photoshop CC. I then boosted the contrast and converted the image to black and white.

Giraffe Says " What? "

Animal pictures are always great but if you wait and get that eye connection with the camera you get an even better image. Give me your suggestions on what you think this giraffe is saying or thinking.

Haine's Shoe House

Located east of York in Hallam is the Haine's shoe house. It has been turned in to an ice cream parlor now and touts " The best ice cream this side of the Mississippi ". Wrong haha, but the building is cool. As I was photographing this shoe house the sky started getting ominous and a storm was approaching. Later I found out they had tornado warnings out for that evening and didn't know it. The clouds did add drama to my images and added some additional interest.

Baumgardner Mill

Great find here. Baumgardner Mill and covered bridge is a photographers playground. The property looks abandoned and very neglected which right now makes for really interesting pictures but I fear in the future this place will be lost forever if something isn't done soon. Vines, bushes and tall grasses are taking over the property. The pano in an earlier post ( old House ) is really the mill / house/ farm. The image inside the bridge looks out at the mill house. I wanted to show the trusses inside and the scene outside so I did three exposures at EV -1, 0, +1. I then processed them in Aurora HDR Pro.

Cave Man

Penns Cave Video ( Click Here ) I just want to mention this because sometimes your camera is over its head in ability. This is Penns Cave in Pennsylvania. I stopped just as they were opening for the morning. I had plenty of time to do a four image pano of their beautiful hotel at the entrance without tons of tourists in my image. When I went into the cave...oops maybe I have the wrong camera. I had my Canon Powershot sx50 hs and although its an excellent travel camera and has great lens versatility it's not a good choice for low light without a tripod. In the cave you ride a small narrow skiff through the cave. A little motion, a little rocking made it difficult to get sharp images. Now I am not a video guy but to save the day you may want to use the video on your camera just so you get something to take home. Usually the video will pick up the ambient light better than the camera will. I posted a short clip here just to give an example of what I mean. Be adaptable when in the field.