Feeling rusty. I accidentally left the camera on manual exposure, and while I went through and checked/set WB, ISO, and even exposure compensation, I didn't notice the exposure mode setting.
I've been grudgingly trying to practice the technique of exposing "to the right" (slight overexposure to take advantage of more detail in the white range). With all the available light and strobe work, that competes against either limited light, or trying to conserve batteries and recycle time.
The strange thing is that I took some photos after Christmas, and the manual setting I had used indoors with bounce flash worked PERFECTLY for some outdoor shots on a cloudy day in the snow.
Anywho, just an old frost-covered chainlink by work. Took a couple, but it was the bit of old flagging tape that caught my eye and resulted in this shot.
And what do you know, even this blown-out photo could be saved when I exposed to the right......
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
December 29 - Expose to the Right
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
December 15 - Pandan Life Cycle in Kaya
Photo blogging foreign food - couldn't be happier!
Soooo.... in my former life, I served as a manufacturing engineer. My work brought me to Penang, Malaysia several times (see past blog entries for some photos). I love international travel, and even more so when a place I might not have gone to.
I've changed jobs, and no longer have business reason to travel to Malaysia. But the heart of a traveler gets scattered around the world. So every once in a while, I feel a tinge of desire to taste durian, kaya, ban chean kuih. To leave the air conditioning and feel a place with every pore. To feel lost, and a bit scared.
Before I wax poetic about travel, let me return to the point of this photo.
One of my former coworkers returned to Malaysia, and found a way to bring me some pandan leaf. This is a plant I brought back after my last visit (I brought back leaves only, for food, not propogation, in case any border control officers are reading this!)
I read that Pandan leaf is the vanilla of SE Asia. And I think that's the perfect description. I had meat wrapped in pandan leaves, rice steamed with pandan, and had breakfast of Kaya toast.
So tonight I made Kaya, which is a jam made with coconut milk, egg, sugar, and flavored by simmering the coconut milk with pandan leaves. It's a mild, vanilla-ish, earthy flavor that I can't even begin to do justice to by trying to describe here. Served on white toast with butter, it is heavenly. Add a cup of tea, a hard boiled egg with soy sauce, and I'm a happy camper.
Photo-wise, I used available light because, well, I can't get pandan leaf every day and so wanted to use this chance to explain to friends and family what I was making. Wasn't really thinking of the photo blog, except that I did need a photo today.
I've never made a diptych, or triptych, or any other form of photo collage. But each photo didn't stand on it's own so much as the timeline I saw at the filmstrip on Lightroom.
A quick google pointed me to a Digital Photo School article on doing exactly what I wanted to do in Lightroom, without fussy movement/alignment of the photos. See link here: http://bit.ly/2mprI
So I captured the moment, was able to tell a photo story, and learned a tool that is just way too easy and I'll probably use more in the future, especially for some of the family portrait series I do. Stoked to learn an easy technique so quickly, and to have it meet my storytelling needs exactly.
The recipe I've used both times I was able to get pandan is from LA Times. See the recipe here: http://bit.ly/11jCSf
Monday, December 14, 2009
December 13 - Dirty
I love Bend. I love bikes. I love mud. And I love taking photos.
Several years back when I showed up for my first Search and Rescue meeting, I came home and said, "These are my kind of people!" I had the same reaction today after shooting the Elite Men's race in the 2009 Cyclocross Nationals.
Hard to choose a shot -- there's a second which is very technically clean, iconic with the smokestacks in the background, great light, and even some great gear (Team S&M has the old-skool look down, and I think it's perfect for cyclocross!) But this one was a little different, and I wanted to share something that was a little more uniquely me.
The whole set is linked in my CX Nationals photoset here at Flickr, by the way.
Love, love, loving the D700's autofocus. Also seriously loving the 70-200 AF-S 2.8 VR (I). Crisp, fast, just great to shoot with. This is one of two lenses that I've wanted for a long while, and it was a joy to shoot with today.
Areas of improvement? I need to trust/set an AF point high on the frame, rather than keeping the center point selected. I was letting the D700 do continuous focus, and follow the selected point around the frame. Which works freaking awesome, by the way. But I was tending to cutoff the wheels. I need to get focus on the face, but keep composition in mind as well.
Also, wouldn't hurt me to have stopped down a bit. Plenty of sunlight today, which made for a slick, muddy course.
Huge respect for all the men and women out there racing in this stuff, because I know that it' s not just a day like today with beer and cowbells and guys in speedos with American flags. There's all those days in the saddle in even worse weather, worse trails, and zero fans. With laundry to do, bills to pay, and bikes to clean at the end of the day. I have tremendous respect for your commitment to cycling, and it was awesome to get the chance to host your race in our town.
Keep it in the big ring, -J
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
December 1 - Flipped Around
Gotta give credit to my friend and colleague Engin for telling me about this fun technique of using a reversed manual focus lens for macro work.
In my case, I used a old Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 SC, wide open, reversed in front of a Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8 AF-D.
Learned that I need to setup some lights to pull this stuff off, so I just played around with it. In this shot, I did a poor-mans tilt-shift by changing the axis of the reversed Canon lens.
It's almost crummy phone / over-processed look, but there's something about the complex planes of focus and distortion, and the contrast in colors, that I really like.
Sort of embarrased to be playing around with a lens I probably couldn't sell on Ebay, when I have a new lens to learn. But this was easy to do after family time, and so it's my photo for the day.
Very, VERY happy to have another photo-a-day shot posted, even if it's late, and Engin had to bust my chops a bit about making time for my hobby.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
November 12 - Speed Headshot
Shot this Nov 12, but forgot to ask permission so I waited to post.
This is a colleague of mine who needed a headshot for publication. Deadline was that afternoon. A gracious co-worker referred him to me, I grabbed my stands and umbrellas at lunch, and pulled off a quick temporary studio in a conference room.
He had 15 minutes (nothing setup yet) before a conference call. We were able to pull off setup, figuring out exposure and light position, and several poses. And had everything taken down with 5 minutes to spare.
That makes me really happy. Have to give credit to Zack Arias' OneLight workshop for making me confident and comfortable with single-light setups. Before the workshop, I would have fiddled with three flashes and two umbrellas.
The D700's advanced autofocus and the sharp 50 f/1.8 lens also make me very happy.
My original setup had the edge of the electronic whiteboard out of frame. But I wanted to bring down the background light, so we moved everything forward 3 feet. I didn't notice that repositioning brought the edge back into the shot.
But that's why I keep shooting. To learn, and improve.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
November 11 - Quick Studio
Needed to get some photos of my Canon gear that I'll be selling.
Setup two large sections of foam insulation at 45 degree angles to the camera, with a gap to shoot through. Lit each panel with a flash shooting toward the camera.
First off-camera flash work with the D700. So far, so good. Solid synch at 1/200, even with the Cactus triggers.
The Canon 50mm f/1.4 is a great lens, by the way. This is what I was shooting 90% of the time.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
November 11 - Beatles Record Label
Hi. Remember me?
After 15 years of shooting Canon EF (the first SLR I purchased was a Canon A2 in about 1994), I decided to switch sides. Each Canon (the A2, then a Rebel XT, then the 40D) was better than before. But I couldn't nail the focus, especially in low light. At the OneLight workshop in Seattle, we were shining flashlights so that us Canon shooters could AF. And despites Zack's eloquent lectures about avoiding GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), I couldn't help myself. Each 3cm focus error pushed me closer and closer to the door of Pro Photo Supply in Portland.
So I was thrilled to go out today, try and dig up some subjects, and learn a new rig. This tree caught my eye, and it seemed like hundreds of these bright green apples were the only thing left on the tree. I think the Beatles had an Apple record label. At least, that's what I was thinking of on this shot.
I wanted to call out one particular apple on this christmas-tree like sea of globes.
As I hoped, the excellent Nikon AF nailed it. NAILED it. Not a challenging subject, though -- and plenty of light. Used DOF preview as I setup this shot.
I'll jump into my likes and dislikes about the switch:
LIKES:
-AF so far has lived up to the reputation. I believe this camera shares the AF module with even the current top-of-the-line D3.
-Ergonomics of the body (weight, location of major controls) is comfortable.
-Nice chunky rubber/metal feel
-I can use ANY lens they ever made? Seriously? I've got a box of lonely FD glass, and wish Canon had done something similar
-The Nikon 50mm 1.8 is sharp, fast focusing, and built better than the Canon 50mm 1.8.
-Amazed by the difference in how a 50mm lens looks.
-The focus points and grid appear and disappear completely when off. It's like magic!
-$12 plastic LCD protector is a cool design feature -- I've always envied Nikon shooters for this.
-round eyepiece reminds me of the F4s I lusted after so many years ago. Looks pro!
DISLIKES
-Canon provides excellent software with even their low-end bodies. Nikon provides neutered software that is SLOW. There's a reason I am posting this at 1am the day after I took the photo. Seriously! I've lost most of my major RAW adjustments that Canon gave me in Digital Photo Professional, on a camera body that was 1/3 the price of this one.
-Battery door of 40d is nicer mechanically. Canon has a retainer tab that holds the battery in, independent of door closure. And a spring to eject the battery
-CF door of 40d is nicer mechanically.
-why is overexposure shown by arrow to the left, and underexposure on the right? There is an option to switch, but I don't understand the logic on the default
-Maybe I'll get used to it, but Canon did a great job of showing nearly all critical settings on the top LCD. From what I can tell, I have to either click the info button, or change settings to read the current ISO, exposure compensation, etc. It's 2009, Nikon. People study UI design these days.
Will Flickr let this all post? Let's see.....in 5, 4, 3, 2......
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
October 4th - Goodbye, Seattle
Shot this on the way back from Zack Arias' most excellent OneLight Workshop in Seattle.
Feeling bad about the long lapse on this blog, but determined to get back in the game.
Monday, July 27, 2009
July 27 - Wet, wet, wet.
Quick post for now, maybe add more details later
This is in Tsing Yi area of Hong Kong. This was the wettest, most humid day I've ever experienced. I took my camera out of the bag, and the lens immediately fogged. I waited 20 minutes (with the camera out), still foggy. Wiped the lens. Fog reappeared. This is like trying to shave in the shower, except that I don't wonder about the condition of a $800 sensor, lens fungus, or any other potentially expensive issue when a mirror fogs in the shower.
I'm used to taking a cold camera indoors after dry, cold, Central Oregon winter shots. Just stick it in a plastic bag and wait for the temperature to equilibrate. Not so used to taking the camera out of a camera bag at essentially the same temperature, and dealing with 200% humidity. Advice from any sage travel photographers?
Anyway, I bumped up the contrast and sharpness for the post on this shot, and this is a little more like what I could see before putting eye to viewfinder.
I love the contrast between the modern industrial skyscraper, the guy fishing from a yellow raft (we call 'em K-Mart Coffins in SAR), and the stark matching apartments that you see everywhere in HK.
Friday, July 17, 2009
July 16 - Baby Mee Mees
My late attempt at the second Strobist bootcamp II assignment. Obviously not at this point for the contest, but for myself, to reach out at an assigned task. I feel bad about not buckling down and meeting the assignment deadline, but want to at least work through the assignments in real-time.
When I was little and cute, I called tomatoes "Mee mees"
These beauties are from our CSA tote this week from Groundworks Organics. Great folks, great vegetables. I'm especially looking forward to eating up the beets (and beet greens) that were also in this week's tote!
Strobist info:
2 Vivitar 285s on cactus triggers, 1/4 power, subject right and left. Diffused by shoot-through umbrellas overlapped to produce a pseudo-lightroom for the tomatoes. (umbrella rods criss-cross over the tomatoes, not mounted on light stands.)
Also tried this in IR to satisfy my curiousity. Click here for the result.
Monday, July 13, 2009
July 13 - The Incredible Lightness
My friend, fellow SAR volunteer, and landscape photography mentor Steve (his website here) loaned me his 20d that had been converted to IR.
I had a little bit of time to play with it today, and I'm saving the big sky views (vivid white clouds, pitch black sky) for my favorite landscape photo of the week). It's absolutely incredible how green foliage pops.
Some other misc photo notes:
The EF 50mm f/1.8 (loaned with the body, as near-IR focuses differently than visible, and the body was calibrated for that lens) focuses MUCH faster than the EF 50mm f/1.4 that I own. That surprised me.
The rear AF button on the back of the 40D is a great addition. I miss it on the 20D, and keep mashing the AE lock button. (Not a big deal since you have to shoot manual on the converted camera).
It's cool how a fun "trick" camera can bring new life to this photo journey. Today I did more experimentation than I usually do, and mainly because I had a slightly different view on the world with IR. Though older and cheaper than the stuff I shoot with virtually every day, this gear got me out with new enthusiasm.
I'll be playing with IR more throughout the week....stay tuned!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
July 6 - Up with the Sun
This post is a bit sad. We're having four trees removed tomorrow morning, and this is one of 'em.
In particular, this tree is outside our bedroom, and since it's a big, old tree, has probably been here since the first owner of the house. It's been our steady sign of the seasons in the 7 years or so we've been in this house, filling our room with a soft green glow in the spring, changing colors briefly for the week-long Central Oregon fall, and catching the snowflakes in the winter.
Unfortunately, years of going un-tended have left it leaning heavily over our neighbors's yard (and now, house). So the leaves we lovingly watch grow in the spring end up their yard each fall, and I feared that someday the whole tree would end up there as well.
So sad as it is to see this one go, I think it's the right choice -- and better a safe goodbye than an insurance claim for the neighbor because I was nostalgic about an over-grown tree.
We'll be planting new trees in this place, and this will be my reminder to keep them maintained so that they can lead long, happy tree-lives.
July 4 - Homemade
There's a couple things to do on the 4th of July, and this is one of 'em.
Homemade peach ice cream (with a touch of almond flavoring). Perfect. Even better, I got to play with a chainsaw while my wife and daughter were making this.
Grubby lumberjack was summoned first for some photos, and then for the result. Life is good.
Drug the shutter a bit to get some motion. Always a tradeoff on a handheld shot like this.
July 1 - Grid Out
Spent a couple minutes playing with a flash and a paper diffuser. Was hoping to use low-angle light from the right and the reflector at left to soften things. This just made a hotspot at the flash side, and didn't offer any noticable emphasis on the Altoid 'A's
But it was a photo for the day, and a change to play with lighting setups, so I can't complain.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
June 22 - Strobist Bootcamp II Attempt 3
My third attempt for the Strobist Bootcamp II Assignment 1.
This is my brother, and if you know of an engineering job (or heck, a job) in the Pacific Northwest, let us know. If I was running an engineering department, I would totally hire him.
June 21 - 140 Project
Yet another blog-padding photo-a-day.
This is from an afternoon shooting for the 140 project. Pay attention: I may someday be famous and rich for my contribution to the project.
See http://140faq.blogspot.com/ for more info.
June 19 - Strobist Bootcamp II Attempt 2
I'm a goober and forgot to post this.
From the Strobist Bootcamp II, Assignment one.
This is my second attempt at the assignment, and the one I ultimately submitted.
Posting late 'cause I want to make sure my blog photo-a-day count is correct.
Strobist info: Two Vivitar 285s, shoot-through umbrellas on Cactus triggers. Key umbrella located high and to subject right / camera left. This gave the corrugated metal background some interest, as well. The other umbrella was used behind camera for on-axis fill.
Monday, June 29, 2009
June 29 - Three Dee
Went out tonight in search of a photo, and realized as the garage door closed that I'd left my tripod in the other car.
Best to leave without waking up the doggie, so I thought I'd turn this into a challenge. Either shoot high ISO, wide open, available light, or.....
Then, duh, I've got my flash gear. Had some idea for other made-up shots, which I won't reveal here since I need ideas for OTHER nights where I come up empty-handed.
Saw this ribbon rack near a cement wall at REI and thought it would be interesting for shadows. I also heard a recent interview on NPR where some entertainment industry goober was talking about how 3-D is the future of the movie industry. (If 3-D and computer animation become the norm, I think I'm going to have to ditch the movie hobby completely. Pixar is cool, 3-D is interesting, but mainstream? Please!
Anyway, setup two 285's with gels from camera right and left. One flash had nearly dead batteries, so I chimped the shot with the blue light until I had the exposure I wanted.
Another trick I tried (though apparently after this shot) was to switch to green automatic mode so that the popup flash would fire for better AF. Then back to manual mode for the actual shot. Worked nice, but I figured this out before switching to try a green/orange pair. By this time, flash B had given up and so the the original 3-d colors had to work.
Disappointed by the slight out-of-focus. Not sure if I think this shot is clever or just a lame 80's gelled shot.
Anyway, glad to be posting again!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
June 18 - Echoes
Nice evening for a walk, so only took a couple photos. Loved the reflections of the evening light on the downtown pond.
June 17 - Broken Rules, Lost Haven
Chase Jarvis reminded everyone to break the rules today, so I did.
- "high-fashion tilt"
- shot at night w/o tripod
- white-balanced wrong
This is the old Boom Town records downtown. Lots of great import albums, vinyl, and hard-to-get (or special order) stuff. Spent plenty of my high school years wandering the aisles and finding stuff that I thought would make me seem cool.
Sucked to see it close down, and sad to see it still empty.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
June 15 - Learning to Love
Somehow missed posting this one, so I had to do some HTML trickery to get these posts back in order.
My buddy bought a great new lens - the Canon 135f/2.0L. To avoid lens envy (Shoot More, Want Less) I decided I'd go out that night with the goal of shooting with my second least-favorite lens, the 100-300f/4.5-5.6
I liked these sunlit grass stems, and the composition. I don't like how the lens isn't very sharp when wide-open.
June 14 - Boot Camp II Attempt 1
First attempt at a headshot for Strobist Boot Camp II.
I've setup some portraits with other awesome friends, so I'm going to see what I like best before the deadline, and submit that one for the assignment.
Went for some fairly dramatic lighting here, and I think it might be too much. Umbrella high and to subject left / camera right. On-Axis fill (it's not just for pig statues!) with umbrella, just below/behind camera.
IIRC, the key light was at 1/4 and the fill at 1/16. Both on my lovely Cactus triggers. Which are working very well with the Radio Shack 2xAAA battery holders on pigtails. The second power switch is helping me keep the batteries in good shape, and moving the battery out of the receiver seems to give better reliability. Not a perfect solution, but cheap and workable until this photo hobby starts paying it's own bills.
Thanks to my awesome first volunteer subject.
June 12 - Stripes = Slimming
What the hay, I missed a couple days, and had two shots I was very happy with on this day. This was my more artistic and original concept. Loved the colors and mix of textures, and how it distills down to a simple stripe pattern.
June 12 - I'll Stop and I'll Shoot
Found this in Amity, as I was between Corvallis for my little bro's graduation (congratulations!) and the in-laws house further north.
Another one of those "visualized the shot and had to turn around to stop" moments. Those moments are pure gold to me, because I know how often I skipped these in the past, and I enjoy the heck out of taking the 2 minutes to try the shot.
Really happy with how this turned out. Exactly as I wanted. I guess my only wish is that there wasn't a stripe starting in the LLH corner of the frame. Didn't want to change the cropping, and didn't want to edit out, though.
June 9 - Hail Yes
Start of catch-up posting....
Had a massive hailstorm this day, and it ripped a stripe right through town. Had some sweet thunder and lightning at work, but only a bit of hail. Around 4:30pm, reports of the parkway stopped with standing hail.
I was downtown soon after, and there was mulched leaves on many cars from where the hailstones tore through the tree leaves. The guys at McMenamins were breaking out their snow shovels to clear the parking lots. In JULY.
Standing water everywhere.
My massively witty title came to me only today when I was finally getting to post-processing the photo. It's one of the only photos I shot that day, though -- which was a shame, because this was some pretty intense weather and some great photo ops.
Monday, June 8, 2009
June 8 - The Good Kind of Dust
This photo is sort of embarrassing.
Some people hate it when others see their messy house. Me, I'm fine with the messy house, but for someone to see my neglected ride? Just not enough hours in the day for tons of riding, let alone the toothbrush treatment on the Park stand. Music blasting. Black Butte Porter underneath. The smell of citrus degreaser.
Strobist info: Single umbrella camera left and low. Vivitar 285 on Cactus trigger. I wanted some shadows for detail, but diffused, soft light on the large bits. Wanted to show the quality of the machining but also the texture of our great Central Oregon volcanic dust.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
June 7 - A Nice Pair of Wheels
Got this on an evening walk. Wasn't the first shot I had envisioned. When post-processing, I was torn between this shot and the other, which was a straight-on shot of the wall, the wheel, and a door.
But I've done that kind of shot before on this project, and I liked how I spent a couple minute trying different angles.
Though I'm not totally in love with this photo (too much rustic farm debris photos in my 4-H photography days in high school) I do really think the wheel shadow is nice, and like the mottled sunlight.
June 6 - Balloon on the Lawn
In a way, Balloons over Bend is such an obvious choice for photography. I mean, at least half the town is up early, coffee cups in hand, kids in jammies with blankets and bed hair. And half the people have cameras. In fact, when I got my first DSLR in 2005, this event was the first place I took photos.
Unfortunately, Saturday morning winds were stronger than the Friday morning winds, so no balloons took off. One brave crew raised their balloon for the entertainment of the crowd. All was well until the wind picked up a bit, and the down-wind folks shrieked and ran away. (The balloon just slowly leaned with the wind -- so I don't think anyone was really in danger.
Kinda like how this shot captures a stranger (with camera), her shadow, and the balloon as they were packing it up.
June 5 - Rust-oleum
I liked this for the colors and textures of the pole. In this shot, it looks like rust, but elsewhere on the pole you can see at least 3 colors of paint besides the rust tone.
I love using the 50 for this because it lets me fade things off as they exit the frame.
Also a feel-good photo because I took a photo break during the day to take this shot -- and it feels good to dedicate 10-15 minutes to looking and shooting.
Friday, June 5, 2009
June 4 - 2 Light, On-Axis Fill
Oh, and you thought my last post was a link-o-rama.....
The purpose of this post is threefold.
First, I would like to introduce you to my lighting assistant / model. I do have other breathing lighting assistant / models, but they are related to me. (Do stop sniggering; I may act like a pig but am not related to one!) And so I don't post their photos here. But seriously, I use this pig statue as a stand-in when setting up shots, and also for those late nights where I'm playing around with lighting concepts. When my kid was smaller, the pig was almost a perfect stand-in. But my baby is growing up quickly, so I now need a larger pig.
Second, I wanted to play around with the on-axis fill that David Hobby has been discussing lately. My key light is the obvious light you notice, camera left, bare flash. My fill is a second flash, bounced off of a white Ultimate Frisbee, held on-axis with the camera. (photo here) Meaning if I had a laser beam pointing out the lens, and extending behind the camera as well, I would position this light as close as possible to this laser beam(s), and would point directly at the subject. See, the same thing that makes on-camera flash boring is that it is flat, but if you are using just a teeny bit to bring back detail in your main light setup, it's quite nice. You can click the following links to see the contribution of the key light and the fill, by themselves.
Oh, and thirdly, I needed my daily photo today.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
June 3 - First CSA Box
Totally snapshot photo, but I'm so excited about our first CSA box and it was taken on such a hellish day, that I'm still happy about it. Also played around with a juice pitcher "Gary Fong" diffuser for the flash.
So this is our first tub of veggies in our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership with Groundworks Organics out of Junction City, OR. We got:
strawberries
garlic whistles
cauliflower
onions
cucumbers
carrots
lettuce
sugar snap peas
....I think that's it. The stuff tastes fresh from the garden. Lemme tell you, this makes it pretty hard to eat grocery store vegetables. Just like the veggies from our garden when I was growing up in Eugene!
June 2 - Light Gathering
Though I really enjoy the excuse to take a photo each day, sometimes it's nice to grab a quick shot of an interesting object or shadow, and go to bed at a normal hour.
So nothing particularly special about this. I liked the shadow.
Now I notice that some wicks are burned and some are not. Strange. I guess we don't go for the birthday candle effect?
Monday, June 1, 2009
June 1 - Shop Light
Feeling bummed about not shooting the last couple days, I was grabbing my camera bag out of the car, and liked the contrast between the shop light and the ceiling behind.
The dangly bit of chain was a bonus.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
May 29 - Alternate Boom
Yes, second photo from the same day, and same subject even. But dramatically different look. I don't think I've ever seen clouds like this.
Half expected a tornado or something after seeing these. Weird.
May 29 - Boom
The weather did all the work for me on these (from Friday, just getting to posting). The sky really was this color, this isn't a color shift or saturation blowout. The overall look reminded me of a Pink Floyd album cover.
Sometimes my friend Greg and I complain about how we often end up at the Old Mill on our photo-a-day. But when the sky does something this amazing, it's not so bad to be shooting the same old places.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
May 28 - Potting Stand
This one's all about color and composition. Sharp lines, curving lines, bright colors, muted rust colors.
If I can hit it, I really like late evening sunshine.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
May 27 - 15 Minute Parking
Got to head out tonight after chores to do some shooting. Nothing clears the head like a bit of art at the end of the day.
Found this after searching for grafitti recommended to me by a co-worker. Never found what I was looking for, but found exactly what I was looking for in this frame-within-a-frame.
Only complaint is that one more light (LH window) could have been on, but other than that, I'm pretty happy with this shot. I agonized over the cropping, though. See an alternate version here. I think the version I chose highlights the content of the archway and the rolling sidewalk, while the alternate crop is nice because it shows the full light on the front wall. Also, the extra space allowed me to WB for the wall and make the brickwork really pop out.
Still, I think my choice for the post is "better". What do you think?
May 25 - In the Weeds
Late in downloading this, so late in posting. This is alongside one of my favorite motorcycle rides, though there's no longer any motorcycles in our garage.
Just another horrible Central Oregon evening sky. Miserable here, I tell you!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
May 22 - On the Air
Out on a date, and liked the windows on this building. This is the side of the KPOV independent radio studio. Took a couple shots, but the sky was much brighter than the side of the building.
Ran back to the car, enlisted my wife as a voice-controlled light stand, and used a flash on wireless trigger to add some light to the wall.
I've seen in done before, but this is the first time I've used off-camera flash to balance the light in a non-portrait setting.
strobist info:
single 285HV, 1/4 power behind and to camera right, on cactus triggers.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
May 19 - Tumbleweed on the Lawn
Felt good about taking a walk to go shoot photos today, and I missed some days last week, so I'm posting two shots today. I think this is my favorite, and would be my single choice between the two if I had to pick only one.
Feel good about this shot because I captured exactly what I intended, and nothing else. (Business pack background just out of frame.) Also because I got down on the ground to take this shot -- and it always feels like I've made the worthwhile effort on a shot if I try an angle that requires some effort. Seems like finding a unique view is a easy way to make your photos stand out. Maybe I should build some stilts before the summer festivals?
Oh, and I'm also super excited about a video project I signed up for today -- a movie called 140. I'm signed up to contribute 140 seconds of footage to this worldwide, twitter-coordinated project. Read about it here
May 19 (2) - Birch Shadows
Ah. Vertical frame. Nice break.
Tried to capture the distinctive birch leaf shadows against the equally distinct birch bark texture. This B&W version looks almost exactly the same as it's color counterpart.
Monday, May 18, 2009
May 18 - Light Pools
A virus has been chillin' in our household for the past week or so, so the hectic-ness has zapped my creativity. Or my time for creativity.
Anyway, back out there with the lens pointed at stuff.
Thanks to my similarly exhausted wife for supporting me and this project enough to kick me out the door (or at least say, "well, OK") when I asked if I could go out shooting tonight.
Monday, May 11, 2009
May 10 - Light and Dark
Ok, liked how I didn't go nuts with shallow DOF on this close-up of our curtains. But I notice another trend of horizontal shots, so I'm gonna have to mix it up.
Took lots of photos this weekend, but nearly all were of family, so off-limits to this blog.
This was kind of a Hail Mary kind of shot, the end of a long day, I was having my 11pm pizza+beer, and liked the interplay of light and shadow. Seems photo of the day should have some balance of complexity of the shot (to advance my skills) and simplicity (since it's supposed to be grabbing the camera and shooting, not fussing over so much that I don't take the shot, or feel too busy to setup.)
This was more on the snapshot end of that scale.
Friday, May 8, 2009
May 8 - Grillin'
I love when spring breaks in Central Oregon. Some 70 degree days for a while, then some snow, then some rain, then another wave of warm. And each warm evening, it's just too tempting to roll out the BBQ and cook like a caveman.
I saw the new green grass through the grill, the spots of sunlight, and thought this perfectly captured the feel of the evening.
By the way, if your idea of BBQ involves perfectly shaped briquettes (or propane!) you're seriously missing out. My last birthday I got a Weber grill to replace our rusting gas grill. At the same time, I discovered real charcoal. Big, mis-shapen, odd-sized hunks of mesquite. It smokes. It sparks. It crackles. It burns hot, then gets cold. But the result is delicious, and the process exciting.
C'mon, SUMMER!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
May 7 - Battered but not Broken
Life seems busy lately!
This is a mailbox that has seen better times. Still got the address on it, and I guess it's still in use. Some spring blooms in the park behind it added some color, and the 50 kept the background less cluttered than it was.
Thanks to my dog for helping me keep the camera still. Holding your camera with the leash arm is like the exact opposite of using a tripod. Bumped the ISO for this reason.
Nice evening for a walk, though. Ah, spring!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
May 5 - Mark and Ang / Strangers # 003
Mark and Angela were brave enough to be my third strangers for this project. I have my weimaraner to thank, as she "introduced" us. They've got a younger and much more energetic weim who entertained our pup while I took the photo.
Thanks, guys!
So here's where I highlight areas for improvement:
- I used a flash on this, but was so fired up with nerves that I left the camera in Av mode and so the shutter was WAY too fast to synch. So the flash was more for effect than results.
- I need to include more of their personalities and environment in the shot. This ain't MySpace.
- Use the white balance card, Luke.
- Talk more, relax, and take more shots. I think I only had 5 shots to choose from.
This picture is #003 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com
May 4 - Driveby
Artistic? White balanced wrong? A odd attempt to capture a rainbow?
I like it. It's one of my favorite colors, so I pretty much forgive everything else about it.
Raindrops keep falling on my head......
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