Let There Be Light

An Outtake

2012-02-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

Taken the same day as the previous post we wanted to get some shots with Peters duster, hat, and pocket watch. What we were looking for was him having the watch out looking at the camera with a serious look. I was setting up trying to get the light right so took some test shots. This one the light happened to be about right and he was admiring the watch. It turned out to be one of my favourites. Of course, I had to give it that old time sepia look.

I used the 50mm 1/125th sec f5.6 iso 100. One flash left front through an umbrella and one flash directly behind facing forward.

It's About The Light On The People

2012-02-14T17:38:00.000-08:00

I said I wanted to do more people photography so I got Peter to dress up in his fancy new clothes the other day and we did some photos in my little studio. I want to do more.

I used the 50mm lens 1/60th sec f5.6 iso 100. One strobe through an umbrella front left, another one with a small lightbox behind right (for the hair) and one more directly behind facing the backdrop.

Thompson Express

2012-02-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo that would have been pretty difficult without HDR. I think I will be experimenting with this process more in the future. I like what can be done with it and want to explore the possibilities more. I want to get a little more into people photography too so look for that in future posts. This is so much fun!

I used the 16-80 at 18mm 5 exposures shutter speeds ranged between 1/800th and 1/25th sec at f6.3 iso 100. This photo was taken at New West Quay. Dar and I are planning on spending a day there in the near future. I am looking forward to that and seeing what we are able to capture there.

Does It Ever End?

2012-02-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get the urge just to make a print. To me even in this digital age the print is still what the end result of a photograph should be. A few days ago I decided I wanted to make an 11x17 and decided on a photo I had posted on here before. When I opened it I thought maybe it would print better in black and white so started working with it. After converting then making the lights a little lighter and the darks a little darker I came up with a photo that looks even more like that Brooding Island. I haven't ever re-posted a photo on here but with this one I wanted to make an exception. Hope you like it.

The print imhatuo (in my humble and totally unbiased opinion) looks rather epic. I think I may even want to print it larger, may have to get some larger paper 13x19, or maybe go really big with an even larger printer....... See? It seems never ending sometimes.

Just For The Sake Of It

2012-02-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Here is an example of HDR just for the sake of HDR. I used an effect called grunge. Not one I would generally use but I like what it did for this photo. Hope you agree.

This is a combination of 5 photos all using the 16-80 lens at 18mm. Shutters speeds were between 1/2000sec and 1/100sec all f4.5 iso 100. The photo was taken at Crab Park in Vancouver.

Look Back To See Something New

2012-02-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

I took this photo in an alley a couple years ago. I remember the pipes caught my eye but after I took the photo, I decided it wasn't quite what I wanted. If you have been following my blog you will know I like to go through photo's from the past. There are always photo's to find that I might not have liked quite enough before to show. It is fun to look at them afresh and work a bit with them to create something I want to post. This one just took some cropping and a few other adjustments to bring out just what I wanted to see. I hope you enjoy it too.

I used the 50mm lens 1/30th sec at f4, iso 100

It's Good To Be Back

2012-01-18T23:06:00.000-08:00

I decided today I have to start using my little studio space. I love going out and not being sure what I am going to come home with. I also enjoy picking something to photograph and figuring out how to set it up and light it taking control of the whole situation. Here is a first attempt, keeping things simple. They were set upon a translucent plastic sheet. I lit from underneath and above/behind. I think I'll have to get back into this a little more. There's a lot to learn here.

The lens used was a 50mm macro 15sec at f22. iso 100. I had a flash underneath the plastic sheet with Lumiquest ltp and another flash up and behind through an umbrella. The 15 sec exposure is not a typo. Either there was something wrong with my camera or it is some quirk of the Sony SLT a55. Too complicated to try and explain on here. Plus I got the shot. That's what counts.

More Or Less

2012-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

When I first took this photo I was aiming for colour. While working on it I thought I would see how it looked black and white. For me it was a "Wow!" moment. Sometimes when you make it less, like take away the colour, it becomes so much more. Dar and I often go to the same place again and again. Sometimes I have wondered if we're getting stuck doing the same old thing. When I look at photos like this I know that isn't the case. I wouldn't have taken this photo in a trip past and will things entirely different in a future trip. I am pretty sure Dar would agree with these sentiments judging by what she was taking this day.
Our next trip will be to a different locale altogether. I look forward to that because there will be so many new photos for us to take there. I also look forward to sometime coming to this same old place so we can do things different, yet again!

Taken with the 16-80 at 16mm. 3 exposures 1/40th, 1/60th, and 1/100th sec at f22.

Another Good Day

2012-01-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Dar and I got to go out for a photo day today. It was an easy day, we didn't work too hard at it. We did make some plans but never got to the places we intended. One place we always seem to end up lately is Chinatown. We also seem to end up in the same parking lot in the same parking spot. Of course we always have to lean out and see what there is to take pictures of before we go anywhere. I saw this van turning the corner and thought I had better get some shots of it as it raced by. I can be so funny, a VW van racing by.

I used the 16-80 at 50mm 1/13th sec at f22 iso 400

A Cat In The Window

2011-12-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

I knew it had been some time since I last posted. Didn't realize It had been over a month though! Better get to work here.
Here was an opportunity spotted as I walked in the bedroom one day. Little Latte was sitting in the window enjoying the warm sun. It was originally colour and looked nice and warm but I felt the need to see what else I could do with it and came up with this. This is a Lightroom3 preset called B&W Filter - Blue Filter. Of course I didn't leave it alone after and played with the levels and sharpened a bit.

Taken with the 16-80 at 60mm 1/1000sec at f4.5 iso 100.

The Home That Never Was

2011-11-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

Trying to capture a moment to make something feel real when it isn't. When I go to museums I try that but very rarely succeed. Going through the Falkland Museum I came across this display of a small house from days past. When I took the photo I felt I was able to isolate the elements nicely. I thought it was pretty good but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do anything with it. I recently got Lightroom 3 and found on that a "preset" called "Aged Photo". I think it suited this photo almost as if it was made for it.

This was shot with my 50mm 1/4sec f6.3 iso 100.

The Crow

2011-11-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Crows are birds that draw on peoples emotions. You either like them or you don't. I like them. When I hear them cawing it makes me think of waking up on a nice sunny summer morning (or afternoon) and it's one of the first sounds I hear. Brings back a lot of fond memories. This one was having a bath. I took a lot of shots of it splashing about but this one where it stopped to contemplate me for a second was my favourite.

I used the 16-80 at 80mm 1/60th sec f4.5 iso 400

Motion In The Stillness

2011-11-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

While driving about in Stanley Park with Dar I happened to look to my right and see this.

I used the 16-80 at 70mm 1/160th sec f16 iso 400

A statue of Harry Jerome. We parked and walked back to get a few photos. I already had the photo in my head from that quick look and this was it.

It was pretty good in colour but there was something about the background didn't quite sit right with me. I thought I would try it in black and white and the background looked much better (imho of course) but the statue got lost a bit. I brought the colour back to the statue and the sun on the bronze gave it warmth.

Urban Photographer

2011-11-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

When Dar and I go out for photo walks there is usually a photo or two taken of each other. I started working on this photo and soon decided it should be black and white. I used the conversion tool in Photo Shop Elements which has several different styles. The one I settled on was called "Urban/Snapshots". The "Urban" fit I thought especially after I converted it.

I used the 16-80 at 80mm 1/250th sec at f4.5 iso 100

Handiwork

2011-10-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

Dar and I went out to Chinatown today on our first photowalk in a while. We were very lucky with the weather and got a lot of photo opportunities. I spotted this fellow making these bundles at a sidewalk vegetable stand with his hands in the golden sunlight. It was an opportunity I couldn't miss. I still feel awkward photographing people on the street but he was attentive to his task and paid me no attention.

I used the 16-80 at 80mm 1/640th sec f4.5 iso 100

For Peter

2011-10-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

While taking photos for Grey Of Light To Colour Of Dark I saw this. Muse is a band that Peter really enjoys so I grabbed some shots. Then I went to the HDR workshop. When I went home I thought this photo would be great in HDR. I think I was right.

The Sony a55 with the 16-80 lens at 16mm. 3 exposures at f9 and shot at metered value then .7 stop under and .7 stop over. Iso 400. Combined and tone mapped in Photomatix.

Mount Baker In The Evening

2011-10-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

One day not too long ago (well a few months now) I was driving home from work and I noticed Mount Baker was being lit by the setting sun in an interesting manner. The top of the mountain was in shadow to about half way down and the lower half lit by the setting sun. I started heading to a spot I knew would be a good vantage point to get a shot. As I drove the light went up until the whole mountain was lit. I figured it would still be a worthwhile photo. As I got closer the sun got lower and the shadow started to creep up the mountain. I arrived and jumped out shooting. Thought there was something wrong and then realized I still had the camera set to take photos inside at work. Did some quick adjustments and here is a result.

Shot with the 16-80 at 800mm 1/250th sec f5.6 iso 100

Don't Eat Too Many Or There Won't Be Mushroom For Anything Else

2011-10-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

Another corny title. I remembered that from a local mushroom ad years ago. Dale and I were wandering the agriculture part of the PNE when we came across a little air-conditioned room displaying mushrooms. I found this little display where I was able to isolate the mushrooms so they could be anywhere. An example of found still life.

An Opportunity Taken

2011-10-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

One day my friend Jessica came to work after a 4 day traditional Indian wedding. She had Henna done on her hands while there. It looked like a perfect photo op so we took advantage of it. Fortunately we sat across from each other back to back so I set up my flash on a stand with my newly acquired Lumiquest softbox LTp. We spent about 20 minutes taking photo's, fortunately not interrupted by work too much. We got several photos I was quite happy with and here is one of my favourites. I have been carrying some minimal flash equipment around with me and on this day it really paid off having it there.

Sunset Years

2011-09-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here is an example of what I talked about in my previous post with exposing into the sun. If you expose for the scene your subject will be underexposed. This is what I was looking for in this photo and I did have to manipulate a bit because my camera does have pretty good dynamic range and I wanted the silhouette. I think even though I converted it to black and white it retains a warmth with the good friends in the foreground and the young couple in the light.

Shot with the Sony A55 and 16-80 at 60mm, 1/640th sec f8 iso 100

Let Me Introduce You To

2011-09-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

High Dynamic Range photography. It is an interesting concept that I have toyed with a bit in the past. I recently took a 2 hour workshop with pmdphotography. We learned the basics of what to look for and some good methods of capturing images to create HDR photographs. I won't get technical but try to explain it briefly. Say you took a photo of your friend with the sun behind him/her. If the scene is exposed properly your friend will look dark. If your friend is exposed properly the scene is overly bright. By taking multiple photos you can combine them and have both appear properly exposed. In this post Grey Of Light To Colour Of Dark I did something similar to HDR but only using 3 images and also desaturated 2 of the images. Here are 3 I did the evening of the workshop using between 6 and 9 images and a program called Photomatix. This is fun stuff.

This is the first one I did taken directly into the sun to really try test the ability to go from direct sun to deep shadow. It works!

We all went and took photo's all around the area and came up with a lot of different photos. Dar was there too and I really enjoyed what she did. I noticed these chrome pipes and had an idea of what they might look like and I was right.

While we were in the cafeteria talking about what we had done and learning about processing he mentioned you can do photo's of interiors with HDR to. So Dar and I both immediately set up our tripods and gave it a try. We both came up with very different looks using the same software.

Hey You Graffiti My Graffiti?

2011-09-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

Does that make sense? I am still coming to grips with painting graffiti on a wall then painting over the painting. I talked about it very briefly in a previous post . There is some beautiful work done here which inevitably gets painted over. I talked to a young guy recently about it. He is a pretty accomplished painter (I think he did this one). I asked him about how everything gets done over and no one seems to be upset about it. He said there's a sort of agreement that it's ok to paint over other peoples stuff but you should do it with something better. That doesn't always happen but usually it's at least interesting. When I saw this after talking to him it clicked with me. Really.......

I guess you kind of have to.

Being Famous

2011-09-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

Being a famous photographer does have it's advantages. World travel, admiration of people from all over, Meeting other famous people. In some cases fortune even. Some day, I might even be famous, who knows. In the meantime I'll sure accept the odd kiss on the cheek from a pretty young lady.

Oh and thanks to the other pretty young lady who took the photo!

A Good Weekend Part Two

2011-09-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

Then we were off to Seattle. When I go to Seattle I think of Vancouver only with an American flavour. We visited the Experience Music Project while there. Well it really was the intent of this trip. In here I was allowed to bring my camera. I had a lot of fun with that. While in there I was having trouble with the wifi. I went seeking help not really expecting any. I met up with a young guy at the front counter and he stopped everything he was doing and worked it out with me till I had the wifi. It's a kind of you had to be there thing but I was quite taken with the help he gave, not something you see all that often in this day and age.
This is the guitar Jimi Hendrix used to play The Star Spangled Banner * at Woodstock in 1969
*If you aren't a fan of Hendrix you might not enjoy the video but you do get to see him play this guitar.

There are 2 floors of displays here about music and Sci Fi. They have rooms with instruments you can jam with to your hearts content. There is a Nirvana display that I didn't bother with. Dale isn't a fan either but he did go look and says it is very well done. There is a lot about music history in there. I didn't get to see everything but I did take in the display for Battlestar Galactica and Avatar. They were worth seeing I thought. The Avatar had more things to look at and seemed to offer more detail in the displays. Battlestar Galactica had 3 full size space ships and other props.

We went and wandered a bit around the Space Needle. There were huge crowds here and some music festival going on that was closed off. Dale and I were here with our family at the Seattle worlds fair. I'd say "Gosh, aside from the Space Needle it sure looks a lot different" but I was just a little kid so I wouldn't remember. I know we didn't go up to the top then because the lines were huge. They were huge this day as well so we still didn't go up. Here are a couple of photos I took. One I was using the posterization (b/w) I used on the photo of Dar a while back.

Then one normal in case you aren't into the fancy pants effects.

Stay tuned for part three

A Good Weekend Part One

2011-09-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

It was the labour day weekend. It wasn't a real photography outing kind of weekend although I did carry my camera around the whole time. My brother came to visit so we decided to get out and see the sights. All the best laid plans seemed to fall together quite nicely.
On Friday Dale and I had the day to ourselves so we went into Vancouver and did a couple things we wanted to. Dale to a music store and me of course to a camera store. We then paid a visit to the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre.

I saw Planetarium Crab Sculpture for the first time on a high school tour and thought how cool it would be to make some kind of walking riding machine out of it. I guess I had a little more imagination then. The sculpture is apparently the most photographed thing in Vancouver. I've taken a few over the years. I don't recall a lot about that trip except they had a real shrunken head on display. Now that was something to see for an impressionable young teen. I can recall looking up close and thinking he might have had freckles. I didn't see the head this visit. I imagine it is stored to avoid upsetting any sensitive souls.

We saw two shows in the Planetarium Star Theatre. We could have missed the second one as although they were billed as different shows, the second one was mostly a repeat of the first one.

This is the projector they use to create the night sky. The first time I saw it rise out of the bay I imagined it to be some satellite never sent to space and adapted to use as a projector. Making up stuff up like that was so much fun. They call it Harold but they aren't sure why.

Saturday was a very long but really great day I thought. We headed off to Seattle. On the way down we stopped at the Boeing Future of Flight Museum. The museum part can be gone through fairly quickly, the main attraction is the tour of the Everett production line. There are no cameras allowed so I didn't get any photo's inside. It is about a 90 minute tour of the huge aircraft manufacturing plant. The buildings themselves are awesome with doors the size of football fields. There were all kinds of interesting facts about them. "At one time rain clouds actually formed in the Boeing plant before a state-of-the-art air circulation system was installed"

They build 747's, 777's, and 787 Dreamliners at this plant. The 787's parts are built elsewhere and put together here. Below is a photo with 2 of the 4 "Dreamlifters", Modified 747's to carry the fuselage sections to the plant from where they're constructed. They said the construction of previous aircraft was measured in weeks, the 787 is put together in mere days.

Another interesting little fact about the production facility is there is no central heating. They use the body heat from staff, heat from lights and tools that rises, is filtered, then pumped down into the building. I thought that was ingenious.

I was going to try make the whole weekend one blog post but It is getting a little longer to put together than I thought so I am going to do this in three parts. I'll try be a little more diligent with the next two.

Sitting On A Knot In The Bay

2011-09-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

Dumb title I know but it popped into my head so I went with it. While at Steveston the other day I was noticing some knots. They looked to be an interesting subject and there were a few different ones. I never needed them much beyond tying my shoes, I am pretty good at that. Beyond my shoes I know it can be embarrassing trying to fake a knot only to have it fall apart and into the water. So I will likely stick to taking photo's of them whenever I find an interesting one. There were some just looked like jumbles but these were pretty neat.

Sony a55 with the 50mm attached shot at 1/250th sec f7.1 iso 400 Taken here 49.12332667,-123.18652000

The Sony a100 using the venerable beercan at 210 1/800th sec f5 iso 100

I remember going out in a boat being intimidated because I thought I was going to have to learn all kinds of different knots to tie up the boat. I was taught this one below.... not even a knot really. Loop tug, loop tug.... so simple. Of course the other folk smiled a bit when I did it about 15 loops. Just making sure, you know.

With the Sony a55 and the 50mm 1/2500 sec f7.1 iso 400 Taken here 49.12328167,-123.18591667

Tricks Of The Trade

2011-08-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

Many camera manufacturers have added special effects to their cameras. There are all kinds of thing you can do with them. There are settings for things like portrait, sports, landscape, and several others which have been on cameras for a long time. Now there is things like posterization, sepia, toy effect, and some others. One interesting one is partial colour which you pick a colour (say blue) everything not that colour in the photo is black and white. It is a neat effect. I have always felt special effects were better done in the computer because done in camera they are permanent, at least in my camera. Having said that now that they are on the camera, no harm in trying them out right? This is posterization (b/w) a photo of Dar when we went out to Steveston a while back. She was checking out her new camera. Or her fish and chips, I can't remember.

The Sony a55 with the 50mm 1/80th sec f10 iso 100. We were right about here 49.12412167,-123.18654167

Sunset Sunrise

2011-08-27T04:52:00.000-07:00

While Peter (Nick) and I were at Crescent Beach in White Rock in the evening I caught some photo's of the sunset over the water. At the same time, on the other side of the world Nicola was getting ready to go on a balloon ride in Egypt and get some awesome sunrise photo's!

This was taken with the 16-80 at 80mm 1/200th sec f8 iso 100 and I was here 49.05667333,-122.88749667

Grey Of Light To Colour Of Dark

2011-08-26T03:58:00.000-07:00

Colour diminishes as the light goes away. What if it were the opposite? The idea for this photo came to me while standing in the dim cool tunnel admiring the art down here with all it's brilliant colour.

I took this with the 16-80 at 16mm. 3 exposures on a tripod then in the computer did layers masks and adjustments (convert to b&w etc) on each of the 3 layers.

A Bright Day

2011-08-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

Here is another bee shot. I was going to post a darker little more gloomy shot as it is kind of a rainy gloomy day. I decided to stay all sunny and positive (gag). I actually am posting because it is raining hard enough I decided not to venture out. I had a particular photo in mind but it'll be there tomorrow. I chased this little guy (girl?) a bit when he landed on this yellow flower. I took this grab shot (yeah they were all grab shots this day) and was happy with it. At first I thought "He's a little hard to make out." The little light bulb in my head clicked on then.
Anyhow, hope you like it.

Hmm don't seem to have the exposure info. It was taken with a Sony a55 with a Minolta 50mm macro. I will try add the other stuff later.

Itchy Hands

2011-08-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

Wanderlust has stricken Nicola once again and while on a well deserved break from school she is off to Egypt. She writes a travel blog she calls Itchy Feet Take Me To... Her story's are always interesting, often funny, ever entertaining, and can even be educational. I drove Nicola around this morning "sorting" Chip and Gracie's care so was able to see first hand the developing adventures inspiring her first post....
This was the result of thoughts of making a portrait of a person with just their hands. The book happened to be there so adding it gave a lot of context to the person (Nicola of course) I was photographing and was quite timely too.

I put the 50mm on the new camera for this. Shot at 1/80th sec f3.2 iso 400. GPS: 49.26311500,-123.10654167 . This looks to be about 30ft off.

I Have A New Camera. And It Doesn't Make Phone Calls

2011-08-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

When does the subject become the background and the background become the subject? I set out to take some photos of bees today. I was attempting to catch one in flight. I have tried in the past without success, I felt my equipment was just too slow. Well with my new camera today I thought I would give it a try. I didn't get one but I think I am closer to success. I did get some I liked though and I will likely show some off. While I was going through the photos I spotted this one and at first didn't think much but something about it caught my eye. I kept it though and went and looked later. It took a moment but I got what I saw and liked about it. I hope you like it too.

I took this with a 50mm macro 1/320th sec f11 iso 400. The new camera has GPS on it and on this photo it showed me at 49.14758333,-122.78023000 which was about 40ft off but still pretty cool I think.

The Airshow!

2011-08-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

The Abbotsford Airshow started today. I however wasn't there. Here is a photo from an airshow quite some time ago just to celebrate. You will have seen a million shots of them like this likely. I think it was a bit of luck to have the clouds in the background.

This was from a film scan so don't have exposure info.

I Saved It!

2011-08-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

Another photo from that antique shop on my day out with Dar.

I used the 50mm 1/15th sec f1.7 iso 100
Here is another good reason not to delete. This photo wasn't my first choice. I took 2 (not sure why only 2 but there's another story) and I chose the other one because I preferred how I had framed it. I opened the other photo to work on and it was out of focus, just enough it wasn't usable (I know, I know, should have chimped). Tonight while looking at that other photo I thought of this one and checked to see if it was sharp. Well it was and I am glad I went back to look at it. Although different than the other one I am quite happy with this.

In Profile

2011-08-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

The Angle

2011-08-01T00:48:00.000-07:00

At the museum in Falkland there is a building mostly empty with bare wood on the interior. I always think of the expression "If these walls could talk" when I am in a room like this. I walked in and turned around. I enjoyed the soft light on the bare wood. I backed up and started taking photos of the room. I moved forward and kept taking photos until I found myself back at the door. I looked down and saw this. I especially liked all the lines going in different directions but seeming to come together.

I shot this with the 17mm 1/15th sec f3.5 iso 100

Yes they have a museum and although small it is interesting. They have a Colt revolver found in the Salmon River, possibly tossed in there by Billy Miner. I will be posting some more photos.

The Cool Of Glass

2011-07-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

I like glass. I like shaped bottles, I like raised lettering on them. I like the feel of glass, cool to the touch and solid. Better than plastic any day. I like taking pictures of glass even though sometimes with it's reflective surface it can be a challenge. These bottles were on display out front of an antique store in Fort Langley.

Taken with the 50mm 1/250th sec f3.2 iso 200

Do The Tilt And Shift

2011-07-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

Sound like a dance? Tilt-Shift comes from the tilt-shift lens. I don't want to try get all technical but the lenses are used for architectural and landscape photography. They can also make a neat effect where a scene will appear miniature or toy like. The unfortunate thing is they're an expensive lens for the casual user like me. The fortunate thing is we have computers and people who like to figure out ways to do things like this. Turns out it isn't all that difficult so I was able to figure it out pretty quick. A scene where you are looking down works best for this kind of photo but you can do other funky things with it too as evidenced by a recent post I did about my camera on my cell phone.

I used the 50mm 1/800th sec f8 iso 200. Shot from this train.

Make A Rule Break A Rule

2011-07-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article about taking photographs of flowers. In it the writer said you should have enough depth of field to make the whole flower sharp. I thought about that because it can be difficult to achieve but I agreed it is better. Then I remembered this photo I took recently. I actually wanted to blur the flower somewhat because my focus (get it?) was on the water droplets. I had to work at a balance because I wanted the eye to go to the water drops but didn't want the flower to be unrecognizable. This was exactly what I was looking for.

Unfortunately I didn't note the exposure info here, maybe I will look it up at home and add a comment later. Hope you like it.

If You Were To Imagine

2011-07-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Fort Langley has a lot of neat little shops. On this trip, with a little trepidation, we wandered in to some and asked about taking photo's. Everyone we encountered was friendly and very helpful. We made every effort to minimize our intereference in them running their business and I think it was appreciated.
I came across this little toy giraffe and this photo came to mind right away. I don't usually try to explain my photo's but maybe in this instance I can leave you with this. Try and think of a child finding this toy and how the imagination might start to work.

I didn't note the exposure info here (and I am not home to look it up) but I used the 50mm and took several shots. I had to be mindful of the exposure to keep the giraffe a silhouette, and the f stop to make sure the giraffe was completely sharp but still blur out the background.

Sometimes, You Just Have To Leave Well Enough Alone

2011-07-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

When I first saw this photo I thought "This is pretty good. I can improve it". I started using layers, darkened the background, blurred it some, lightened the rosebud and sharpened it. I looked at it and thought instead of looking better it was just looking processed. I could keep going and try make it less processed but in this case, what was the point? So I undid everything and looked again, thought it was fine. That being said I couldn't leave it totally alone. I did adjust the brightness a bit, sharpened ever so slightly, and there was a flaw on the rosebud I fixed that if you look closely you can probably spot.

The 100mm macro 1/200th sec f5.6 iso 200

Fun With The Fone

2011-07-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful morning of lazing on the couch listening to the crows crowing, woodpeckers pecking, hawks......doing what hawks do, I decided I should play with the camera on my phone a bit. I recently downloaded a camera effects program called "Camera360" that Jenn showed me. The camera on a phone is ok but this program makes it fun. here are samples of what I did today.

Tilt shift

I am going to have fun with this effect.

Black and white

very old film look

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

This won't replace my real camera by any means but it was fun taking the phone out in the yard and looking for photo's with these effects in mind. You may see more here from time to time.

I Love It When A Plan Works

2011-07-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

When I go out on a photo day, like the other day with Dar, the plan for photo's doesn't go beyond the location or type of subject matter. Some times the plan doesn't even start until the camera is at my eye and I start shooting. In this case as Dar and I walked up to these flowers I knew what I wanted. Quite often when that happens I will come away with something entirely different than what I saw. That's ok too, the idea is to get a photograph, right?. This time, I got what I was looking for and that's just fine.

I used the 100mm macro 1/100th sec f5.6 iso 100

Out And About

2011-07-06T01:32:00.000-07:00

It was a fine hot day for our photo day today. We went to Fleetwood Park in Surrey to photograph flowers. We spent a couple hours there then after a nice lunch we went off to Fort Langley. There we were in and out of antique shops, down by the river and up an alley. Pretty much The same route we took last time. It's interesting revisiting a place gone to before. You go there wondering if you could find something new in what you've seen before. Of course you do, every time.
Here we stopped at Into Chocolate spending some time taking photo's. It's always interesting to see the different things Dar and see and photograph when we go somewhere.

I used the 100mm macro at 1/80th sec f2.8 iso 200

No Rescue

2011-07-04T19:32:00.000-07:00

Dar and I are going out for a photo day tomorrow. I am so looking forward to it. I have the camera dusted off and the battery charging. Gonna be a great day. Going to sort of repeat a past trip out to Fort Langley and area. Maybe look for some flowers.
Here is a photo from our last trip. It was our second visit to this boat. The previous time the light was failing and I had to bump up the iso. The pictures would have been great but were too noisey. It was a lot brighter this day. The tide was in this time so couldn't get as close but I was happy with the shots I got.

I used the 17mm 1/160th sec f8 iso 100 I've come to enjoy tweaking my photos and this was no exception. I used layers and levels for the light and mood. I made the clouds more dramatic, under-saturated the boat and slightly over-saturated the rest. It's fun and I think it takes the photo's up a notch or two.

It's All In The Angle Of The

2011-06-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

I have shown photos here where I've held the camera at an angle before. It's kind of a fun thing however it's something I still do with a little trepidation. There are different reasons for doing this, it can create tension in a photograph, it can be arty (wedding photographers do it a lot), or (my favourite) it can be just to fit the damn subject in the damn frame. This photo fits in the first and last category I think. Well maybe the second as well. The trepidation comes from leaving the thought that a horizon has to be horizontal. Generally when I look through the frame for a shot like this I start horizontal and as I look the idea will come to tilt and I'll angle the camera till it looks right.

This is with the 71-210 at 130mm 1/320th sec f4 iso 100

That Leap

2011-06-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes watching birds I wonder if they are having fun flying. The little chickadees darting through the trees or eagles soaring high. Are they just using flight as a function to get somewhere or to hunt for food? It seems amazing that they couldn't be performing those aerobatics just for the heck of it. I don't think this young fellow was leaving because he was afraid, he just wanted to show off a bit, make me jealous.

The 70-210 at 210mm 1/640th sec f4 iso 100

Eyes open

2011-06-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

The past while I have hardly had the camera out. I was considering that when I spotted this moth on the window. I noticed how the light glowed through his/her wings and thought that would be great to capture. It took a few tries as although the background is totally blurred out it played a very important part in the image. When I started taking photo's I was standing in front of the window looking up at the moth. The background although blurred was white at the top and went grey at the bottom. Didn't look quite right. As I moved around (getting up on the kitchen counter) I noticed different colour and light quality in each photo. This one had an apple tree behind it about 40 ft out. The light still glowed nicely and had a nice green tint to it in my mind. I even had a look at it in black and white but the colour won me over.

I used the 100mm macro 1/80th sec f4 iso 100

Lost And

2011-06-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

While on our photo walk Dar and I spotted an abandoned bicycle in the bushes. We pondered for a moment what it's story was and how it got here. Spotting something hidden and out of place like this always leaves me with a sense of the mystery. Of course, cameras in hand it was definitely a photo op. This is what I came away with.

Taken with the 50mm 1/80th sec f3.5 iso 100

A Fan

2011-06-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not a hockey fan. I was near Rogers Arena today. It was quite the sight hours before the game, the sea of Canuck jerseys, the bumper to bumper traffic with most of the cars flying Canuck flags. I got out of there of course, I'll put the game on tv. Sitting outside amongst all this I happened to look up and noticed this one flag on a highrise. It was so small but it stood out. Good luck tonight.

I shot this with my 100mm macro 1/250th sec f8 iso 100

Shoot Through

2011-06-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

My day with Dar did have a bit of a nautical theme as we were in Steveston. We went by a yard with nets, floats and all kinds of fishing stuff. We didn't have enough time to see if we could go in and walk around this day so we decided to try some photo's through the chain link fence. As I walked to the fence I wasn't seeing anything but a bunch of floats and rope. I couldn't see a point of interest especially with the chain link fence it was leaning against. Until I got right up to it. I had the lens hood pressed against the fence and found this shot. I did take a couple more and perhaps I should have stayed a while going up and down the fence but I had this and I was happy. We had other places to go.

This was with the 50mm 1/1600th sec at f1.7 to keep that dof shallow. iso 100

Rephoto

2011-06-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

Dar posted a photo of me taking a photo the other day. Here is one of her on the same day, a short while later, taking a photo of a statue while another statue appears to be guiding her along.

I used my 17mm at 1/320th sec f3.5 iso 100

That Creepy Feeling

2011-05-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been by an abandoned house, wanted to go exploring but something held you back a bit? You walk a bit softly, pausing to gather courage every few moments? You find yourself checking the windows, constantly looking over your shoulder? The colour seems to drain from the world as you get closer and something inside seems to say "stay away".
Not me. No way. Nothing like that bothers me. But if it did, I wonder if it might look a bit like this....

I used the 17mm shot at 1/500th sec f3.5 iso 100. Then did some digital doodling to drain the colour from the world around the house.

Take A Picture, Make A Picture

2011-05-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

One evening when we were in Seaside we on the spur of the moment decided we should run down to the beach and try catch the sunset. On the way I spotted this very nicely restored 55 Chev. I posted a straight up shot on facebook but here is what I had planned when I saw this car.

It was a case of coming across something and seeing potential. I had only a few minutes as I had to stand in the middle of the road and had a car full of people patiently waiting for me (the driver).
See past the jump for some details on how I got this.

With the sky so bright and the car in shadow I knew it would take some work to bring the photo to what I wanted. I started with this,

and this,

I copied the car from the top one and laid it over the car in the bottom one. I made two layers of the bottom copy and made adjustments for the road and buildings on one, then the sky on the other. I had to make small adjustments for size and position of the car. I even made a layer for the right front tire which caught some glow from the sun. As I write this I'm not sure if that will show on the screen. Hope so, it looks pretty cool.
This isn't an everyday thing to do with photo's but sometimes it's worth it. This took about an hour or more to put together not including messing up the first time and not noticing until I was pretty much done. A learning experience.

What I Saw

2011-05-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

On her blog Dar posted a photo she took of me taking a photo. Coming home from work today we were talking about it and thought it might be interesting for you to see a picture of what I saw when she took a picture of what she saw.

Taken with the 50mm 1/640th sec f2.5 iso 100

She's Hanging Up Her Headset

2011-05-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

After 35 years of dispatching for police you'd think you've seen and heard it all. My friend Brenda probably has. She handled and was involved with every type of call from mere parking complaints, thefts, right up to bank robberies, homicides, and even a plane crash. I kid you not. All through this she has maintained such a sense of humour and (most of) her sanity. She always has a story to tell, she is quick to laugh, she is the first to donate to a cause. If you are here you will likely have a twizzler in your hand pretty quick.

Most people in here could tell you a "Brenda" story, here is mine. One morning we were all waiting to go home after a long night shift. Brenda got a call, said "Police, Fire, or Ambulance", then proceeded to listen. And listen. She sat there, hand shielding her eyes, sighing once in a while, making the talk talk talk motion with her hand. The caller kept talking and Brenda started looking worried this might never end. She couldn't get a word in edgewise. Finally she knew she had to do something to get the lady to stop so she interrupted and said "Ma'am are you finished?" There was a pause and the caller said "No, I'm Yugoslavian".

Brenda asked me for a photo of her headset as a momento so one morning at work I took it from her, sat at our "CD" desk and took a bunch of pictures. Here is the one we decided on.

Brenda you have been part of my life at work since I have been there. We've been through a lot and had a lot of laughs together. I cherish those memories and I know things will be a bit quieter here but will still echo with your presence. Take care my friend.

My Favourite Of The Day

2011-05-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

I took a little longer to put a post up than I had hoped. There were some unforseen circumstances that a week or so ago would have had me in a panic. Now I can do this on a looser schedule it's not so bad. Dar and I went to photograph Eagles today. Unfortunately we couldn't get in to the location... which happens to be a landfill site. No worries, we made an appointment to go next week. The other place we went to was Steveston. We enjoyed a nice seafood lunch at a local eatery and then carried on performing with the cameras. It was pretty easy. There's no end of buildings, boats, cars, riverside views. It was a good day.
Towards the end of the day Dar asked which was my favourite photo. I told her I just didn't know yet, I didn't tell her she just gave me a subject for a post.
Interesting my favourites would be of her. When we first drove by the red brick wall Dar pointed it out saying what a great backdrop for portraits it would make. A while later we happened to be walking by it and decided we should try some shots in front of it. This was my favourite. My other favourite happened to be here as well. I'm going to save it for another day though.

I used the venerable 50mm 1/1600th sec at f1.7 iso 100.

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-05-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

This is Mom at Indian Beach in Oregon. I had wanted to get a photo at this spot when Peter (Nick) and I were there. I had the location wrong and by the time we got there it was too late to get down to the beach for a picture. So we got to see it, just not from this angle. Next time, because apparently there will be a next time.

Finally....

2011-05-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

I did it. I didn't realize and almost missed it but I checked yesterday and I started this blog 09/May/2010. I have reached my goal of posting a photo a day for a year. It was a great experience for me. My original reason for doing this was to get myself inspired to do my photography. It did that and more. I learned a lot if just by virtue of having to think about how to complete the projects. So what now? I am going to try something different, I am going to post about twice a week (thinking Wed and Sat) I am still up in the air about what exactly to do so look for it starting Saturday. It'll be a surprise. Thanks for following and looking and all the comments. It's been fun for me and I look forward to making future posts.

Taken with the 50mm (as the final one had to be) 1/125th sec f10 iso 100. 2 flash through umbrella behind and on either side, one flash high and to the right using the Lumiquest Softbox III. I am holding my Maxxum 7 film camera. Did I tell you that was the best camera I ever owned....

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hello Again Lindsay

2011-05-07T23:45:00.000-07:00

This is another one from the little shoot I did with Lindsay. I didn't choose it first time because the post was about the fingernails. I really liked it though, quite possibly my favourite from that shoot. When you take some time and try out different ideas you will at the least get the shot you're looking for, and will likely get other good ones. One thing that made it fun was keeping it simple. One off camera flash on a stand above the camera. I actually had to shoot around the stand. I had my Lumiquest Softbox III on for some diffusion.

I used the 50mm 1/80th sec f4 iso 100

Another Bird Photo

2011-05-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

I Have had this photo in the sidelines for quite some time. These are birds I've come across since I was a little boy. They aren't hard to find, you usually just walk around for a while. Grouse are fairly plentiful and they aren't the brightest birds around. They seem a little reluctant to fly. I caught these photos of this one on the side of the road. I spotted her as I was driving my van, stopped, got out, and started clicking away. She slowly walked away from me the whole time. Maybe she had a nest nearby and was trying to distract me from it. If she was it worked but I got what I wanted from her anyhow.

I used the 70-210 at 210mm 1/160th sec at f5 iso 200.

Room With A View

2011-05-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

I Posted this on my facebook but I liked it so much I thought I'd fix it up a bit and show it off here. It's an idea came to me climbing in to the back of the truck. I am always excited to get to drive on the beach when we go there. I even took a motorcycle the beach once. I try to make sure I get a photo of whatever vehicle I'm out there with. This time I thought why not try get one looking out from inside. Shows we were driving out there and it frames the photo nicely.

The 17mm was perfect for this shot at 1/1000th sec f6.3 iso 200

Funland

2011-05-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

Seaside is a fun little town I've been visiting since I was a little boy. It always had the bumper cars, arcade games, and little souvenir stores. It has been modernized but has kept it's resort atmosphere. While walking along Broadway I recalled I have photo's at home from the 50's and 60's of parades and events where you could still pick out the spots they were taken. There is one exception, a great big concrete slab of a condo building put right on Broadway at the edge of the beach. Now as you walk west on Broadway you look through a narrow slit of light to the beach. Too bad. Oh well there are still plenty of sights taken from the old days and cleaned up for the new days.

This was with the 17mm 1/20th sec f4 iso 200.

Walk With A Purpose

2011-05-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

That's what this little fellow was doing when I took this. It's worth it to stick around a bit after you get what you came for. The sun had gone down and I was thinking we should head back to the nice toasty room. Then he walked by and I decided to see what I could do. Glad I did.

I used the 17mm 1/200th sec at f4 iso 200

Still At The Beach

2011-05-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

Back home now. It was a great weekend. I still have some photo's for posts. They aren't all at the beach but here is another one. Quite often you can find little things that puzzle you a bit and are worth pondering over. Here was one. In the sunlight it caught the eye. There was some debate about if it was just a big water droplet or some jelly thing. Checking with a stick we discovered it was a jelly thing. My big question was how do I photograph it. I had the 17mm on the camera pretty solid this weekend and it came in handy here. kneeling down I held the camera very close to the ground. I was guessing to the framing and after a couple of tries I got it right. So I got it close up and in it's environment. I thought that was pretty clever of me.

The 17mm at 1/320th sec f13 iso 200

Last Night

2011-05-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share another from the beach yesterday of the Peter Iredale. Had a long day today, expect I'll go through the photos tomorrow once we get home. Very tired tonight so I am going to just post and head for bed. Thanks for looking.

A Sad Sunny Day

2011-04-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

Today we spread my aunts ashes. Needless to say it was a sad day in many respects but as is tyical for my family it was very informal and a nice get together for family. We also toured around the area which is a must when coming to Seaside. Today we were North of Seaside visiting a few places including the Peter Iredale.This little girl was loving stepping in the water with her boots and for a few moments was fascinated by this metal shaft sticking out of the sand. I got permission from Mom to take some photo's and started clicking away. She heard my camera going and turned and posed with a big smile. This photo was just a little before she noticed me. She was such a little sweet heart who became quite unhappy when Mom had to take her from a wave that came in a little close.

I expect I'll be posting photo's for a bit from this trip.

The Beach

2011-04-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

We are in Seaside. It was a good trip. We got to see tanks in the vehicle park at the military museum. I got to have razor clams for dinner. A trip here wouldn't be complete withot a trip to the turnaround and on to the beach. I got that first evening down to the water with Peter (Nick) and cousins Debra and Judi. Here is a sunset shot caught from the turnaround.

I am doing this post (and the next few days) from my netbook. So no exposure info handy.

Road Trip!

2011-04-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

(Peter) Nick and I are going on a trip to Seaside in Oregon. My brother Dale is coming as well. It is a somber occasion as we are spreading my Aunt Penny's ashes. However I'm looking forward to it. I want to show Peter (Nick) a great place where I have been on a lot of occasions and have lots of great memories. There is a lot to show him there and it'll be great for us to get away. Besides, even to mark the passing of a loved one, our family get togethers tend to be eventful.
This is a photo when I got my first digital camera. I wanted to take a photo of (Peter) Nick and he wanted to be doing something else. He stood there because Dad told him to, but he sure let Dad how how he felt about that. The big left cheek is a "gobstopper" which is still a favourite of his.

The exposure information was not recorded.

Carnival At Night

2011-04-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hand holding the camera at night is pretty much a no no. There is just no way to keep a photo sharp without a tripod in dim light. Sometimes sharp isn't what you're striving for. I was at the PNE one summer evening and thought about those ferris wheel shots at night where it looks like they're spinning like crazy. Figured I should give it a try when I saw this one. You could use a tripod for a shot like this, but you don't carry one for a full day at the fair on the off chance you might want use it. So hand held it was. Although motion is the effect you are looking for you still have to keep the camera as steady as possible. Too much movement and it would just become mush. I think here I just (only just) kept it still enough.

I used the 24-85 at 24mm 1/2 sec f4.5. If I get the chance again, maybe I'll go 1/4 or 1/15th.

A Portrait In Iron

2011-04-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

Steam engines are powerful. Steam engines are mighty. Shooting close and wide helped demonstrate that. Of course I shot this in colour and converted to black and white. It's suits the subject matter. This particular one is from the Kettle Valley Railway in the Okanagan. It was fun trying to get a photo of the train without a bunch of tourists around it. A little patience and I got a short little window of opportunity with no one standing on the cow catcher getting their photo taken.

I used the 17mm for the wide look shot 1/160th at f8 iso 200

Zero Out!

2011-04-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I made a link on Facebook to a post photographer Joe McNally did on his blog. It was about common mistakes using a camera. It's a great post. One he mentioned was "Don"t use yesterday's settings". Zero out your camera before you go out. That's a smart idea, one so good I had come up with it myself and have suggested to people before. It's a habit that has to be formed and one day I will have it.
When I've been driving to work the past few days I've been noticing the Mountains on the North Shore of Vancouver. The Lions have been looking pretty awesome in the first morning light with all the snow on them. Yesterday they looked pretty good, not a cloud in the sky so I found a spot and grabbed a few shots. Later at work I took the photo's for yesterday's post. This morning the Lions were absolutely dramatic with the stormy clouds around them and the golden sunlight shining on spots. So I went to the same spot as yesterday and started shooting. Click, crap. Click, crap, crap, crap, crap. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, it just didn't look right and the light was changing.... Then the bulb went on and I checked the settings. I was using settings I made for the photo's of Lindsay.

I used the 70-210 at 210mm 1/160th sec f6.3 iso 100. Once I got the settings right that is.

Some Fun With Nails.

2011-04-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were sitting at work admiring Lindsay's nail polish. She explained how she got the crackled effect with the polish. Steve said "Brook should photograph them". The light went on for me. I asked Lindsay if she was game and she said sure. So this morning we sat down and tried out some ideas. I got a few I liked and I may post a couple more. It was about the nails today though and this one was that matched the theme best.

I used the 50mm at 1/80th f4 iso 100. The flash was wireless above the camera shot through the Lumiquest Soft Box III

The Colour Is Gone

2011-04-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

The cans are empty, their colour is spent. I've talked about the graffiti in the tunnel behind my work. They use such bright colours and create huge wonderful images. The spraypaint cans get tossed aside. Someone does come clean them up. But for the ones still there, drained of their colour, how perfect is a black and white. I was checking out some funky features on my camera phone and came up with this.

Exposure didn't record

The Beauty of Colour

2011-04-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

I've Been thinking black and white the past little while. Tonight I was looking through old photos to see if there was something I could convert. I came across this one which I had looked at before but the timing wasn't just quite right. However I did do some manipulating. I saturated colour in the flower a bit then desaturated and darkened the background some. I wanted the colour on the flower to stand out. I think it works. So much for black and white tonight.

This was with the 100mm lens shot at /160th sec f8 iso 400

Inspiration!

2011-04-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

It was such a lovely spring day today. The sun was out, big puffy white clouds in the sky, flowers blooming like crazy. Especially Daffodils. They're every where you look. I was so inspired I got out the camera and went straight to the studio with some Daffodils. I love getting an idea and having the time and space to work with it. I guess I should have been outside running around taking photo's but here I had complete control and I have always enjoyed the look of flowers with a black background. I came out with this photo and one other I really enjoyed. I Think I'll show that one off another time.

Here is the 100mm shot 1/125th sec at f14 iso 100. Flash through an umbrella high and to the right, another one through a Lumiquest Softbox III at full power high, behind, and to the left.

Use What You Have

2011-04-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

I took the opportunity walking to the bus to see if I could get something for tonights blog with my camera phone. I took a few shots. It has a few positives and an few negatives. The camera is a 5megapixel which is small by today's standards. I do have photo's from a 3.2mp camera on this blog though. A positive is depth of field that goes on forever. A negative is the depth of field that goes on forever can't be controlled. I think that'll be ok for close up, not so great for portrait. I'll learn more about that. It has all kinds of doo dads on it and I look forward to playing with those. I guess it can be useful. I'll just have to realize it's limitations and work within them.

Shot with the Samsung Galaxy S lens at 3.79mm (no really that's the focal length) 1/50th sec at f2.6 iso 200

It's A Real Life Saver

2011-04-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

Years ago I went to Granville Island with the camera on quite a regular basis. This was one I took and printed up. It was originally in colour but I thought I would see what it looked like in black and white. I liked the results. Every time I go to the island I think of this shot and when I go out on the boardwalk, I look for lifesavers.

Didn't record the exposure of course. If you go to Granville Island check out the skyline. Looks a lot different now.

There And Back Again

2011-04-18T23:21:00.000-07:00

This was an opportunity I had revisited. I posted the first visit, I had been so taken with the idea of plantlife taking root on the wall of a building. I had to go back and photograph it again. I didn't post the second photo. I do now because with this weather coming out, I'm starting to think it's time to revisit the old haunts in town.

Was taken with the 50mm 1/200th sec f1.7 iso 100

A Graceful Landing

2011-04-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

I walked up a hill and was a fair distance from the nest. She was still not happy about me being there. She talked a lot, took off and flew some circles. She came back and talked a lot more at me. I guess as long as she could see me. I decided I had my shot and I should leave her alone.

Didn't note the exposure here. There is something wrong with the uploading tonight and I am not sure if the previous one I tried was posted. I wasn't happy with the photo once I saw it on the post anyhow so if it shows up I am taking it down.

All They Survey

2011-04-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

Canada Geese. My days have been pretty long. I've been tired by the time I get to sit here lately. I have been trying to think of what to say about this photo for a while. Tonight, I will just post and hope you enjoy the photo.

The 200-400 at 280mm 1/400th sec at f5.6 iso 200

Into the Dragons Lair

2011-04-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

With the studio it's going to be easier,or at least quicker, to set up shots I think. Here is a little experiment I tried with some dragon figurines. I figured I would have them guarding some jewelry or gold or something. All I could find was a couple little amethyst chips. In the photo they were way too small. I took separate photos of the jewelry with the same light. I copied them on to the photo, did some computer stuff to give them their look and, voila!

Shot with the 100mm macro 1/125thsec at f16 iso 100. Flash to the right and behind and fill flash to the left and front.

Coming Soon To a Lair Near You.....

2011-04-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Dragons!

Let's Go To The Beach

2011-04-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

Warm summer days at the beach and an ice cream cone are starting to come to mind. Definitely have to take the camera. While walking around I like to look down at water's edge. Sometimes I will find a still life I like. Like this one, which just happens to have been taken in March a couple years ago.

This was with the 24-85 at 85mm 1/60th sec at f8 iso 100.

Angry Bird

2011-04-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

There's a computer game out there called "Angry Birds". When I came across this photo I thought of that game. This is one angry looking little Sparrow. I wouldn't want to cross him late at night in the alley of some bird sanctuary.

This was shot with the 200-400 at 360mm f5.6 iso 200.

There's Something In The Air

2011-04-11T23:42:00.000-07:00

Spring. I was out doing some yard work today and it was so nice in the sun. I guess that's why I kept stopping at all the outside photo's looking for something to post. When I took this I wanted something just a little unusual. I wanted to show the lines in the feathers. There are a lot, going in all different directions but together they fit. I feels warm to me.

This was with the 200-400 at 250mm 1/400th sec at 5.6 iso 200

Pretty Bird

2011-04-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

Photographers dedicated to photographing birds can go to great lengths and expense to catch a good photo of one. They'll buy the best equipment, they'll travel great distances and spend hours waiting to catch the bird in the right light and at an angle pleasing to the eye. Other photographers will rely on dumb luck stepping out of the car in the parking lot, looking up at the right moment and luckily having the camera out and turned on. This particular photo would be the latter as taken by me.

Taken with the beercan 70-210 at 105mm 1/60th f11 iso 800

More Stuff To Think About

2011-04-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Found another one. Was just scanning the old photo's and this one just kind of leaped out at me. I had been playing around trying to figure out different ways to photograph the jewelry. Not sure why I picked an apple, guess I just had one handy. There were some other photos with the apple but I didn't really like them. I landed on this photo tonight and I had one of those little "oh" moments I've talked about before. I like those moments.

Shot with the 100mm macro 1/125th sec f11 iso 200

Red Wing Black Bird

2011-04-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

Here is another photo from that day at Reifel. Whenever I go there I like to try get a photo or 2 of the Red Wing Blackbird. Hadn't had much success with them till this day. They usually seem to stay in amongst the branches. This day they were venturing out more, maybe because of the sun. I got a few pretty good photo's I think.

This would have been with the Tamron 200-400 at 400mm. 1/320th sec f5.6 iso 200.

A LIttle Spring In His Step

2011-04-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

From a trip to Reifel Bird Sanctuary last year with Nicola and Andrea. Spring feels like it's here. Time to go out and enjoy the sun with a camera. May have to show some more from this trip too.

The Tamron 200-400 at 330mm at f6.3 iso 200

Straight Shooter

2011-04-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here is (Peter) Nick from the shots last night. Gone is the revolutionary look. Now he is hip with his fedora and haircut. I have to admit I like the new look.

This is another example of starting with one idea and coming out with another. I was originally looking for a profile shot with this light set up. As I was setting up I thought of this angle. I did a couple of the profile while adjusting the light, tried this angle and ended up sticking with it.

I used the 50mm 1/125th sec f11 iso 100. 1 flash behind and to his right with a Lumiquest III soft box on the strobe, in front and to left a strobe shot through umbrella a few stops down for some fill. I really am not sure how many stops I kept moving it back and forth.

Controlled Light

2011-04-05T23:22:00.000-07:00

I have a studio again. It is just a room in the basement so it is limited but I'll have fun with it. I am just setting it up and getting organized but tonight I took some time out to get a couple shots I've been thinking about. Tonight's is a project in the works for a few weeks now. In the works mainly because I kept forgetting to buy the coffee beans. Today I remembered them. I also got Peter (Nick) down to get some mood shots in one of his new fedora's. I'll post that tomorrow maybe.

This was shot with the 50mm 125th sec at f16 iso 100. 2 flash through umbrella.

An Environmental Portrait

2011-04-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

The Hope Slide. I remember this day, the day it happened. It was so long ago it's almost like a dream. The details are fuzzy of course but I recall trying to picture the scene in my mind. My imagination was just not big enough. I saw some photo's in the years after and even they couldn't do it justice. It isn't until you are there you can see just how huge It is. It's a pretty epic scene. I took the normal photo's looking up the mountain and they were okay. Jenn and I went walking out amongst the rocks which isn't highly recommended as it is somewhat treacherous. I was leaning against a rock at one point and realized it was bigger than my van. I looked around me and there were rocks strewn about all around me that size and bigger. I asked Jenn to go sit on this particular rock for a photo. Although you can't see that the rock field is 85 metres deep, 3 kilometres wide and crosses the entire valley I think this photo gives an impression of the scope of what happened here. Every once in a while I would stop and try to imagine the noise this must have made. My imagination still isn't big enough I don't think.

This image is cropped some, colour balanced, sharpened. I don't have the exposure recorded.

Uncle Floyd

2011-04-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

He was my Aunt Penny's husband. To me he was one of those bigger than life men. I always knew him with his silver hair, Deep soft spoken voice and that American accent. He always showed up with a gift when he and Penny came to visit. I knew him as a tv repairman, a musician, a fire-chief. He always came with a new joke to tell and the jokes were always funny. I think I was able to show the essence of Uncle Floyd, the hair, those glasses, and his clothing style. I caught him in a quiet contemplative moment here. Well, he was actually playing with a toy of my cousins, but it looks quiet and contemplative don't you think?

I Have A New Camera!

2011-04-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

Its my phone. My previous phone had one but it just wasn't really good for anything beyond maybe Facebook snaps. This new one is 5 megapixel which is still pretty small by today's standards but they are more useable. I took a few while out today with Dar on a short photo walk. We've been to this spot before, New Brighton Park. It's a pretty good spot for a view of the North Shore Mountains.

Don't worry, I'm not going to stop using my real cameras. Photo's from my phone may show up sometimes though.

Trees In the Mist

2011-04-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

This was a daytrip to Manning Park. We got a very early start to the day so as we went into the mountain area past Hope we made some stops for no other reason to than to take photos. It was a wonderful break from the usual rush to get to whereever. Too many times I'd driven by opportunities like these. Not this time!

I love photography.

Such as the true nature of the forest pictured here, the exposure info will remain a mystery.

Chrome!

2011-03-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

Same show, different thoughts. This was a really nice motorcycle all round but I wanted to highlight the motor in this shot. I thought it was a work of art all on it's own. The chrome made it shine. The short tail pipe looked elegant and functional. I am sure this bike would have a satisfying roar as it rolled by. I thought about using flash but I stuck with the room light. I think all things considered in a crowded show with no control over the setting I caught this motorcycle in a very good light.

The exposure info fell victim to computer updates. Fortunately the photo didn't.

What To Do With That Background

2011-03-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have always liked motorcycles. I have owned several over the years. My Dad had one and would take my Mom on it. I took her for rides too. I haven't ridden for a long time though. A few years ago just for the heck of it I went to a motorcycle show. There were a lot of real nice looking bikes there, made me yearn for years past. *sigh* . Of course I took the camera. One thing I noticed is at a show like this it can be tough to keep the background from being distracting. I darkened, softened, moved in closer, things like that. Here was a different idea. I kept the background there but used a filter to abstract it.It kept the people in the background, made it a little artistic, but also kept the motorcycle as the center of attention. It was fun!

Another unrecorded exposure oops.

Schools Out!

2011-03-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

For a while I had been doing some photographs of jewelry. I had been looking for different things to place the pieces on. I was using cloth, tiles, shells, all kinds of things. I was lucky the kids were still small so when I had this piece I had access to the perfect background. I kept it low and shot with flash, looking straight down on it.

No exposure info but I'm pretty sure it was 2 flash through umbrella on either side of the bracelet.