2008 Desert Wildflower Forecast

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Carrizo Badlands Overlook in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.
Carrizo Badlands Overlook in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Well now I’m officially excited about the wildflower prospects for this year!  Anza-Borrego just received another .4 inches of rain in the last few days to go with the .88 earlier this year, and the person I just talked to at the visitor center said more could still fall today.  It may not be a huge year like 2005, but unlike the past two years, there should be at least some wildflower activity.  I could tell the ranger was excited even though she did say there are no guarantees.  Some of the other southwest desert areas sound even more promising.  Read More

Luminosity Masks – HDR Revisited

Ron NiebruggeHow to, Photos, Travel, Utah, Zion National Park 4 Comments

Zion Road

The road through Zion National Park, Utah.

Our eyes have the amazing ability to see details in the shadows of a scene, and the details in the highlights at the same time.  Our cameras can’t begin to capture what our eyes can see.  Photographers have been trying to replicate what our eyes can see with a camera for years – these techniques are usually referred as High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography.  Fancy words for a simple concept – makes us sound smart. 🙂  Read More

Luminosity Masks

Ron NiebruggeGrand Tetons, How to, Photos, Travel, Wyoming 2 Comments

Horseback Riding in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

Horseback riders this past fall in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

If you followed the link in yesterday’s post on saturation masks, you will realize Tony also offers actions for something called luminosity masks as well.  This is another subtle, but powerful tool that frankly I haven’t mastered and rarely utilize, but I plan to spend more time trying to master them over the next month as we begin to adjust our autumn photos.

So why discuss it if I don’t use them yet?  Well, I have recently discovered another use for these masks that make them much more valuable, but I will save that for the next post.  Again, this is a relativly advanced topic that won’t interest everyone.Read More

Saturation Masks

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, How to, Photos, Travel 9 Comments

Beavertail Cactus

I recently discovered a wonderful new Photoshop tool – the use of saturation masks.  This is somewhat of an advanced tool – if you don’t use layers and masks in Photoshop (you should), this won’t make much sense, but I do believe many subscribers here may find it useful.Read More