D-333 Peak into my world

or at least a peak into my living room.

#ds380 The Golden Ratio has been used in art for millennia. Use or illustrate the Golden Ratio in a photograph today.

The fact that you can see my whole living room in that bulb was a nice surprise. I was concentrating on the Christmas tree bokeh.


In 36 days and I would have completed the second year of this project. I have accomplished the goal that I set out to do - Improve my photography. I feel pretty satisfied that I have accomplished that, there are several more goals that I still need to accomplish. Tonight I need to spend sometime brainstorming and putting pen to paper (away from the computer), to see what unravels.


Do you set yearly goals? Do you track your progress throughout the year?
The end of the calender year and the beginning of the new year always get me to writing things down. I do however constantly update my goals. Is there a specific time of year that you decide to revamp your goals?


Images Viewed: Another site that's well worth a look at: Visual Meanderings

D-332 Halo

I'm calling it quits early tonight. I'll catch up on blogs tomorrow.
. . .night zzzzzz

Halo





Images viewed: Sid Black's Flickr

D-331 Meet Capone

My oldest son who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 4 years after high school then moved to California for a couple of years, has recently moved back to the area. With him he brought his small pony, I mean large Dog. LOL

Meet Capone . . . what a sweet dog!





because of his brindle markings/color he blended in with the fallen leaves and fall ground, it was a little difficult at first. He's a pit mix with boxer, we believe. He was adopted from the humane society. My son loves him so much and the feeling is mutual.

Images viewed: Should have read this before the shoot Weekly Photography Tips

D-330 Point of View

The daily shoot:
#ds377 Go for an unusual point of view and make a photograph that can only be made from that viewpoint.
It really does matter where you are looking from. Sometimes you just have to change your point of view.



Not an unusual POV but her mom is on leave because of the holiday and we celebrated her 4th birthday party today - the look on Isabella's face says it all. She's happy to have her mom home reading her bedtime story.
Had I not changed my POV I would have missed this expression.

D-329 Box with Bokeh in Black & Whtie

The daily shoot -
DS#376 Containers, boxes, and packages. Make a photo with one or more as a subject and illustrate what they mean to you.

Jewelry box with Christmas Tree Bokeh in the background.


I'm glad I had a day off today so that I can spend 12 plus hours cleaning and decorating the house for Christmas :) What a mess.
Everything we tried to do just went wacky. LOL

High ISO (6400) because it's very late at night and I used the Christmas Tree as the background. Converted to Black and white so the the colors won't compete for attention. Too tired to use the off camera flash and the on board flash looked, well, just "flashy."

Images Viewed: David duChemin's portfolio

D-328 Thankful part 2

There is so much to be greateful for. I'm Thankful for family and friends, health, art, love, technologies. books . . . the list can go on and on.
Just taking a few moments to appreciate it all.

#ds375 Make a photograph today that documents your family or conveys how you think of your family




bounced flash off of the ceiling



Images Viewed: Urban & City Photography: 70 Dramatic Examples These are well worth a look at.

D-327 - Thankful

Tomorrow in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I, personally, believe that the meaning of that holiday has been long lost, but at least it is a day thay my family (as most American families) try to get together. So, my immediate and extended family will get together tomorrow and share a meal and catch up and of coarse take pictures.
Happy Thanksgiving Day

Today's challenge at Project 365 Facebook is - "Thankful."
Today's images were lit by candle light. I did do some post processing in photoshop.

My Mantel decorated for Fall


and another one for the thankful challenge
This one I processed with NicoleVan Chic Vintage.


Anyone else using a different form of lighting? Go ahead and share your ideas or projects.
A couple extras because I love this picture of my daughter and Isabella







Images viewed: Robin Whalley

D-326 Studio on a budget and Happy B-D Miss Isabella

First and foremost, I want to wish Miss Isabella a very happy 4th birthday. Four years ago, on a Thanksgiving day, you came into our lives and our world will never be the same. You've brought so much joy and sunshine into our lives. I love you so much. Thanks for spending the night we had so much fun.
Having breakfast before school today.
Window light

Just a few extras
Talking to her mom on the phone - lamp light

and I played with textures

this texture belongs to Photozoo on flicker (TTV)

Took advantage of the daily shoot today: White on White challenge.
I've had several friends talk about needing better equipment and being intimidated by lighting. Here I set up a budget studio, made of a clamp light (any hardware store carries these for under $4.00) 3 Whiteboards/poster boards I got at the dollar store and I used a reflector that I have.
Here's a picture of the set up:

This is the final image

taking away one board (the boards serve as a fill light)

taking away 2 boards

and finally taking away all of the boards and reflector.

I think any of these images would work it's just a matter of preference.
Yesterday I used a flash light today I used a clamp light. What are you using that budget conscious? Share

D-325 "Forgotten"

The daily shoot:
#ds372 Make a photograph dominated by horizontal lines or compositional elements that go all the way across the frame.
I used a flash light to give the teddy a "spot light" effect.

•Moving on is simple, what you leave behind that makes it difficult.


This Teddy is approximately 27 years old. I found it stored away with some old stuff. He kept my oldest company for many, many years. Prayer bear.



I used a flash light to light him.

Viewed images from Free Photo Resouces

D-324 Water & Oil equal art

The daily shoot:
Daily Shoot 371
Find or make a reflection in a window today and shoot through it to create a layered composition.

I guess I didn't really follow the rules because it's not shot through a window but it is shot through a glass. I got the idea from Alison M Photography.




and during the experiment this abstract came to life




You can read the how to here E-zine

Images Viewed: Alison M

D-322 TGIF - low key image

The daily shoot and project 365 facebook challenge today are "curves" and low key.
Yesterdays image would have been perfect for today's challenge but oh well . . .

Wikipedia: Low-key lighting (or ambient lighting) is a style of lighting for photography, film or television. It attempts to create a chiaroscuro effect. In traditional photographic lighting, three-point lighting uses a key light, a fill light, and a back light for even illumination. Low-key lighting requires only one key light, optionally controlled with a fill light or a simple reflector.

Low key light accentuates the contours of an object by throwing areas into shade while a fill light or reflector may illuminate the shadow areas to control contrast. The relative strength of key-to-fill, known as the lighting ratio, can be measured using a light meter. Low key lighting has a higher lighting ratio, e.g. 8:1, than high key lighting, which can approach 1:1.

So although most images low key are black and white - they don't have to be.



I got these in the mail today, a gift from Alexis, thank you so much!

That little dino came with it too.
and I used it too

the Nikon is mine.
I was doing the laundry from vacation and Twix wanted to make sure we didn't leave her again - so she jumped in the suit case. This is where I found her this morning.



I'm trying to catch up and go over to my friends blogs. I'll get these soon.
Still reading my camera manual

Have a great weekend.

Viewed images on google low key

D-323 What's your comfort zone?

The daily challenge: My image is just blah -
The Daily Shoot
#ds370 Tungsten light can often create a warming effect, depending on your white balance. Use tungsten light in a photo today.

Today I didn't have to many willing models. So I took a picture of a store window. I felt like I was peeking into someones home - lol



back to Mexico,
Going into this trip I had made up my mind that I wanted to take wide angle shots because I wanted to capture the feel of Puerto Vallarta and the feel of the towns we visited.
You see I'm comfortable taking close up images like these:

This bird was so graceful. We stalked him for awhile, then he got comfortable with us.





so taking images like these was out of my comfort zone.

That is where we stayed

and although I know the main subject is small, I wanted a dramatic look. The sky, the sand and even the tilt.

We have to keep pushing our creative comfort levels until we've exhausted what we can learn in that area. My friend Alexis suggested I go back to taking pictures of buildings - well one of the reasons I stopped was because I didn't know enough about how to photograph that subject correctly and I was very unhappy with my last attempts. I guess that means I need to look into that again, but for now maybe wide angles.



Images viewed: http://blog.yasserlens.com/

D-314 -321 Vacation pictures and Sound Challenge

The daily shoot challenge today: Make a photograph today that visually communicates a sound. Your choice of sound, but do your best to make us "hear" it.

High ISO 2500, 50mm, Nikon D-700. The awesome thing about using that high of an ISO on the Nikon D-700 is very little noise.

\



the set up, ambient light with candles, wine, wine glasses.


I am sharing some images from my vacation, however I still have many to go through. I tried creating a slide show but my adobe flash player is refusing to update or run.











You can see more on my flickr account.

D-313 Back to Reality

Got in really late last night, layovers and such, and on my way to work,
just wanted to share a quick "Hello, I've missed you all!"
and this image was taken from the plane as we were departing, 50mm, Nikon D-700. I will update the blog more later. It was a great vacation but as always, it's nice to be home.

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Just a quick note

. . . I will be on Vacation in Mexico for the next 7 days - not sure if I'll have a connection out there. If I do then you'll see some of what I'm seeing. If not, then I'll catch up when I get back. Have a great week :)

D-312 Out of focus and Alex's birthday

The daily shoot today Sometimes what’s out of focus can make the shot. Create a photograph today where some/all of your subject isn't in focus. #ds357

The only thing that is really in focus are her eyes.

High ISO2500 just available light.

Conversation with Isabella
Me: What's your mom's name?
I: Sandra Gnalez (Gonzalez)
Me: don't open that in the car
I: I not open the barilla (umbrella) in the car I just holding it
Me: So Isabella, Halloween is over what's next?
I: Thans-iving, then my birthday party then Christmas.
LOL

Today we celebrated Alexandria's 18th birthday. 18! Man, time has gotten by us really fast. Happy Birthday Alexandria. We are so proud of you.


Read several articles and looked at pictures on google.

D-311 Get a little closer

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We've been kind of busy but trying to enjoy the weekend, even had our first snow of the season.

took that from the door.

The daily shoot Sometimes, the best advice is to get closer. Today, get really close to your subject. Use a macro lens if you have one.
These are all macro shots - love getting close

Window lighting

The main reason I love buying myself flowers is . . . I'll always have a subject to pose for me. LOL


Beautiful imperfection

and I even managed to get an abstract image. Love the colors in this one


Read several articles on lighting and shooting pictures in dark places. Also viewed images on flickr.

I created a Facebook page for my photography business. If you get a chance "like" it and support me there. Thanks.

I'm loving your comments and wish there was a better way to interact with you all.