Story behind the photo – November 2023

“Afternoon Solitude”
Larry Marx

“Vermont Reflections”
Linda Zillinger

Story behind the photo – October 2023

“A Swirl of Red”
Bill Webb

“During a celebration of Mexican Independence where Ballet Folklorico of Fort Worth was performing, I captured the beauty and energy of the dancers and their swirling dresses. I used a slow enough shutter speed to allow the dress to blur while keeping the dancer’s face sharp as she was turning, a wide aperture to gather as much light as possible, and a low ISO to minimize noise in the image. Post-processing cleaned up some distracting scuff marks on the stage floor.” (1/60 sec., f/4, ISO 100, ambient light)

“Pump Handle”
Monte Zillinger

“Linda and I were randomly looking for something red to photograph. While photographing something else I noticed the red pump handle along the edge of a field. I decided to just fill the frame with the pump handle and let the background blur out. I took the photo in aperture priority. In processing I used Photoshop Elements to boost color saturation and then used Topaz to improve the clarity. (Nikon D750 ISO 200 1/2500 f/4.5).

Story behind the photo – September 2023

“Rainy Day in Dresden”
Lana Macko

“My photo of the people climbing the stairs in Dresden, Germany was obviously taken on a rainy day. I was attracted to the lines and textures in the scene and the colors and patterns in the umbrellas. When I got home and started processing it, I thought a black and white treatment worked best on the stonework. But I wanted to subtly show the colors and patterns of the umbrellas. So using a light opacity, I filled the color back in those areas. .” (1/30, f7.1, ISO: 100, Canon EOS R 95mm)

“Berry Proud Cedar Waxwing”
Steve Mills

“I was observing a group of Waxwings busy flitting around a brushy area and patiently waited for one to come out in the open. I had no idea they were feasting on berries until I saw the picture. It was one of those ‘right place at the right time’ experiences. The most significant challenge of post processing was balancing the exposure, as the sunlight was harsh at that time of day. It required some masking of different layers to help mute some of the washed out areas. It was one of my first efforts at this technique.”

Story behind the photo – August 2023

“A Spire Island in the Rain”
Monte Zillinger

“The glacier tour boat out of Seward, Alaska took
us to the Spire Islands in the Kenai Fjords National
Park. I took photos in shutter priority mode with
a shutter speed fast enough to make up for the
boat movement. I used Photoshop Elements to
help remove the haze in this photo and then used
Topaz to sharpen the image.” (1/1600 f4, ISO:
3600, Nikon D750, 38mm)

“Reaching skyward”
Bill Webb

“As I was exploring the Valley of the Gods in southern Utah, I stopped
at Castle Butte. While searching for the right perspective, I saw a
lonely, gnarled juniper struggling skyward as if inspired by the red rocks
beyond. Because I wanted the tree and the butte both in sharp focus, I
selected an aperture of f/11 to give me the depth of field I needed. In
Lightroom I darkened the foreground a bit and brightened the trunk of
the tree..” (1/180 f11, ISO: 400, Nikon D800E, 28mm)

Story behind the photo – July 2023

“Sprint Beauty”
Kammi Barnard

“On a lovely day, I was visiting the Ft. Worth Botanic
Gardens, which is one of my most favorite places
in the city. Two butterflies were fluttering about a
tree at the same time, so I was very fortunate to
get several photos of them which included different
composition options. This photo was one of two
images that I particularly liked, primarily based
on the simplicity of the background, the position
of the butterfly, and the colors which I thought
worked nicely together. The photo is cropped. Plus,
I find cropping a photo can sometimes clean up a
photograph and help the subject stand out.”
(Nikon D5300, 200 mm, 1/1250sec., f11, ISO 640)
– Kammi Barnard

“Starting a web”
Nancy Abby

Story behind the photo – June 2023

“Fort Worth Water Gardens”
Lynne Rogers Harris

“I took several images of the Water Gardens in Fort Worth with the goal to be able
to remove the people by compositing images. This was actually a composite of 3
images, so I could remove the ghosting or blurred people and leave those which
were standing still, and at the same time have the silky water coming down the
steps.” (F22, 4 sec, ISO 80)

“Ocean Side Rocks”
Jan Stout

“The image was taken during a trip to Oceanside,
California. While watching the sunset one evening, the
idea came to me that the sun setting with the rocks
could look like a volcano. So, on two different nights
while watching the sun set, I sat perched at various
formations trying to capture the best image. There was
no post-processing.”

Story behind the photo – May 2023

“Could we chat?”
Chandra Brooks

“My goal with this image of JJ, the male mandrill at the
Fort Worth Zoo, was to focus on this handsome animal’s
unique color patterns, and beautiful amber eyes. I tried
to achieve the cleanest background using a simple rule
of thirds composition and negative space so nothing in
the image would compete with JJ. I lucked out finding
JJ on top of his climbing structure with no obstructions
and only trees far behind him. There wasn’t a great deal
to do in post-processing. I darkened the background
and made the green more consistent in color. I also
selectively enhanced some of the colors in JJ’s fur
and added a bit of a vignette to the edges just to pull
attention to the lighter areas of the image.”
(Sony ILCE-1, 400mm, ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/500s)

“Ocean Side Rocks”
Stacey Blackwell

“The image was taken during a trip to Oceanside,
California. While watching the sunset one evening, the
idea came to me that the sun setting with the rocks
could look like a volcano. So, on two different nights
while watching the sun set, I sat perched at various
formations trying to capture the best image. There was
no post-processing.”

Story behind the photo – April 2023

Vortex Down
Mike Stokic

“As I researched abstract photographs, I saw many possibilities. The oil and water photos did capture my eye. During my research, I saw many ways to light this type of picture. I do not have a light box or sophisticated lighting, but I do have an iPad and found some interesting lighting options. I suspended a pexi-glass sheet on top of a couple of containers. Then I placed the iPad with the swirl picture underneath. I took the image directly above the pexi-glass after drizzling some water and drops of oil on the glass. I chose this one over some other colored images because I liked the uniqueness of the swirl through the oil and water. I did not use any post processing other than taking some of the highlights down.
(Canon EOS R7; 1/125; f/ 2.8; 45mm, ISO 400)
-Mike Stokic

“LSD”
Melody Schotte

Story behind the photo – March 2023

“Hello”
Janet Stout

“I have visited the Fort Worth Zoo on several occasions. The lighting was tricky and a bit of a challenge in balancing the exposure for the bird and the background. The bird was photographed with in camera settings (no post processing); I did however, edit for the light bursts in the background. I was pleased and surprised with this capture, as I had been working through some focusing issues.” (Canon 90D, exposure time 1/200; f/ 5; lens 100mm – 400mm, ISO 6400)” -Janet Stout

“The Poser”
Mark Lenz

“My photo of a white ibis was taken at the UT Southwestern rookery two years ago. This bird was in the shaded underbrush on the Northern side of the rookery which made the light very even with no harsh contrast to deal with. In post processing, I darkened the background a little bit more than it was out of the camera to make the bird stand out a little more. I also applied denoise because the ISO was 1000.” (Nikon D500; 340mm; f7.1; 1/1250; ISO 1000)” – Mark Lenz

Story behind the photo – February 2023

“Don’t look”
Manny Sangapu

“I got this idea from something I saw online. The image was taken at home. I
mounted the camera on a tripod, used a small light and a remote shutter. The
prop was a black sweatshirt with a zipper. I held the sweatshirt so the zipper
was horizontal while my other hand triggered the shutter. The image in the
eyes was a last-minute addition and I found it more interesting than the catch
light. (Panasonic GX85, 25mm, ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/40s)” -Manny Sangapu

“Feather Dial”
Teresa Hughes

“I was in Branson, Missouri at Big Cedar Lodge to take fall photos; It was beautiful… It’s a great place to take fall images. I was using my new Nikon Z6 II camera. (70mm, f/5.6, 1/250s, ISO 180 at high noon)” -Teresa Hughes