Day 65: Here Kitty Kitty

Okay, well I'm finally able to post today. The hardest part of my photo adventuring was trying to find a place with internet. Scratch that, trying to find a place with internet that would let me get onto Blogger to post. My mom's place has no internet (and all of her neighbors are password protected; how dare they!); the library said that blogger.com was an inappropriate site and wouldn't let me go to it. Now I'm at my cousin's place to hop on and post.

Just one photo today, but it's an HDR, so technically it's three photos composited into one. The photo is of my mom's cat Maddie.

Composite photo in Aperture with Photomatix Plug-In.
Click image for larger version.

I'm not going to show each separate photo tonight. But to briefly recap: the exposures were either too bright in the window behind her (in order to make her bright enough), or too dark on her (in order to show the view from outside, but ended up making her a silhouette). So I just decided to do an HDR image to make all of those things stand out.

Which also brings me to the next theme: HDR. I bought this plug-in several weeks ago, and I think I've only used it a couple of times. So over the next week or so, I'm going to take photos to composite in HDR. I figure that this won't limit me as much as only shooting through reflective surfaces did, but it'll also let me work on a specific skill set.

Not sure what I'll photograph tomorrow. I'll still be home for most of the day and want to shoot around here, but I don't know where I'll go. It's supposed to be sunny but cold, so not sure if I can get outside. We'll see. But check back for something from Northeast Ohio. Until then, adieu.

Day 64: Spoonman

Hey all. I have to be extra quick tonight. I'm heading home for a couple of days, but there's no internet at my mom's, so I had to post today's before I left. It's definitely the last reflection day. So without further ado, here's today's photo and the last reflection for a while.

1/30 sec. exposure at F/5.6. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

This is a metal, slotted spoon from back in the Kitchen Store. I think I spent all the rest of the reflective surfaces at work the other day. This was the last thing that I could find. Well, the last one that had even the slightest (very slight) hint of neatness to it.

Well there ya go. Sorry this was so short and to the point tonight. Tomorrow = new scenery so hopefully some new photos too! See ya then!

Day 63: Take Off That Sweater, Man...

I think that tomorrow will be my last day doing reflections. For two reasons: 1) I'm heading home for a couple of days and I don't know what opportunities I'll have for reflection photos (I'll still be taking pictures for sure, but just not sure what of); and 2) It's starting to get hard, so I want to move on to the next theme. I'm sure I'll return to it and take reflective photos in the future. Just not right now.

Anyhoo. On to today. Today I took some photos of myself as the "model" in my bathroom. I set the camera on my tripod kind of low, pointing up. Then I took one of my roommate Adam's spotlights and did the same thing on the other side of where I was standing (but still behind me). Then I set my camera for timer mode, and started at it.

Please accept my utmost apologies for my hairy, man chest. I don't know why, but I thought it helped the photo, my shirt being off that is. It made it more intimate. This first one is of me looking "angry" at myself.

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

I made a few adjustments in Aperture, specifically to the areas around my face. I wanted it to be dark, but still show features. I think it actually came out kind of good (except for my ugly mug, of course).

The next one used the same set-up, but I stood farther away from the mirror. I also tried to look "sad" (sorry, I didn't want to just stand there in the photos. I really did want them to have some emotion to them actually). I also moved in front of the light a little more so that there was a solid silhouette/shadow above and behind me.

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

Obviously, I made some adjustments in Aperture, one of which was making it black and white. Again, other than the fact that I'm in the photo, I really like how this one came out. Not to try and interpret my own work, but I think because of the way there's a lot of empty space in the scene (plus my sad attempt at "sad"), there's actually some loneliness to the photo. What do you guys think? Did I pull it off, or am I just talking out of my ear?

I kind of feel bad giving up after four days of the theme. And who knows, maybe I'll find something at home to bounce something off of and shoot. You'll just have to check back and see. Which reminds me, if there's a specific theme that you'd like to see me do for a week or so, let me know. I'm always looking for things to shoot and a little direction goes a long way.

Buh-buyeeeeeeeee.

Day 62: Eye'nd Boggling

I've got some phun fotos for you today. They're nothing spectacular, but I had fun doing them, and I hope you have fun looking at them. Of course, we're still in reflection themes so today's photos are more in that style. If you can call what I'm doing having "style".

The first photo is of a bottle of marinade next to a tea kettle. The kettle had a strange shape and each time I moved it, the bottle of marinade got warped in a different way. This was my favorite though.

1/8 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 400.
Click image for larger version.

The next photo is of my cell phone sitting on the counter. I actually was going to use my cell phone in a reflective pic a few weeks ago and forgot. I like that the screen is black, so the reflection almost makes it look like you're looking down into a hole. Well, kind of...

1/8 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

The last two are of the big, plexiglass "box" that holds/displays the scratch-off lottery tickets. I really like the way this one is deceptive. It takes a second before you can focus in on what's reflecting through the plexi. The first one is just the scene.

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

And this is the same photo, but with me being a creeper.

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

Are you guys liking the theme weeks? Or do you prefer the randomness of what I was doing before? I really don't care much either way. I just figured this would let me focus on certain things for an extended period of time. But if it's boring for you guys to look at basically the same stuff everyday, I can switch back. Let me know, with, like, comments, and stuff. Have a pleasant evening!

Day 61: Blue Car Group

Here we are. Another day. Another photo. Another reflection. Today I reflect on what happens when I don't have much time to take photos. It means what I end up with isn't that great. I also reflect through my car's side mirror. So take a look.

1/8 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

I know what I was trying to do, but I couldn't quite get it to work. There was a blue Jeep parked next to my blue Ion. I wanted to get both of the vehicles in the shot so that a lot of blue stood out. It did, but it doesn't contrast very well with the concrete so it's just kind of bleh. Plus my hand/sleeve are kind of in the photo. Oh wells.

That's alls Is gots fors thiss days. Check back tomorrow for some more reflective work, hopefully better than todays. Adios!

Day 60: Reflections

Welcome to the beginning of month three! It's March, which means (hopefully) Spring is coming soon. Which in turn means not getting stuck taking photos inside all the time. Like today. But I really like today's so maybe that's a bad example. On to it!

Now that I've gotten two months of pretty random picture taking out of my system, I wanted to try and get a little more focused. At least in spurts. Going forward, at least for the time being, I'm gonna start some "theme chunks". Basically what I'll be doing is for a week or so, take very similar photos. For example, one week might be landscapes, another week might be animals, and so on. You get the....picture? Hah!

The first week (or so)'s theme is going to be reflective surfaces. As those of you that have been following my blog so far might know, reflective photos are my favorite to take. I don't know why, I just really enjoy doing them. I was actually planning on doing a different them to start with, but then I went into the kitchen to make cereal (well, pour it and some rice milk into a bowl, not physically make the cereal) and saw this reflection happening through my pizza cutter. So I grabbed my camera and started snapping. It also came out cool because of the way that the sun was bouncing off of certain things in the reflection (the faucet, a spoon) and giving off these little sunbursts. See for yourself.

1/20 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 100.
Click image for larger version.

I did a few things to it in Aperture after the fact. The first thing I did was crop the photo. There was a lot more "empty" space above and to the left in the photo. I wanted the focus to be on what was in the reflection itself. Because of that, I also did things to make the background darker as well as the edge of the pizza cutter blurrier. Again, it's not important what it's reflecting off of, but rather what's in the reflection.

Okay. .yakO

That about does it for today. Look for some more reflections in the coming days. And yes, I meant that in both definitions (physical and mental reflections). I'm witty like that. Peace out.

February Contest Winner

Congratulations to....

Matt! Here's the photo he selected as his favorite for the month.

Matt will be receiving an 8 x 10 print of the image. Thanks for your comments everyone. Keep 'em coming for March as well. The contest rules will be the same this month as last month. For every comment that you post, you will have your name entered into the drawing at the end of the month. The winner can select the photo they'd like to have a print of at that time. Congrats again, Matt. And make sure you all stop back later today for Day 60's post!