Day 59: Books Are For Learnin'

Sorry for the late post. I had a busy day and didn't even realize it until just now. I got home from class, ate some dinner and was thinking, "Self, isn't there something else you needed to do today?" Take pictures of course! I almost completely forgot about it, so sorry that it's nothing very exciting. I went into my room, grabbed my camera, and started scanning. I knew it needed to be something easy (what? I'm tired), and there, on the floor, staring up at me, or maybe at my feet, was a stack of books. So, I got down low and took this photo.

.4 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
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It's all right for not putting much effort into it. And I didn't intend to leave the photo taking until this late, but it happened so I'm sorry.

That's another month down! Two whole months of non-stop photo taking. Granted this was a shorter month, but it's still a month. You still have until I wake up tomorrow to comment for the contest. I'm a little sad that I don't have as many comments this month, but I'm still thankful for those of you that did! Good luck and see you next month (heh).

Day 58: Mattresses Are Not Always For Beds

I took a trip to Pittsburgh today. I went down with my good friend Jess (the very same Jess that won the January contest) for a class trip to the Mattress Factory. For those of you unfamiliar, the Mattress Factory is an art museum in Pittsburgh. It deals primarily with modern/experimental/avant-garde art. It was really fun. One of the pieces was literally us standing in total darkness. It was strange and surreal.

The staircase to get to the upper floors are actually separate from the building, and then there's a small walkway to the building. Luckily for me, these walkways give a great view of the city.

1/100 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

I like that this view includes the really awesome homes/
buildings in the foreground with the city just kind of stuck in there at the end. Pittsburgh really is a pretty awesome city, regardless of what I was raised to think (as a Browns "fan"). I could definitely see myself living there, or at least near there, someday.

The next photo is of one of the installation pieces in the annex. I didn't take any photos of any of the art except for this one. I did this for several reasons, but the biggest one was that these pieces aren't meant to be photographed--no matter how cool the photos might look. These are art pieces that are meant to be experienced. My photography could never ever do them justice. That said, I just liked the perspective I could get on this shot mostly. So I took it.

1/30 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 200.
Click image for larger version.

The artist (forgive me, I forgot his/her name) took a ton of these small, wood boxes and put them through various levels of burning. They were then stacked and piled and nailed to the walls all the way up and around the whole entrance room to the annex.

One more day. One day more. Tomorrow's the last day of the month! While I've gotten some (not many) comments for the contest, I could always use some more! So.... tell me what you're favorite photo(s) of the month is (are)! Back to the Oscars.

Side note: I didn't realize Dogtooth was nominated for Best Foreign Language film until just a second ago, but if you get the chance to watch it (it's streaming on Netflix) do so. It's INSANE. Bye!

Day 57: The Eyes Have It

Work was soooooooo boring today. I haven't had such a slow day in a really, reeeeeally long time. I was so bored that even taking pictures was kind of boring today. But fun. Fun boring. Whatever that is.

I took some photos of my eyeballs today. Of course, I should have realized that zooming in so close to my mug would have revealed blemishes and things that I don't notice. It made me feel like a bit of a bum. Dirty, dirty bum. Good thing Aperture has a pretty decent touch-up brush.

1/4 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 800.
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That was my happy eye face. It really is weird how much emotion can come across just in the eyes. I wanted to ask some people that came into the store if they would let me take photos of their eyes like this, but I thought it would be a little weird and creepy.

1/4 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

For this one I (obviously) messed around with it in Aperture. My eyes don't have blue lines. Those were actually red. I like how the red blood lines turned blue and the rest of the photo looks pretty pale/dull, and then my eyes are still showing their brown color. I still haven't figured out how to make something all monochrome except for one thing, and I'm not sure that it can be done in Aperture. I'm just too lazy and busy to check up on it.

Well, February is almost done. That's two whole months of consistent photo taking! If you see me, give me a pat on the back. And speaking of the end of February--I still don't have any comments for the contest! Well, I have a couple, but not any since I announced it. How am I supposed to know if my photos suck or not? Buenas noches.

Day 56: Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

But it's okay. I was in my car, so they didn't really fall on my head. As I was driving home earlier today, it was raining/snowing, and my car's speed mixed with the wind was making the water on my windshield streak in a really cool way. Of course, I just have to put my life in danger to get you guys great photos, so I started snapping. The hardest part was getting the streaks in focus. Yes, the hardest part about driving and taking photos at the same time wasn't steering. It was keeping my photos in focus. Anyway.

1/40 sec. exposure at F/7.1. ISO 200.
Click image for larger version.

I made several adjustments in Aperture to try and bring out the streaks more (Adjusted Highlights all the way up; increased Contrast a bit). I think it came out okay. If I had more time/less fear of dying, I would have tried taking some more, but I figured this was good enough. Or if someone else was driving. Yeah, that probably would have worked too.

Soooo.... There are only 3 days left this month. And no one is commenting! Do you not want a free photo? Or is it that they all suck this month? Or is it that they're all so awesome you can't choose just one? Whatever the case: start commenting! Pretty please? Go here to read the rules. And then.....

COMMENT!

Day 55: Creepy and Cool

Happy Thursday! I worked today (and met a very nice lady who let me talk about my blog; if you're reading, it was nice to meet you and thanks for stopping by!) and miraculously thought of (found) more things to photograph while there. I was looking at my hands and thinking about how I have gross nails and hairy knuckles. So I figured, why not take some photos of my hands? Heh.

I took all of these, though, specifically thinking before hand that I wanted to output them in black and white. So I took some with my hand in front of the counter, some with my hand in front of a red tablecloth, and some with my hand in front of a green tablecloth. I wanted to see how the different color backdrops would influence how the monochrome, black and white would turn out.

This first one is the white counter below my hand. I adjusted a few things in Aperture besides putting it in black and white to make it a little bit brighter/darker in certain places.

1/40 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 400.
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And here is the red tablecloth. Ditto on the Aperture adjustments.

1/160 sec. exposure at F/5. ISO 100. Flash used.
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And finally, here's the green tablecloth.

1/200 sec. exposure at F/4.5. ISO 100. Flash used.
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A little bit later, someone bought the last few of our weird animal bookmark things. So I took the rack that they were hanging from and put it on the table in the back with the red tablecloth. Then I got a small chair and stood overtop of it. It took forever to get the circles this close to centered/concentric. My calf started cramping. Here's the result.

1/8 sec. exposure at F/7.1. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

When I first started messing around with this one, I turned the White Balance temperature way up and it made the white rack look yellow. It looked kind of cool, but I decided to just leave it as it was when I took it. The only thing I did to this photo is realigned it (it was a little crooked) and cropped it to center things better.

I'm not sure what happened yesterday, but I had 50 page views (I've been averaging about 4 or 5 per day, tops). It was pretty cool, so if you're coming back thanks for looking! And comment too! I want feedback! Plus you'll be entered into the contest! It's a win-win situation (unless you don't win the contest, but still...). Peace out, home slices.

Day 54: What's That Noise?

Before I begin, I want to make it very clear that the noise I'm referring to is noise in the photos, not noise in terms of sound. I actually very much enjoyed the sounds I heard tonight. I was invited to my buddy Matt's house. He was putting on a House Show that a few of his friends that live in Brooklyn came in to play for. It was a great time with some great people and great music.

I tried to take some photos (well, I took some, but they're not so hot) while I was there. I felt bad using my flash while they were playing, so I had to crank the ISO waaaaay up. That equals a ton of noise in the photos. But that's okay. I had fun and you get the idea of what I was trying to do.

1/5 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 6400.
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And here's one of the upright bass I took in between their sets.

1/5 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 6400.
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Okay, peeps. That about does it for today. Thanks for stopping by. Comment for the contest. Hugs!

Day 53: Dog In Shadow

Hey all. Short post today (and early). My craziness and hectic life will have (very) brief reprieve after today, but I still have to get through today. I was going to go out and take some outdoor photos today (we had another crrrazy snowstorm last night, and, of course, today is absolutely gorgeous and sunny), but then I saw Molly sleeping on the kitchen floor in her sun spot. We have a skylight in the kitchen and some days, when it shines through onto the kitchen floor, she likes to nap it in. It's a prime photo taking opportunity. I have two photos to share of her, and I didn't do anything in Aperture. These are as is. That was a fun sentence. That said, I'm going to give you the photos without much explanation so I can get to my first "class" today (it's an independent study, so it's just me and the prof). Don't forget to comment for the contest! Yeah!

1/100 sec. exposure at F/5. ISO 800.
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1/100 sec. exposure at F/5. ISO 800.
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Day 52: Blue Period

Monday, monday, monday. Yes, that's what day it is. I'm still continually surprised by the things I find at work to photograph that actually end up looking moderately nifty. For example, this ceiling light that is lacking a cover.

1/60 sec. exposure at F/6.3. ISO 100.
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Of course, I didn't take it like this. The original was the blah yellowish tone not unlike every other photo I've taken at work. The only thing I did to this photo is make it a color monochrome (blue being the color, obviously). I really like how this one came out. Very...abstract. I'm such an arteest.

Of course, then I took this next one. It's of the cash register with some receipt tape coming out from a recent transaction (though, probably not so recent by the time many of you read this). Once again, I had to make some adjustments in Aperture to get rid of the yellow bath that things get soaked in at the Book Nook. I wonder if that's how I look when I'm standing there taking people's money. Maybe that's why people look at me like I'm a weirdo....

1/40 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

Ah, commerce and capitalism. Nothing like making you even more immortal and never ending. If this picture is boring, that means it's fully capturing the life of a retail employee. It means that my "art" is finally transcending my "reality". Woo! I'm like a genius now or something.

I'm leaving now. Time to finish more school work. Make sure you leave comments for the contest! Do it! Pretty please? No? Fine. I see how it is. I'm sulking. You can't see it, but my arms are crossed, my lip is tripped, tears are forming. Is it working? Do you want to comment now? Uggghh....

Day 51: Crossing the Horizon

Greetings! I took a little trip today. Not a big trip. Just a little one. After I left the library this afternoon, I decided to drive to Yellow Creek Park. It's just outside of Indiana. Unfortunately it was a very grey and dreary day. That means that none of the photos were all that exceptional. But I did some 'speramenting in Aperture and they ended up coming out kind of cool.

This first one was of a tree. At first the tree had birds in it. But like every other attempt at photographing birds, they flew away from me. I still ended up with a decent photo though. I was trying to highlight the brown tones as much as possible (it was the only color around). The initial shot didn't bring them out too much, but after some tweaking in Aperture I got this.

1/4 sec. exposure at F/8. ISO 200.
Click image for larger version.

The sky was bleach white in the original exposure. It was the only way that I could get the colors on the ground to come out. All of the exposures that I took that showed the texture of the sky made the ground/trees too dark. Ah, the wonders of technology.

The next two photos are for demonstration purposes only. Since the day was so grey and dreary, the resulting photos was grey and dreary. And boring. I needed to spice 'em up. Spicy. Spice-ay. I took them crooked!

1/15 sec. exposure at F/8.
ISO 200.

1/15 sec. exposure at F/8.
ISO 200.

But that's not spicy. That's slightly mild, with a bit of kick. I want SPICY! SPICE-AY! HOT! So I merged the photos in HDR. Normally HDR is for merging varying exposures of the exact same framing of the shot, not two different frames at the same exposure. Here's the result (after a square cropping (there was a ton of dark noise on the right side of the new image, so I just cropped it out)).

Above two photos merged in HDR.
Click image for larger version.

There's still a little noise that shows up in the upper right part of the "cross", but overall, I think this is a pretty neat photo. I tried to use some brushes to get rid of the noise, but it kept ruining it more. So I just went with it.

Hope you guys liked today's photos. If you do, don't forget to comment for the February contest! Check out the rules here. SPICY!

February Contest

March edit: The rules are the same as below, but (obviously) it will be for comments received in MARCH not February.

It's that time again. Time for the monthly contest rules to be posted. I'm changing them a little bit from last month. The idea is essentially the same: post a comment and tell me what you're favorite photo is from this month. The change is that you can post as many times as you want! In other words, each time you comment, you're name will be entered into the drawing to be held at the end of the month (well, I'll actually draw the name on March 1st). The winner will receive a free 8 x 10  print of the image of their choice! So if you're torn between a couple of different photos, or you really want to improve your chances to get your favorite photo, now's the time to comment.

Again, to reiterate, the new rules are: for every comment I receive in February (if you've already commented, that counts too) your name will be entered into the end of the month drawing. If you comment once, your name goes into the hat once. If you comment seven times, your name goes in seven times. Get it? The winner will be chosen at random and notified so they can tell me what photo they would like a print of. Shipping is included in this, so I don't care where you live; comment away! The winner's photo does not have to be from February (if there's something from January that you'd rather have a print of, that's fine), but only comments on February dates will count towards the contest (Days 32-59). If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at 136songs@gmail.com.

Obviously, pointless comments won't count. If you comment just to say hello, I'm not counting that. No offense. I would like them as best as possible to be feedback (positive or negative), but to be focused on the photos themselves. Even if it's something as simple as, "Good work today" or "Man, you really sucked big time on these ones." At least they're focused on the photos.

Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

Day 50: Going Up?

Happy 50th Day-aversary! I was thinking back earlier today, and I honestly didn't think I would have ever kept it up this long. Looking at some of those early posts, I was really struggling to find a good rhythm with this thing. Luckily for you all I've found one. A rhythm that is.

I took some photos at work today, but they were pretty lame. Photos of the ceiling lights through a mirror. Photos of stool legs. Yeah. Like I said. Pretty lame. I was going to walk around town and see what I could get but needed to dump some of my stuff off in my car that I didn't feel like lugging around with me. Then I remembered the spooky staircase behind the Book Nook!

1/40 sec. exposure at F/3.5 ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

This is a photo I've wanted to take for a while now but always forget about. I didn't do anything to this one in Aperture to let you see what it looked like before any tweaking. For a couple of the others that I took I messed with them in Aperture (I'll share those below). This one is just to give you an idea of how creepy the stair case is. Also all of these photos are taken from the bottom looking up (though some look like they could go either way).

1/15 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

As I said, I messed with this one in Aperture. I turned the White Balance temperature up a bit and turned the shadows up significantly. This made the darkness at the top more precise as opposed to taking up a majority of the upper part of the stairs. It gives the stairs more depth, and in my opinion, the darkness is more ominous when it's more confined like that. There's a little bit of noise in the darkness, but again, I think that adds to the mood of the photo even more.

For this next one, I shot vertically instead of horizontally. In Aperture, I turned up the shadows a bit again (though less than in the above image) and I moved the Curves black point slider over. This made it significantly darker than the other images. The whole right side is almost completely blackened with just a tiny amount of the railing showing through. I don't know which one of these is my favorite. I think it's cool that I can take almost the same image and make them look that much different.

1/30 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

That's fifty days worth of photos people. Do you understand the wealth of knowledge that you've gotten from me? By knowledge, of course, I mean entertainment at my expense, but still. It's something. Make sure you check out the February contest and start posting comments to get entered! Hasta luego.

Day 49: A Real Turkey Shoot

Hey and hello. Hi. Howdy. I am super sleepy again today. I've been playing racquetball, and this is the first week that we played three times (Monday, Wednesday, and Today (Friday)). On top of all the reading I've been doing, I'm pretty exhausted. Which is why I'm glad that I kind of lucked into today's photos. As I was driving home from campus today, I noticed a whole flock (is that what they're called?) of wild turkeys in a corn field. I swung my car around and tried to get to them as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get close enough to get any kind of a good shot. This was as close as I got.

1/200 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

They kept moving farther and farther away from me no matter how close I tried to get. Smart; I could have been a hunter. It was pretty mucky and nasty or I might have tried to keep following. Plus, I left my car running and I was already pretty far away from it. I was getting paranoid that someone was going to steal my car.

As I was walking back though, I decided to take a few shots from low in between some of the stalk stump rows that were in the field. They came out okay. I wish I would have left my other lens on though (I changed lenses in my car before hand because I knew I'd need one with a bit more zoom to try and get the turkeys). The regular lens I use has a bit wider area of view on it which is (in my opinion) better for those low perspective shots. Still, this one ain't bad.

1/800 sec. exposure at F/4. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

There ya go. Make sure you check back tomorrow. Not only is it my 50th day in a row shooting (!), but I'll also be announcing the details for the February contest. It will be very similar to the January one, but with a few changes. Until then, take care and all that jazz.

Day 48: A Line; About Town

Good news. I got out to take some photos today. Which means you only get one from actually being at work. But even that one is kind of nifty, I think. I really needed a shooting day like today. I haven't felt like February has been as strong as January was, but then again it's only a little over halfway through so I'm probably just being hard on myself. Alas, on to the photos!

1/25 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to go out after work (I've got so much reading/writing to do before Monday), so I had to come up with something at work just in case. I ended up taking a sheet of paper and a fine point, red marker and drawing a squiggly line with it. Then I somehow held my camera with my left hand, somehow getting a finger on the shutter release button, somehow actually get the shot to come out clear. I took a couple different versions with different parts of the page/line/pen in focus. In this one the pen and the beginning of the line is the clearest part. In another the line is very clear, but the pen was blurred. I liked this one the best, but the other one was okay too. All I did in Aperture was turn down the white balance to get rid of the yellow from the fluorescent lights (like always when shooting at work).

After I got off work, I was going to go up on the roof to take some shots from on high, but I figured it would be too much like yesterday's post, so I decided to do that some other day. Instead, I walked around downtown. There's the back of this one building (very near The Coney, if you're familiar with Indiana, PA) that is like my photographic nemesis. I've tried to get a good photo of this building on several occasions for the past year (with terrible results every time). I'd like to say that this time was different, that I finally captured this shot's full potential. But I can't. I'd be lying. Actually, they came out so terribly that I'm not even going to share them today. But I promise I'm not giving up on this one. Someday, this shot will work out and I will share it with the world!

As I was walking to that spot though, I stumbled across another photo op. That's the one thing I can definitely say about Indiana: the buildings on Philly St. have a lot of character behind them. Like, literally behind them. The backs of the buildings. Stay with me, pee-pull.

Anyway, I found this one. And I like it.

1/25 sec. exposure at F/6.3. ISO 200.
Click image for larger version.

For this one, I turned the white balance up for a change in Aperture. It warmed things up; it was pretty blah before. Then I also did the same thing I did in last night's Stop sign photo: I turned the yellow's saturation all the way up. It brought out the yellow in the Coca-Cola sign and makes it really stand out. I just really like all the lines that are happening in this: the diagonals of the catwalk/stairs, the verticals of the stairs/bars, the three wires coming across.

Anyway, not exceptional, but better than a lot of what I've given you guys this month so far. I hope you're still enjoying what I'm doing here. I'm still enjoying doing it...for the most part. Just kidding. I'm still having tons of fun; it just gets a little exhausting with everything else going on. But I knew that when I got into this thing. I can't believe I'm almost to day 50! I feel like I should do something special, but it's a day that I'll be at work, so I'm not sure what I could really do that would be that great.

Sleep now, sweet chariot.

Day 47: Near/High

Hey everyone. I'm tired and crabby so this is going to be short. I took a photo in my room today and then I took some from the top of the parking garage on campus.

This is a close-up shot of a Superman Matchbox (Hot Wheels?) van that Reggie gave me. I kind of like how this came out. It's different.

1/50 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 200.
Click image for larger version.

The next two photos were taken, as I said, from the top floor of the parking garage. For the first shot, I set up my camera on the tripod and set a long exposure. I wish I had brought my shutter release because I kept get camera shake from doing it manually.

I finally got one to come out pretty sharp. Finally. It took quite some time because each of these were 20-30 second exposures, and then my camera takes a second, equivalent, black shot to compensate for long exposure noise. Essentially each photo I took took a minute to actually process. I took about 10 or 12.

20 sec. exposure at F/13. ISO 200.
Click image for larger version.

As this shot was processing, I walked to another edge of the garage to see what else I could photograph. I ended up seeing a Stop sign below me, but what really drew me to the sign was the fact that, even though I was looking down on it, it looked like the sign was angled up and facing me head on. Some strange optical illusion happening. And then as I was taking shots of this, I noticed the long shadow being cast of the sign and post so I tried to include that as best I could. I tweaked some things with this photo in Aperture. It was very yellow because of all the surrounding street lights. So I turned the White Balance all the way down as far as it would go. Then I turned the yellow's Saturation all the way to really bring out that yellow curb at the bottom. Finally, I turned up the red's Saturation just a bit to heighten the red in the sign, but just slightly.

1 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

So that's it for today. I guess it wasn't as short as I thought it was going to be. I really need to get my contacts out. Sorry, I know that's random, but they're making me sleepy. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing as I should get to bed soon. Working tomorrow so probably blah photos, but it's also supposed to be near 60 degrees so maybe I'll be able to get out after work. We'll see. Hope you enjoyed the photos today. I'll be posting something in the next few days detailing February's contest (I may do it slightly differently this month). Byeeeeeee.

Day 46: Oh Have You Seen Miss Molly

It's a dog day here at 136 Photos. Not the summery kind, but the canine kind. I took some shots of Reggie's dog Molly again today. I took some with the diffusion filter on and some without. I'll be sharing two photos of the diffusion and one without. They're all pretty similar, but I'll just let you judge for yourself.

.4 sec. exposure at F/6.3. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

.6 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 800.
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.4 sec. exposure at F/5. ISO 800.
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The first two have the diffusion filter on. You can see the blurry-softness to them. I particularly like the second one of those. And I really like the last photo the best of the three. I think there's a real sadness in her eyes that I was trying to capture, and I think it comes across pretty well in the photo. Maybe it's boredom. Either way, there's some emotion hap-hap-happening.

Okie day. That's today's post! I hope you enjoyed it. I was mostly impressed that she sat still for that long. At first she kept shifting her head away from the camera, but then I just started scratching her nose and taking the picture really quickly. That seemed to work. Have a great night and pleasant tomorrow!

Day 45: The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn...

Happy Valentine's Day everybody! For those of you that don't know, Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday. I'm not really sure why, but I just always have. For some reason Valentine's Day is the one day that I don't get bummed out about being alone. It's highly contradictory (and don't get me wrong; I'd love to have someone special to share the day with), I know.

Today's photo is nothing special, except that it's full of special things to me. I basically gathered up a bunch of objects from around the house that I "love". Some of these are quite obvious (Superman, the Cubs, the movie and TV shows) and others become representations of something greater (my running shoe, the baton, the ukulele). I know the photo itself isn't anything to write home to ma and pa about, but I wanted to do something revolving around love for today's post because it's a love kind of day. And since I can't go around taking photos of all of you to include (I know. Sappy, right?), it's the next best thing.

Click image for larger version.

I didn't include the camera settings today. I figured there's nothing really that technical happening in this photo (other than the insane balancing act--it took forever to get some of that stuff to stay put) so why bother with it today.

That's all I have today. I was going to take some photos after work, before class, but it got all crummy outside again. I suppose those'll have to wait another day. I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day. Thanks for stopping by. Love ya!

Day 44: West PA's Hollywood

I took a little trip, a little trip, trip west. I was a little bit annoyed. It was absolutely gorgeous out today. And by the time I got to where I wanted to take pictures it was starting to get overcast and gray. Wah wah. That's what I get for waiting.

I went to Kittanning today. For those of you that are out of the loop, several things have been filmed there in the past several years. The movies The Mothman Prophecies, My Blood Valentine 3-D, and One for the Money (the last one isn't out yet, but it's based on the Janet Evanovich books and will be starring Katherine Heigl) as well as the pilot for the TV show Justified were all shot in and around Kittanning. There's a nice walkway along the river in Kittanning and it runs right under the bridge.

1/80 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

See how overcast and gray it got? It was a beautiful sunny day, and the moon was out! I wanted to take day pictures of the moon! But nooooo. I do like the texture of the clouds in this photo though. It looks almost painted on. I was worried that it wouldn't show up in the photos, but luckily I took a few at a darker exposure and it really brought it out. That made the bridge really dark, but I just turned the shadows up in Aperture and that helped the picture turn out much better.

The next one is from below the bridge.

1/4 sec. exposure at F/11. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

I thought I had the tripod set up so it was centered, but no matter how I cropped it it was always a little off. This was the best I could get it. The pillar is off, but the bridge/girders are kind of centered. When I centered the pillar everything else was off. Grrrr. I suck. At least the first picture was okay.

I have a plan for tomorrow's photo. A theme, if you will. We'll see how it works. It's not really anything special, but it's a special day so I'm doing something special. Special.

Special. Toodles.

Day 43: Sweets for My Sweets (That's You All!)

Okay. Lame post title. I know. Sorry. But I was trying to tie it in to the picture that I took, so... Yeah. I don't have much to say today. I took this at work. It's not that great. I was going to wait and take this on Monday (so it'd be more relevant), but I was worried we wouldn't have the candy anymore and I'd be out. But then again, judging by the photo, that might not have been such a bad thing. I really wanted to get out and take some photos after work, but I was starving so I decided to come home and eat instead. Mostly I really want the weather to get nice so I can go take photos somewhere else.

Anyway, here's today's photo. It's of a box of candy that was wrapped in heart paper.

1/15 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

Yep. There ya go. I'm off tomorrow and I have most of reading done for the week so I'm really going to try and get out somewhere, hopefully that somewhere is somewhere new. What I'd really like to do is get up early and take some sunrise photos to balance out all of the sunset ones I've been taking. But morning comes so early sometimes. I'm going to go play Stacking some more now. It's a really great downloadable game for PS3 (and maybe the 360 too, I'm not sure) that you should all check out. You play as a tiny Russian stacking doll and you can stack yourself inside of other dolls and get their special abilities. It's got some really great style and humor to it. Anyway. That's not really the point of this blog, so I'll see you all tomorrow. Party on, dudes!

Day 42: We Were Buzzing Just Like, Neon, Neon

Evening, everybuddy. Hope your Friday was as pleasant as mine. I woke up, watched the season finale of Human Target (please, please, pleeeease don't cancel this show, Fox), played some racquetball, took the first picture, played at the Book Nook (thanks to everyone that made it out tonight), ate some delicious Chinese food, took the second picture, came home, and now you're all caught up. As soon as this is typed out and posted, I'm crashing hard. Waking up for work is going to be rough tomorrow, fo sheezy.

On to the photos!

The first picture was taken from a hill high above Indiana, PA. I randomly found it, and it's got a great view (too bad the city isn't much to look at; no offense, Indiana). I'd like to get back to this spot at night or during a sunset sometime soon.

1/125 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

I cropped the photo a bit in Aperture, so the horizon line was at the top third of the frame (Rule of Thirds, people! Stick with me!). Like I said above: great view, but not a lot to look at. Or maybe there's too much to look at. I'm not really sure. I think at night or during a sunset this would be--could be--a much stronger photo.

The second photo I took while we were waiting for our food to be ready at China King (their General Tso's tofu is epic). It's of their neon sign and it's reflection (surprise, surprise) in the mirror. The only thing I don't like about the shot is the yellow sign reflecting in the mirror as well (it's from above another Chinese restaurant across the street).

1/10 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

I turned the White Balance up some in Aperture, but other than that, the picture's the same. I just really wish that stupid yellow sign wasn't showing up. This could have been a much cooler photo otherwise. Poo on you, Studen (sic) Rentals.

Prepare yourselves for tomorrow--I work. I think it's supposed to be nice though and possibly warmer, so I may try and get some photos after work before the sun sets (though, I'll probably avoid a sunset shot for tomorrow. Unless it's has astounding potential, of course). Until then, this is me signing off. *scribble scribble scribble* "off"

Get it?

Day 41: Stamp the Yard

I always hate the day after I take a photo I'm really happy with. Because no matter what I take it always seems less than good. On any other day I probably would have moderately enjoyed today's photo (and it's not terrible; I'm just comparing), but instead I'm just meh about it. Here it is.

1/8 sec. exposure at F/8. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

I do like the perspective of it, but it's just nothing that great. Ah well, can't win 'em all. I didn't really do anything special to this either when taking it or in Aperture. I think I may have adjusted the white balance down some to get rid of some of the warm, yellow tone I always get from the fluorescent lights at work. In some shots, I really appreciate the warmth that it gives, but it makes the counter look too yellow.

I'll do my best to get out and take something interesting tomorrow. I'm playing racquetball in the afternoon and music in the evening, so I'm not sure when I'll get out, but I'll try. I promise! Now do what I do and watch Community. It's the right thing to do. Troy and Abed in the Mooorning!

Day 40: Totally (Well, Not Totally) Tubular

Good evening. Sorry for the late post. I was actually planning on posting earlier today, but I'm glad I held off until now. I took some photos earlier in the day that I thought was going to be all I had time for, but I ended up snapping some photos in "downtown" Indiana while waiting for a couple of friends to get out of class. Let's start with the one(s) I took earlier.

.8 sec exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

1.6 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

3.2 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

20 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

13 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

6 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.

I took each of these images and composited them using the Photomatix HDR plug-in (which I finally ended up purchasing, which means no more watermarks. Hooray!). The composited image is below.

Composite HDR image.
Click image for larger version.

I kind of like how this one came out. There's a certain quality that HDR gives it, an almost painted look in some places. Oh, and in case you're wondering that's a poster mailing tube that I've had laying around for a while and always forget to incorporate into my shots. I took a few photos with it before I started the blog and liked the different nature that the tube adds to the photos. What do you guys think?

This next photo is of the marquee for the Indiana Theater (which is actually a bus station now, though I think they do an occasional show there; in fact, I think The Clarks are playing there soon) and the town's Clock Tower building. I think it's part of a bank, but I'm not completely certain. Either way, here it is.

1/5 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 1600.
Click image for larger version.

It's an okay shot, I guess. I had to crank the ISO way, way up to be able to use a fast enough shutter speed. I didn't have my tripod with me, and I was getting some camera shake at lower ISOs. I think I'm mostly disappointed with the color (or lack thereof) in this one. There's just not much happening in that department unfortunately. But that's okay, because I have one more to share, and I really like how this one came out.

Right at the end of this block (if you move towards where I was standing, not further away), right next to the theater is a bike shop. Between the bike shop and a hobby shop is a street/alley. I was standing in that alley to block myself from the brutal wind while I was putting away my camera when this caught my eye. So I dug my camera back out and took a few photos of it. This one was the best, and I tweaked it a bit in Aperture, but I'll explain that in a moment.

.5 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 1600.

Click image for larger version.

That arrow is pointing toward a staircase, but I just really liked that black arrow on the side of the building; I like the way that it points, more angled down instead of just horizontal or vertical. All I did in Aperture was turned up the exposure to brighten it up a bit, adjusted the curves to brighten it up some more, and then I tried adjusting something I haven't touched before--I turned down the Black Point. I'm not sure exactly what this does other than it made it look much softer and more "vintage", but I really like that it does that. This is one of my favorite photos I've taken now, and it's mostly because of that softness that turning down the black point gave it. I love the "crispness" that digital photography offers, but it sometimes makes the photos look too clean, not enough character. This particular image needed a grittiness to it, and I'm glad I figured out how to do that (well, kind of figured out). It's another one of those ah-ha moments that remind why it is I'm doing this. Good day, goooood day.

I must be getting to bed for work calls early tomorrow. Not sure what I'll be photographing since I really am running out of things at work. But I'm sure something will present itself. It always seems to. Thanks for stopping by. I just want to give one brief, little reminder that I'll be doing another contest similar to the one in January. The deadlines isn't until the end of the month, but if you see a photo that you like make sure you let me know (i.e. comment!) and you might win an 8 x 10 print of it. Party on, dudes!

Day 39: Who's That Idiot?

Unfortunately, I have to be rather brief tonight, but I wanted to get this up before it got much later. We've been having these horrible, horrible storms and then really gorgeous weather the following day. It has made for some really great opportunities, but today really took the cake. Well, just have a look for yourself.

1/200 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

1/200 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

I decided it would be a great idea to go outside in shorts and a t-shirt and my tiger hat and jump in the snow. It makes for an interesting image. It almost looks like I cropped myself into the photo afterwards. But I promise--that was really me out there. I have witnesses.

It really was a gorgeous day. Clear and perfect. Of course clear skies mean brutally cold nights, and tonight was no exception. I hear even worse for tomorrow. Fun fun fun.

As I said, this was brief, so I'ma bounce. Stay warm (or cool, depending on where you're reading this I suppose) and stay classy.