Taking A shot of Glencoe Mountains, Scotland - Photo:Janice Dugas

For more pictures and tidbits on our trips to Scotland, hop over to our Everything Scotland blog and take a look at this article  : On the Scottish roads: the A 82 from Glasgow to Glen Coe…

Enjoy!

Talk soon,

Janice

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A MOM-entous occasion! 50% off MyPublisher photo books!

Native to northern China, the bicuculline, a lovely pink and white heart-shaped flower is also known as Cacalia Peony, or “bell heart grass”. It’s scientific name is “Dicentra spectabilis”.

I had the opportunity to contemplate these marvelous flowers while strolling down the alleys of Scone Palace Garden in Perthshire, Scotland.

Bicucullines, Scone Palace Garden, Perth, Scotland | Photo Janice Dugas

These flowers reminded me of a text written by Mary Manin Morrissey about planting flowers when springtime comes…

Mary Manin Morrissey

Today is the first day of spring. This is a time when many people are clearing out their gardens, planting new flowers, and investing energy in the natural cycle called springtime.An idea we might have, each one of us, is doing that same clearing emotionally and mentally.

We don’t plant new flowers in a garden that is filled with all kinds of weeds. We take a little time and we clear out the weeds.

Today as we’re going through our day, let’s just see that the mind field of our own thoughts is a place where we get to clear out our garden. We get to prepare the soil for what we would really like to be harvesting at the end of the summer.

What would be the kind of seeds you would plant this day?

The best part is that all we have to do is ask God and God will open up a way for us. God will help us find a way to clear the garden and plant our seeds and amazing things will happen.

Planting Seeds of Possibility,

Mary Manin Morrissey

Scone Palace Garden, Perthshire, Scotland | Photo Janice Dugas

PS: ‘Today, in the 21st century, it is (Scone Palace) the home of the Earls of Mansfield, and a major attraction to visitors from all over the world. Fifteen hundred years ago, it was the capital of the Pictish kingdom and the centre of the ancient Celtic church. In the intervening centuries, it has been the seat of parliaments and the crowning place of Kings. It has housed the Stone of Destiny and been immortalised in Shakespeare’s Macbeth’.  Source: Scone Palace

When capturing photos in a busy area, like a public square or a concert for example, it is often difficult to get a clean shot without unwanted objects entering the frame. Now you can capture the shot anyway, and simply let the camera remove the people for you!

Point your camera and take a photo. Afterwards you can remove anyone moving around, or select your friends and remove any strangers.

Definitely a great program that will give us more control on the design of our photos. Scalado will be showcasing their product in Barcelona this year at the MWC Telecom Event and expect to launch soon for Android and iOS. Can’t wait!

Scalado, a world-leading provider of high-performance imaging technologies, applications and services for the mobile industry, have today announced the release of a new revolutionizing product named Remove. Remove is a technology that automatically highlights and removes any unwanted object from a captured photo. It is the world’s first Object removal software to be released on a mobile device.

Source: MyNews Desk.com

Check it out!

Talk soon,

Janice

Just stumbled upon this article on the net! As we are all photography lovers, I’m delighted to share it with you

The winners in twelve categories of the 2011 British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPAs) have been announced.

Aiming at honoring talented wildlife photographers, this year’s competition attracted thousands of photographers across the country and was considered as “a special opportunity to give the natural world that surrounds us the recognition, and reverence, it deserves.”

Jellyfish in the Blue Sea of Sula Sgeir, Scotland by Richard Shucksmith

Richard Shucksmith is the 2011 BWPAs overall winner with his photos of a jellyfish entitled “Jellyfish in the Blue Sea of Sula Sgeir, Scotland”. He captured the image at Sula Sgeir, a small uninhabited Scottish island, 41 miles north of Lewis.

This photo also wins the Coast and Marine category

“Mystical Deer” taken by Mark Smith in Richmond, Surrey, England, wins Animal Portraits category

“Champagne Starling” captured by David Biggs in Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, wins Urban Wildlife category

“Grey Heron Walking on Water” photographed by Andrew Parkinson in Derbyshire, England, wins Animal Behaviour category

“Busy Wasp on Blackberries” taken by Rana Dias in Horley, Surrey, England, wins Wildlife in My Backyard category

“Hare in Morning Light with Hoar Frost” posed by Ian Paul Haskell in Norfolk, wins Habitat category

“Scorpion Fly on a Leaf” captured by Leslie Holburn in County Durham, England, wins Hidden Britain category

“Thick-legged Flower Beetle on Corn Marigold” posed by Ross Hoddinott in Pentire Point, near Newquay, Cornwall, England, wins British Seasons category

“It’s Only a Game” photographed by Neil Aldridge in Hertfordshire, England, wins Documentary Series category

The winner of Young British Wildlife Photographers, Up to 11 Years category, is Walter Lovell, 8, with “Frog Checking Its Frogspawn”

The winner of Young British Wildlife Photographers, 12 to 18 Years category, is Oliver Wilks, 16, with “Red Fox Yawning After His Afternoon Nap”

“Ladybird on Rose” taken by William Richardson in London, England, is highly commended in Hidden Britain category

Summer Wildlife 2011

Source of the article: Ezimark.com

Enjoy!

Janice

Snow covered Wagon Wheels Fence - Janice Dugas Photography 2010

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.
—The Tao Te Ching

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123RF Banque d’images

Click on the arrow above to view short video taken this morning during the beautiful snow fall.

Tried to capture the beauty of it all…

Snowy Bench

Let’s all get our cameras ready for winter scenery shots!

Talk soon,

Janice

Tired of missing great shots because it’s raining or snowing, extremely hot or cold?

Then you must grab a camera designed to survive the most severe conditions such as  intense heat, extreme cold, massive shock and vibration, water, and even shocks!

The Nikon Coolpix AW (All Weather) 100 is a rugged digital camera that can withstand virtually all outdoor conditions and can still take great-looking shots and Full HD (1080p) movies. It comes with 16MP and  5x wide-angle zoom, is waterproof up to 10 meters and survive temperatures as cold as -10˚C and as hot as over 40˚C.

Shooting in the most coldest places of the planet such as Antartica and North America? It’s the ideal camera. I live in Canada and have experienced winter days I could not even put my nose outside but at -10˚C, I’m outside capturing great scenes, that’s for sure. And what about traveling to the hottest place in the world, like…say…El Azizia? This camera becomes a must. Truly a no-brainer.

You invest hard-earned money into a digital camera. When the weather’s bad, be it hot, cold or raining, you don’t want your camera to be damaged and we all know that standard cameras hate extreme heat and extreme cold.

Nikon-Coolpix-AW100

With the Nikon Coolpix AW 100, no more worries about condensation, moisture, internal freezing and fogged lenses leaving a camera unusable. The Nikon Coolpix AW 100 is also shock-proof, withstanding drops of up to 1.5 metres (5 feet), water-proof (up to 33 feet)  and freeze-proof.

Life on the road deserves GPS + Electronic compass right? So the COOLPIX AW100 has these features too: built-in World Map and built-in GPS.

Nikon Coolpix AW 100

Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features

‘Whether it’s in your hand, mounted to a surfboard, clipped on a backpack or attached to a scuba tank, every twist, splash, dive and crash can be recorded in both still and Full HD (1080p) movie. Plus, Nikon’s new Action Control brings fast and easy operation to gloved hands. The AW100 lets you capture every thrilling moment from inside the action—not the sidelines.’

Ready for extreme adventures? Grab your Nikon Coolpix AW 100 today and let your creativity soar!

coolpix-aw100

Minimum suggested retail price is $379.95 but you can grab it  for only $309. on Amazon. with FREE Super Saver Shipping.

That even more than 18% savings. 

Check it out  <==

To Your Best Photography!

Janice

Wondering how on Earth can your favorite photograph be laser-tech onto a flatter piece of crystal to make a 2D photo crystal or even a beautiful 3D Laser crystal?

Watch the videos below and see how the experts turns a simple photograph into Crystal Art!

The best part in this cristal art process, is that you can personalize and custom-made your gifts, tailoring them to suit any occasions.

…whether it’s Graduation, Father’s Day, birthdays, National Dog Day, funerals, Christmas, or Chanukah. There is literally no occasion for which a 3D photo crystal would not be appropriate, since you choose precisely how it looks!

3D Laser Gifts: solving your gift-giving conundrums one at a time

In the article excerpted below, 3DLaserGifts explains in more details the easy steps you must take to make it happen.

They say that at some point, technology is indistinguishable from magic. How else could we perform the miracle of etching a beautiful, 3-dimensional image deep inside the hide of fine crystal? I mean, the crystal, even with the 3D photo inside of it, is flawless and unmarred. This begs explanation.

The answer, of course, isn’t magic—not quite. You don’t need magic to create a 3D photo crystal, you need a lasers. Let me explain how the process works.

 First, choose your photograph.

The ideal photograph will have a nice contrast with a small number of subjects: whether they’re faces, cars, beautiful brides, or pets. Less is more.

The more in focus your subject is, the happier you’ll be with the result. In fact, we try to limit the number of faces to 3 so that you will be able to fully appreciate the 3D effect of the laser-etched image inside the crystal.

Upload the image to our site.

We read the image.

Our expert colleagues run your image through some powerful software in order to use the light and shadows to create a 3D model from your 2-dimensional photograph.

Again, the higher the contrast, the more striking the 3D effect will be.

The software then plots the points of illumination; meaning that it reads where the light hits the subject in the photograph.

The laser etches your image in 3D.

Photo crystals are made using a special laser that focuses its concentrated beams of light to a precise point below the surface of the crystal.

Each bright point in the image is plotted in the final crystal piece. The laser then focuses a high-powered beam on each three-dimensional coordinate.

Once the beam reaches the focal point, the powerful laser pulse makes a tiny void or inclusion inside the crystal.

Then the laser moves to the next coordinate and makes another etched point.

Finally, enough points are created to reproduce the design deep within the crystal.

As laser beams are non-invasive, no marks or blemishes are left on the surface of the crystal.

When viewed from any angle, the intricate design is much like a three dimensional sculpture, its ghostly image floating deep in the heart of the crystal.

Is your imagination generating some great ideas?

Mine is! And I see many occasions were I could offer a 3D Crystal Art Laser Gift .

Gotta go write-up my list to ensure I do not forget someone. I sense it will be a Crystal Christmas this year

Have fun and talk soon,

Janice