I highly recommend…

Food is not a usual subject of my photography, but these shots were taken at the Northport Farmers' Market during last month's Photo Walk, and I thought they would be appropriate after seeing the movie Julie & Julia yesterday. It was wonderful. If you like a good film, or you like to cook, or eat, or all three, then see it as soon as possible. Eddie and I saw it yesterday and I just had to share my enthusiasm — and a few photographs of food.

The fish and lobster both relate to the movie…especially the lobster. A scene in the movie revolves around a lobster, and we read an article that said that the humane society had to be on the set to make sure that no lobsters were harmed in the making of the film. How weird is that!

How it was done…

To see how Joe Nuzzo produced his winning HDR photograph, visit the Flickr page he set up. On the page he features the five photos used to composite the image, with an explanation of what he did for each step.

And the winner is…

The selection for best photo from the Northport Photo Walk was this photo by Joseph Nuzzo. The photo uses the very popular High Dynamic Range Technique — better know has HDR. With HDR, there is strong detail in the highlights and shadow, and often the colors are intensified. True HDR photographs are made by combining a series of pictures of the same subject, each exposed with different settings. To create the effect, Joe used Photomatrix Pro (http://www.hdrsoft.com/), software designed for HDR photography, and he used Lightroom 2.4 for finishing. While he often uses Photoshop CS4 for touching up his HDR work, he did not use it for this photo.

If you would like to find out more about how Joe achieves the HDR effect you can contact him through his website, shutterspeak.net. A good source for HDR tutorials can be found at http://tutorialblog.org/hdr-tutorials-roundup/ and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals also features some HDR tutorials for members.

As the participants in the Photo Walk already know, I did not make the choice for the winner myself — I chose five finalist and put it to a vote (most of the finalists voted for themselves, so their votes did not count). I am not usually reticent to make a choice, but I did have a problem with this contest. The photo I would have chosen as the winner was taken by a good friend, and to avoid possible bad feelings, I decided to let the walk participants cast their vote. The other four finalist photographs appear below.

Art in the Park this Saturday…

If you are in the Northport Area on Saturday, come down to the park and say hello. I'll be setting up a booth at the Northport Arts Coalition Saturday in the Park. It is my only show of this type this summer. Hope to see you. Linda

Worldwide Photo Walk—Northport Version…

Yesterday was the World Wide Photo Walk, and over thirty photography enthusiasts spent the late morning hours in the Village of Northport, taking photos, exchanging ideas, and generally having a great time. I am really glad I decided to volunteer to lead a walk in Northport. The photographers who signed up couldn't have been nicer, the weather was perfect, and everyone had the opportunity to shoot some really good photogaphs.

We met at the gazebo in the park and before heading out we posed for a group photo. Thanks to Leon for suggesting the vantage point for the photograph!

The stroller at the top right of the photograph belongs to Hunter, our youngest PhotoWalker.
First stop, Northport Harbor, the docks, and the Saturday morning, Farmers' Market. Here Anthony gets up close and personal with the harbor.

The owners of Seymour's Boat Yard, a Northport Landmark, were gracious enough to allow PhotoWalkers to enter their property and document Northport's maritime roots.
The walk continued along Bayview Avenue and included a stop at the home of friends of mine who were kind enough to offer their beautiful garden and harbor view to the PhotoWalkers. More than a few photographers did not want to leave the beauty of the backyard.
Next to last stop on PhotoWalk was Main street.
After meandering up and down Main Street, we met at Copenhagen Bakery for a bit of relaxation and lunch. When Fleming Hansen, the owner of Copenhagen, heard about the PhotoWalk, he immediately offered a discount to group members who stopped for lunch after the walk. Thanks so much, Fleming. Everyone loved the food!
Thanks to everyone who participated for a wonderful day. We have started a Flickr group — to view photos taken by some of the other PhotoWalkers, visit www.flickr.com/groups/northport_photowalk.

How to get to Northpot…

Did you know that the original name for Northport Village was Cow Harbor?

Above is a map showing the layout of Nothport Village. For directions, use the map below, which links to Google Maps. Click on the A in the marker and use the link to find directions, or click on the words VIEW LARGER MAP underneath the map. The link will take you directly to Google Maps. Entering your starting point will give you directions to the harbor area of Northport Village (I used the address for Hengstenberg's Florist, which is the Main Street store closest to the Park).


View Larger Map

Northport PhotoWalk Saturday…

This Saturday, July 18, is the WorldWide Photo Walk, and I am thrilled to be leading a walk in Northport Village. I thought I'd share a few Northport photos to set the mood.

The Northport PhotoWalk participants are meeting at the Gazebo at 9:30 A.M.