Day 120: Some Clouds at Night

Funny story. I took my tripod to work with me today so that I could redo/retry what I did yesterday, but with a more stable shot. But... I forgot to charge my phone, so it died before I could take the picture. Another day, I guess.

I can't believe two things: One, that this is the end of my fourth month of shooting; two, that I still haven't skipped a day yet! I'm the man!

Now that I've raised your expectations of me a bit, let me crash them back down with today's photos (I actually don't think today's are that bad, but it's fun to make fun of me).

I dozed off while watching a movie, so I missed the sunset that I was going to try and capture. Not only did I wake up in the dark (which I hate), but I also needed to figure out what I was going to photograph today. The sky still looked kind of cool, so I went out on the porch and messed around a bit. Here are my two favorites.

.3 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
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.4 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 400.
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I didn't mess with these in Aperture too much, just some exposure and contrast settings. The sky already had that really deep blue to it. I almost didn't upload that second photo. But I'm glad I did. Once I got it into Aperture, I really liked it. It messes with my head a bit.

Tomorrow is May 1st. In one week's time I'll have finished my last paper, written a short essay, wished my sister a happy birthday, and graduated with my Master's. Hopefully I'll have time (and maybe some cooperation from the weather for a change) to get out and take some snappy snaps too. Au revoir.

Day 119: Pic Within a Pic

I just finished watching Star Wars Uncut. If you have a chance, I definitely recommend watching it. Especially if you're a Star Wars fan (the link to see it is here). This guy basically asked people to submit fifteen second long scenes, and then he stitched it together into the full length movie. It's really impressive.

I worked today and it's really throwing me off. I haven't worked a Friday in a while, and I keep thinking that it's Saturday. But it's not. Tomorrow is. Which means I have to work again tomorrow. Boo.

I actually got kind of creative today with the photo, but not as creative as I wanted because my tripod was at home. I took a photo with my phone and then took a photo of my camera with the image on it. For the first one I used a larger aperture (smaller number, larger opening), and it gave me this.

1/30 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
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I didn't like the blurry background or the fact that the scene wasn't matching up. So I took another photo on my phone, and tried the same thing again. This time I set the smallest aperture that my camera goes to so that the background would also be in focus.

1/5 sec. exposure at F/22. ISO 1600.
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It's actually kind of a cool photo, I think. I just wish I had had my tripod so that the background wouldn't be as blurry. And I would have been able to line up the phone photo a little better. All in all still fun though.

Okay. I'm off to bed. Enjoy your Friday, world.

Day 118: The Road To Greensburg

Hullo fulks. Went down to Greensburg tonight to pick up a book I need for a final and got some dinner too. While on the way down, the sun was peaking through the big clouds so I snapped some photos. I wasn't driving, so you don't have to worry about my safety.

Just one photo though. It's the only one that came out decent and also didn't have part of the car in the shot still. Though I could have cropped that out, I guess, but they still weren't that great.

1/200 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 200.
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Okay. I'm off to get some sleeps soon. Nighters.

Day 117: Raindrops Keep Falling On Our Porch

Salutations, dear reader/viewer. As apparently it must do this Spring, it rained again today before I could get any photos taken. As a result, I was trapped inside (well, not really trapped exactly, but I didn't feel like going out in it). I figured I could just shoot from out the back door, and these are what I shot.

1/13 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 100.
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1/50 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 200.
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1/50 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 400.
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I like the warped reflections of the rails in the top two. The third one was something I decided to snap after the wind blew the door closed on me, and the knob entered the frame.

Sorry for the quick post. Work calls early tomorrow, so I must retire soon. To bed, not from my job. Although it would be pretty awesome to be able to retire at 31... Wishful thinking.

Day 116: What a Dandy Lion

Late post, but if I write quickly I think I can squeeze it in before it's technically tomorrow. It was a fairly nice morning, and then a crazy stormy evening, and now it's a pretty clear evening. Earlier in the day I looked out our back window and saw a lot of dandelions in the field. I thought it would be a cool photo. Then I took the photos and it was just kind of okay. I think it needs more dandelions. Then it would be really cool.

Anyway. Here's a couple of photos for your perusing pleasure. Enjoy and I'll holla atcha tomorrow.

1/20 sec. exposure at F/13. ISO 100.
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1/20 sec. exposure at F/13. ISO 100.
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Day 115: In the Shadow of a Tall Tree

Guess what?! It didn't rain today! Well, almost. It started raining this evening as I was leaving class. But it was absolutely beautiful out all day. I worked this morning then headed up to campus. After going to the library to put some money on my I-Card so I could print some things out for class, I headed back to the library to try and find a book that I need for one of my final papers. They didn't have it so I went back to the grad lounge and did some reading, then I realized I should see if the library had some other books that might be helpful. So I went back over to the library, but all of the computers were filled, so I walked back over to Leonard (where the grad lounge is) to get on a computer and check the online catalog. Then I went back to the library and got the books I needed. Whew.

After all of that walk to and from and to and from the library, I decided I would go put the books in my car because I knew it was supposed to rain, and I didn't want to carry them through the rain after class. As I was walking to my car I noticed this and thought it might make a neato photo.

1/50 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.
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I just thought it was really cool how defined the shadows were on the ground. There were some other trees doing this that had started to bud, but I liked the definition of the lines that the branches create. I tweaked this one in Aperture a bit to make the shadows really dark.

This next one is an HDR composite of essentially the same photo (but, of course, of three different exposures).

Photo composited in Aperture using Photomatix HDR Plug-In.
Click image for larger version.

It almost looks like the shadow of some crazy monster that's attacking IUP's campus. Looking at both photos, I think I like the first one a little better. The darker tone of the image gives it just that--a darker tone. It seems much more ominous and foreboding. I don't know. Just talking at this point.

I'm off to bed now. Of course it's supposed to rain for the next million days straight again, so I'll try and get creative, but I can't make any promises. Only another week and a half of classes left, so hopefully that will 1) allow me to get out and take more photos, and 2) let me actually finish setting up the etsy shop. Stay tuned, guys and gals (and everything in between)!

Day 114: Yellow Car In That Lawn

Hey hey hey. Hey. Hey! I actually kind of like today's photos. When I first took them, I wasn't sure how I felt about them, but after adjusting some things in Aperture, they came out kind of cool. There's a car in a lawn that I pass everyday on my way to work. It was sitting there last fall, and I really wanted to stop and take a photo of it then. The tree in this photo with it had almost the exact same color leaves as the car's color then. But the tree is starting to bud and it still looked kind of cool. And they put the car back out there, so I pulled off to the side of the road on my way back home from work today and snapped a couple of photos.

1/640 sec. exposure at F/5. ISO 200.
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1/320 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 200.
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The only thing is, I wish that the swimming pool wasn't in the background. But oh well. Good luck moving a swimming pool. Okay. I'm gonna get back to watching Superman now. Take care of yourselves, and each other.

Day 113: A Blue Tie Affair

I figured since I'm waiting for Tiger Woods to create my face I should just go ahead and get my post out of the way for the day. Strange sentence, eh? I'm trying out my roommate Adam's copy of the new Tiger Woods '12 for PS3. One of the features uses Playstation Eye camera to capture a front and side image of your face, and it creates a computer generated one for your character. I used it in Tiger Woods '11, and it came out scary. Actually, as I just finished that last sentence it finished compositing my image. It's, uh.... less scary than last years, but I'd still run from me if that's how I really looked.

Anyways. That's not why I'm here, is it? The English Graduate Organization (EGO) had their annual conference today. I presented a paper on Terry Gilliam. I dressed in my favorite summer suit: my blue striped one, with a blue bow tie. When I got home I thought it would be fun to photograph a zoomed in view of the bow tie while I was still wearing it. Here are the two that I liked best (both were cropped down more in Aperture).

1/10 sec. exposure at F/4.5. ISO 200.
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1/10 sec. exposure at F/4.5. ISO 200.
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That second one is interesting. With my head completely cropped out, it almost looks like I put the clothes together and laid them down so it looked like someone was wearing them (but really wasn't). Strange what the absence of a head can do to a photo.

Okay. I'm off to do a little indoor golfing. C U 2 mar row.

Day 112: Shut Up, Crime!

Super finally made its way to Pittsburgh today! And it was well worth the wait. It was every bit violently hilarious that I was hoping it would be. And actually a little sad in a couple of places too. The movie really had everything. Check it out if you get a chance (though, it is playing rather limitedly right now).

Rainy rainy day again. Even though I went to Pittsburgh (and even explored some new places), I didn't have a chance to get my camera out down there. So I just snapped a couple of photos of my ticket stub when I got home. It was a cool little theater. You can definitely tell it has some history to it.

Anyway, here're the photos.

1/5 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 400.
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1/40 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 100. Flash used.
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At first I didn't really like that second one that I used the flash on. It looked too washed out. But I think I actually like it better now that I see it. I like that the "MIT ONE" is the only part of the stub that's in complete focus. And also I like the fact that you can see the pulpy veins of the paper in that one too. But I like the darker orange of first one (even though the stub itself is closer in color to the lighter, second photo).

Allrightyroony. I need to double check my paper over for tomorrow and get it printed out. Then off to bed so I can wake up early. Adios muchachitos!

Day 111: Walkabout

Hullo. It was a pretty nice (but cool) evening tonight, but warm enough to walk around. So that's what I did. I took a little stroll to the other side of 422. I found a pine tree with needles that shone in the sun, some flowers, and then a telephone pole. First, the pine.

1/50 sec. exposure at F/5. ISO 400.
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And here's another tree. I put the sun directly behind the trunk so it blocked the light and put it in silhouette.

1/320 sec. exposure at F/5. ISO 200.
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Here is the aforementioned flower.

1/80 sec. exposure at F/5. ISO 400.
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And finally, the telephone pole.

1/80 sec. exposure at F/6.3. ISO 400.
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Four photos today. I'm spoilin' ya. But that's okay. I've been kind of slacking a bit lately. At least I feel like I have been. Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, four today. Yeah. Toodles.

Day 110: Hey Dear Readers

Today was an interesting day. If I looked out my front window it was ridiculously cloudy. If I looked out back, it was spottily cloudy. Which meant no sunset photo like I wanted, but I still got some kind of cool shots. Then I merged those shots into HDR images. They're kind of neat I suppose.

This first one has some of the back of our house in it, as well as some lawn (I really wanted to capture some greens for a change).

Photo composited in Aperture using Photomatix HDR Plug-In.
Click image for larger version.

The next two are from behind the house. It was crazy windy, so the composite in this first one has some blur in the trees, but I think it makes it kind of cool. Also, I like how you can just make out the leaves budding off of the big tree's branches.

Photo composited in Aperture using Photomatix HDR Plug-In.
Click image for larger version.

This last one is essentially the same shot, just vertical. I like the tiny bit of jet stream in the upper corner.

Photo composited in Aperture using Photomatix HDR Plug-In.
Click image for larger version.

Much better photos today. I like being able to shoot outside, even if it is just standing on the back porch. I work all day tomorrow (and of course, I hear it's going to be gorgeous outside). But the nice part of spring is that it'll still be light for a few hours after I get off at least. See you then!

Day 109: The Rain in My Mirror

Another rainy day. I'm really sick of the rain and gloom. Mostly sick of photographing the same, stuff, every, day. But rainy days limit what I can photograph. So I tried, but it's nothing that great. 

I grabbed my camera after getting my car after getting some food after class. After after after. This is what I took.

1/4 sec. exposure at F/4. ISO 400.
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Kind of neat, but nothing that great. I had to turn the highlights down in Aperture. The headlights in the cars were really glaring and distracting.

I'm heading to bed now. Sleepy sleepy. Night!

Day 108: Mmm... Pizza...

Earlier post! Hooray! But still a quick one. I wasn't allowed to blame Erin for last night's late post, so I'm going to blame her for today's quick one. Apparently it's going to take me the next ten years to finish this because she keeps yelling at me for blaming her, and it's keeping me from being able to concentrate on the beauty that is my blog.

Without further ado. My dinner.

1/8 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 400.
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I made a BBQ Chick'n Pizza after class tonight. It was super tasty like always. But now I need to go and make sure Erin is entertained. I think she's bored of sitting here while I type. And also Reggie likes Molly. Byeeeeeeeeee. P.S. He doesn't like-like her.

Day 107: Gray Sky at Night

No words, just photos. Sorry. It's late and I need to get to bed. Took this while on my way to see Scream 4 (it was okay). Just liked the way the gray sky was creeping into the clear blue one. Goodnight!

1/20 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 100.
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Day 106: Limited, View

Did everyone else have crazy weather today? I was stuck at work. The power flickered twice and the awning tore on the front of the store. It finally got a bit sunny right as the sun was setting (but still cloudy enough to not have anything great to photograph).

Regardless, I was stuck in work all day. I tried a little experiment that didn't work out at all like I wanted it to. So I ended up just taking this, which is neat in its own way I guess.

2.5 sec. exposure at F/16. ISO 100.
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I made a slit out of some black construction paper. I was trying to do some slit-scan photos, but it wasn't working without having a matte box. So instead I just took a very limited view photo and left the "letter boxing" on top and bottom.

Not sure what tomorrow brings. But do I ever? I have to finish a response and spend some time with a certain someone. We'll see what my camera finds.

Day 105: Letter on a Sidewalk

It was an absolutely beautiful day outside today. Of course, I'm a bit under the weather so I couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked, but I still got out for a quick walk and some photo snappin'.

The first photo was pretty serendipitous. I just looked down and saw this exact thing on the sidewalk in front of me.

1/320 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

I have no idea what it is exactly or why it was there, but it's still pretty cool. I didn't want to grab it in case someone was using letters for a ransom note. I didn't want my prints on the thing!

The next photo is an HDR image, though not a terribly amazing one. There's very little difference between the HDR composite and the normal exposure photo. Just some definition in the trees in the background really.

Photo composited in Aperture using Photomatix HDR Plug-In.
Click image for larger version.

That about does it. No. Actually that does do it. I took a few more photos, but I didn't like how they came out so I'm not sharing. They're mine! MINE! Have a good'n!

Day 104: The Shadow On the Wall

I was laying on the couch watching TV after work today and the sun was coming through the blinds just above me. It was so bright that it really made the shadows very sharp and crisp, as opposed to the normal hazy definition of a shadow. So I decided that that was what I was going to photograph today.

In particular, the floor lamp's shadow was particularly striking.

1/25 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 200.
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Here's a different perspective without the lamp in it at all.

1/40 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 200.
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And this last one I just threw on here because I really like how defined the lamp's shadow is. It almost looks like it is the lamp and not just a shadow.

1/30 sec. exposure at F/4.5. ISO 200.
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That about does it for today. I have a crazy weekend ahead of me, so I really have no idea when I'll have time to take pictures over the next few days. I promise to find some time, but I can't promise that they'll be anything that great. Of course, when can I ever promise that? So long, so long.

Day 103: Tangled In Shadow

Yo yo. Ma. Smothers? Anyway. Enough nerdery. I was sitting here at my desk working on some school stuff and I liked the way that the mass of cords and cables were sitting on my desk. So that's what I photographed today. It's an okay photo. Much better than yesterday's for sure.

1/10 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

Eh. Something different anyway. I'm still working on getting the etsy shop set up. Hopefully in the next week or so. Make sure you check back! Until then, or until tomorrow I guess, have a fantabulous day/night/morning/lunch/afternoon!

Day 102: Meddlin' With Meta

Good afternoon. Yep. An afternoon post! I haven't posted this early in quite some time. I have class tonight and know that I'm not going to have time to take photos later anyway, so I figured I might as well throw today's up now. And it's thrown up.

The idea for this seemed much better in my brain. I wanted to photograph my photographs. Get very meta with my photography. It didn't turn out that well...

1/20 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
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1/8 sec. exposure at F/4.5. ISO 800.
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Told ya. Not very good. Sorry. Apologies. Off to work on my presentation some more. See ya'll tomorrah.

Day 101: Small Potatoes

I'm not very happy with today's photo. I waited until the last minute again (in my defense I worked and had a presentation tonight; plus it rained all day), so it limited my options. I made some french fries after racquetball tonight and so I grabbed my camera and took a photo of the potato after I sliced it down.

1/6 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

I don't know if my lens needs cleaned or my hands were shaky tonight, but it kept coming out slightly blurred each time I took it. Ah well. I'll see what I can do tomorrow.

Day 100: Triple Digits

Hello and hi and welcome to my 100th day straight of shooting! I do have a special announcement, but first let's get to today's photos.

I went on a walk with Erin today. It was absolutely gorgeous outside. We walked the route that I usually take when I go for a run, and I've always noticed some places that I wanted to photograph, but don't carry my camera with me when I run (for obvious reasons). One of those locations was actually pretty perfect today as you'll see below.

The first photo I took first thing this morning though. I really liked the way the sun was coming through my shades in my bedroom, particularly the way they change directions on the wall/tv stand.

1/60 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 200.
Click image for larger version.

The next photo happened early on the walk. I saw this bunch of yellow flowers growing on the side of the road (who knows what kind it is? I sure don't). I took one with the front flower in focus and another with the back flower in focus.

1/200 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 100.
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1/400 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 100.
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And this last one is a little stream I've always thought could make for some neat photos, today especially. There were some small little yellow flowers (different than the ones above, but I still have no idea what they are) on the road in front of the stream. This one is the perfect spring photo: flowers blooming, trees still bare.

1/40 sec. exposure at F/11. ISO 200.
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That's all the photos for today. And now for the big 100th day announcement: I've decided to open up a shop at etsy.com to try and sell some photos. There isn't anything there yet (except for maybe my profile), but I'll keep you posted when the shop is live and there will be some images available for purchase. And if there's an image that you like that doesn't make it into the shop, let me know and I'll either add it in or you can buy it direct. I hope you all enjoyed today's weather as much as I did! TTFN!

Day 99: The Key to Amplifying is Glassware

Today is day 99. That means tomorrow is my 100th day in a row of shooting. I feel like I need to do something special for it, but I'm not sure what. I'll think about it. For now enjoy today's photos. Yes, that's right plural. I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to shoot much more than one, maybe two things. So I really kept my eyes out at work today for things that would be interesting (maybe?) to photograph.

The first one is of my keys sitting on the counter. I really like that the chain in the center is in focus and that's about it.

1/100 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

I played at the Book Nook last night for my monthly show as part of Lovin' Downtown. Of course, it was cold and rainy so no one was out so I didn't play long. I left my amp there and took this photo today.

.3 sec. exposure at F/9. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

As I was shutting off the lights at closing, I noticed this glassware that we have back in the kitchen store. It's always been there, but there's a grouping of lights in the back that randomly stays on sometimes (I have no idea how to turn them on or off, yet sometimes they're on when I get there and stay on when I leave). The way that light was hitting the glassware and casting some shadow really made it look cool, so I grabbed my camera and took this one.

1/4 sec. exposure at F/4. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

That's 99 down. Check back tomorrow for (hopefully) something cool for day 100. I really thought I was going to slip up this past week and not take photos on one of those days, but I plowed through and, though they might not be the best pictures, took some. Soooo long!

Day 98: In the Line Light

Today's is a bit different.

.6 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 400.
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It's kind of minimalist. I stood in my bathroom with my bedroom light on so it shone through the bottom of my bathroom door. Then I pointed the camera so that the light was towards the upper part of the image and blurred the focus so it wasn't as clear. In Aperture I turned the black point up a bit, which gave it the tapering as the light goes towards the right.

I dunno. I kind of like shooting images like this. They're very simple, but there's a beauty in their simplicity.

Also, what else do you expect when it was pouring rain all day? Have a good one, folks!

Day 97: They Will See Us Waving From Such Great Heights Part II; or, I'll Be Waiting For Your Phone Call, Mom

Hey! I'm posting before midnight today! You must all be so proud. Not that you can really tell in the grand scheme of things. But I know, so I feel kind of bad. I promise all of the photos have been taken the day of. I just haven't been getting around to posting until later.

I took a trip to Pittsburgh today. Quiet Storm? Check. Oh Yeah!? Check. Mt. Washington? Checkarooni. You  might remember this same vantage point from some photos that I took back in February when I first found this place. Well, tonight's were taken at, well, night this time. Definitely a different image.

2.5 sec. exposure at F/4.5. ISO 200.
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2 sec. exposure at F/4.5. ISO 200.
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For that one, I turned the black point way up in Aperture, basically getting rid of any structures and only leaving the lights. I kind of like it. Especially the stuff reflecting in the water.

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

Yep. That's exactly what it looks like. I'll be waiting for your phone call, Mom. I know it's coming any minute now (assuming you're reading this in the morning, of course).

All kidding aside, I'm so happy with how that came out. Sure it's kind of cheesy, and even though I can't eat cheese it doesn't mean I can't enjoy making a bit of it now and then. At least it's romantic cheese.

Okay. I'm crashin' hard and need to get to bed. Expecting rain tomorrow (of course), so we'll see what the camera gods bring for me to photograph. Adios muchachos!

Day 96: I A Door You

Late post again tonight. I'm sorry. It's not my fault. Really. Again, I took the photo this afternoon, but I was busy busy and didn't get around to posting. Plus I thought I might take a couple more photos tonight, but that didn't happen. So here we are. Enjoy.

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

Have a good.... morning? Dang it.