2015 Photo Calendars

Update: If you’re looking for our 2016 calendar templates, please click here!

Hi Folks:

This is the fifth year now that we’ve made our MS Word photo calendar templates available, and as with the past couple of years, we’ve also created a series of templates and calendar images you can use with Lightroom or other graphics software. I created a template in MS Word that allows people who don’t have Photoshop, Lightroom or the equivalent to make their own photo calendars, so we’ll cover that first; the Lightroom stuff is at the bottom of this post. I used MS Word 2007 to make the template, but saved it as both a Word 2007 file and a Word 97-2003 compatible file. Basically it’s a series of tables, one for each month, that look something like this:
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Photo of the Month – November

Hi Folks:

We’ve been working on our 2015 photo calendar templates here at Chez M&M and they’re almost ready, but we wanted to take a short break to include our favourite image(s) for November. It came down to two and we couldn’t decide, so we uploaded them both. As with October’s Photo of the Month post, we’re using the NextGen gallery plugin to display them. Both images were captured with our (Samsung Galaxy S4) cell phones. The one is an image Marcia captured in Beacon Hill Park on her morning ‘commute’. It was a perfect morning, and very little Lightroom work has been done with this image. The second image is of ‘someone’ we pass often. It’s an example of pareidolia (with thanks to Wikipedia – do remember to support them!) but the wisdom in that ancient eye is unmistakable.

Okay, that’s it. Now go out and make some photographs!

Hugs,
M&M

Creative Commons Licenses

Hi Folks:

I shared this on the message board for our local photography group and thought I’d post it here as well. I received this link (Yahoo Starts Selling Flickr Users’ Photos) from a family member the other day, and since it’s likely to kick up a lot of controversy I thought I’d add a few notes here. Sometimes companies try really hard to shoot themselves in the foot, and sometimes they seem to prefer to go for the head shot… Be that as they may.

First of all, Yahoo is not doing anything (technically) illegal, nor have they changed their Terms of Service or anything to get people to give up their copyright. Rather they’re using permissions some people have already given them (and everyone else), perhaps without realizing it. We come back to Copyright vs. Usage Rights. Continue Reading →

Photo of the Month – October in Florida

Hi Folks:

We have more than one image for our photo of the month for October, for two reasons. First and foremost, Marcia was able to join her dad and her siblings in Florida, an event that has been a long time in coming. Second, we’re experimenting with using the NextGEN gallery plugin as a way of showcasing images on our blog. This is our first attempt, so be gentle!

Continue Reading →

Photo of the Month – September

Hi Folks:

It took a while to pick a photo of the month for September as both Marcia and I did some interesting work last month. I finally decided on the following image, which I call ‘Ascension’. It’s actually a bunch of sea oats I came across, but I used the mirror function on one of my cell phone apps to create the base image, then pushed it around a little bit in Lightroom. I trust you enjoy it too!

Now go out and make some pictures!

Hugs,
M&M

Ascension

Ascension

Photo of the Month – August

Hi Folks:

Summer in this City of Gardens means flowers – with their myriad of colours, shapes, sizes and scents – so it’s fitting that our photo of the month for August should be a flower. This one was captured by Marcia with her cell phone, then pushed around a bit in Lightroom. The backlighting through the petals provides the perfect highlight to the blooms. The flowers will mostly be gone in another couple of months and we won’t see cherry blossoms, hellebores and winter rhododendrons until January or February, so it’s best to appreciate them while we can!

Okay, that’s it. Now go out and make some photographs!

Hugs,
M&M

Dahlia

Dahlia

Photo of the Month – Ancient Forest

Hi Folks:

At the end of July we did a two-day trip around the south end of the island, visiting places as various as the Sooke Potholes Regional Park, Fairy Lake, Cowichan Bay, Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park and the Coombs Country Market. Our favourite place on this visit was Lower Avatar Grove, near Port Renfrew. We arrived just before dusk and didn’t have a lot of time or good light for photographs, but we did have the area to ourselves so we could drink in the quiet. Well, not quite to ourselves… there were the ancients and a passing red squirrel sharing the space with us. Few of the images from that trip have yet been processed, but this one will give you an idea of the place. Continue Reading →

Photo of the Month – June: Collecting Stories

Hi Folks:

There’s an old adage that says ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’, and since we’re both writers and we’re both photographers, in a given month we can collect a lot of ‘words’. In June we shot nearly 600 images between the two of us, and choosing one image is never an easy task. That’s my excuse for choosing two images for June. 🙂 These two images were chosen both because they’re good images in their own way and because of the stories they have to tell… Continue Reading →

Photo of the Month – May

Hi Folks:

Things have been quiet around here of late; we’ll have to see what we can do about that!

Our photo of the month for May is a tribute to Marcia’s dad’s sweet partner, Joyce. She slipped away quietly on Friday, May 30. In her own way she was the perfect blossom of his life.

For Joyce

For Joyce

 

Okay, that’s it for now. Go out and make some photographs!

Hugs,
M&M

Photo of the Month – April

Hi Folks:

One of the (many) benefits of living in Victoria is that we have the beauty of Beacon Hill Park to enjoy year round. In addition to the many wildflowers, the wildlife, natural landscapes and gardens populated by flowers, shrubs and trees from around the world, the park is also home to about three dozen peafowl. The vivid displays of the peacocks are very popular with tourists and locals alike (not to mention, hopefully, the peahens), but many people are surprised to discover that peafowl can fly.

The image of the month for April is one Marcia captured with her new pocket camera. We trust you’ll enjoy it!

Peacock

Okay, that’s it. Now go out and make some photographs!

Hugs,
Marcia and Mike.