EID Study Group 14, Eleanor Helper

Study Group 14
Eleanor Helper

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"Wader Park Lagoon"

July

Photographer's Comments -

Wade Park is a small somewhat formal garden in Cleveland, OH, located in an area with a number of cultural institutions--Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History, Severance Hall--home of the Cleveland Orchestra, a history museum, music and art schools, and Case Western Reserve University & others.

On April 18 about 1:30 pm I got off the big bus that we charter to take us music lovers to Sunday afternoon symphony concerts and was immediately struck with this scene, familiar but especially lovely with the blooming trees and a wonderful glowing light as the sun was about to break through the cloud cover. In my purse I had my point & shoot digital camera, a Canon PowerShot G7. . Shutter was 1/160, aperture 4.5. ISO set on 200. The zoom was 36.8, which in 35-mm terms is probably around 50 mm.

Despite having set the camera on Program, the initial image was slightly underexposed. I darkened it with the left control (dark tones) on Levels (Adobe PhotoShop CS. I increased the contrast a bit. The blossoming trees look a bit blurred—perhaps there was a breeze. This camera has IS so it was not camera shake. Perhaps I am rationalizing but I rather like the fuzziness, which along with the reflections make for an impressionist impression.

COMMENTS:

Stuart Caine Eleanor, a very nice picture. The only thing I would try to take out is the two branches on the bottom right corner which are covering part of the statue. I like the reflections on the lake and your composition of your picture.

Dean Hellinger As you say, a pleasant scene. One could nit pick about saturation but I will not.

Eleanor Helper

Burt Hesselson What a beautiful picture!!! The only thing I might do to improve it would be to clone away the conifer branches in the bottom right.

Donn Miertl

Tim Christoffersen Nice colors in the image, especially the reflections of the two trees on the left edge of the water. The only comment I would offer is the lower right edge of the image with the pine needles and the portion of the tree coming in from the right side. They adversely impact the simplicity and elegance of the image.

Larry Beller This is a restful and well composed image of a beautiful location in spring. If the blossoms are blurred, I can't detect it in this image. I have only one suggestion: You say that you had cloud cover, and your image agrees with you. I think an adjustment of the white balance to something around 5500K to 6500K would brighten it up a lot.

Member Bio

Eleanor Helper - Photographic Biography

Although I have been a snapshooter for as long as I can remember, I only became serious about photography in the late 1980s when I joined a camera club in Columbus, Ohio, won an honorable mention in my first competition and was hooked. Later that year I won the Slide of the Year but haven’t hit that dizzying height since. A year later I joined a nature photo club. That kept me on my toes.

I joined PSA about 1991 and in 2002 went to Pittsburgh for my first PSA conference, attended 2005 in Salt Lake City and hope to go to Yellowstone in 2009. I also enjoy the PPD study group, CMP2, where we snail mail prints made with an inkjet printer, as well as this EID study group. I enter PSA “exhibitions” occasionally but not in any organized fashion, occasionally gathering an acceptance.

In December 2003 I moved to Kendal, a retirement community in Oberlin, OH and began to search for a camera club. I found and joined Erie Shores Photography Club, a PSA club, which is a 40-minute drive away. I don’t attend in bad weather and am presently dependent on others for rides. Entering digital images lets me be active, but I miss the camaraderie of the actual meetings. This club has narrowly-defined assignments for two images & a more general for the third and insists on work no older than two years.

I use a Digital SLR, the Canon Rebel Xti. Mostly I use a Tamron 28 to 300 lens with image stabilization.. I acquired that lens for a Elderhostel hiking tour in Provence three years ago when I needed to keep my equipment light I find it so convenient I rarely use my film camera lenses or the Canon digital 18 to 55 mm. Two Canon Elan film bodies darting from 1991 sit in the closet.

I also use an advanced compact Canon G7, small enough to carry in my purse. It features 6x optical zoom, IS, adjustable ISO settings, optical viewfinder as well as LCD, thus allowing me to compose readily in bright sunshine. I enjoy it too.

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