Photography

Drama

The old reflected in the new. Completed in 1905, the James R. Browning United States Courthouse reflected in the windows of the modern San Francisco Federal building, completed in 2007.

San Francisco Federal Building | thatwasthenthisiswow.com | instagram.com/paulaink166

Where have you seen old and new juxtaposed? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Ciao! Paula

Never miss a post! Sign up for email notifications at the top of the post. Thanks!

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterest

Contrast

Contrast Succulent | thatwasthenthisiswow.com #instagram/paulaink166

Closeup of the center of a succulent. Isn’t nature amazing?

What natural contrast in nature have you found? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Ciao! Paula

Never miss a post! Sign up for email notifications at the top of the post. Thanks!

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterest

Surreal

Another photo from my France travels, this one from the Metro in Paris.

Paris Metro Surreal | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

What surreal things have you seen on the subway or public transit? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Ciao! Paula

Never miss a post! Sign up for email notifications at the top of the post. Thanks!

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterest
Paris Louvre | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Do These Photos Make You Want to Go Here?

The topic of this post was supposed to be “What place do you want to visit based solely on beautiful photographs that you’ve seen?” I decided to turn it around and show you my photos of where I have been and see if they will entice you to go there as well. As a bonus, one of my photos includes a sun flare for the photo topic. Double score! These are from my last trip to France; my third, my husband’s first.

I am a Francophile. France is one of my favorite places to visit, and I have studied French language off and on for years. I made it a point on this trip to try to speak in as full sentences as possible, rather than relying on “baby speak,” using few words and lots of hand gestures. It was a bit more of a challenge, but a much larger sense of accomplishment to speak more like a local!

I had mostly travelled alone before, when I was a single gal. There are definite advantages to traveling alone, but this trip with two made it more economical to rent a car, something I had never done before, and drive out to the countryside, along the Route du Vin.

Amboise Sunrise | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Amboise Sunrise

Strasburg Windows | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Strasburg Window

Strasburg Road | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Strasburg Road

Route Du Vin | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Along the Route Du Vin

Colmar Canal | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Colmar Canal

Paris Love Locks | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Paris Love Locks

Paris Louvre | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Paris Louvre

 

I hope you have enjoyed the photos and that they have enticed you to travel to France as well! Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Ciao! Paula

*Please note: these are my original photographs. Please do not steal them! If you wish to share them kindly give me credit and attach a link back to this post. Thank you.

Never miss a post! Sign up for email notifications at the top of the post. Thanks!

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterest

Feelings

OK, I’m a bit late and out of order for this one, but here’s my “Feelings” photo for happiness. So nice to see these all over the City like I did in Paris!

San Francisco bikes | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

What makes you happy? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Ciao! Paula

 

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterest

Bokeh

Wikipedia says Bokeh has been defined as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light” Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens.

peach blossoms | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

A nice, short tutorial (in Plain English!) on how to achieve bokeh here.

Have you experimented with Bokeh? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Ciao! Paula

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterest

Asked someone to take a picture of you lately?

I originally asked my husband to take photos of me for the White Jeans post. I found it was not any easier than setting up the camera on a tripod and taking selfies with a timer, as he didn’t know what I wanted. At least when I took them myself, I could immediately take another after seeing the result.

When someone else is taking the photos, you are more likely to keep going for a few poses before taking a look and finding out you wasted your time because the angle etc was all wrong. When you take them yourself and look at the result right away, you can adjust immediately for the next shot. The first shot is what I used for my post:

Sheer Floral Top | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Close up of sheer floral top.

Paula MeshTop2 | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Oops! Too dark and blown out background.

Paula MeshTop3 | thatwasthenthisiswow.com

Oops! Didn’t notice my hem wasn’t even!

Of course, the good thing with someone else shooting is you don’t have to stop after every shot to set up the camera again. The good thing about taking your own pics is you don’t have to coordinate with someone else.

The main thing harder about taking your own pics was figuring out how to do the prefocus and making sure you step into the same focal length or you will be out of focus. Then again, “soft focus” can be a plus…. Use the method you need to get the shot you need.

Do you prefer to have someone else take your photos or DIY? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Ciao! Paula

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterest