Short-eared Owl
Boundary Bay
British Columbia


The Snowy Owl irruption influenced a lot of birders and photographers to visit Boundary Bay. I made three separate visits to photograph the birds. There was a lot of controversy around how many photographers got off the trail to photograph. I never stepped foot off the trail. Many people were focused on the snowies and neglected enjoying the more usual species found there. I was happy to capture this image of a short owl. I enhanced this image by texturizing the background which was out of focus fencing.

BirdsBoundary BayBritish ColumbiaCanadaIlene SamowitzOwlsSeattleSMUGSiteShorteared Owl20120205IS01576upsizedTextured

12-2-12 The Textured Orchid - This was taken at the Seattle Conservancy. I processed this using Color Effex 4 and textures from Flypaper Textures.

I will be leaving next week for a business trip to Portsmouth, NH. If anyone has any tips for photography or places to eat lobster I would be grateful.

Critiques welcome.

Ilene Samowitz20121201IS02802

From PAD2012

12-15-12 Portland Head Lighthouse, Portland, Maine I just returned today from my business trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I ended up having most of the day free on Friday so I headed up to Maine and visited this lighthouse at dawn. Lucky for me that sunrise is late since I hadn't totally switched to eastern time. I'm tired today since yesterday/this morning I was up for 22 hours straight. I also want to thank Mulu and Mike for getting up early to travel with me. I have been processing some of my photos. This was an HDR processed in Photomatix Pro, converted to Black and White in Silver Effex Pro 2, and texture and frame came from Photoframe.

Critiques Welcome.

Ilene SamowitzNew England20121214IRS2673hdrx

From PAD2012

12-22-12 Portland Head Lighthouse processed with tiny planet, camera awesome, grungetastic and percolator ipad apps.

Critiques welcome.

From PAD2012

1-6-13 Bicycle in Bandon processed using Filter Forge artomatic filter. This is a very interesting program that has both effects and also creates textures. I plan on using this more in the coming months.

Thanks for making my Necanicum Estuary the number one picture. I was thrilled.

Critiques Welcome.

Ilene Samowitz20130105bandonbicycleartomaticwatercolorframe

From PAD2013

1-22-13 Orchid - This was taken on Sunday on my visit to the University of Washington greenhouse. I added a textured background to have the orchid stand out against the white background. I appreciate all the wonderful comments on my cactus image. We have some witty people who left some great comments.

Critiques welcome.

GreenhouseIlene SamowitzSeattleUniversity of Washington20130120IS03330

From PAD2013

3-7-13 Great Blue Heron carrying nest material. I took this image with my Nikon 1 V1 and my 70-300vr lens. It had an effective focal length of 810 mm. I used a Flypaper Texture to enhance the grey background.

BirdsGreat Blue HeronsIlene SamowitzKenmore Rookery20130303DSC0923

From PAD2013

4-29-13 This is a iphoneography shot from my archives. This was taken at Gasworks
Park.

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From PAD2013

4-30-13 This was taken earlier today with my iPhone 4. I processed it on my iPad using iPhoto and then added a texture using PS Touch. I then added a frame using Snapseed and uploaded it to Smugmug using Camera Awesome. I know the description sounds long and complex but it took less than 10 minutes from beginning to end. It would be faster if I was more adept with these apps.

This is probably the 4th or 5th time I shot the Mary D Hume but every time it is different. Today was the lowest tide that I was there for and very cool because you can actually see her in the mud.

From PAD2013

6-15-16 Taken today with my iPhone 4 and processed on my iPad. Birch Bay State Park, WA, I am hoping to some long exposure work tomorrow.

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From PAD2013

6-17-13 Poppy Dreaming - this was taken yesterday at Birch Bay State Park, Washington along the northern part of Puget Sound. There was an area that had opium poppies along the edge of the grassland near the beach. I processed this using Topaz Simplify, Color Effex Pro, and added a texture.

Ilene Samowitz20130616IS05843

From PAD2013

7-19-13 Olympic Sculpture Park, Seatte, WA. http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/osp/
This park boasts a number of interesting sculptures in Myrtle Edwards Park. This park is named after the woman that Art said that Gasworks was originally named after.

Processed on iPad and shot with iPhone 4. I used PS Touch and Camera Awesome.

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From PAD2013

Everyone did a terrific job on the alphabet challenge. Sorry I was not able to comment but I did get a chance to peruse the entries. This hibiscus is from the yard at the house we are renting on Kauai.

Ilene SamowitzKauaiNorth Shore20140124IS07803

From PAD2014

Y from Kauai and Hotel Coral Reef. Taken this morning to kick off the alphabet challenge. Let the fun begin.

Thanks Judy for suggesting this!

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From PAD2014

1-11-14 Old vehicle at the Vista House at the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon. Does anyone know what kind of vehicle this is? Thanks to Rick and SavannahSam it is a 56 Chevy. More info about Vista house. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vista_House

I used a texture to add interest to the blue sky.

Bend_Silver_Falls_WS 2013Ilene SamowitzOregon20131020DSCF3294

From PAD2014

1-8-14 Willamette, OR vineyard. The day was pouring and foggy and the sky was blown out so I used this beautiful texture to heighten the moodiness of the image and to give it additional depth. I think it adds a painterly feeling as well.

Thanks for making my shot of Ona Beach number one.

Ilene Samowitz20131027IS09860hdrxtextured

From PAD2014

1-4-14 Z is for Zinnia. I added a texture to this shallow depth of field image.

Thanks Donna for suggesting this fun challenge! It has been terrific for the Dailies.

Ilene Samowitz20130825DSCF1704

From PAD2014