From wandering in an RV for two years to a more permanent place...Big Bear Lake, California.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com 

 Hi Photographer friends,

We've been wandering across the Country for the last two years. It was a lot of fun, but now, we needed to settle down some. We looked at several locations, from Vegas to  Bend Oregon, East Coast to West Coast, Desert to Ocean, and honestly we like all those places. Where could we settle down and be close to the ocean, the mountains, the desert, the forest, the big City, the small town? There's no such place...so I thought.

We re-discovered Big Bear Lake in California. The lake is located at around 7,000 ft elevation. It is a small town, but from there you can be in almost any climate within an hour. Los Angeles is west of it, Palm Springs is to the East, beaches are to the south and the desert is to the north, all reachable within about an hour, give or take. Where else can you swim nearby in the morning, ski in the afternoon and dine at a fine five star restaurant at night?

Big Bear is a touristic area with so much to do. In the winter, there are several ski resorts. Of course there is skiing, snow boarding, tubing, cross country skiing, hiking, snow shoeing, off roar tours, or just relaxing in front of the fireplace at one of the many world class resort in the area.

Summer is even more fun. Fishing, boating, biking, hiking, sailing, horse back riding, four wheeling, swimming, Kayaking, camping, etc. 

The most appealing reason for me is Photography. The scenery is breathtaking, the wildlife abundant and the opportunities endless. Me and my Pentax equipment will live happily there. Don't think for one minute that my involvement in photography will diminish. On the contrary, I will bring my photography to new levels. I might start a studio  or offer workshops. I will certainly continue writing e-books. The future is exciting.

From this home...

to this home

From this view...

to this view.

We will be in the house for Christmas, and I think we might just have a white Christmas.

Although we would love to be near our combined children and grandchildren, they are virtually in all four corners of the Country. Maybe this fantastic location will bring them to us.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

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# 11 - Our current two-year RV trip across North America. We use the Ricoh/Pentax equipment exclusively. This week,we are in Jacksonville, Florida. I used the Pentax K-3 equipped with the DA Star 60 -250 mm f/4 ED (IF) SDM.

Email: brqyvn@gmail.com 

 Hi Photographer friends,

This week we are in Jacksonville, Florida. Yesterday I received the Pentax DA Star 60 -250 mm f/4 ED (IF) SDM lens. I was trying to decide where I could use this great zoom lens and realized that Jacksonville has a Zoo. 

Early this morning, we headed out to the zoo. I was pleasantly surprised. The last time I was at a zoo, was in San Diego, and we know they have the largest in the Country. Jacksonville has an excellent facility.

My goal for the day was to make images that would appear to have been taken in the animal's natural habitats. It's not that easy because the animals are behind fences, cages, and man made surroundings. 

The image to the left, taken by my wife with her iPhone, shows where I was standing to take the first picture. Notice the chain link fence? The image represent the closest position I could get to the leopard. 

I shot several images at 250 mm with the largest aperture of f/4, focusing the animal eyes. The chain link fence, being outside of the depth of field, rendered a blurred, ghostly and annoying presence. I would have liked to be against the fence and shoot through the center of the fence opening, but I didn't want to be part of the animal's breakfast. The fence is still apparent in the first photograph. 

Using Adobe Photoshop Elements, I used the clone stamp tool to fill the fence area  and the brush tool to fill the portion of the animal's coat. I could have spent hours fixing the image, but for the purpose of this post, I worked on it enough to convey the idea. With patience, none of the fence would have remained visible.

The tiger in the next image was behind a thick pane of plexiglass, roaming around in a concrete cage complete with a waterfall and a pool. It was impossible to get close to the animal. Using the zoom lens at 250 mm again, I was able to make the animal looked like it was just a few feet in front of me. I focused on the eyes. (Always focus on the eyes of a live subject. Even if a portion of the subject is not tack sharp, as long as the eyes are, the result will be great). The tiger showing his teeth was a bonus. Framing your subject leaves little room for the background, giving the impression that the shot was taken in the wilderness.

This lion, king of the jungle, is definitely not in the wild. There was no angles that I could have used to eliminate the fenced background. For this image, I duplicated the image in Adobe Photoshop Elements and made it the first layer. I then used the blur filter and blurred the entire image on layer 1. I then superimpose the original image on top of layer 1. Using the eraser tool, I erased the top layer portion showing the fence, as close to the lion as I could without touching it. Then, continuing with the eraser tool, but this time with the brush pattern no. 24, which is a splatter pattern rather than a solid one. It allowed the removal of the fence close to the lion with very little contrast. I finished the edges with the blur tool, also set to the brush pattern no. 24. Again, this was a quick image modification and could have been done better using more time. While modifying an area of an image, it is always easier when enlarging the portion you are working on.

Today, I only posted images of BIG CATS, but I have many images of larger animals, exotic birds, reptiles, and even dozens of butterflies close-up. I reserve those images for future blogs.

Whether you are a thousand miles away from home or in your backyard, photo opportunities are there for you to discover. Go out and take some pictures.

Yvon Bourque

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