Fireworks 2017

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 0.3 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

This year’s festivities were considerably more low-key than last year. No huge crowd, no elaborate multi-camera setup. Still, we had fun and I got a few good shots.

Nikon D7000, 28mm (28-200), 1/80, f/3.8, ISO 400

Before sunset we set of smoke bombs.

Nikon D3000, 45mm (18-55), 1/125, f/5.6, ISO 200

 They made some interesting colors of mess in the grass.

Nikon D7000, 28mm (28-200), 1/20, f/3.8, ISO 400

And speaking of making messes ... I stuck candles next to the sidewalk so we’d have a little light and a good source of flame to keep the punks going. Unfortunately they dripped wax all over the place.

Nikon D7000, 50mm (28-200), 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 400

One of the displays looked like a camera.

Nikon D7000, 200mm (28-200), 1/40, f/5.6, ISO 400

“Bees in a Thicket” is a popular classic we do every year.

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 2 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

And as usual a good time was had by all. Lens flare notwithstanding, I love the dandelion shape of this one.

Best of the 365 Blog - June 2017

June always seems to be a good month for photography. The spring semester is clearly in the rear-view, and the fall hasn’t crested the horizon yet. Time to get out and take some pictures!

This odd specimen is the inside of a LifeFactory glass bottle. I shot it through the top looking down, using a 10.5mm lens to get as much in as possible.

Nikon D3000, 10.5mm, 1/200, f/7.1, ISO 100

Mongolian barbecue is such fun to watch. Turns out it makes a pretty good photo, too.

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I was taking some pictures of typewriter keys for a project I was working on, and I also got a few good ones of the rest of the machine.

Nikon D3000, 36mm (18-55), 1/30, f/5.0, ISO 200

This one looks carefully planned, but it was totally spontaneous. While on my way to move the Jeep from the rear driveway to the street in front of the house, I happened by this backyard plant on one of its rare flowering days. Quick snap with the phone.

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I’ve been doing some prep work for my Beginning Photography class in the fall. I decided to make a banner graphic for the weekly quizzes out of pictures of objects that look like letters. The Q is a quick, natural light setup on a piece of foam core in a window.

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Here’s how the rest of the banner came out:

I don’t think this will make the quizzes any easier, but I hope a pleasant graphic presentation will at least take some of the stress out of the experience.

Coffee pot at First Watch (another sure sign that I’m getting old).

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A small (coffee cup size, maybe a little larger) Ganesh side-lit by the setting sun and photographed with a macro lens.

Nikon D7000, 80mm (35-80), 1/800, f/7.1, ISO 400

And a trio of lovely ladies getting an early start on Day of the Dead festivities. I stood the figures up in front of a computer display showing a Dia de Los Muertos celebration and used an open window and a shaving mirror to do the lighting. The result was filtered for shake reduction but otherwise not Photoshopped in any way.

Nikon D7000, 55mm (35-80), 1/50, f/4.8, ISO 400

Quiz! letters

I wanted a nice graphic to go with the weekly quizzes in my Intro to Photography class. So naturally I figured the best thing would be a banner made of photos.

Except for the close-up of Jenny’s eye, I took all of these photos specifically for this project. Then I used a poster mock-up from Adobe to give them a nice frame.

Best of the 365 Blog - May 2017

Wildlife turned out to be the theme for May.

Early in the month the bees returned to the tree in our front yard.

Nikon D7000, 300mm (75-300), 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 800, cropped

At work a goose set up camp under a tree right next to the sidewalk.

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This is Boris, one of the strays we feed. She can be elusive, but this afternoon she patiently posed for a long-distance portrait.

Nikon D7000, 200mm (75-300), 1/60, f/5.3, ISO 1600, cropped

When the cat takes possession of what you're working on, all you can do is take pictures of the cat.

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My grandpa’s old musical slide rule, now mounted on the side of a bookshelf.

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I managed to catch some good photos of a squirrel on our deck eating a slice of bread. One of the other photos got edited into a squirrel holding a protest sign.

Nikon D7000, 300mm (75-300), 1/400, f/5.6, ISO 1600, cropped

Two piñatas that managed to survive last June’s birthday fest. And of course maneki neko.

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And at long last I made it to my 365th straight photo. Out at the stadium I looked around for something that said “365,” but the closest I could come was five off.

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360 Bar light adjustment

iPhone 7, cropped and altered

For my 365th day in a row, I went in search of a scene with “365” in it. And I ended up settling for 360.

Cropped and straightened, this wasn’t a bad shot. Except for one thing: to get the light levels adjusted properly for the shot as a whole, I had to make the interesting part (the folks behind the counter) too dark.

Enter Photoshop. I masked off the stand’s window (easy enough, as it was close to a simple rectangle). Then I could adjust the light levels separately.

For my blog, this wasn’t a problem at all. But if I took this picture for a newspaper, odds are this kind of alteration would be considered an ethics violation. Even though the result produced a photo that accurately reproduced what I saw when I took it, masking is considered a slippery slope for folks whose reputations depend on publication of unaltered images.

Here’s the photo as shot:

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Best of the 365 Blog - April 2017

April was a quiet month, mostly spent at work or at home.

A cat toy abandoned on a heating grate made an interesting study in patterns and lines.

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This is a close up of gel pens in a rack. I used an off-camera flash to get the odd side lighting.

Nikon D7000, 80mm (35-80), 1/125, f/32, ISO 200

When I moved the bird seed boxes off their shelf to refill them, I found an interesting example of texture and rule of thirds.

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I got a mini fridge for my office, just big enough for six cans of DMD.

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April 15 found us back at the ballpark for another season in the sun. This is the well-worn number on the back of my seat.

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Easter eggs, naturally.

Nikon D7000, 45mm (35-80), 1/1250, f/4.2, ISO 200

Here’s something I’d never seen before: two pennies in a Ziploc bag of water, hanging above the drive-thru window at China Feast. We looked it up later and found that it was there for good luck and good fortune.

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It seemed like this might be useful photo clip art for future projects.

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Easter eggs

Nikon D7000, 45mm (35-80), 1/1000, f/4.2, ISO 200

Happy Easter!

A carton of Easter eggs gave me an opportunity to do a little selective focus. With the aperture open that wide, the depth of field is fairly narrow. It’s a nice effect, particularly with the spring green in the background.