Best of the 365 Blog – March 2018

Other than spring break, March was a sparse month for photography. Rather than publish an excessive number of bad snapshots, I’m going with five photos rather than the usual eight.

Nikon 810, 66mm (28-105), 1/100, f/10, ISO 200

I’m using this photo of the leftovers from a traffic mishap to teach students about visual storytelling and how to read an image.

Nikon 810, 18mm (18-35), 1/60, f/6.3, ISO 800

As bad as the rest of the month was, our trip to Pratt, Kan., was a visual goldmine. I took dozens of photos at the Pratt County Historical Museum, including this shot of my favorite exhibit: the toaster collection.

Nikon 810, 18mm (18-35), HDR

The next day we drove to Greensburg to visit the Big Well. This is an HDR shot from the bottom looking up.

iPhone 7

On the other hand, this is what most of March was like. It’s a somewhat interesting pattern of mulch bags, but it doesn’t amount to much more than a quick picture taken while I was out running errands. It meets the one-photo-per-day requirement but not much more.

Nikon 810, 75mm (28-105), 1/125, f/25, ISO 100, cropped

Dramatic lighting and macro focus make this small bear from my bookshelf look quite menacing.

The Big Well

Nikon 810, 18mm (18-35), HDR

The second full day of the Pratt trip found us in Greensburg in pursuit of good photos of the World’s Deepest Hand Dug Well. Several years ago the whole town was destroyed by a tornado. The new Big Well building looks much different from the original.

Nikon 810, 18mm (18-35), 1/250, f/4.0, ISO 640

Nikon 810, 18mm (18-35), 1/160, f/16, ISO 200

Nikon 810, 35mm (18-35), 1/60, f/6.3, ISO 640

Pratt County Historical Museum

During spring break Amy and I took a brief trip to Pratt, Kan. My family is from Pratt, and many visits over the years clued me in to some good spots to take photos. One of which was the Pratt County Historical Museum.

In keeping with museums in general and smaller museums in particular, the lighting was terrible. However, I managed to get most of the photos I wanted.

Nikon 810, 18mm (18-35), 1/60, f/6.3, ISO 800

The one shot I absolutely wouldn’t have left without was Wayne Konkel’s collection of toasters and waffle irons. I actually got to meet the benefactor years ago. He seemed like a nice guy who just happened to have an affection for small kitchen appliances.

Nikon 810, 35mm (18-35), 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 2500

This refugee from a hair salon looked like a robot jellyfish out of a 50s-era sci fi movie.

Nikon 810, 35mm (18-35), 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 4000

Oddly, this turned out to be the “portfolio piece” of the lot. It reminded me of walking to the post office with my grandmother so we could pick up the mail. I think these boxes predated the ones in use when I was a kid, but it was a nice memory nonetheless.

Nikon 810, 75mm? (28-105), 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 800

Not sure exactly what this does, but it looked interesting.

Nikon 810, 35mm (18-35), 1/80, f/4.5, ISO 1000

And of course what local history museum would be complete without an antique cash register?

Best of the 365 Blog – February 2018

Nikon 810, 35mm (18-35), 1/200, f/22, ISO 400

March got off to an interesting start with a photo of a lonely ball in the middle of the street.

Nikon 810, 105mm (28-105), 1/200, f/16, ISO 400

The outdoor kittens have turned into outdoor cats. This is the same guy from the January best of.

Nikon 810, 105mm (28-105), 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 100

For many years I’ve meant to start a photo essay (maybe even a book) documenting cenotaphs. That project officially got underway this month.

Nikon 810, 8mm, 1/60, f/3.5, ISO 1250

Bathroom renovation continues apace. This is a shot using the 8mm lens.

Nikon 7000, 100mm (28-200), 1/60, f/5.3, ISO 1600

I had my honors students do a group cooperation exercise. It produced some interesting results and this interesting picture.

Nikon 810, 90mm (28-105), 1/80, f.4.5, ISO 320

In January I blogged a photo of the bathroom light fixture without its glass. Here it is with everything in place. I had a little fun with the exposure, which is why it looks a little strange.

Nikon 810, 50mm (28-105), 1/60, f/4, ISO 3200

Anna has a yawn, making for an interesting shot.

Nikon 810, 18mm (18-35), 1/60, f/13, ISO 800, adjusted

The contrast in this photo as shot was already fairly stark, so I pushed it as far as it would go. On my bookshelves at work I’ve got a guide to the laborious process of producing this result in the darkroom. In Lightroom it was a quick tweak of a slider.

Best of the 365 Blog – January 2018

Nikon 810, 98mm (28-105), 1/4000, f/4.5, ISO 200

The year got off to a good photographic start with a little bokeh from the ballpark.

Nikon 810, 105mm (28-105), 1/1000, f/4.5, ISO 400

Last year’s outdoor kittens are starting to get big.

Nikon 810, 66mm (28-105), 1/80, f/4.5, ISO 8000

I finally got the drone out of the box. Any day now I’m going to fly it.

Nikon 810, 105mm (28-105), 1/125, f/10, ISO 200

We’re getting some work done in our bathroom. This is the new light fixture without the glass balls that will hang from the hooks.

Nikon 810, 105mm (28-105), 1/125, f/5.6, ISO 400

We have two questions: where is breakfast, and give us breakfast. Mom’s on the far right.

Nikon 810, 105mm (28-105), 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 4000

For my photo class, I needed to take a picture of something I hated. This is part of the old kitchen sink faucet that was screwed up, leaked water into the basement, and was a colossal pain to remove.

Nikon 810, 92mm (28-105), 1/80, f/11, ISO 500

Also for the class: something I collect. Freakies. The full set.

Nikon 810, 105mm (28-105), 1/2500, f/4.5, ISO 200

Somebody had a horrible fight and left blood and bloody footprints all over the stoop.

Best of the 365 Blog - December 2017

To officially finish out 2017, here’s the best of the 365 blog from December.

iPhone 7

Too far away to get much goose detail with the phone, but I liked the random scattering juxtaposed with the architectural geometry.

Nikon D7000, Lensbaby single glass with shaped aperture, 1/2 sec, ISO 100

 For the final, “fun” session of my photo class, we played around with shaped bokeh by hanging a string of Christmas lights on the wall behind a ceramic figure.

iPhone 7

Tile on the floor at City Fish and More.

Nikon D810, 55mm (28-105), HDR

Christmas lights on the house across the street. This is an HDR combo of three photos.

Nikon D810, 8mm, 1/60, f/4, ISO 200

I shot this fisheye view of our bathroom renovation in progress by lying down on the floor.

Nikon D810, 105mm (28-105), 1/100, f/14, ISO 800

The first real snowfall of the winter. One of the outside cats left some prints on the walk.

Nikon D810, 90mm (28-105), 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 8000

Our contractor’s shop vac looks like it has a smiley face.

iPhone 7

And to finish out the year, some tiny snowflakes on the car window.

Best of the 365 blog - November 2017

In November my photo class moves beyond the basics, so the photos we take for exercises get a little more interesting.

iPhone 7

Here’s a sad story to start the day: a lost mitten.

iPhone 7

Drove 1000 miles there and back in a failed quest for this shot, and now here it is right outside my office.

Nikon D810, 300mm (75-300), 1/320, F/5.6, ISO 640

The Jack o Lantern Retirement Home.

Nikon D810, 105mm (28-105), 10 sec, f/25, ISO 400

One of the photo class’ choice for skill building week was light painting.

iPhone 7

I’m a fan of puddle reflection photos, so I was glad to catch a chance to take one of my own.

Nikon D810, 35mm (18-35), 1/1250, f/4.5, ISO 100

On a landscape photo quest with my students, I noticed this discarded bag in a dry creek. This is actually one of a pair of photos that demonstrate the effect of depth of field.

Nikon D810, 105mm (28-105), 1/125, f/5, ISO 800, cropped

Jenny is so cute, even when she pretty obviously doesn’t want to have her picture taken.

For a last minute desperation shot taken with an iPad, this actually isn’t that bad.