SteveH

<p>Just ran across this question. I suggest you visit Patrick Endres' web site http://www.alaskaphotographics.com. <br> He has a comprehensive, excellent e-book on photographing the northern lights. </p>

<p>@Laura Weishaupt - Thanks for the ID. I'll let my friend know as well. I do have a mushroom book, but it's packed for a move. <br> Another Happy Monday. </p>

<p>Knowing this to be a hot bed of mycological expertise, I'm posting a photo of a mystery fungus. A good friend and mushroom hunter couldn't identify it either. Found on a hillside going up to Mount Ashland in southern Oregon. Any ideas? Thanks for three years of great photos.. </p><div></div>

<p>Thanks for the replies above. Yes, RAW files are better. So far I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm now using a 45 mm macro lens. I get about a 20 megabyte file which seems plenty for me. I've made a couple of 11x14 test prints and they seem sharp and detailed enough. Maybe as I get a bit more sophisticated I'll feel the need for a scanner, but so far, so good (I have a scanner for smaller negatives). Lightroom doesn't have a specific process for negatives, but I've found a good workaround without having to go to photoshop. </p>

<p>Here's my first try:</p><div></div>

<p>Well, the darkroom is going to have to go, and I've been investigating a means to digitize my negatives without spending a lot of money on equipment. So, pictured here is my solution. An old lightbox, my 5x7 Canham view camera, a Panasonic Lumix camera with 14-42 lens. I removed the back and replaced it with a board with 5x7 hole cut out on which to mount the negative. The first couple of images have turned out pretty good, processed in Lightroom. Hope this helps somebody. </p><div></div>

<p>I found this link in about 10 seconds: http://learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/tutorials/tiltShift_laforet_gallery.shtml</p>

<p>Green. With maybe a contrasting flower. Tiger Lilly by a stream in the redwoods south of San Francisco. </p><div></div>

<p>Here come the Pelicans. Over the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Oregon.</p><div></div>

<p>Here is a sample of the sort of web site that might be helpful. I live in the state of Oregon, and this web site is quite helpful for me to find where flowers are blooming. You can probably find other similar sites for any given state. http://oregonwildflowers.org/index1024.html. Have fun. </p>

<p>Here's the "Mighty Mississippi" about 200 yards down from its origin at Lake Itasca in Minnesota. Interestingly, despite temperatures well below freezing, the origin of the river stays ice free for almost 1/2 mile. </p><div></div>

<p>Santa, in a brown sleigh wearing a brown shirt and shorts brought an early Christmas gift. A new Canon 100-400. We have some friendly wood ducks down the road, and this one stayed put long enough for me to get the unfamiliar knobs and tubes adjusted. Happy Holidays all. </p><div></div>

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<p>Moonrise at the cemetery - full moon last week.</p> <div></div>

<p>Moonrise at the cemetery - full moon last week.</p>

<p>Echo the thought about a nice family shot.<br> Here's my lightroom adjustments using the brush tool. Snow on hair and coat -.8 exposure, -43 shadows. Left side of her face -.25 exposure. Overall her face - Clarity -19<br> This was pretty quick and dirty. I bet you could do something better by adjusting the flow in the brush for finer control. </p><div></div>

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<p>Cold in all the upper midwest this last couple of weeks. Here's Bass Lake in Maplewood State Park (Minnesota). A chilly 16 degrees F.</p> <p> </p><div></div>

<p>Oops, here's the duck</p><div></div>

<p>Wood ducks arrive in southern Oregon about this time. This guy is in Lithia Park in Ashland, OR. The fall colors reflected in the pond make a pretty good counterpoint.</p>

<p>Fall color on the Upper Rogue River in Southern Oregon. Knob Falls.</p><div></div>

<p>Vellella have been landing on Pacific Coast beaches in Northern California for some time now. Here's a few I found at Pebble Beach in central California last week. Never can quite remember how many l's there are in velllella. </p><div></div>

<p>Finally getting back to the forum. Funny how work seems to get in the way. Here's a prairie rose from the Bluestem Prairie (Nature Conservancy land) in western Minnesota near Fargo. Last April/May they had a controlled burn of the area, and it's amazing how the flora has come back. </p><div></div>

<p>July 4th weekend, the prairie's in bloom. Good as fireworks. </p><div></div>

<p>Looks good to me, thanks.<br> Didn't see that link in my researches.</p>