Category: photos

Colors, textures, macro photos, still life photos, and more. I spent many years photographing caves using rear-synch flash photography and slave/bulb configurations. I spent many years taking photos at Burning Man as well as fire spinners in the San Francisco Bay area. I have an extensive collection of pure fire photos. All photographs are for sale. Contact me for purchase or license information.

Pears simmering in wine sauce

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

These food photos are posted in response the photo challenge Sweet.

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but cooked fruit is always delicious. These bubbling pears were from a friend’s Thanksgiving meal. We spent the weekend at in Gualala, California. Gualala is north of San Francisco along the Pacific coast a little south of Mendocino. I spent Thanksgiving there with my old friend Andrew a few years ago.

You know what’s really sweet? Old friends. I’ve known Andrew since 1988. Sweet.

From the same Thanksgiving we ate this pear upside-down cake:

Big Sur Horizon

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ 1 Comment

This photo of Big Sur posted in response to today’s daily prompt, Horizon. I took a series of photos left-to-right and then pasted them together in Photoshop to make a panorama. I was fairly outdoorsy when I lived in California and always had my camera (Nikon D200) with me. Nowadays my biggest hobby is writing. Still, my trusty camera and lenses sit on the shelf, waiting for the day when I feel like taking a picture again. Odds are higher that I’ll take photos with my iPhone, and not lug around the heavy Nikon.

Big Sur Panorama

And another Big Sur coastline horizon:

Big Sur Beach

Bixby Creek Bridge, Big Sur

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ 2 Comments

Address: Bixby Creek Bridge, CA-1, Monterey, CA 93940

According to Wikipedia, Bixby Creek Bridge is one of the most photographed bridges in California due to its aesthetic design. Bixby Creek Bridge, also known as Bixby Canyon Bridge, on the Big Sur coast of California, is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge. The bridge is 120 miles south of San Francisco and 13 miles south of Carmel in Monterey County along State Route 1.


Danger! Waterfall! Rainbow!

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

Wailua Waterfall with rainbow

This is the bottom of Wailua waterfall in Kauai, Hawaii. It was huge and rushing and loud. There were at least four signs that said KEEP OUT and DANGER and suchlike. One sign said PEOPLE HAVE DIED HERE. A local guy told us there was a trail and that we’d be A-OKAY, so naturally we hopped the fence. The hike was not too long, but it was very muddy and involved ropes attached to trees. At the bottom we discovered a beautiful rainbow, with a second shadow rainbow, and the entire population of Kauai’s mosquitos. The weather was pretty good on the way down. The last 20 feet on the way up it started raining cats and dogs. Hooray!

Framing a photo using the rule of thirds

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

Rule of thirds is a way of framing photos so that they are more pleasing to the eye. The idea is that if you break up the photo into thirds, the main lines of action should follow the divider lines. For example, if you take a photo of a person, don’t center them exactly in the frame; shift them to a focal point along the left or right divider lines. It is easier to demonstrate with a photo that doesn’t quite meet the standard.

The flower photo above doesn’t quite follow the rule of thirds. The stamen is too low and is also cropped off the picture. The photo below is lined up much better. See? Isn’t it easier on the eyes?

The photo of an abandoned photo is also a good example of applying the rule of thirds:

 

Rule of thirds is not an absolute rule but it is a great way to frame one’s photos. Let me know of your favorite “rule of third” photos! Posted in response to weekly photo challenge Frame

Abandoned shed

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

I saw this funky abandoned shed during my road trip across the U.S. a few years back. It is located somewhere in the midwest. This whole farm was a tourist attraction; it was advertised as a bunch of dilapidated farm houses you could explore. I like how you can see the other structure off in the distance from within the forefront shed. I also like how the lines seem to point in a spiral outwards. Normally I like “rule of thirds” photos where the subject is not fully centered, but I think in this case having the entrance in the center of the photograph makes the most sense. The shed in the forefront is a frame in two meanings: a frame or structure made of wood, and a frame or viewport to the outside.

Posted in response to this week’s photo challenge, Frame.

August 2014 Supermoon

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I used a long lens to capture this image of the August 2014 supermoon.

I had to make a short exposure (less than 50th of a second) because the moon moves quickly in the sky and would blur easily. Also the moon is fairly bright so there’s plenty of light for details. Look at all those crags!

I used my 75-300mm zoom set to 300mm on a tripod.

The August 2014 supermoon, the biggest full moon