The memorial headstone of World War II veteran Clarence P Harrison is isolated from the endless but vague repetition of identical shapes.  While we may reflect on Harrison's legacy, we are reminded us of the multitudes that have risked and even lost their lives to defend our country.  National Cemetery, Salisbury, NC.

This image was made with a long telephoto lens.  A telephoto makes the subject appear closer, but also makes items appear closer together, front to back.  It compresses distance.  Using a wide aperture, only a narrow range is in sharp focus, yielding an abstract quality to the other headstones, and calling attention to the one in focus.  A low camera angle permitted several overlapping stones in the composition.  And by carefully selecting what is in my composition, I omitted fences at the cemetery borders, creating the impression that this  pattern of headstones repeats forever.

Please visit my gallery for this and many more exciting images.

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Retired Marine Lt. Col. Art Nalls demonstrates the hovering capability of his Sea Harrier F/A2 at Langley Air Force Base "Air Power Over Hampton Roads", April 2009.  His is the only privately-owned Harrier, which he acquired from Britain’s Royal Navy in 2005.  Nalls spent three years returning the craft to airworthiness before bringing it on the airshow circuit.

Copies of this image are available in the gallery.

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Photographer Dan Beauvais will be doing a live demonstration of Photoshop Layers and Masks Monday evening, March 22, 2010 for Carolinas' Nature Photographers Association - Outer Banks Region.  The program starts at 6pm, and is at the Dare County Library, 400 Mustian Street, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948.  The meeting room entrance is at the back left corner of the building.  Members and guests are welcome.

The demonstration will use four practical examples of enhancing images by using layers and masks. Among the topics covered will be flexibility, isolation, transparency, combining elements from multiple images, transformation, blending modes, opacity, localizing global effects, selective sharpening and noise reduction, using photos to select their own elements, and the relationship between selections, channels, and masks.

Attendees will receive a CD-ROM with all the presentation materials and sample photos.

A graphic study of gunshot damage to a road sign on Edgemont Road, Grandfather Mountain, in Banner Elk, NC.

I love the textures in this photo.  I can feel the sharp edges of the bullet holes, and the rough substrate where the reflective film has chipped away.  The contrast of the reflective yellow against the flat black works for me.

But please, what's the point of shooting holes in a road sign?

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A Christmas tree atop Jockey's Ridge, the tallest sand dune in the eastern United States, is reflected in a rainwater pond on the dune.

Nags Head, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

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