Day: April 15, 2026

UCSD Photography Interest Group > Blog > 2026 > April > 15

15 Apr 2026 Themes: Before/After; Clouds; Spring-Flowers

Posted on by jrwilkinson

The themes of Spring-Is-In-The-Air and Flowers are reoccuring springtime themes we enjoy each year so this April was no different. Lately, with the recent rain, the skies have been filled with interesting Clouds, great for photos. Lastly, sharing Before/After photos make for great conversation. We shared images straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) and processed. Cropping and post-processing techniques used by the different photographers in our group can be educational and generate some insightful feedback.
My choice of themes can often influence meeting attendance so I am always glad when members we haven’t seen in awhile participate. Here are this month’s photos:

Barbara – had some great Cloud images that I did not track down until after the meeting unfortunately – sorry Barbara. I really like the b&w bench photo – amazing clouds.

Barb – focused on Before/After, showing two pairs of images, 1st SOOC, 2nd cropped & processed – beautiful!

Cathy – also shared SOOC plus cropped & processed images. Her wonderful boat image, taken with her iphone, caught some amazing clouds & late afternoon sunlight. It was one of ten of her photos accepted into the SD Fair Photography Competition.

Gary – share Before/After photos which also fit the Spring/Flowers themes.

Mikky – one of Mikky’s favorite subjects is Flowers. He shared a variety of flower photos with beautiful bokeh (blurry background). He also included a favorite Cloud photo from Bryce Canyon.

Sharon – Sharon’s photos always make me smile. They always have a touch of humor or irony. She’s got a eucalypus tree is her yard that sheds some artful &/or humorous pieces of bark. She also shared a photo of vibrant flowers from her backyard.

Norm – shared some wonderful lightbox Flower photos that generated a lot of interest and discussion on backgrounds and lighting. Some images were processed with the Orton Effect which diffuses edges and creates a dreamy, soft focus effect.

Jim – shared some springtime photos from his recent Joshua Tree National Park Easter trip. Most of the trees and plants were in some stage of bloom. He combined the Spring/Flowers with Before/After, sharing SOOC photos followed by cropped and processed images. His Safari Park vulture and eagle shots were for Before/After. The eagle shot demonstrated the recent reflections removal AI tool in Lightroom/Photoshop, greatly improving the photo taken through netting.
The last two images were three minute long exposures of Clouds over Mission San Luis Rey.

15 Apr 2026 Themes Clouds; Spring-Flowers: Mikky

Posted on by jrwilkinson

One of Mikky’s favorite subject is Flowers and he works particularly hard at achieving the right bokeh (amount of blur) using lens aperture. Depth of field in macro photography is always challenging. It’s use can be creative and, at the same time, critical for focusing on the subject or feature of interest. He shared a set of vibrant colorful flower photos and some more subtle & delicate.
Mikky also shared a great shot of Clouds over Bryce Canyon, a wonderful destination for landscape photographers.

15 Apr 2026 Themes Spring-Flowers: Sharon

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Sharon always seem to find something interesting in her backyard. Her eucalypus trees shed bark that can test the imagination, like animal-shaped clouds. The choice of different backgrounds also changes the interpretation – same object but different mood – interesting.
Her photos continually bring a smile and can be visually-provoking. Meaning, they make me want to slow-down and look carefully. Sometimes, interesting images are right under your feet.

15 Apr 2026 Themes Before/After; Clouds; Spring-Flowers: Gary

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Gary shared some pairs of straight-out-of-camera photos followed by cropped, post-processed. One of his favorite post-processes is to flip a reflection to add to the interest – always fun. His passionfruit flower image was critically sharp and almost abstract. He continues to process and share timeless landscape photos from his recent Sedona trip. Lastly, for the Flowers theme, he included a favorite backyard-after-rain flower image – beautiful!

15 Apr 2026 Themes Before/After; Clouds; Spring-Flowers: Cathy

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Cathy shared straight-out-of-camera followed by cropped & processed images. Her photos of flowers against a bright sky demonstrated the use of Lightroom masking to reduce the brightness of the background.
Cathy also shared another image from her recent trip to Monument Valley. Using sky replacement of the amazing sunset the day before, she composited a beautiful Shiprock photo. Photography is almost always about timing and the difference a day can make, for landscapes in particular.
Talk about timing – her wonderful boat image caught some dramatic clouds with late afternoon sunlight. It was one of ten of her photos accepted into the SD Fair Photography Competition.

15 Apr 2026 Themes Before/After – Barb

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Barb focused on the Before/After theme showing two sets of images from her recent trip to Japan. The first images are straight-out-of-camera and the second are cropped & processed. The beautiful “trees in fog” image was particularly beautiful and made it into the SD Fair Photography Competition. She also mentioned of the other 15 images she entered, 11 additional photos were accepted – amazing 12 out of 16! We hope she’ll share the other images next meeting since we are all curious what they are.

15 Apr 2026 Themes Before/After; Clouds; Spring-Flowers: Jim

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Jim shared some springtime photos from his Easter weekend Joshua Tree National Park trip. Most of the Joshua Trees and plants were in some stage of bloom. He combined the Spring/Flowers with Before/After, sharing SOOC photos followed by cropped and processed images.
His Safari Park vulture and eagle shots were for Before/After. The eagle shot demonstrated the recent reflections removal AI tool in Lightroom/Photoshop, greatly improving the photo taken through netting with a single click. The eagle image was one of six images accepted into the SD Fair Photo Competition (6 of 9 entries).
The last two images were three minute long exposures of Clouds over Mission San Luis Rey.

Note: Jim was approched by security and told tripods are not allowed on Mission San Luis Rey grounds. So be sure to check the venue’s photography policy before assuming you can shoot without restriction. It is published on their website that tripods are not allowed on the grounds, not just the church. Learned something new – fortunately, he said I could continue “this time” since it was late in the day. Doing a three minute exposure absolutely requires a tripod.

15 Apr 2026 Themes Before/After; Clouds; Spring-Flowers: Norm

Posted on by jrwilkinson

Norm shared some wonderful Flower photos taken in a lightbox. These images generated a lot of interest and discussion on backgrounds and lighting. Photographing in a lightbox allows the photographer maximum control over background and lighting, light placement. It can be a wonderfully creative option versus photographing ourdoors under harsh sunlight.
Additionally, some photos were processed with the Orton Effect which combines a critically sharp layer with a diffused layer, creating a dreamy, soft focus effect.