Found this shot on the way from a failed errand to REI. While REI was closed, I wandered around and got some interesting photos in the Old Mill district. On the way home, noticed some reflections at the garishly over-lit Pacific Pride gas station on Greenwood.
With my blog-induced commitment to Getting The Shot, I swung around and pulled behind the building to park (out of frame).
I took my reflection shots, but noticed this bowl on the way out. Looked like maybe a dog bowl?
This was a tough shot to focus because it was so dark. I already was shooting wide open at ISO 1600, and the AF just couldn't find the bowl. I ended up making minor adjustments and then checking the focus after the shot. Mad it interesting, because traffic on the road behind changed the light on the wall and the colors in the upper-left-hand corner of the frame.
50mm on this one. Because I'm travelling in search of a stranger portrait.....
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
April 29 - Bowl, Gas Station, 9pm
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
April 28 - Tumble Dry
Long exposure of clothes (red, orange, and yellows) in the dryer.
Tripods are good.
Monday, April 27, 2009
April 27 - Shadowplay
I was feeling bummed 'cause I took the camera out for errands again and didn't find a stranger.
Until I got home and realized I hadn't put the memory card back in my camera earlier in the day. So even if I would have asked, I couldn't have taken the photo.....
I liked the delicate shadows on the wall, as well as the many highlights on the glasses. Though it breaks the rule of thirds in several places, this composition also follows the rule in others.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
April 26 - Burning Bush
I liked the reflected light on this ugly little bush, but I especially liked the shadow on the right.
April 25 - No Photo
Today I took plenty of photos - 130 or so. But these were personal photos -- newborn photos for my brother and sister-in-law. I try to keep the personal stuff separate from this project, unless the photo is fairly anonomous. Even then, it feels like cheating because there's usually a different photo that I strongly prefer.
Anyway, today's photo of the day was taken by my brother.
That's right. I load the Element with photo gear, drive over with all my fancy stuff and "I take a photo every day" smart attitude, and hand him the camera after I've been shooting a couple hours.
He pulls off a BEAUTIFUL shot of his new son. Shallow DOF, with focus on his bellybutton. It's my favorite photo of the day. I thought of asking his permission to post, but worry that once it gets down on the list of posts, people might scroll through and think it's my work. But it's not. He deserves the credit.
He's always been a good photographer, even though I've been competitive with him probably our whole lives together. As far as I know, he's never owned a DSLR. But with a fresh look, a couple of minutes with a borrowed camera, and an intense love for the new part of his family, he nailed the best shot.
So little bro, I congratulate you for both the great photo, and more importantly for the new part of your family.
Friday, April 24, 2009
April 24 - Just Steepin'
If you had told me 5 years ago that flash photography was this much fun, I probably wouldn't have believed you.
Single flash at camera right, aimed (in this shot) across the back of the teapot to a sheet of white office paper. Paper fill was at about a 45 degree angle between the background and the left side of the pot. Snooted flash with an old mousepad to keep the background dark.
I was actually trying to capture the steam, but by the time I figured out to shoot through the steam with the snooted flash, the top of the pot had enough condensation that it wasn't so pretty.
The tea, for whoever might be interested, is Tie Guan Yin I brought back from Malaysia. Also known as "monkey-picked tea" and translates to "Iron Goddess of Mercy", according to Wikipedia. The latter would be a sweet name for a metal band.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
April 23 - Night Blossoms
Late night photo session at the Old Mill. Took the dog out for a drive, and was thinking I might find some sprinklers to do a long, backlit exposure. But the only sprinklers we found spraying weren't terribly scenic.
About to give up and on the way to downtown, I found this blossoming tree that was LIT UP by an overhead light.
This was actually a hand-held shot, though I did have to bump up the ISO (actually, left the ISO set high from last night's shot). This is with the 20, which lets me get close but also get a fair amount of background.
Though I am colorblind and would not be so bold as to think I have mastered white balance, I thought I'd throw up a straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) version of this photo to show the difference it makes to shoot in RAW and then correct the white balance. If you're shooting a DSLR and aren't working with white balance, you're missing out!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
April 21 - Reservoir Dogs Homage
Maybe you're thinking, "phew, finally a horizontal shot to break up the verticals!" Or maybe you're thinking, "What's THAT?"
Last night I added external battery packs to my Cactus triggers. One, because I think it helps the receiver to have the large metal chunk (battery) AWAY from the antenna. Also because the lithium batteries these use are $7/each. And I keep forgetting them on. As wired, I now have two power switches to forget, one on the trigger and one on the battery pack.
I got the 4AAA packs with switches at Radio Shack ("You've got questions, we've got cellphones!") because I thought it might be nice to have extra room for some circuitry, and because they had three. I might have preferred the 2AA, but they only had two.
What extra circuitry? I'm thinking of at least a blinking light to remind me that I left the switch on, and also maybe a battery monitoring circuit or test circuit.
So I arranged a little reference to that (warning: gory) classic scene from Reservoir Dogs, and showed off my mod at the same time. That's my garage floor. Yeah, I wonder if the groves were made as the car was leaving the garage or entering. I should do an experiment next winter when I've got the studded tires mounted again.
Just kidding, honey.
April 20 - Two Heads are Better than One
I'm gettin' lazy about posting the day I shoot the photo.
Or maybe I'm just tired. "I'm just tahred!"
But I do really enjoy the injection of photography into my daily life. I'm carrying the camera way more, lenscap off.
My lovely assistant wanted "Up!" and I wanted a photograph. This seemed like a nice collaboration.
Monday, April 20, 2009
April 19 - Hardware
April 18 was another missed post. Not a travel day, this time. Spent the morning practicing technical rope rescue. Spent the afternoon working on this: News Story. Sad day at Smith.
As is often the case in unresolved rescues/recoveries, yesterday's mission has been lingering in my mind. So it was appropriate for me to do a quick photo setup on a section of my harness. I wanted a backlit shot because I've already used a normally-lit SAR gear photo previously on this blog. Thought I'd play with gels because yellow is the team color of our volunteer SAR group.
Strobist info: Sunpak 4000AF w/ Rosco 2003 Storaro Yellow gel, on Cactus trigger, shot along tile wall from bottom left. Full zoom on that flash. Chimped until I got the yellow where I wanted it, but ended up using one of the brighter shots and adjusting in post -- the darker shots showed more unwanted detail on the wall due to the greater DOF with smaller aperture.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
April 17 - Blip on the Radar
Belated blogging (see next post) but I did actually take this on the 17th.
Notable because I chickened out on at least three perfectly good stranger shots, and "winged" this one so that I would have at least one daylight photo.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
April 16 - Cable HBO Micro Fridge
I sometimes tell people that I have great appreciation and taste for music, even though I can barely figure out a simple song on the guitar. Same with graphic design -- I'm a total sucker consumer of fonts, design, layout, etc.
To me, that's what this shot is all about. Capturing the designs and typeset from a hotelmotel which has been around here longer than I have.
I do have to give my wife credit for suggesting this subject. Though I'm not sure she would have expected me to crop out only a section of the sign. I'm continually surprised about the little and big ways we find to feel like a well-matched team.
Getting to forgive the 100-300 lens, because I couldn't have hid behind a tree in the semi-shady neighborhood and pulled off this shot. In fact, I bailed on my wifes original suggestion of this shot (month or two ago) because I was thinking I'd stand out being out there with camera and tripod. I've seen my share of underwear-clad hotelmotel managers and I really didn't want to get chased by one. So the long lens and semi-stealth shooting position were keys on this one.
OK, and I know I'm calling this "photo a DAY" but I really enjoyed taking photos today, and I wanted to share this second one. I really like where I cut off the bike racks, the off-center composition, and the tungsten light highlights on the RHS of the racks. (The racks were well-lit by fluorescent). This was another shot I'm proud to say that I spotted while driving toward another idea, and I'm really proud that I immediately stopped and took the chance to try some ideas. Before this blog, I would have probably dismissed it. And whether you like this photo or not, you can't argue the huge benefit to just getting out and taking more photos.
So more than only-one-photo-every-day, this is really about wearing my photo eyes every day, following my vision if one appears, even if a little inconvenient. And using the gear I got instead of lusting after the new 5DMkII my co-worker just bought.......
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
April 15 - Unwanted Beauty
Went on a 1.6 mile walk break today, specifically with the goal of catching Stranger #3. Must have been too cold, because I didn't see ANYONE.
However, this landscaping at a house along my walk caught my eye. The "bark dust" was glittering in the late afternoon sunlight. They had used recycled crushed glass as a landscaping fill. I was hoping for something with a little more contrast, but this little dandelion was the brightest and freshest thing growing in these.
Though when I thought about it more, I thought there was something cool about a dandelion (unwanted flower) adding beauty to a crushed glass bed (unwanted materials).
Used a bit of selective focus in Picasa to bring emphasis on the flower.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
April 14 - I Work in Retail
This is a work from the Trashformations event in Bend.
Titled: Psychedelic Image Generator
Artists: Mai Nguyen, Jacqueline Poggi, Eric Hobble, and Stuart Breidenstein
This is a large frame with a carpet pad stretched across it. It is covered with tiny mirror pieces, and it's "touchable" art. The goal, as the attached tag described, is to press on the opposite side and observe the patterns and reflections it creates.
I was wandering the Old Mill district tonight looking for a shot, and liked the jumbled reflection of the various storefronts. Used the 50 and a tripod so I could shoot at ISO 100. Went for minimal DOF because I wanted to keep the pattern of the mirrors but not the detail.
Monday, April 13, 2009
April 13 - Can I Get a Little More Cowbell, Please
Thought of heading out tonight after chores, but too tired. Spied this old orange and thought it might be interesting to backlight it. And my favorite color is.......
Stretched a section of waxed paper between two kiddie chairs about 1 foot off the table.
Single Vivitar 285 on Cactus trigger., 1/16th manual power on wide angle from about 1ft below the table. Now that I say that, I'm thinking I should have tried the 20mm because it's able to focus close. Anyway, used the 50 on this, and removed the UV filter for this shot, since I knew flare would degrade the shot.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
April 12 - All in a Row
If you're just joining us, I've been busy/lazy the last couple days and am just getting to posting this and 3 other photos. Scroll down if you hadn't noticed them.....
Obligatory Easter Egg shot. Used the 50mm because I wanted the shallow DOF for all the cute egg collection photos.
I like how I was able to combine the elements of eggs, fancy Easter clothes and the hand of a child. Composition, hand model, and food styling courtesy of my daughter.
April 11 - Monkey Pen on Stage
A bit more abstract on this shot...
This is a monkey-shaped washable marker for kids. It also cheeps like a monkey when you replace the cap.
See, when you are a parent, you fall for stuff like this. Sounds like a great idea, right? Easy clean up, AND it encourages little ones to learn to put the cap on when they are done drawing. What you are too sleep-deprived to consider is that they might just like putting the cap on, and forget the whole drawing step. Furthermore, you can't test it out in the shrink package, so you have no idea that it takes an adult to actually get the cap back in place.
So my daughter has a lot of ink on her hands and the tummy of her shirts (from trying to put the cap on) and I got plenty of times where a frustrated kid hands me the pen to get the cap off. And we have exactly one drawing to show for all this ink...
Back to the photo. Vivitar 285 on Cactus trigger, behind subject. Flash shot through a cutting board mat, and the whole setup on a melamine table from Ikea that you might recognize from earlier photos. I intentionally centered the flash but put the monkey on the 2/3 line.
50mm lens, set on the table, focused in Live View. Flash on 1/16 (manual). Chimped (haha.....no pun intended) until the exposure was right, but this required a fairly small aperture even at ISO 100.
April 10 - Spring Shadow by Full Sail Brewing
Another street scene, this time from Hood River. Just down the street from the wonderful Full Sail Brewing plant. (Check out the pub if you are in town!)
I liked the colors and textures of this shot, as well as the contrast between the natural beauty (sky, blossoming tree, shadow) against the decaying man-made stuff (old brick, graffiti, patched road)
17-40 on this shot, because I was walkin' around with just the camera and lens.
April 9 - White Balance
I don't want to act like a know-it-all, but I'm getting fairly comfortable with white balance on my photos. (I'm colorblind, though -- so if I'm getting it wrong, let me know!)
Still, there's always something to challenge you when you think you've got a photo skill covered. I have no idea what the proper balance is for a scene with sunlight, tungsten/halogen, and candle light.
I liked this shot for the mix of light sources, and the composition. My wife caught me looking through one eye visualizing this shot, partway through dinner. It turned out almost as I envisioned, except my eye saw more detail in the sky.
This is at Nora's Table in Hood River, a restaurant I highly recommend. The Molli Curry is excellent, and I say that after a recent trip to SE Asia. Also, they make maple bacon ice cream. Don't act grossed out. Yes, it's ice cream with meat in it. It's a great idea.
When we crank up the ice cream maker this summer, we'll definitely try making some of our own!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
April 8 - Hood River Bridge
Something about the Columbia River is calming to the heart of an Oregonian.
Enjoying the beauty of the gorge, the great food (and beer), and the WIND!
Tripod shot (obviously), long exposure, used Live View for focus and used the 2s self-timer (mirror is locked up with Live View), and tried to keep the aperture between 7 and 11 per my landscape mentor. Used the 17-40 because (it pains me to admit this) that is what was on the camera when I pulled it out of my bag.
The 50 would have been pretty good for this shot, actually...
Monday, April 6, 2009
April 6 - Brickworks
Yesterday was a travel day AND my cold caught up with me, so no photos taken. Couldn't let two days in a row again, so I borrowed this concept from Batman and borrowed the fireplace from my living room.
This is a 30 second exposure with me and an LED keychain, with a lamp in the distance for fill. I quickly found that I had to wear a black coat when doing this, as the white print on my t-shirt was making stripes. I actually had a broader shot in mind, but my head (not black) was showing up as well.
Figured a narrower shot was better than my wife wandering downstairs at 11pm to find me in a ski mask.
I do like how the close shot and odd lighting really bring out the texture of the brick.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
April 4 - New Skin
A family member started chemotherapy this week, and she decided to get a head-start on her new hairdo. It's strange how much a part of our image our hair is, but how it's really not that big a part of who we are. As I told my daughter while she watched, the hair is just the part on top, but even with a different haircut, we're still the same person in the ways in which it counts. There's something beautiful and powerful about shedding a part of us that provides our public identity.
T, we wish you continued strength in this journey ahead, and you know you are in our thoughts and prayers. Thanks for letting me capture this moment!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
April 3 - The Other Side of Paradise
North of Terrebonne, South of Madras, East of Hwy 97.
Some beer-fueled yayhoos punctuated another sign, and in doing so, made my sunset shot a little more interesting.
Stuff like this is the best reason to get off the beaten path for a moment or two during a road trip.
Friday, April 3, 2009
April 2 - The Rainbow Connection
Yay, a vertical shot to break things up!
I've had my eye on this building for a little while. The stripes are trademark Pacific Pride, but they're on an interesting old building. The top is the we-don't-care-make-it-cheap cinder block construction, but it's got the nice lava rock detail on the bottom.
The colors drew me to the building, but the contrasts between the painted blocks and the cinder details, post and gas line, and stripes of the door are what I like about this shot.
I'm 99% sure I shot this straight-on, so the difficulty iin making all the lines straight is (I think) the building not being square.
Really itching to get some more stranger photos, but I've lost my bravery.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
April 1 - Scrambled Message
Noticed this on the way back from my lunch break, and had to circle back. I was hoping for a more straight-on view, but the road skirts the billboard in a way that makes that not possible.
I could have wandered into the "employees only" section of the power company, but didn't want to get myself in trouble for the shot.
Guess I'm more pleased with myself for having my camera with me and taking the time to turn back for a shot, as that's totally in the spirit of this blog. The photo is OK, but the 5 minutes I gave to make it happen is what really makes me happy.
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