To what extreme's would you go for an image?

Do your families think your strange? Do you lose sleep hunched over your computer post processing and learning/reading photography related things?
Are you aware of the light around you at all times? You may be a little bit obsessed. Not to worry your not alone. There are a bunch of support groups around. This is one of them, Facebook Project 365, project 365 there is alot of support out there, but not to help you quit, only to make you better.

This one was a bit eerie. Night shot - hand held because my tripod broke. It's 15 degrees F out. I almost froze!
This was a little strange. Found it behind a church. We pulled up to take a picture of a window and this was behind the church. No fence, no signs. It felt weird so we left right away.



Lonely & cold - here's another park bench.


I haven't been able to warm up so I'm getting some hot tea! Enjoy your weekend.

D-359 Where to find inspiration

Here are a few tips to re-ignite your creativity, these tips always help me.
Take a vacation, LOL, o.k. if you can't do that then maybe you can . . .

-take a walk with camera in tow
- try something different, try shooting at a different angle,definitely try a new technique,something different to you.
- join a challenge
- take a picture then say to yourself, "how can I take it different" walk around your subject and try different angles.
- duplicate an image you love
- look at one of your images that didn't work and redo it.
- look at fashion magazines, travel magazines. Whatever genre you are interested in has magazines.
- take pictures of the details and the details only (get close and personal)
- take a picture of someone/something you love.
- try it in black and white
- take a photography class, if that not feasible try a photography book.
- let your friends inspire you . . .

I've been inspired to try some night time photography by Jo Garret at "Sometime between Dusk and Dawn " her whole 365photography project has been night photography
and Terry at "It's a GreytDay for a Photo" who has been cranking out beautiful night time images. I asked David if we could take a drive to the city, which is about a 30 minute drive for us and he was willing. So here is Chicago's (Illinois) famous skyline. Chicago is a beautiful city. I shot this from the planetarium across Lake Michigan. The sky had a strange color tint, like more snow is heading our way!
dailyshoot Daily Shoot
#ds406 What fuels your creative process? Illustrate it in a photo today.

Chicago, Illinois - Skyline on 12/26/10 15 degrees Fahrenheit, partly cloudy. Definitely a winter night at the Windy City.
Just amazing - the city never sleeps!


These were edited in Topaz.

There are a few more from this outing if you are interested in my Flickr Account.

I was asked how I set up yesterdays image. The Christmas tree. I initially wanted to try taking a pictue of the whole tree, like Elli did here, A Scrivnerburg 365
but I did not like the cluttered look of our CD Case behind the tree, so I had to find a different angle. Since I had to use a tri-pod, and since my poor tripod is like 50 years old, it won't hold my heavy lenses so I picked the 50mm which is nice and small/light. Put my camera on a tripod and focused on a closeup of the tree. I allowed some of the lights from the background to flow in.
settings were ISO 200, F/11.0, shutter speed of 2.5 seconds.
I had lights on the mantel, about 10 feet from the tree.
I just had to move around until I found a spot I liked.

Well, 6 more days to go for me on this project. I hope you have enjoyed the journey as much as I have.

A great big thanks to Elli for featuring me on her blog and for her continued friendship for the past couple of years. Thank you my friend.

Reading Typepad Vs Wordpress
Jeff Korhan

D-205 Tea Time . . .

It's been 2 weeks since we've had Isabella here. Our schedules just haven't worked out, but we had her tonight and she's spending the night so we had time to visit sick friends, a great-grandpa who's on the mend (still in the hospital) plus we had time for a nice tea party. We enjoyed Tea by candle light with a special princess. She just warms my heart.

The Daily Shoot: "Turn the tables and make a photograph of a light source today. Light bulb, window, or even the sun (be careful!)."
Well obviously I didn't make it in time for the sun so candle light worked out just fine.




and she made all kinds of wishes before blowing out the each candle. I know she wished something about her mom but I didn't have the heart to ask her to repeat it.

and now she's sound asleep, probably dreaming about her "perfect little tea set" as she says it.
S1/60, Aperture f/1.4, Focal Length 50 mm, ISO Speed 800
Exposure Bias -2/3 EV (talk about not checking the settings -it should have been at 0.00 or a +1)
No Flash
My reading corner
Nikon D300 owners manual 322-324
Read a few pages in VisionMongers
and read some articles from Flicker on my I-Pod

Images viewed: 25 Great Shots and
Light Stalking

Day 204 Full Speed Ahead

The Daily Shoot
"The world is always in motion. Make a photo that conveys a bit of your own motion to your viewer."
I always seem to be on the go. Sometimes I just need to slow down. I've promised myself to get plenty of rest, exercise and eat well. I've done them all but the plenty of sleep part. Here it is 9:00 PM and I haven't made it home since this morning.
How fast is your lifestyle. What are you sacrificing to do what you love?


We pulled over on the side of the highway and put the camera on the dashboard and set it to ,
S1/5
Aperture f/16.0
Focal Length 60 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias -2/3 EV
Nikon D-300
Used a kit lens because it was raining and I thought I would use the tri-pod, which I didn't.

D-181 David versus the Mosquito

Today was an Off Camera Flash kind of evening. Most of my models have grown up and are not as cooperative as they used to be. So I asked poor David to help me out again. He's such a sweet heart. Don't let that mean demeanor fool you. He never refuses to help me even if it means yet another series of pictures.

This first image is funny because there I had another willing model and didn't even realize it. The mosquito to Davids left. LOL They were so bad outside this evening we couldn't stay out there for very long. I also love the bokeh in this one.



Not much bokeh in this one but I like the pose and the color of this one.



Images viewed: Mike Colon
Also viewed the interview of Mike Colon at F-Stop Beyond

D-179 & D-180 4th of July weekend

D-179
My daughter was on leave this weekend so we took Isabella to the campground and she went swiming while down there. I added a warming filter because it was so bright out.
ISO200, 50mm, F/16, S1/40s, Nikon D-300


D-180
The daily shoot:
"It's Independence Day in the U.S (fireworks!). Make a photo with celebration as the theme, wherever you are."

F2.8, 1/80s, ISO 500, 70-200mm at 98 mm, Nikon D-300
.
I should have reseached taking photos of fireworks before I left for the campground but it was hit or miss.

Viewed: F-Stop Beyond -

Images Viewed: Mike Colon

My reading corner:
Nikon Manual 212-225
A Short Course in Photography

D-172 Yellow

This is the 172nd day for my 2010 Project 365, but the second time around for my 365 photography project. It's amazing how much you can learn by doing such a project.
This year (Thanks to Tasra Mar and Scott Bourne), I've been reading my camera manual, viewing other professional photographers work every day and of coarse taking a picture a day. I've also been taking on the Daily Shoot Challenge and reading other photography related books. I'm learning a lot about photography.
Are you working on improving your art? What are you doing?

Daily Shoot: "Today's color is Yellow. Find something that is yellow in color and make a photograph of it."



I wanted to play with some off camera flash (OCF) so I set this up outside after it got dark. Flash is to camera right, shot through a white umbrella.


For a bigger picture see:Flickr

My reading corner:
Nikon d300 user's Manual 185-187

Viewed images by Joe Buissink (last day)
Wanted to mention that my dads surgery was postponed until Tuesday.

D-170 Beauty in the gutter

The daily challenge - #ds221 Make a photo of elements that are strikingly different from one another to add tension and interest to your composition.

I've found myself taking 2 sets of images for the daily shoot challenge lately. One is just a quick - anything that would satisfy the challenge, the other is more thought out and better executed. I forgot today was Theme Thursday at Tasra Mar This lady always inspires me and motivates me to do better, not just in photography but in other aspects of my life as well.
The reason I've taken on some of these challenges are best described by Tasra herself, "Theme Thursday is meant to challenge you to photograph something outside your comfort zone, something different, something new. You might never photograph the same thing again, but you can say you did it and at the end of the year, you’ve stretched your creative muscles in ways you might have known possible." That's why I've taken on some of the Daily Shootand Tasra's challenges.



Nikon D-300, 50mm, F/16, 1/60s, ISO 400, flash.
My reading corner:
Nikon D-300 User's Manual Pages 179-182
Wedding Photography Book read
Images viewed: Joe Buissink

D-149 Nostalgic/Time

Today's image ties in two challenges in one. The Daily Shoot challenge is "Think of a favorite childhood sport, game, or activity. Make a nostalgic photo today."
Tasra Mar's Theme Thursday is Time.

Time


It was one of my favorite childhood activities. It gave me freedom, I felt like I could fly and I'd swing so high my swing would jump. It was both liberating and exhilarating. Where has time gone? What can I find now that would give me that same feeling without the motion sickness?


My Reading corner:
Nikon D-300 User's Manual Pages 133-146
Now reading: A Short Course in Photography by London & Stone


Images viewed: One of the blogs I follow is AB, which by the way it totally amazing the photos he takes with his cell phone and he gives you a map of where the actual location is, he linked me to this blog, Photos From Haninge,Sweden. Basically he just takes street photos. Similar to the $2.00 portrait. Those are the images I viewed today. Thanks AB

D-77 Izzy's Senior shoot Part 1

I wanted to start out this Senior Session with "Night Photography" I'm learning how to use my SB800.


The shadow is intentional to add to the drama of the fallen helicopter.



Inspiration today comes from: Kaleidoscope

Pages read in: The Hot Shoe Diaries - big light from small flashes, Joe McNally 17 - it's been a busy non-stop day since 6:45 am. It is now almost midnight.

D66- Learning how to balance ambient light

I think I'm officially stalking Dustin Diaz' Flickr photostream.
I am learning to embrace all of the night lights.
David is a patient man - really I don't know anyone who would do the things he does for me and for my photography. Here it is late Sunday night and we are practicing night photography. Thanks Baby.

I did not take my speed light so I had to use the on camera flash. Since I've been reading my field guide I've learned how to control that flash. I toned it down a bit. I wanted to capture and bokeh the street and car lights in the distance and still keep the subject in balance. There was also a neon light throwing a red glow our way. I don't have it yet but I'm getting there.



in black & white

and this was just for fun. I took a lot of these in different colors.


PG 76-77 Focus points and Metering
Looked at images in Gold Book Photography and Dustin Diaz