For a lot of photographers make a photo black & white is a way to make a bad photo look better. For me, black & white is a way to show the world in a way most people don't persevere it.  I believe that a black & white photo can induce more emotion then a color one,  if it is done right.  Some say you should set your camera to shot black & white but I say shot color and then develop the photo in post to how you want it to look in black & white.  Be creative, be bold,  if you have a emotional response to the photo then others will as well.

As I get more and more into photography I find myself want to shoot the best possible photo I can.  I have come to realize that a lot of what makes a good photo is the editing that is done in post-production.  I have been using Adobe Lightroom 5 for a while now and I absolutely love it.  How ever Lightroom is limited in editing options.  Lightroom is great for organizing your photos and for simple editing and developing. However I needed something more powerful so I have started to use Adobe Photoshop CC.  This program is amazing!  But it does have a steep learning curve when it comes to its more advanced features.  I have been using Photoshop for fixing photos and taking out elements of the photo that I don't like.  Below are some examples of before and after photos.

This is an example of the remove tool in Lightroom.  It is very easy to remove any unwanted elements from the background.  You will also notice that the photo was rotated to make the horizon level.

Before 

After

Removing the berry from this photo was a little more difficult.  I imported the photo into Photoshop and use the Healing tool with the content-aware feature turned on to achieve the end result.

Before

After

Photoshop is really good at removing the tiny details that you may not even notice are gone unless you look closely.  See if you can spot what was removed from the original.

Before

After

Even removal of the main focus of the image is possible in Photoshop.  This may seen like a difficult thing to do but honestly it only took me about 5 mins of editing.

Before

After

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it come to the power of Photoshop. It is amazing just how easy it is to do these things and I look forward to learning even more.   After learning how to do this I have a better understanding of what make a bad photo good and a good photo great. 

This weekend was amazing for birds.  I was able to add a few more birds to my life list.  Yesterday was so nice and I spent most of the day driving around and photographing birds.  Right now Cedar Waxwings are my focus.  I don't know what it is about these little birds that fascinates me so, but they you so amazing.  One thing they have done is make me a better photographer.  To get good photos of them you have to constantly be moving around to get the best angle and lighting.  I am always moving but slowing and deliberately.  Most of the Waxwings will let me get pretty close.  One of them today let me get within 2 feet.  I have been experimenting with the settings on my camera to get the best possible photo of them and I have found that a mid-range f stop like 7.1 - 8.0, a ISO around 100 - 500 and a shutter speed of 500 gives me the best results. But that is all dependant on the lighting conditions as well.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing - This guy let me get with in 2 feet.  It was amazing!

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

Waterfowl on the other hand have been a problem.  I have come to the realization that I need a really long lens to get good photos of them.  Yesterday I got some ok photos of some Lesser Scuaps and today I got my first ok photo of Common Mergansers.  Buffleheads are very interesting birds but very are to get close to.  

Common Merganser

Common Merganser

Common Merganser

Bufflehead - The 2 males are showing off for the female.

Bufflehead - Early morning shoot

Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup

For today's photographic journey today I decided to spend some time downtown.  I had never walked through the Sculpture garden before and i really like some of the pieces there.  I also decided to stop at the World Food Prize building and stroll through the garden.

 

Despite the horrible weather today I did manage to get out and get some photography in. Of course I got lots of photos of birds and other wildlife but because of the snow I shot some other photo to try and be more artistic.   I really like black and white photography and I think some of these came out pretty good.