Looking to the Future

Another senior moment.

This time a young man who chose to be on the swim team for the last few years.

Here, he's a Fish out of water...

Shot with 40D & 50mm 1.4 at f8, 1/160th, iso 200, in the sunset with a 430EX gelled 3/4CTO to lift the shadows on his face.

Senior Moment

As in "High School Senior".

She was a little nervous having this old guy pointing a camera her way, but that is what we set out to do. In the end, I'm hopeful that something out of the hundred or so photos we made will work for her.

This is just the one I like best. Is that a great smile, or what?

Shot with 40D & 85mm 1.8 at f2, 1/250th, iso 100, all natural shaded evening light.

P.S. I'm breaking the rules here. I didn't shoot this today. I didn't get to shoot anything today as I was too busy with life to do so.

Ne

It's another theme weekend, and we have Lance to thank for this one.

Neon.

Naturally, I thought about finding a really cool neon sign at some business in town. There just isn't much neon around a small burg like this one.

OK, that's a lie. There's a lot of neon in this town to choose from. It's just that I was busy with an excavator all weekend playing in the dirt and didn't get to leave the yard boundaries long enough to make a photo of one.

So, my sweetie dug into the laundry pile and found a shirt with bright lettering to play with...

Shot with 40D & 30mm 1.4 at f5.6, 1/160th, iso 200, using a 580EX on camera bounced off the ceiling.

On The Level

Ain't technology grand?

I picked up this little gadget today that'll help me with all the things that should be plumb. It sends out a laser light to show where perfectly horizontal, or vertical, should be. I've been digging up the yard to try and solve a drainage problem. I figured I might need help sorting the pipe I'm going to lay down.

Since we all know: water ain't never flowed up no hills...

Shot with 40D & 85mm 1.8 at f2, 1/125th, iso 400, lit by the table lamp.

Jack the Hammer

When it's time to remove concrete, well, you gotta have the right friends in your corner.

I happen to know Jack...

Shot with 40D & 12-24 at 12mm, f8, 1/125th, iso 100, with a 580EX camera right, and a 430EX providing a little glare.

Interloper

We went out to a great place for pizza tonight.

While waiting for our order to arrive, I snapped a quick pic of the shakers sitting on the table. I'd noticed one little peppercorn had, apparently, decided the view was better from the salt shaker.

Maybe this is the black sheep of the family...

Shot with a Canon G7, 7mm, f8, 1/4 sec, iso 80.

Closer

Tim posted a very nice picture yesterday:


Copyright 2009 Tim Dustrude

and mentioned not being impressed with the plant before great light was applied to it.

So, I looked a little closer:



And discovered it is an amazing piece of work...

Shot with 30D & 85mm 1.8 on 36mm extension tube, f2.8, 1/250th, iso 400.

Balanced Diet

Tinkering.

Puttering.

Whittling.

Futzing about.

I don't really know much, but I know I need to be making something. Somehow the business of building, making, creating is a salve to my soul. Often the end result means little to me, and may be cannibalized for the next thing. It's the process that matters...

Do you have enough avenues for being creative?

Shot with 30D & 30mm 1.4 at f9, 1/250th, iso 100, using a 430EX either side each in an umbrella set to 1/4 power.

Channel 1/4 News

On northbound .5 today a Tonka truck overturned spilling sand, blocking Lego traffic until the evening snack commute.

This is News Chopper 1/4, reporting live...

Shot with 40D & 12-24 at 12mm, f11, 1/250th, iso 100, with a 430EX overhead in a softbox & another 430EX with DIY grid to provide 'catchlight' in the lens of the itty-bitty video camera.

0.33333333333

It's theme day here at the Three-Sixty-Five, and the theme is 'Rule of Thirds'.

Tim came up with the idea.

So, ah, what does that mean anyway? And who's idea was it to make rules for taking pictures?

It turns out that studies have shown that the human eye tends to move over an image naturally by dividing it into thirds. Placing interesting elements in the image at these points produces a more balanced photo.

Besides, you can find it on the interweb, it must be true...

Shot with 30D & 50mm 1.4 at f4, 1/250th, iso 100, with a single 430EX overhead at 1/8th power through a DIY grid spot.

Walk!

Whenever you can. You never know when it might end.

This group of people is out to raise awareness of ALS. I hope the word gets out there soon and a cure is found. It's a miserable way to go.

Shot with a G7, 7mm, f8, 1/250th, iso 80, out in the sunshine.

P.S. We miss you Mom...

Waiting Up

Did my parents wait up for me when I was 18? I don't remember, but I think they must have.

Back then all I thought about was the moment I was in.

The places I wanted to go.

The friends I would go with.

What fun it would be.

I know that's what she's doing now. It's nearing time for her to chart her own way in the world.

I just want that 5-year-old to climb up onto my lap with a bed time story to read. There's a black and white photo of her that reminds me of that age around here somewhere...

Shot with 40D & 50mm at f4, 1/15th, iso 400, using a single 430EX as the porch light shining through the sunrise window of the front door.

Life IS Good

Still have the extension tube on, why not look at something closer to home? This logo is on the hat I got for my birthday.

When you get right on top of something, you can almost smell it.

'Coarse, when you wear a piece of clothing as much as I wear this hat, you might not want to get that close...

Shot with 40D & 50mm 1.4 on 36mm extension tube, f2, 1/13th, iso 400, lit by the overhead lights in the kitchen.

Machinery

I stumbled on a long dormant project in the garage tonight.

I thought it'd be fun to see it up close and personal. Doing so brings out all the cobwebs - clearly this is a project in need of resurection or burial.

I guess I better decide before someone else gets into a purge mode...

Shot with 40D with 85mm on 36mm extension tube, f22, 15 seconds, iso 400.

Pin Hole

Photography sans lens.

That's what pinhole photography is all about.

A teeny little hole in a lens cap and leave the shutter open for a l o n g time.

I remember my dad coming home with a photo of the newsroom he'd shot using a round metal film container with a tiny hole in it. He'd dropped a short length of film into the one side and put the cap back on. Then while everyone was engrossed in their work, he walked in, set the 'camera' on a shelf, and walked out.

Some time later, he wandered back in and taped over the pinhole, disappeared into the darkroom and produced some prints. The funny thing was, there were no people in the picture - they'd all been moving for the duration of the exposure and didn't register long enough in any one place to form an image.

Magic.

So, I had to try it. I have an extra body cap from that 20D that went swimming that I drilled a small hole in. After taping a piece of aluminum (al-you-minee-um) foil over the opening, I poked it with a small sewing needle.

Shot with 40D & body cap, 15 seconds, iso 400, lit by the room lights.

T-Minus

It flies! Really.

It's an amazing piece of work. A little itty-bitty toy helicopter that is so well made it's eerie. I used to play with bigger brethren a lot back-in-the-day and they were never of this quality. I'm totally impressed with CNC machine work.

Makes me want a CNC machine of my own...

Shot with 40D & 50mm at f1.4, 1/60th, iso 400, lit by the overhead room lights.

Evening Shadows

As we headed down to the Taylor Street Boardwalk, there were these wonderful long shadows just before the sun disappeared behind the clouds on the horizon.

It made me wonder: would one use soap, or needle and thread to re-attach an escaped shadow?

Shot with 40D & 12-24 at 24mm, f4, 1/400th, iso 100.

Kiondos of Hope

Wonderful hand-woven bags, called kiondos, are created by women in Kenya to pass onto their daughters on their wedding day.

Because of the energy, drive, and support of two women in Bellingham, these wonderful bags are now imported into the US. Today, these bags were on display for anyone to buy. The proceeds go back to the artisans and help support a school that has now been operating for four years - graduating their first students this year.

Find out more about Tembo Trading Education Project at: www.tembotrading.org...

Shot with 40D & 17-35 at 17mm, f13, 1/200th, iso 100, lit by the sun high camera right and a 580EX hand-held camera left as high as I could reach and still look through the viewfinder.

Party at Mona's

Looking across the harbor tonight, I thought: "So that's where the party is!". Reminded me Stevie Ray Vaughn.

It's really just a Party at Mona's in the sunset...

Shot with 40D & 70-200 at 185mm, f5.6, 1/80th, iso 100.

Rorschach

What do you make of this ink blot in the sky? Me, I'm thinkin Mutara Nebula...

Shot with 40D & 50mm 1.4 at f4, 1/100th, iso 100.

Tyler

Man this kid can jump. When he's on his bike he can get some serious air.

We were out shooting his senior portraits and I thought it'd be fun to put him up on something to show him in his natural habitat.

By the way, some white men can jump...

Shot with 30D & 70-200 zoom at 105mm, f7.1, iso 100, lit with a single 580EX at 1/2 power.

Reduce. Re-use. Re-gift.

It's amazing to me how quickly things become old.

TV, radio, computer.

All too soon it's time to replace it with something bigger, faster, brighter.

What do you do with the old stuff? Turn it into a planter box!

Shot with 40D & 50mm 1.4 at f5.6, 1/250th, iso 100, with a single 430EX overhead in a softbox.

A Girls Best Friend

I don't have anything to say about this, except that it was a quiet moment in a busy afternoon...

Shot with 40D & 85 1.8 at f2, 1/640th, iso 400, lit by the open window and low clouds.

Instruments de Cuisine

Casting about tonight for things with color I stumbled across this vase my sweetie uses to display her cherished garden clippings.

Of coarse, it's made of glass and doesn't display color all on it's own. But, it does reflect it.

So, I hung a piece of construction paper on either side, one red & one green, with a flash aimed at each. One more flash to light the top of the paint guacamole mixer and I have my photo for the night.

Now I'm hungry...

Shot with 40D & 50mm 1.4 at f5.6, 1/250th, iso 100, lit with three speed lights.

Primordial Ooze

From out of the developer muck came digital. Or so one theory goes...

Shot with 40D & 50mm 1.4 at f8, 1/60th, iso 100, lit with a single 430EX high camera right and another 430 with DIY grid standing in for the distant sun.

Think Like Mac

I like my HP laptop.

The wonderful thing about it is that it allows me to work where ever want to. The sad thing about it is that it means I can work where ever I go.

It has seen a lot of use, no part more than the stupid little power connector. It jacks into the back corner of the machine and offers a little too much leverage for it's own good. I'm on my third power supply as the wire eventually gives up the ghost from too much bending over it's lifetime. It's at the point where the socket on the motherboard is going to give up soon too.

So, what to do about it?

I could go buy a new computer. But right now that means putting up with Windoze Vista, and I really don't want to go there. Besides, the time needed to get all my software tools working on a new machine is a little too much to squeeze in right now.

I want an Apple computer. That's the truth. Hey, why not just steal that really good power connector idea? You know, the one with the magnets that just pops off when yanked or tripped on or bent too far over.

Get out the styrene plastic. Find the Xacto knife and saw. Seems I haven't given up sniffing glue after all. And, who is that guy named Mac anyway?

Shot with 40D & 50mm 1.4 at f4, 1/100th, iso 400, with a little bounce from a single 430EX on camera.

Wannabe

Here's your friendly neighborhood geek dreaming of being a 'real' photographer.



He's got some gear.
He knows what an f-stop is.
He knows how to insert & download the CF card and how to swap lenses.



Now, if only he could find a better looking model. Say, are you available?

Shot in the mirror with a 40D & 85mm 1.8 at f2, 1/250th, iso 100, using two 430EX flashes.

The Windup

Though I wasn't particularly good at it, I miss playing softball. It was a good way to spend an evening with some buddies and get the blood pumping. We never won a game unless we played a double-header, and then it was only on the second game.

I guess we used the first game as a warm up...

Shot with 40D & 85mm at f11, 1/250th, iso 100, lit with a single 430EX in DIY grid in the living room.

Harvest Time

Being part of a garden cooperative we get deliveries of fresh vegetables, sometimes faster than we can get through them.

Check your food pyramid and you'll see what all the fuss is about...

Shot with 40D & 30mm 1.4 at f11, 1/250th, iso 100, lit by a single 580EX overhead set to 1/8th power.