Day 70: All Mixed Up, Don't Know What To Do

Wow. 70 straight days of shooting. And boy are my arms tired. And my eyes. I'm sleepy today. I think I'm taking this spring break thing a little too seriously. The break part of it, I mean. Sure, I'm getting some reading done. But that's in between naps and movies. And taking pictures of course.

Today was another really crappy, gloomy day out. But the snow was sticking to things in a good way so I wanted to try and find some good places to shoot. I drove around, but every time I found somewhere decent, it was a place that didn't have any snow. Kind of defeated the purpose. But then I lucked into this random driveway (at least, I think it was a driveway; it was in a really random spot between guardrails). I shot multiple exposures again today to composite in HDR. I noticed afterwards that, at least in these three photos, there isn't much difference that I could see between the HDR photos and the regular ones. It mostly shows in the sky parts of the photo (the branches there are more detailed and the sky isn't just white).

Here's the first.

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

And number two.

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

Aaaaand number three.

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

I'm not sure which of the three that I like the best. I think maybe the last one, but only because I included the driveway/car tracks in the shot. It makes it less random. In other words it's not just a bunch of trees with snow--well, it is. But it's also somewhere specific. Somewhere someone else has been. I don't know. Maybe that's just me. And the second one is kind of cool because it looks like there's some kind of camera shake/motion/blur happening, but it's just the way the branches are.

Well. I know that they're not anything great, but I think today was a significantly better post than what I've been giving you all the past couple of days. I work all day tomorrow. There supposed to be a St. Patrick's Day parade in the morning, but it might get cancelled to weather. I don't know. If it's not, I might try and sneak up on the roof for a couple of quick shots of the parade from above. But if there're customers in the store that probably won't happen. And I'm sure there will be. Working parade days stinks. And so do parades. So lame. One last question: have you ever made out in dark hallways?

Day 69: A Little of This, A Little of That (in HDR)

Greetings all. Sorry about yesterday's lame post. I don't know that today's will be any better, but at least I have three different HDR photos for you today. That's something, I guess. It's still crummy and rainy out, and we're supposed to get dumped on with snow tonight. Fun fun. I'm so sick of this weather. It keeps me from getting out and taking pictures. Instead, I have to do things like these photos. Granted two of the three are technically outside, but still...

The first one is from the front of the Book Nook. There was a puddle outside on the sidewalk (duh, you can all see the picture), so I took a reflective photo in three exposures. Here's the composite.

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

The next one is from inside. I got in close on one of our comic book racks and took it. Most of these photos I decided on today were because I was curious what would happen if I composited them in HDR. And of course, it didn't work. I'm not sure what happened in the plug-in, but it wouldn't even give me a preview image for this photo. So, sorry that I wasted your time with this paragraph...

On to the next one, I suppose. I took this one from in the back of the Book Nook. There's a small staircase that goes down to the back entrance. So I stood down there and angled my camera a little and shot up (at three exposures). There must have been some camera shake that I didn't notice on the longest exposure because the HDR image came out a little fuzzy. But it's still kind of neat, I guess.

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

Well, I tried that second one one last time, but it still didn't work. Sorry 'bout that. Two out of three ain't bad though. I'm not sure what I'll photograph tomorrow. Like I said, it's supposed to be pretty crappy out tomorrow. And I'm supposed to play at the Book Nook. We'll see to both of those, depending on the weather. Check back. Ya know, if ya'll wants ta.

Day 68: Burn Baby Burn

So I was really really lazy today. Really lazy. I woke up, watched last week's Smallville (no more episodes until April...), watched some tv, took a nap, went to see The Adjustment Bureau (which was really good; I recommend seeing it), then came home, ate some dinner, and now here we are. You'll notice that none of those things involved my camera. It was a really dreary, rainy day, and I didn't feel like going anywhere to take photos and what I could take here just seemed lame. Thus, today's photo. At the end of all of this (a.k.a. five minutes ago), I decided that this would be what I photographed and composited into an HDR image.

1/5 sec. exposure at F/3.5. ISO 800.
Click image for larger version.

Unfortunately, when I composited this (and the two other photos) into the HDR image, it was really bad. So instead, here is the normal exposure of the image. My tripod was in my car, and it's rainy and like I said, I'm lazy today, so I didn't feel like going to get it (the reason the HDR came out bad is that the long/bright exposure was a little shaky so the plug-in couldn't align the images properly).

Sorry that today was so lame. I promise tomorrow will be much, much better. Cross my heart.

Day 67: Bike Fence Sky. And a Little Bit of Trees

Grrrrrrreeeeeetings! And hello. Or hi. If you prefer. Sorry. I'm a little goofy tonight since there's a small amount of alcohol in my body. Not much, but it doesn't really take a whole lot for me. Which is good. But anyway. I had a fun time with some great people tonight at my second vegan dinner party (or Vegan Fest according to Ann). I made a sweet potato pot pie that ended up coming out better than I thought it would, but not terrific. Lindsay made a delicious vegetable soup; Ann made an amazing chocolate cake. And Adam made me my first gin and tonic. And now here we are. I was sad that a couple of my friends couldn't make it, but it was still a ton of fun and I look forward to the next one!

But that's not why you're here, is it? You're here for phooootos! I've got another three-into-one HDR composite for you today. I actually really like how this one came out. It was a nice day, but I spent it inside making food and cleaning. So I stepped outside for a minute and snapped this one at some different exposures to composite them. For some reason the HDR composite really made this one look better than the normal exposure. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I really like it. I think it definitely has something to do with the way it makes the porch and sky look. And I think it also has something to do with the fact that it's what HDR is supposed to do (mimic how we "see" in real life).

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

I'm liking doing this HDR stuff. I'm definitely going to stick with it for a few more days at least. I always thought it was something to use more for landscape/panoramic photos but I like the idea of using it for stuff like this. So we'll see. Stay tuned. And check back. Have another look. See? See? I'm gonna have some more drinks now.

Day 66: A Frozen Tundra

Well, not really tundra, but it was frozen. And cold. I stopped at a McDonald's to post this. I'm on my way back to school and needed a break and figured I could post. But then I couldn't find any internet places so McDonald's it is.

This will be another brief post. I apologize for the brevity lately, but I'll get back to some lengthier ones when I return to school. I went to Mentor Headlands State Park today to photograph. I wanted to get some shots of the lighthouse, but I couldn't really get close enough because parts of the beach were blocked off for the winter. Since it's still HDR week, I also shot various exposures. Although, I probably didn't really need to because it was a bright enough day that a normal exposure could have made a good shot. But I did it anyways, so whatevs.

Composited in Aperture with Photomatix HDR Plug-In.
Click image for larger version.

I cropped it down (there was a lot of empty sky up top) as well as giving it a panoramic-type crop too. It looks like the lighthouse is still pretty far away, but I actually was kind of close to it. Ah, cameras and lenses and your ability to distort reality.

Okay, that's it for today. Before I forget, go out tomorrow and buy the new R.E.M. CD. It's amazing. Definitely my favorite of theirs since New Adventures in Hi-Fi. See ya when I see ya!

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!