The Amped Eye

Scenery on Sundown Road

2008-06-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

f/1.4, 1/4000 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/11, 1/60 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/16, 1/50 sec., 50 mm, ISO-640

f/11, 1/400 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

Date: 01.19.08
Location: Sundown Rd.

Iced Dogwood

2008-06-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

f/3.5, 1/400 sec., 65 mm

f/3.5, 1/250 sec., 37 mm

Date: 01.19.08
Location: Home

Davis Mill Road - in winter

2008-06-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

Date: 01.17-2008
Time: 9 AM
Location: Davis Mill Rd, creek

f/2.8 bokeh, around the store (and some f/1.4 bokeh for extra credit)

2008-03-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

AKA: How I amuse myself on a slow night at work.

and f/1.4 bokeh...

Date: 01.16.2008
Time: 8 PM

Of frizzles and the 50 mm

2008-03-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Playing and getting to know my 50 mm...as well as furthering my endless fascination with these tall grass "frizzles".

All f/1.4, baby, because I can!

Date: 01.12.2008
Time: 2 PM
Location: backyard

Foggy Barn

2008-03-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

f/4, 1/125 sec., 35 mm, ISO-400

f/3.5, 1/800 sec., 28 mm, ISO-400

f/4.5, 1/400 sec., 53 mm, ISO-400

f/5.6, 1/125 sec., 135 mm, ISO-640

f/4, 1/20 sec., 28 mm, ISO-640

Date: 01.10.2008
Time: 11:30 AM

By the side of the road

2008-03-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

I pulled over, on the way home from the grocery store, to get shots of this tree. I had passed it so many times, wanting to stop. I was drawn by the shape of the branches that curved so gently and the tiny pinecones. After getting out of the car I realized that I was not going to get any good shots because the tree was much higher than I thought and I was unable to get an interesting perspective.

f/5.6, 1/1000 sec., 90 mm, ISO-400

All was not lost, though, because I was able to spend another twenty minutes shooting the weeds, and other vegetation, as well as the infrastructure around the nearby telephone pole. I am so easily amused. (All shots are straight from the camera.)

f/11, 1/125 sec., 70 mm, ISO-400

f/11, 1/125 sec., 135 mm, ISO-400

f/5.6, 1/2500 sec., 135 mm, ISO-400

f/5.6, 1/500 sec., 135 mm, ISO-400

f/5.6, 1/1000 sec., 135 mm, ISO-400

f/5.6, 1/1600 sec., 135 mm, ISO-400

f/5.6, 1/1250 sec., 135 mm, ISO-400

f/5.6, 1/320 sec., 135 mm, ISO-400

Date: 01.09.2008
Time: 1:42 PM

North Creek Lake

2008-03-27T14:59:00.001-07:00

f/22, 1/40 sec., 35 mm, ISO-400

f/22, 1/50 sec., 35 mm, ISO-400

f/8, 1/100 sec., 135 mm, ISO-800

f/8, 1/100 sec., 135 mm, ISO-800

f/22, 1/30 sec., 35 mm, ISO-640

Date: 01.07.2008
Time: 9:30 AM (And I just got so lucky with the light.)

Early Morning

2008-03-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

f/11, 1/100 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/11, 1/250 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/640 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/22, 1/200 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

Date: 01.06.2008
Location: a fluffy-clouded, winter's day in the neighborhood.

A local walk

2008-03-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

I remember this day, way back in winter, but probably over sixty degrees. It was Sunday morning and I got to work before the store opened. I was quite grumpy (a common occurence, sad to say) so I went out for a walk with camera in hand. I shot anything and everything, and returned full of good cheer and amazed at all there is to see in this world of ours, if only within a .25 mile radius. I continue to be impressed with the versatility of the 50 mm lens. And yes, I sure do like to shoot with it wide open. (Click on any of the images to view them larger.)

f/16

f/22

f/4

f/1.4

f/1.4

f/1.4

f/1.4

f/1.4

f/1.4

f/1.4

f/1.4

f/1.4

f/22

f/22

f/22

Date: 01.06.2008
Location: near our store

Chained

2008-03-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

f/8, 1/100 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/3200 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

The first one was posted on my daily blog back when it was taken. But I wanted to post them here together since they were taken at the same time and location.

Date: 01.05.2008
Location: Blunt Rd.

Watkins Mill - Graffiti Side

2008-02-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

Boogieman and I have been here before with cameras in hand. This time the girl came with me. Here are her shots. (You don't want to miss "token with tolkein.")

Boogieman and I have always explored the east of the bridge/overpass. But the girl was eager to look and and photograph the graffiti. So we went under the bridge and out the other side.

The graffiti was pretty spectacular, but certainly not moreso than the sun reflecting on the water, the rock formations, or taking off your shoes and feeling the cold, wet, mossy ground.

2008-02-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

This is the one that Boogieman likes.

f/1.4, 1/1600 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400
post-processing: cropping, amp treatment, posterize level 8

It's endlessly fascinating to me all the colors of light that get reflected of the top of this filing cabinet with a desk lamp on it. The only thing different from the previous shot is the proximity to the light.

2008-02-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

f/1.4, 1/1250 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400
post-processing: cropped, levels, contrast, liquify

Lost in the Weeds, again

2008-02-15T16:48:00.000-08:00

Driving down the road, it was these colors that caught my attention.

f/5.6, 1/640 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400 (cropped)

f/8, 1/250 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

Then once I got out, and took a few shots, I kind of got lost in the weeds. This was back in the early days of the fifty, shooting wide open, of course!

f/1.4, 1/8000 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400 (cropped)

f/1.4, 1/8000 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/8000 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/6400 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/8000 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400 (cropped)

f/1.4, 1/6400 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/6400 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/5000 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/6400 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

I bet I got a lot of interesting looks from all the cars going by. I was thoroughly oblivious, of course.

f/8, 1/320 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

Location: Watkins Mill Road
Date: 01.05.2008
Time: 2 PM

Long Exposures

2008-02-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here are the long exposure shots I got that fateful day at the mall.

f/20, 1 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400 (28-130 mm lens)

f/20, 1 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400 (28-130 mm lens)

f/22, 1.3 sec., 28 mm, ISO-200

Before I got kicked out for taking pictures of flowers and gumball machines.

f/2.8, 1/50 sec., 50 mm, ISO-500 (50 mm lens)

f/1.4, 1/125 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400 (50 mm lens)

I still have some work to do before I get good at those long exposure shots. I do have to say, they are fun to try.

Location: Any Mall, Anywhere, USA
Date: 01.05.2008
Time: noon

Solar Power

2008-02-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

I posted one of these on Ampersand's Space back when I took them, but in this case, I could not choose just one.

No post-processing, except to remove (the healing tool in PS elements) the dust spots that have already collected on my sensor. The always show up in the sky.

f/22, 1/125 sec., 28 mm, ISO-400

f/22, 1/250 sec., 85 mm, ISO-400

f/22, 1/100 sec., 85 mm, ISO-400

f/22, 1/160 sec., 65 mm, ISO-400

Location: Rte. 108 & Fieldcrest
Date: 01.02.2008
Time: 4:45 PM

Random Tree Shot

2008-02-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

I suspect there will be many of these. :)

f/16, 1/50 sec., 50 mm, ISO-640 (cropped, no other post-processing)

Date: 01.02.2008
Location: MV Shopping Center
Time: 8 AM

Watkins Mill Tree

2008-02-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

This is a tree that I've long admired. It's adjacent to our local community golf course. I was trying out my wide angle lens (20-35 mm) that I had from my Canon EOS film SLR, before I got my new DSLR. Jeff, my photographic consultant :), told me that this lens would be a little soft and he was right! I do hope to play with it some more, on wider apertures and closer shots, rather than landscapes, but for these tree shots, I just used the poster edges effect to clean up the soft edges.

f/22, 1/25 sec., 24 mm, ISO-400

f/22, 1/60 sec., 20 mm, ISO-400

f/22, 1/80 sec., 35 mm, ISO-400 (cropped)

I really like the tree so much. It's branching is so very awesome. I'll have to try to shoot it again sometime with the tripod and the 28-135 mm lens.

Here's another tree, on the other side of golf course.

f/22, 1/30 sec., 31 mm, ISO-400

Location: Watkins Mill Road (MV golf course)
Date: 01.02.2008 (it was sooooooo cold that morning, my hands were like ice cubes.)
Time: 8:50 AM

Geometry

2008-02-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

f/16, 1/13 sec., 50 mm, ISO-800

Post-processing:

1) Amp treament, ink outlines, cut out (sometimes I like to use ink outlines before overlaying another effect, it emphasizes the lines, or sometimes just preserves them, depending on what the second effect is.

2) Above, with black and white (urban) conversion.

Location: MV Shopping Center
Date: 01.02.2008
Time: 8:30 AM

Sunset

2008-02-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

(Catching up on my backlog.)

This was an early experiment with the 50 mm to see what it did with a sunset, wide open.

I like the result.

f/1.4, 1/50 sec., 50 mm, ISO-800

f/1.4, 1/50 sec., 50 mm, ISO-800

f/1.4, 1/80 sec., 50 mm, ISO-400

f/1.4, 1/8 sec., 50 mm, ISO-800

f/1.4, 1/25 sec., 50 mm, ISO-800

Location: Our Neighborhood
Date: 01.01.2008
Time: 5:30 PM

A Walk in the Woods

2008-02-09T20:28:00.000-08:00

I lost myself for about and hour or so today, in the edge of the woods. I say the edge, because I rarely get more than twenty feet in, as I am lost in the trees, branches, and most of all what's fallen on the ground. The first half of the walk was with the 28 - 135 mm lens, then I switched to the 50 mm. They are both awesome lenses and I feel so fortunate to have them. Many of these shots are straight from the camera and the ones that have been post-processed have some variation on the standard "amp treatment."

I have these in chronological order so you can go on my journey with me. :)

f/5.6, 1/50 sec., 53 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/125 sec., 80 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/50 sec., 120 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/100 sec., 120 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/125 sec., 120 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/200 sec., 120 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/160 sec., 60 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/200 sec., 33 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/125 sec., 65 mm, ISO 100

f/4.5, 1/500 sec., 53 mm, ISO 400

f/1.4, 1/8000 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

f/1.4, 1/8000 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

f/8, 1/400 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

f/5.6, 1/800 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

f/11, 1/200 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

f/3.2, 1/4000 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

f/1.4, 1/8000 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

f/5.6, 1/250 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/1.4, 1/2500 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/1.4, 1/2000 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/1.4, 1/2500 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/1.4, 1/3200 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/1.4, 1/5000 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/1.4, 1/6400 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/1.4, 1/1600 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/5.6, 1/60 sec., 50 mm, ISO 100

f/1.4, 1/6400 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

f/5.6, 1/1600 sec., 50 mm, ISO 400

Liberty Reservoir

2008-01-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

(with no actual pictures of the reservoir!)

Boogieman and I ventured out early yesterday, to check out a reservoir that I passed on the way to one of Equus' (the daughter) horse shows. It was a pretty drive with good conversation, especially given the early hour.

We found a place to pull off and park, and a path leading down to the reservoir. We did not make it all the way down to the water, because the path was covered with snow that had become ice. We did get a few shots through the trees, though. Unfortunately, the sun was in front of us and not ideal for shooting.

I attempted to walk out on the overpass to get some shots, even though Boogieman did not endorse the idea. Once I got to part where the road narrowed over the bridge, I chickened out, due to the cars zooming past me a mere three feet away.

So, we'll consider this a scouting trip and venture back there another day, when it is not cold with leftover snow, and later in the day, when the sun will be behind us. I have some more shots, of leaves and branches, and stuff, which I will post later.

On the way home, I took Boogieman to the little cemeterary that I have grown so fond of and he had the same reaction that I did. I waited in the car as he wandered it alone, he asked me to come with him, but I told him it was better alone. I watched as he paused at the sign that had partially come down, just as I did when I was there, but then was surprised that he picked up the sign and put it back together. And whereas I stayed on the fringes of the little wooded area, he wandered all through it and looked at every marker. I can't explain why, but it meant so much to me to watch him, knowing that he felt like I did, but had his own way of interacting with the feelings. Just very cool.

Location: Liberty Reservoir, Howard County
Date: 01.27.08
Time: 9:30 AM

Little Red Church

2008-01-27T17:08:00.000-08:00

Date: 01.17.08
Location: Goshen Methodist Church
Time: 9 AM

This is the second time I've photographed this little church, as I'm completely charmed by its color and curvy lines, not to mention the ancient trees that shelter it. The last time I shot it, I used my 28-135mm lens, handheld, and was not all that thrilled with the results. I did have one that I really liked though, of the tree to the right of the church, on that wet foggy morning.

Date: 12.27.07
Location: Goshen Methodist Church
Time: 7:30 AM

2008-01-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

Dudes! I'm kind of getting a backlog of photos, something I never thought possible since I am such a photoblogging whore, always wanting to share each and every image I take with everyone, everywhere. But, I have actually been shooting so much lately, and perhaps even focusing on my life's responsibilities to such a degree, that I've lacked the time to sift, sort, post-process and post.

So, I've decided to just post a set whenever I feel like it, and of whatever I feel like working on, instead of trying to stay in chronological order.

I have to say, shooting pictures through a season of strong, and tender, emotions is incredibly therapeutic. Put on some sad tunes, drive around, take pictures, repeat as necessary.

And way cheaper than weekly sessions with a therapist.

Horses...

2008-01-26T15:59:00.000-08:00

...some with lot's of personality.

Beans

Thomas

Jazzy (She always has that crazy look in her eyes.)

Willie (Who is a little old man and gets his own bucket of grain, separate from the rest of the schoolies.)

Dezi (Another school pony, who is a complete bitch until you get on her, then she's a dream. She used to live in a stall, but she practically killed people when they went in to get her. So now she lives with the other schoolies in the field, where I suspect she is a bit of an alpha - But I guess not, since my girl just told me that Dezi is actually at the bottom of the already established hierarchy and therefore is now easily caught since she is anxious to get the heck out of that field.)

I'll spare you the shot of Deidre sticking her butt up to the fence between the mare and gelding field. She's in heat, and at one point I thought she was going to knock the fence down. Thomas merely enjoyed biting on her blanket above her tail, since he is inclined to chew on everything. I guess she had to take what she could get.

Instead, I give you Choco, the barn dog. Last one at the barn at night tucks him in the heated tack room.

I can...

2008-01-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

Two little words...that say so much. I had so much fun post processing these shots. After the minimalist version, the boosted saturation was quite fun to play with.

(This one does not have boosted sat, just the colors captured after using auto levels in PS Elements.)

(This one has poster edges.)

The shots were all taken on the same surface as Liberty.

2008-01-24T20:08:00.000-08:00

DPS Assignment: Minimalism.

For the Collection

2008-01-21T16:06:00.000-08:00

And I just thought of a great companion shot, from a dumpster outside the mall, taken on that fateful mall day.

Little Red Field

2008-01-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

I'm taking fewer photos now that it's in the twenties in the early morning. I just don't have the constitution for that! These are some shots that I took a week ago. I went out with the intent to try to capture these crookedly charming trees that I pass on the way to the barn where my daughter rides. The trees are just beyond a field of cattails and other assorted beige and red vegetation.

f/22, 1/30 sec, 28 mm, ISO 640

f/22, 1/40 sec, 33 mm, ISO 640

f/22, 1/40 sec, 33 mm, ISO 640

Even though my landscape shots aren't quite what I was hoping for (I do like the last one that looks like an entrance into a hobbit hole or something), I did get some cool shots of all the frozen leaves and reeds and other such stuff on the ground and a cattail.

f/5.6, 1/125 sec, 135 mm, ISO 800

f/5.6, 1/100 sec, 75 mm, ISO 640

f/5.6, 1/2000 sec, 135 mm, ISO 400

For some reason, I was really jumpy that morning, and all the mole holes scared me and I was half expecting some living thing to jump out at me.

My hands were numb, even with gloves, by the time I was finished. Sadly, I have not been out for an extensive shoot since. I have driven around and hopped in and out of my heated vehicle, with heated seat, but I find myself missing the experience of getting lost in space and time via a long, wandering shoot.

This was the same morning that I got waylaid by this sunset peeking through the trees.

Date: 1.14.08
Location: Fieldcrest Rd.
Time: 8 AM

For the Collection

2008-01-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

2008-01-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

DPS Assignment: Ghetto Lighting.

Pappy

2008-01-10T21:00:00.000-08:00

Pappy (backstory) and Jose stopped in the store last night. I was waiting on a few customers, so some time went by before I could great Pappy properly.

But finally I said, “Hey, Pappy, don’t think I don’t see you out there.”

“Hey, honey, how are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m hurtin’ and movin’ kinda slow.”

“I’m sorry, Pap.”

“Pappy, did you find any movies out there that you want. Do you want those westerns?”

“Well, yeah, I think these might be the ones stolen from me anyway.”

(I don’t think that’s true, if anything, Pappy’s kids may have taken them from him, and brought them in to us to sell. I don’t think they came in all together, nonetheless I did not argue with Pappy.)

“Well, if they’re yours, then all the more reason you should have them.”

“You sure sweetie? I don’t want to take them from you.”

“Yes, I’m sure. It would make me so happy for you to have them.

(Then I got an idea.)

“But you could do something for me, Pappy.”

“What’s that, hon?”

“I’d like to take some pictures of you. You don’t have to unless you want to. But I sure would appreciate it.”

“Of course you can.”

Pappy struck a pose.

Then I asked if I could take a picture of his hands. And he literally stuck out one hand at a time. So cute.

Then I asked him to put his hands together. He was so completely sweet and cooperative.

I talked about how much I love hands and I feel like they always have stories to tell.

That got Pappy to telling me stories, and I just quietly picked up my camera and started shooting as I listened to him, nodded and stopped on occasion to reply. I took another shot of his hands (the one I like best), and a few of his face as he talked.

He told me tales of when he was a kid. He talked about his twin brothers that have since died. He told me he was pretty ready to die, too. I told him I understood, but that I wished he would hang around a bit longer.

“Where do you think you’re going next?”

“I don’t know honey, maybe upstairs, maybe down.”

Then he let out a deep chuckle and I said, “You’re definitely going upstairs, Pappy.”

“You think?”

“Oh, yes, I do think so.”

“Well I’ve given everything I have to everyone else. And now I’m tired.”

“I know you have.”

Pappy went on to tell me how he had been burglarized and lost the only pictures he had of his late wife, Gracie. He misted up and looked away when he was talking about her.

“You miss her so much, don’t you?” I asked.

“You know I do. I sure do.”

Pappy said he wanted to write down all his memories and recollections for his kids. He asked me if I was a good writer. I said I was a decent writer.

“You think you could help me write all this stuff down?”

“Well, I could certainly try. You could come here to the store and I could help you.”

Just then, his grandson, Jose, came up to the counter and I got some shots of the two of them.

I told Jose how handsome he has gotten. He just smiled and nodded. Pappy said the girls were very interested in Jose. I asked Jose if Pappy was living with him and his Mom now. He said no, that he and Pappy were with his aunt, another of Pappy’s daughters.

“Oh, so I’ve never met your Mom?”

“No, my Mom’s in prison right now.”

‘I’m sorry Jose, I’m so glad you have Pappy.”

We conversed a bit more, and Jose wanted a game, but they did not have the money for it just then.

He and Pappy were so sweet about it as they discussed whether he could get the game.

“Not tonight sweetie, maybe tomorrow. I’ll try to straighten some things out and we’ll come get it tomorrow.”

(Apparently Pappy calls everyone sweetie, or hon. And truthfully, I find it incredibly endearing the way he drawls it out and gazes at me with those soft, kind eyes.)

“Well, I’ll hold the game for you guys. You take your time, I’ll just keep it here in the drawer for you.”

At that, they went on out, Jose holding Pappy’s arm.

So much love. Just so much love.

Postscript: Pappy and Jose came back in the store tonight to buy that game I was holding for them. I asked Pappy if he wanted to see his pictures, in fact, I was processing them when the came in. I showed him the color and the black and white versions of his hands and he just smiled. Then I switched back to the window with all the thumbnail pictures and he just stood and marveled at how many versions of him there were on the screen.

I showed him the shot of when he was talking about his wife, Gracie, where he misted up...and he misted up all over again, saying, "She was such a wonderful woman."

I asked him if I could enter his picture in a photo contest (just the weekly assignment on the Digital Photo School forums) and he said, "Why sure you can honey, you can do anything you want."

he said he liked the black and white versions and I promised to make him prints and save them for the next time he comes in. I do so love that man.

This was one of my best photo experiences so far!

East Village Pond

2008-01-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Tripod Day!

Yesterday, I took my new tripod out for an extended time. I overslept, so I just went to a little landscape/drainage pond, near the playground.

This was my very first shot, stopped down to f/22. It's nothing spectacular, but I do love the mist on the pond, the sun, the sloping grass, and the clarity! I never would have gotten that shot handheld.

Here are some of my other shots, all with the tripod, except the pine branches, which I shot with the 50mm lens when I got back to the car.

Creek, Hawkins Creamery Road

2008-01-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

We have this interesting landscape here in Maryland -- it's kind of like a marsh or bog or something. It stays this same, muted color year round, although it's more pronounced in winter, when nothing around it is green either. I find I really start noticing them, throughout my local travels, once all the leaves have fallen.

I finally have my tripod, so I'd really like to go back and get some more shots of this creek, which has such beautiful lines and textures. I think I may do that this weekend. (The DPS blog has a good post on why tripods are a must have for landscape photography.)

f/8, 1/160 SEC, 44mm, ISO-400
Post-processing: levels, darken highlights, tiny boost to midtone contrast and saturation

f/8, 1/100 SEC, 28mm, ISO-400
Post-processing: levels, darken highlights, tiny boost to midtone contrast and saturation

This is the creek I found after I left the pony and the sheep. It was a good outing. :)

Local Wildlife 3 Livestock

2008-01-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

The day after I visited all the geese at Lake Whetstone, I ventured out, down a new a different road, to find some more woods and creeks -- as I am wont to do.

Not more than a couple of miles down the road, I spotted a couple of sheep and a pony in a field. I passed it and then turned back, parking on the shoulder of the road, along the guardrail.

Feeling a bit tentative, wondering if I would get in trouble, like Billie did, I ~~hurtled the guard rail~~ put one leg tentatively over the guardrail and teetered down the slope to the fenced in field. As I approached, the pony watched me carefully and then began to walk toward me. (I wish I had a good shot of him approaching where I did not cut off his poor legs! But his expression was so cute that I had to post this one.)

When he (I think he, with the blue halter) got to the fence, he had his ears up and looked friendly so I extended my hand, palm up. He spooked a little and then kept some distance, all the while keeping a careful eye on me.

In the meantime, I went back to taking pictures of the sheep. (The gray shadow is from the wire fence.)

They grazed, apparently oblivious to me, until all of a sudden, the little one in the back picked up his head, spied me, ran straight for me, and stuck his head through the fence.

He wandered up and down the fence, peering through at me. He was so cute! And oh how I wanted to pet him, but I thought better of it.

I left, reluctant to say goodbye to my new friends, and the pony followed me all along the fence, to the corner, where we had to part ways.

I climbed back in in the car, and drove down the road, a better person for having made those new friends. And yes, I did find a cool creek and some more woods. :)

Mallflower

2008-01-05T10:30:00.001-08:00

I'm off work today, after about 4 weeks straight of days worked in our store. What I really wanted was to get away from it all, take some pictures, and spend a day to myself.

I intended to go to the woods, with my new tripod, and get some wicked depth-of-field. It was either that, or go to the mall, and play around with some long exposure shots. Boogieman talked me into going to the mall, since he does not really love when I wander the woods alone.

Little did he know that I would have been safer in the woods.

Turns out, you are not supposed to take pictures at the mall. After I had wandered around for about thirty minutes, shooting, here and there, I was approached by mall security.

"You cannot take pictures in the mall."

"Why not?"

"It's mall policy."

"Well, that's an assanine policy."

(Yeah, that part probably did not need to be said.)

The security guy walked away and I thought it would be funny to capture the moment. I'm not sure whether he heard the camera, or if big brother was watching, but he turned around and came back toward me.

"You'll have to give me your camera."

"Umm...no."

"You have to delete the pictures."

"No, I'm not deleting the pictures, but I will leave the mall immediately."

As I walked away, he said into his walkie-talkie, "She's leaving the mall."

Although I was there to practice getting long exposure shots of people movement, you know how I can't resist flower shots, so here's the photographic evidence of my offense.

And here's what I was shooting when I got nabbed.

I deleted the evidence, of the shot of the security guard, in case they come to make a house arrest. It was a good shot though!

Just so you know, I can get why the mall would have this policy. It just annoys me that there are so many places that one can't take pictures these days without it being a security risk. It also annoys me when someone tries to tell me what to do.

I should have gone to the woods...

Cross-posted on Ampersand's Space.

Local Wildlife 2

2008-01-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

More shots from my morning at Lake Whetstone. The overcast sky and lingering fog was nice light to shoot in.

(No post-processing on any of these, except for some cropping of the geese and squirrel shots and levels on the green pier shot.)

Date: 12.29.2007
Location: Lake Whetstone
Time: 9 AM

Local Wildlife 1

2008-01-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

The morning of my playground fun, I went to check out Lake Whetstone, at the center of Montgomery Village, our community. My intent was to scope it out, where to park, and see what I might want to shoot.

Well, from the moment I got out of the car and saw the geese on the hill, I began shooting. No self control!

I'll be going back to this lake more, because there is much more to explore than all these shots that I got from the pier. There is a path that goes around the lake. Cruelly, though, it does not go all the way around, you have to retrace your steps to get back to the pier and the parking lot. It will be good exercise when I go back.

The Geese of Geeseville:

The Pier and Lake, with the remaining population of Geeseville

A gull, having a happy meal

He, or she, was so funny. Each time I took a step closer, he tried to get the whole fish in his mouth -- as if I wanted that fish!

Date: 12.29.2007
Location : Lake Whetstone
Time: 9 AM

2008-01-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

DPS Assignment: Purple

My Favorite Tree with My Favorite Lens

2007-12-31T16:07:00.000-08:00

Last night, restless and wanting more camera time, I had the idea to go out and take a night picture of my favorite tree, near a local shopping center, with the 50 mm. It's not a super big tree, but it has so much character and just sits stoicly with all the retail and activity around it.

Boogieman drove and we listened to all the sports talk radio after the big Redsksins victory over Dallas. We first drove to Lake Whetstone, to scope out how to get shots of the lights reflected in the lake. Those shots are too blurry, even with the 50 mm, and I want to re-do those when my tripod gets here.

I want to re-do this tree shot too, to get it more crisp, but it is a cool enough shot for me to post here, and then compare later when I get the tripod. I actaully wanted to shoot it from the other side, the view that I'm most familiar with, but Boogieman insisted on driving around to the *closer* parking lot. Much bickering ensued until I looked out the car window and saw the perspective of the tree atop the slope with a light to its right. I shut up and apologized.

I love how eerie the night shots with the 50 mm are.

This shot is unprocessed:

f/1.5, 1/2 SEC, 50 MM, ISO-800

Here is a version post-processed with auto levels, contrast, and color; and then shadows lightened and mid-tone contrast boosted:

I can't wait to try it again with the tripod.

Location: Montgomery Village Shopping Center
Time: 8:30 PM

Playground (AKA No more Trees!)

2007-12-30T14:46:00.000-08:00

Falling asleep Friday night, I wondered where I could go the next morning to shoot. I wanted to try to get away from all the woods and trees that I have been shooting and try something different. Of course, it's not that I'm tired of shooting in those environments, it's just that I want to keep trying new things and challenging myself.

I thought of the playground as a place with interesting shapes and lines.

When I woke up this morning, with the light peeking in the window, I desperately wanted to pull the covers up and hunker down for another hour or two of sleep and sports radio. But then I remembered: playground! I also remembered that I had stashed a diet coke in the refrigerator last night before I went to bed.

I got up, threw on some clothes, grabbed a CD for the car, and of course the diet coke. As I drove down the road, less than a mile, the weather was overcast and everything was still damp from a night of rain. Good shooting conditions.

I tried to use my tripod, but it is a piece of shit leftover from the videocam days of shooting our cute little kids (they are not as cute anymore!). So now I'm on the hunt for a good tripod, or maybe even a monopod to start out with.

Here's some of the fun I had:

One of the things that I like to do after shooting, if I have time, is to drive around and scout other places and things to shoot. I had been wanting to shoot this lake that is in the middle of our community, so I drove there to see how I could get to it and what I might like to shoot.

But instead of scouting, I just began to take pictures! There is lots more of this lake, and the path that goes around it to explore, but I'll post the shots I got when I get them processed.

Location: East Village Playground
Time: 7:30 AM

About all those close up weed shots...

2007-12-28T21:43:00.000-08:00

I learned something today, quite by accident (or by my insistance on shooting so many of the same type of shot, whereby I was bound to learn something). I love all these shots, with the different textures and shapes, but it really enhances the shot when you have a background that creates interesting colors or shapes of its own.

Here's an interesting weed:

And here's one with a visually interesting background:

Even this soft focus (ok, blurry) one is interesting because of the color and patterns in the background:

And here are all the rest (they look better larger, but I did not want to take up vast amounts of blog real estate with the images, click through to the enlarged view if you so desire):

Yeah, I am definitely developing a thing for weeds. I think I am going to have to get a weed identification guide or something because you should see the ridiculous names that I have to come up with for the images to differentiate them.

Shooting wide open on the speedy little 50 mm is definitely my current favorite thing to do. I captured the frost on these leaves...

...and then managed to get so much light that the background disappeared! It's interesting that way, like they are just suspended there.

Speaking of frost, I will leave you with this last one -- not a weed!

Notes:

Location - Watkins Mill Road
Time - 9 AM

Post-Processing in Photoshop Elements

2007-12-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

Boogieman and I were out shooting together this morning. We were in an area with woods and a creek and lots of interesting weeds. :)

I'll post more shots later, as well as a learning that I had (yay), but I thought I'd post my approach to post-processing all these woods and tree shots that I take with this particular shot of woods and sky. I'm sure there is much more that I have to learn and can do with PS Elements, but this is my standard approach until I learn better.

First, without any post-processing:

f/22, 1/50 SEC, 50 MM, ISO-640

I almost always use auto levels, and I often use auto contrast and auto color. Sometimes I don't like what the contrast and color corrections do to the shot. It just depends. For shots of trees and woods, I usually use all three.

Auto levels, contrast, and color:

My next trick is to darken the highlights (on the same sidebar with all the other quick fixes). I just love the way it warms up the images and makes them closer to what my eye sees.

Darken highlights:

I'm still having challenges with an overexposed sky (not terribly, but still not what I want) in my landscape shots. One way that I've minimized it is to only include a small section of sky in my shots, as I did in this shot.

The other thing that can be done is to burn (with the sponge tool in PS Elements), or darken, the sky section of the image. The change is subtle, but I think it improves the image a bit. (Well damn, I don't even think you can see the difference in the uploaded versions, but I promise you I can on my originals.)

Burn tool on sky at 5%:

The other solution to different exposures for land and sky shots that I just read about is a graduated density filter. I'm planning on adding this to my arsenal very soon, since I am forever taking these kinds of shots.

Notes:

Location - Watkins Mill Road
Time - 9 AM

Howard Chapel Cemetery

2007-12-27T16:49:00.000-08:00

I got up this morning and headed out early to shoot more with my new lens. I had an idea that I wanted to get some shots of this really cool tree that is near some historic houses nearby. On the way there, I stopped and got some shots of a little, red brick Methodist Church that I had been meaning to shoot someday. I also passed the field that I shot for Red Barn 108 and stopped to capture it in the early morning light, with moon shot too. And I found a new road, with lots of fields, barns, and trees to explore the next time I'm out.

After all that, I just drove around, taking random turns and back roads -- it's so fun to try to get lost -- all the while listening to a new mixcd that I had burned the other day to send to a friend. It was quiet and blissful.

It was in that mood, that I happened upon this cemetery, pseudonymous with the road that I was traveling on. I pulled the car over and treaded lightly. As I read the sign and peeked through the trees a feeling of sacredness overcame me. I know that might sound cliched, but there really was a sense of history, time passing, and remembrance of people that came before.

I tiptoed through the leaves and branches, careful not to step too close to any of the markers, even though the grave markers must have shifted through the years. And I wondered about these people and what kinds of lives they led.

Three of the markers had coins left on top of them. One with a quarter, another with a dime, and another with three pennies. Does anyone know what the significance of the coins is?

I hope these pictures convey something of the feel of this wooded burial ground, now surrounded by houses and fields of horses.

Notes:

Location: Howard Chapel Road
Time: 9 AM

Night shots with the 50 mm

2007-12-25T14:02:00.000-08:00

This little lens has some gusto. It's so fast that it can capture more light than is seen by the eye -- as is evidenced in the last two photos, from my neighborhood on Christmas, and the night of a full moon.

Christmas Light Drive

Full Moon (my family allowed me out of the car for ONE shot!)

Bokeh Smile (traffic light and lamp post)

Drive by Gas Station

Drive by Moon

Around da 'hood

Our home, looking cozy and well lit!

Location: Surrounding Neighborhoods
Time: 8 PM-ish, full moon

50mm f/1.4, my new speedy friend.

2007-12-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

Got a new lens for Christmas! At f/1.4 it's got lots of potential for bokeh. :) It's also small which makes it possible to have slower shutter speeds without camera shake.

All of these were taken at f/1.4 in Aperture Priority mode, with no post-processing.

It takes great shots indoors, in low light.

And great "frizzle" pictures. (I took quite a few of these!)

Just a few weeks ago, these grasses looked like this. Can you believe that these are in my backyard and I never noticed this transformation? In my defense, it's only recently that they have gotten this tall. But, still!

And and experimental, pine needle shot, using manual focus.

And a cool shot of my Azalea.

Gracie was having a hard time figuring out why I was on the outside of the fence and she was on the inside.

I finished off the adventure with a Squirrel Chase.

Gracie, through the fence

2007-12-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

All of these were taken at f/1.4 in Aperture Priority mode, with no post-processing.

Squirrel Chase

2007-12-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my new speedy lens, I didn't even have to run!

All of these were taken at f/1.4 in Aperture Priority mode, with no post-processing except for cropping.

It Rains

2007-12-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

From yesterday, at dusk, in our store's parking lot. The rain and reflections and lights were too much for me to resist. I'm getting better with night shots. I did not use a tripod on this one and got away with it.

f/4.5, 1/20 SEC, 47 MM, ISO-800

And I really like what the Ink Outlines filter produced, it makes rain reflections so striking.

Christmas Bokeh

2007-12-23T08:15:00.000-08:00

I put the camera on manual (thank you for your encouragement B*!) again last night, and even used the manual focus (fun!). Well, duh, it's much easier to get bokeh with a manual focus. Especially if you are shooting nothing but Christmas lights. :)

I was very excited about this last shot, with reflected bokeh, until I uploaded and saw that it was not-quite-perfect-bokeh. I'm going to try this one again, possibly tonight, and will post another if I can get a technically better shot.

Manual

2007-12-21T10:47:00.001-08:00

I finally took my first manual shot. I know, I know. But I've been so captivated with, and secure with, Aperture Priority mode. So I got out the book and figured out which, of the MANY, buttons and dials to use to set the aperture and shutter, and lo and behold looked at the little meter in the viewfinder that I have blissfully ignored up till now. : ) Shooting manual will come in handy when I want to override the settings for a particular shot.

Here's my very first shot.

f/4.5, 1/100 SEC, 50 MM, ISO-400

It had to be a tree, of course. And conveniently located five steps from my front door.

Of Woods and DoF

2007-12-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

It's been a few days since my last ~~confession~~ post. I've been shooting tons of photos, which include a rainy morning and a trip to my favorite local gardens. I'm loving the camera more than ever, especially playing with selective focus and getting some bokeh.

One thing that has eluded me, so far, is getting more DoF. When I increase the f-stops, I still don't get the clarity that I'm looking for. Maybe it is a limitation of my lense, or maybe I'm getting some camera shake with the longer exposure times.

So I set out this morning to play with DoF. I had seen this fallen tree, in the edge of the woods, on a fairly busy road that I frequently travel. It seemed like a good subject for varying the aperture and comparing results.

Which I did, but not before, and after, being transported from time and place and wonderfully distracted by berries, moss, branches, curlies, cubbyholes, light, and even the emotion and feeling of this little wood by the side of the road. Behind me, I could hear the morning traffic, even as I imagined the fairies and wood nymphs, that might be living in this suburban respite.

As you know, I adore trees. I think they might be my kin. I am working on capturing the spirit of trees, what makes them beautiful, and wise, and spirit-filled. These two reminded me of old friends:

I took 443 pictures in about an hour and loved every second of it. I was completely engrossed in all the details of the woods. I'm posting a lot of the pictures, so I'll understand if your eyes start to glaze over. :)

Almost all the pics were with aperture wide open (f/3 - 4.5), except for the ones where I was playing with the DoF, or lack thereof.

A Morning in the Woods: DoF

2007-12-20T14:00:00.001-08:00

So I originally went to study DoF. Before all the other distractions set in. And I originally intended to use the tripod. Until I got distracted. Still, I did take some shots to compare DoF at different apertures.

f/4

f/8

f/11

f/16

f/22

And here's a comparison of f/3 and f/22, just for extremes. I like f/3 better for this shot, I think.

I'm not sure what I learned from this, other than I am still have a hard time getting crisp DoF with this lens. And I even like the aperture wide open on the first set of shots. The color is better. So, how do photographers get shots of the woods where so many of the trees, from front to back, are in focus? Is a matter of a more powerful lens? Inquiring minds want to know.

A Morning in the Woods: Emotion

2007-12-20T13:19:00.001-08:00

AKA: EMO. To which I plead guilty.

Wistful

Delicate

Protective

Wounded

Lonely

Different

Forgotten

Consumed

Small

Broken

Fallen

Nuts?

A Morning in the Woods: Light

2007-12-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

A Morning in the Woods: Cubby Holes

2007-12-20T12:59:00.001-08:00

Where the fairies and wood nymphs live. Wish I could fit into one.

A Morning in the Woods: Curlies

2007-12-20T12:43:00.001-08:00

These things were everywhere! The selective focus took some work and patience, but I like what I got. The first and second photos are cropped. And on the second photo, I used the healing tool to take out the extraneous branches. I'm sometimes conflicted when I do this, because it does not tell the *real* story, but it sure does improve the image.

A Morning in the Woods: Branches

2007-12-20T12:23:00.000-08:00

Trees. So lovely and compelling. Sigh.

Each one tells a story.

A Morning in the Woods: Moss

2007-12-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

A diversity of Moss. Mosses?

Yeah, I really liked the moss. :)

A Morning in the Woods: Berries

2007-12-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

Red berries, blue berries, young berries, old berries.

Weed Shoot (No, not that kind)

2007-12-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

Last night, once again, I found myself dreaming with a camera in my hand. For a few weeks now, I had been meaning to shoot these weeds, on the corner of a busy suburban intersection. I stop at this intersection everyday, sometimes more than once. The shape and outline of these ugly-beautiful structures against the sky, and their interesting details kept calling to me. In my dreams, I figured out where to park and how to navigate to the corner, and put my camera up to the sky.

Of course that meant that this morning I had to get up and go out. I woke to dark skies and cold drizzle. My only consolation was that my parking location had a 7-Eleven where I could run the heat in the car for a bit and get a diet coke.

I'm finding, more and more, that shooting in our current grey weather environment produces an interesting feel to the shots. While these shots are not exactly what I want them to be, they are damn close.

Shooting in Aperture Priority Mode, wide open. I did some very minimal post-processing to adjust the levels, and darken the highlights in a couple of them.

The second to the last one, in the series above, is my fave. I had another close up, similar to the last one, that I really liked, but it just does not have quite the right focus. But the composition is just oh so sweet, IMO.

As a bonus, I got a shot of the evergreen, back in the parking lot, with some bokeh from the car head and tail lights at the intersection. I'm just a slut for bokeh. Heh.

Oh, and another storm drain for my budding collection.

Here are a couple showing my *location*. Don't you just love all the photography jargon I'm throwing around now that I have real equipment. : )

I was standing on that hillside, to the left of the fence, and was just imagining myself tripping (in my ridiculous choice of footwear for such an expedition -- crocs) and rolling down into the traffic. What a spectacular way to go out, right?

Zoom!

2007-12-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

After last night's Christmas Zoom, and since I'm bored silly at work, I decided to walk around the store zooming everything I could thing of. These probably would have benefitted from a tripod, but still they are fun. I used the Shutter Priority Mode.

Exit Zoom:

f/29, 2 SEC, 135 MM (zooming out during shot), ISO-400

Lights Zoom:

f/25, 2 SEC, 41 MM (zooming out during shot), ISO-400

XBOX Zoom:

f/25, 2.5 SEC, 135 MM (zooming out during shot), ISO-400

Sports Zoom:

f/11, 1/2 SEC, 60 MM (zooming out during shot), ISO-400

Neon Zoom:

f/36, 1/2 SEC, 90 MM (zooming out during shot), ISO-250

2007-12-08T15:20:00.000-08:00

Recently, The Digital Photography School Blog suggested picking a theme to inspire your photography:

We most improve our photography by making pictures. The more we make, the better we learn to see the world around us. But sometimes it can be hard to think of what to photograph.

Digital cameras have practically zero running costs. You can take twenty pictures of a subject, exploring different angles, then pick out exactly the one you like best and delete the rest, which costs only your time.

One easy way to motivate myself to make more pictures is to follow an ongoing theme. A theme that’s always there, in the back of my mind, encouraging me to get a camera out, at any time, in any place. It also helps that I’m never without a small point-and-shoot camera. I regard it as a kind of artist’s sketchbook. As for the theme, you can choose anything you like that’s general enough to generate an endless supply of chances to explore it. It could be your favourite colour, or parts of cars, or food, or neon signs. Whatever it is, make sure you really like it.

I really like this idea, and am even tempted to steal the idea of photographing threes, as the author does. And I may still. But, just recently I realized that there is one theme that lures me over and over again: windows. I enjoy the outlines of windows, the frames of windows, and what is seen through windows. They almost always involve shooting in natural light, unless at night, and to me, they always evoke a mood. You can just picture the person there, looking through window, seeing what you, the viewer of the shot sees, and maybe even feeling the same things -- it creates a sense of connection.

If you decide to use this idea, and pick a theme, please leave me a comment and tell me what you choose.

I already have a few window shots to start my collection.

2007-12-07T10:32:00.001-08:00

A couple more from the accidental B&W shoot, that are in color, due to using the program settings (landscape). I really, really like this shot of the snowy field and the road it the foreground. What appeals to me is its simplicity, lines, and the gradations in the color of the sky.

f/9, 1/200 SEC, 41 MM, ISO-100 (Landscape Program)
Post-processing: auto levels, contrast

This next shot is something new that I'm trying -- not composing the entire tree, but rather trying to capture some part of it that communicates its character.

f/7.1, 1/125 SEC, 41 MM, ISO-100 (Landscape Program)
Post-processing: auto levels, contrast, ink outlines filter

My absolute adoration of trees is well documented in my daily photoblog. I'm forever trying to capture their essence and their subliminity. In most past attemps, I try to capture the whole tree, thinking its beauty lies in whole form. But, my eye can take in the whole form as well as the intricate detail at the same time. When I look at the shots taken of the whole tree, they often fail to communicate what captivated me at the time.

Sometimes whole tree shots are good, however, because the form and line of an entire tree is wonderful, and like snowflakes, no two the same.

In Camera B&W

2007-12-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

I actually did not mean to use the B&W, but I had been playing around with it earlier in the day, and did not realize that the setting stayed on after I turned off the camera.

I took some pictures in the landscape program mode, and those were in color, but when I used the aperuture priority, the b&w was in effect. I post-processed these, using the auto levels and contrast and really like the result. The only one that I did my normal darkening of highlights for is the woods (3rd shot).

f/4, 1/4000 SEC, 41 MM, ISO-400

f/29, 1/60 SEC, 65 MM, ISO-500

f/22, 1/25 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-800

f/22, 1/50 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400

2007-12-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Today I snapped some shots, in our yard and neighborhood, of our first snow. I probably should have done some thinking about settings, but I just set the aperture open in aperture priority mode and shot away. I like what I got just fine, nothing crazy good (by my current standards), but the real fun came in the post-processing. I used my favorites posterized and poster edges -- I just love that graphic look -- and I also used another standby, the combination of poster edges and posterize, it subdues the effects of posterizing a bit. There's a variable in the posterize effects, the number of channels. The default is 4, but raising it to five or six, reduces the effect a bit, by not combining so many colors.

I know the purists would probably object, but I enjoy giving my photos different looks. I love FX!!

f/3.5, 1/640 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: cropped

Post-processing: poster edges, then posterized (5 levels)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

f/3.5, 1/800 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: cropped, darken highlights

Post-processing: poster edges, then posterized (6 levels)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

f/3.5, 1/125 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: cropped, auto levels, contrast, color

Post-processing: poster edges, then posterized (6 channels)

Landscape vs. Portrait

2007-12-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Fully intending, after meandering and shooting for a while, to go home, I crested a hill and saw this alternate view of Red Barn 108. I passed it, deliberated, and then turned around and went back. I really should have driven the Jeep instead of the Caravan, considering the places that I was pulling over to get these shots. Next time, Jeep.

Unintentionally, I ended up with a landscape and portrait shot of each. I tend to shoot vertically, and I guess I was trying to make sure I tried both compositions.

Do you find you have a preference for horizontal or vertical shooting? I like the vertical composition best for all three of these sets below (not that I dislike the horizontal, it's a close call). which do you prefer?

For the first four shots, I was using the landscape program mode, and for the last two, I was shooting in aperture priority mode, wide open.

f/5.6, 1/100 SEC, 53 MM, ISO-100
Post-processing: None

f/5.6, 1/80 SEC, 56 MM, ISO-100
Post-processing: None

I also grabbed some shots of the cornfields.

f/6.3, 1/100 SEC, 60 MM, ISO-100
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights

f/5.6, 1/80 SEC, 60 MM, ISO-100
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, cropped

And, finally, I could not resist shooting up through these grass stalks to see what kind of shot it might create.

f/4.5, 1/1250 SEC, 53 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: None

f/3.5, 1/1600 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: None

The Boys

2007-12-03T11:04:00.001-08:00

After shooting Red Barn 108, and a quick stop at 7-Eleven, I dropped Equus at her barn, and took a few minutes to get some shots of her and her *boys*. (These are the kind of boys that you want your thirteen year old to hang out with!)

These animals move constantly! I switched to the sports setting, to try action program mode and caught some good ones.

Ugly

f/8, 1/80 SEC, 65 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: None

Tennessee and Lippy

f/3.5, 1/40 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, cropped

Bob

f/5, 1/80 SEC, 70 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, cropped

Tennessee

f/3.5, 1/100 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights

Boomer and Lippy

f/5.6, 1/40 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-200
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights

Lippy

f/5.6, 1/30 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, auto contrast

And more Lippy

f/8, 1/25 SEC, 35 MM, ISO-400
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, cropped

It was my intent to head straight home from the barn, but I ended up stopping to shoot this small lake, and then discovered, further down the road, an alternate view of Red Barn 108.

f/5.6, 1/50 SEC, 56 MM, ISO-800
Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, healthy boost in saturation, dry brush filter, cropped

Red Barn 108

2007-12-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

I woke up early Sunday morning, to get out in the early dawn light. Sadly, I had to wake up my girl to go with me, since she needed to be dropped off at the barn for a horse show. We got out the door, both of us grumpy and needing caffeine. Surprisingly, she did not give me too hard a time as I took many, many shots of this barn. I'm calling it Red Barn 108, because I hope to shoot more red barns, and the road number is a way to identify it.

I'm pleased with the close shots, but the landscapes still have the problem of bright sky and dark foreground. I photoshopped it, into layers, but I am not happy with the result. Two things that I must try: first, AE lock, where I meter against the foreground, lock the exposure, and recompose the shot, and second, a graduated filter.

And here's the problem shot, below. I'm going to go back soon, and shoot it again, trying the AE lock. I actually don't dislike the shot, it's just that the sun was illuminating the barn, and I would like to capture that.

On another note, the sky was amazing.

And I got a cool tree shot when I crossed the road to get a different perspective on the barn. I love the cornfield and blue sky in the background.

From there, we headed to 7-Eleven for some blessed caffeine, and a donut for my girl as a thanks for not complaining about all the time she spent waiting in the car. Then we were off to the her barn, for the horse show that she was helping with. Of course, I had to take a few minutes to do some glamor shots of the horses...I ended up shooting all boys, I guess the mares were all off stuffing themselves with hay. : )

2007-12-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

I had a dream the other night that I was shooting in this little park, from this exact perspective. Weird that photography has permeated my consciousness like that. I got up early and drove there the next morning. Of course, how could I not?

f/5.6, 1/50 SEC, 20 MM, ISO-100

Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, small increase in saturation, poster edges filter (I liked the way the poster edges darkened the lines of the tree branches against the sky.)

I ended up using a different shot on my 365 blog, one that I got after I had packed everything up and was driving out. I passed this other side of the park, saw the two benches and decided it was worth pulling everything back out to see what I could capture. I actually drove past it, and back around, before comitting to it. Now, I'm glad I did.

f/5.6, 1/30 SEC, 31 MM, ISO-200

Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, small increase in saturation, dry brush filter (I liked the way the dry brush simplified the lines and softened the foreground.)

2007-11-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Having more fun playing with the aperture wide open.

f/4.5, 1/1600 SEC, 41 MM, ISO-800

Post-processing: None

That's how I got this shot (aperture wide open), at that same time, and posted on my 365.

f/3.5, 1/8000 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-800

Post-processing: None

2007-11-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

I only took a few shots today. Since I'm sick, I hardly felt like it at all. I looked around our store to see what I might capture. Amongst other things, these stacks of discs on the counter caught my eye.

The lights were still off in the store, since it was before opening, but there was daylight coming in from the front windows.

I decided to open the aperature all the way and see what I could get. I shot about six shots at various angles. I like this one best, as it kind of slices the shot in thirds and at an interesting angle. I could probably photoshop it to boost some of the colors a bit, but my runny nose and aching head won't allow for it today.

f/5, 1/30 SEC, 65 MM, ISO-800

Post-processing: None

2007-11-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

I finally got the layering to work, not like the fiasco of this shot, and was able to copy everything but the sky to a new layer and lighten it. Same technique, but with feathering (2 px), and a much better result.

f/6.3, 1/250 SEC, 44 MM, ISO-400

Post-Processing: Sky layer - auto levels, slight boost in midtone contrast and saturation. Grass and trees layer - lighten shadows, slight boost in saturation.

Here's the original.

2007-11-21T08:45:00.000-08:00

f/11, 1/250 SEC, 28 MM, ISO-100

Post-processing: this was my first effort at separating the sky from the foreground in photoshop, and giving them separate treatments. The sky was at a good exposure, but the foreground was very dark and you could not see the fence or the stalks of grass. I selected the field and trees with the magic wand and copied it into a new layer. Then, on that layer, I lightened the shadows, dodged the trees, and boosted the saturation. I forgot to feather the selection before copying into a new layer, and as a result it does not look as good as it could.

Here's another one, where the lack of feathering creates an even worse result, not to mention that the lightening looks fake and hazy. Lots to learn about how to do this better.

I do love that sky, though.

2007-11-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

Selective focus: I got some. I went out early in the morning to shoot a creek and wooded area.

f/5.6, 1/100 SEC, 80 MM, ISO-640

Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, slight boost in saturation

None of my creek shots turned out very good, except for the one with the reflection of the tree. What I really wanted to do, and the part that did not turn out well, was the moving water shots. I found a little part of the creek that ran over some rocks. I played with the shutter speed, but apparently I was going in the wrong direction, haha. So I have some slighly blurry and some non-blurry but non-interesting shots.

But, like I said, I did use aperture priority mode to get some selective focus in these two shots. Yeah, I got what I set out to do. That's a good feeling.

f/5.6, 1/100 SEC, 80 MM, ISO-640

Post-processing: auto levels, darken highlights, slight boost in saturation

2007-11-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

Here's another one from that first barn shoot. I love how the light hits the rope and the apple.

f/5, 1/100 SEC, 75 MM, ISO-500 (Aperture Priority Mode)

Post-processing 1: auto levels, slight boost in saturation.

Post- processing 2: (at Boogieman's suggestion) selective desaturation.

2007-11-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

First barn shoot with new camera.

I walked all around the barn, playing with camera settings, and clicking away. I knew nothing of what I was doing, but boy did that camera feel good in my hands.

I happened upon this wonderful photo-op, long-forgotten apples in a bucket. The composition, with the one red apple was such a lucky shot, especially since I had no idea what settings the camera was on. I think it was in aperture priority mode, since that is one of the things that I wanted to play with.

f 5.6, 1/125 SEC, 65 MM, ISO-400

Post-processing: auto level adjustment, darken highlights, slight boost in saturation

2007-11-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

First shot with my new Canon 40D. I think the camera was set to auto. There was a flash, I'm pretty sure. I could never get good portrait shots like this with my little Nikon point-and-shoot. Mmmm, love me some soft focus.

f/4.5, 1/60 SEC, 53 MM, ISO-400

Post-processing: None