I love going to the zoo in the summer in SF. The weather’s perfect (70 degrees, sunny, breezy) so the animals are always out and moving around. I live about a mile from the zoo but if you are an out-of-towner, you’ll want to use the MUNI train system to get you there (L-Taraval train takes you straight to the front gate). The zoo is heavily forested (map) so you might want to bring a light jacket for walking in the shade. You may also want to go in the early morning as there are always school children running around.

The SF Zoo is a fairly large zoo with a great variety of animals and exhibits. Exhibits of note include the Lion House, the Insect Zoo, the family of meerkats and the Family Zoo. The lions make for great photos if you can catch them when they’re outside (most of the time except for mid-afternoon). The Insect Zoo was hard to photograph (small room with bad lighting) but was very cool to see. The meerkat family was very active and were easy to get shots of, especially when they would climb up on tall hills in the exhibit. The Family Zoo is great fun for pretty much everybody. Especially for photographers who don’t like it when animals run away from them.

Camera & lens used: Canon Digital EOS Rebel XT, EF-S 18-55 mm lens, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

Time of day & year: late afternoon, late September

Weather: perfection (70 degrees, sunny)

I like trying new things in Photoshop all the time and I’m constantly coming across some really great tutorials. My favorite tutorials site at the moment is VladStudio. Vlad Gerasimov is one of the best digital illustrators I’ve seen in a long time. His work is unique, innovative, and most of all, lots of fun.

I could easily spend days using the wealth of information Vlad offers. In his Photoshop tutorials, he shows how easy it is to recreate his beautiful work (not all of it of course). Some of my favorites are:

- Full Moon in the Midnight Forest – making of

- My Favorite Wallpaper Background Texture – making of

- Frosted – making of

He also offers some great little gadgets to go along with his artwork. He’s developed desktop wallpapers that keep the precise date and time (aptly named Wallpaper Clocks). Vlad also gives away Companion, which is freeware that changes your desktop wallpaper at specified intervals. You can also send e-cards from VladStudio.com and buy posters of most of his work. I could go on for days about it so why don’t ya just go check it out?

On the way down to TRF and the Forbidden Gardens, we hit up the tiny town of Schulenberg (along I-10 S, Map). It’s hardly a blip on the map but it’s home to the famous Oakridge Smokehouse & Restaurant. We always have made a point to stop at this joint every time we go through south Texas. All I know is that they have the best kolaches, beef jerky, and rock candy in the whole world!

The building and it’s signs are unique and misshapen. I’m not sure if it’s because the building’s super old or if it was done on purpose. Either way, it makes for a fun experience. There are old fashioned fortune teller machines at the entrance and if you like the Bible, this place is the motherlode. They have lots of portable games, books, and religious knick-knacks. Oh, and the fudge is to die for!

Camera used: Canon Digital EOS Rebel XT, EF-S 18-55 mm lens

Time of day, year: mid-morning, early November

Weather: foggy, 60 degrees (F)

If you ever get to visit south Texas in October or November, you have to go to the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville. My family has gone several times over the years and it’s always a blast. The festival lasts for 8 weeks (weekends only) and you could easily spend an entire weekend hitting up all the shops and shows. It takes place in the middle of a heavily forested area at the Plantersville Fairgrounds just north of Houston. Every year, thousands of people from all over the country come to enjoy the food, music, games, and gardens.

Probably the funnest part of going to the festival is people watching. You never know what you’ll come across. Some people have spent thousands of dollars on their costumes. While you’re there, you’ll see Royalty, peasants, fairies, demons, and knights in full armor. Early to mid-fall is about the only time of the year in Texas that you could get away with such intricate attire. This year, it probably got up to the upper 70′s with pretty high humidity. That’s about as good as it gets in Texas!

I really enjoyed taking pictures at the festival. People are more than happy to pose for portraits and the fairgrounds really are beautiful. The property is covered with tall trees and the gardens are spectacular. Unfortunately, I lost all the shots I got of the gardens this year. But no biggie, I’ll just have to go again next year. The architecture found here suggests an authentic medieval village complete with gargoyles, stained glass windows, and a magnificent wooden open-air church. Lots of opportunities to get great shots.

And for my favorite shot from this year’s festival (with a little Photoshop help):

What do you think? I’ve recently discovered split toning. I love it! I always wondered how people got kick-ass m0n0 shots and now I know. I’ve been using Lightroom and it couldn’t be easier. All I did for this particular shot was take a color photo (I had already added the texture) and switched it to grayscale. Then I played with the hue/saturation controls for the highlights and shadows. Super easy, right? The possibilities are endless too. Fun, fun, fun!