Day 252 (9 Sep 2012) Night Flows

On my way home this evening I saw sight I wanted to shoot, so I turned around, found a place to park, and tried to capture a good image.  I wasn’t really impressed with what I shot (limited access due to road and private property is what I’ll blame tonight, lol).  So as I walked back to my car, I heard rushing water.  I kept walking to the back of the lot and discovered a small creek.  I swapped out my battery (the indicator was blinking) and took some shots.  There was a motion light that stayed on for many minutes and I didn’t realize it was affecting my images, but I did end up with a couple after it shut off that I was able to tweak to my liking.

Normally I would have been home much earlier, but I was spending the afternoon hanging several of my prints at a local coffee shop as the featured artist for September!  So, if you are in the New London, CT area this month, swing by the Bean and Leaf and help a starving artist buy more lens! 🙂

18 mm, 30 sec, f/8.0, ISO 400 (Night Flow)

Day 251 (8 Sep 2012) Snow White, or A Child’s Tale

As you probably know, I try to participate in as many of the photo challenges SeeingSpotsPhotography hosts/co-hosts, as they are fun, and almost always push the envelope of my skills and/or creativity level.  This month’s challenge was “to bring to life an image that represents both details from your favorite childhood tale AND your feeling about that part of the tale.”

After polling friends on Facebook for ideas, I settled on something to do with Snow White.  I picked the scene where the step mother/witch gives Snow the poised apple.  That was always the saddest part of the movie; betrayal by her own family.  These day’s that part is sadly not limited to a fairy tale; thousands of children are betrayed by their own families: violence, abuse, irresponsible decisions, etc.  Even in “good” families children are often neglected by parents who put career/success before family.  I do believe that most parents’ intent is to provide the best childhood for their kids, but never learned from their parents the best methods and are perpetuating the mistakes.  One thing I’m doing, well before I get married and start a family, is reading books about family, raising kids, being a good husband/man, and talking to/observing families I know.  I know I won’t be perfect, but I hope to build upon the many good things I learned from my parents and go forth from there.

Anyway, I didn’t intend to go off on a tangent, but anyway, here are the two images I created today.  I “like” the first one the best for this challenge, but the second is good too.  Which one do you think I should submit?  I’m also open to suggestions on editing these (not gonna reshoot), if you think a different technique could help them.

 

I had a different idea, but ended up getting home too late last night after the fair to try the idea I had with my friend, so I did this all solo; tripod, infrared remote, flashlight, and a bit of thread to hold the apple.

Day 244 (1 Sep 2012) Mt. Marcy, ADKs

Back on Sept 1st, 3 friends and I climbed Mt. March, which is one of the ADK’s “46ers” and the tallest peak in the state of New York at 5,344 feet (1,629 m).  It was the second attempt for two of us, who attempted to climb it back in May, when the last several miles of trail were still covered in snow and ice.  This time the trail was dry 🙂

It was a great hike, with some spectacular views from the top, and a great time with friends!  Here are some of my favorite photos from the day:

Reflection

Spiders Web

Edge of the Path

Nestled Berries

Cloud Break over Mt. Marcy

Marsh Crossing

View From Mt. Marcy’s Summit

Carin
Rock Pile

My Accomplishment

Day 247 (4 Sep 2012) Pinecone

Sunday while hiking I picked up this little guy, I was looking for more, but I was just trying to get down the mountain.  One of my knees started acting up, so my complete focus was on “down”, down to the car.

I still haven’t gotten to processing, or even looking at, the photos from my trip.  Between work and getting some homework done, I just got them downloaded into my computer.  I’ll work on them after Thursday, and hopefully get a few up this week(end).

60 mm, 1/50 sec, f/4.0, ISO 200, 60mm macro lens (Casting a Shadow)

60 mm, 1/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200, 60mm macro lens (Pinecone)

60 mm, 1/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200, 60mm macro lens (Negative Space)

60 mm, 1/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200, 60mm macro lens (Desaturated Cone)

Day 242 (30 Aug 2012) Walking Around

Today I had a little time between work and class, so I took a stroll around the edge of the campus, away from all the buildings and students.  It was kinda relaxing to have nowhere to be for a while and have my camera 🙂

Though when I was shooting the second photo, I could hear what sounded like mini-zaps, “zzzzzzzppptt”.  It was a little unnerving!

 

53 mm, 1/100 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 (Hydrant in a Field)

29 mm, 1/200 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 (High Voltage)

55 mm, 1/500 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 (Power Transmission)

Tomorrow right after work I head up to the ADKs for 4 days of camping and hiking w/ some good friends.  I may post tomorrow, but possible not again until Tuesday or Wednesday.  I’m planning on setting up some of my prints Tuesday evening, after work, with a friend at a local coffee shop as a gallery!!  I’ll deff post a photo of the prints 🙂

Day 170 (18 June 2012) Important Paper

The photos below are of some very important paper that almost all of us use on a daily basis, most don’t even realize it.  As you may have guessed, it’s an Air Cleaner Filter, similar to what is used in your car (this one is from a mower).  The filters job is to remove dirt and other particles that can, over time, cause your engine to wear out quicker.

It’s important to ensure your filter is clean for two primary reasons:
1. so that it isn’t letting any dirt past
2. a dirty filter restricts the air flow, reducing the fuel efficiency and power of the engine.

An easy way to tell if you need a new one, is to pull it out, and look through it at a bright light.  If you can’t see the light, then it’s time to replace it!  Depending on how bad it is, you may notice the difference in fuel economy (esp. if you calculate it), and maybe it’s “pep”.  It’s also a good idea to ensure you have a recent tune up and that your oil is changed on schedule.  All these things help the longevity and efficiency of you car’s engine.

Day 168 (16 June 2012) Beach and Clouds

Today I was in Westerly, RI, for a pancake breakfast fundraiser, and decided to take the LONG way home, including a stop at the shore and a few other places along the way.  I had lots of time and my camera 🙂

Turns out that the beaches are so popular that they charge for parking, so I drove to a rocky portion of the shore where there was limited free parking (gotta save my money for more camera goodies, right? 🙂 ).  The painter below allowed me to take a couple photos of him.  However, I can’t decide which of the three images from the photo I like better.  I’m leaning towards the first one.  Which is your favorite?

55 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (Beach Painter – 1)

55 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (Beach Painter – 2)

55 mm, 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 (Beach Painter – 3)

39 mm, 1/250 sec, f/10, ISO 100 (Peace Sign)

55 mm, 1/160 sec, f/4.0, ISO 100 (Field of Dreams)

42 mm, 1/82 sec, f/11, ISO 100 (Power Lines)

Day 119 (28 April 2012) Sun and Sand

Today I had a goal of shooting a long exposure shot of the sea, based on a technique I learned from SeeingSpotsPhotography (check her blog, amazing photos, great info, and lots of creative inspiration).  I was thinking I would go from an afternoon gathering at a friend’s place down to the beach (they are in a coastal town) and shoot.  It didn’t dawn on me to check what time sunset was (7:30ish PM), and as the gathering ended about 6ish, it was still very light out.  So I slapped on my polarizer and the 4x ND filter I have (strongest/only one) so I could slow the shutter down.  Best I could do was about 5 seconds, which wasn’t long enough to get the effect.  I tried various angles, compositions, but nothing was to my liking.  But the first photo is one I really like.  I’ve always been fascinated by the patterns the retreating water leaves in the sand, and a black & white conversion was just perfect, IMO.

The second shot is from this afternoon on my way to the gathering.  I pulled over from the interstate, rolled down the window, and shot a couple frames.  Worth the stop, I think, what do you think?

55 mm, 1.3 sec, f/29, ISO 100, 18-55mm kit lens w/ ND/polarizer filters (Sand patterns)

32 mm, 1/800 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100, 18-55mm kit lens (High Clouds)

On a side note, I was honored by Dan from Nine & a Half Hours Ahead for the Versatile Blogger Award

 I will be honest and say that I do feel honored by this award, especially coming from Dan!  But at the same time, I’m beginning to wonder about all the awards I’m seeing/getting nominated for.  I hope I’m not hurting anyones feeling with what I’m about to say, but each award has a unique name, but in the “rules” or “award post” there is nothing said about the meaning behind it.  This one would seem to mean the recipient’s blog covers a wide range of topics or subjects or is in some way “versatile”.  Maybe they all started that way, but now?  They all have a rule about how many other people you need to award it to.  So like those chain emails from 5-10 years ago that said you needed to send it to 10 people or your second cousin’s friend’s dog will die and you won’t get the award from Microsoft, I wonder if they are started to see how far they will spread. (I understand now why my fellow blogger Joanna does not accept awards.  You should check out her amazing blog!)

I only follow a few blogs, as I don’t have enough time to read all the really great stuff out there, so I feel like I’m awarding the same blogs awards again and again.  Not that they are not great or deserving, but I am asking myself, why did i get this particular one?  Sure, I do shoot the occasional really good photo, but i’m not a great photographer.  I do love shooting and sharing with you in the blog community, but I’m doing it ’cause it’s fun, not for recognition (yes, I do love all the likes and hits and stuff, it is very encouraging & ego boosting 🙂 ).

So, I’m going to make my own rule for this award.  I’m not going to tell you 7 more random thing about myself.  I am grateful to Dan for the nomination!  I will tell you “my” rules for this:
1. Know that I think your blog is great, and worth my limited time!!
2. Pass it on to a blog or blogs that you think are versatile in what they have (subjects, topics, etc) that you enjoy reading/following [doesn’t have to be 15!!]
3. Rules are meant to be broken sometimes 🙂

So, after all that (I can’t believe I ranted that much, sorry!), I award the Versatile Blogger award to:

lightswimming for the variety in photographic subjects

In My Back Pocket – Photography for the variety of techniques he uses in processing his photos

One Crazy Bible because of the way he tells the stories of the bible in a way that makes you think about it differently

Have a great night!  Let me know what you think of my “rant” on awards.

Day 43 (12 Feb 2012) The Tracks

So I probably should appologize for yesterday’s posting, but I’m not.  This is MY blog, after all 😉

But seriously, I spent the day with my gf, and since it was our Valenties Day, spending any time in “photography” would have been to have ignored her.  Even though she is a budding photog, too, yeasterday was “us” time.  But I didn’t want to miss a day on this project, so I comprimised by snaping a pic of the dipping oil as we were about to leave the resturaunt.

But now back to using my real camera vice my old Droid Eris.  The photo’s from today were taken at the same location that I wanted to shoot when I posted the “hope” shot on Thursday.  It was 25F and windy today, so I didn’t want to linger, but I still hope that I was able to capture the beautiful sky and the Thames river.  I will try the night version again, so stay tuned!

18 mm, 1/125 sec, f/11, ISO 100, Canon 18-55mm kit lens (The Thames and the Tracks)

18 mm, 1/50 sec, f/11, ISO 100, Canon 18-55mm kit lens (Side-Tracked)

Day 11 (11 Jan 2012) Stop Human Trafficking

Today’s photo is in honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  Human trafficking is a significant problem, even here in the United States.  Groups such as Run For Freedom are raising awareness and helping to rescue girls caught in the sex slave trade here in the US.  There are many other similar groups helping around the world, as well.  I strongly encourage you to open your eyes to what is happening around you, learn about this problem, and see how you can help.  Thanks!

55 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 200, edited in Lightroom (Stop Human Trafficking)