Day 314- Zig Zag

I’m continuing right along with the daily challenges this week; after 314 days I am very grateful for ideas for photographs!

Today it is zig zag. This carved out bowl (from a gourd?) that I’ve had forever seemed a likely subject. I shot the photo with only window light in a dim room hoping for more dramatic lighting than I got, but I like the result anyway. I used sepia processing to de-emphasize the table and backdrop.

f/22, 10 sec (I THOUGHT it seemed like a long time!), ISO 160, 85mm

 

Melinda3 Comments

Day 312- Connections

Too bad that today’s ODC challenge isn’t Hard Light again- I had plenty of that when I went out today to shoot photos at NOON (breaking one of the first rules of photography). The theme is connections, hence this macro of links of chain, which I found down by the waterfront.

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Day 311- Hard Light

This sweet figurine/vase was my mother’s, and I’ve always loved it. I used it for today’s Flickr group challenge- Hard Light. I wasn’t sure how to go about it, but placed her under my kitchen table light, which cast harsh shadows. I then processed the image in black and white (although the piece is already white) to emphasize the contrast between light and dark.

f/10, .8sec., ISO 200, 85mm

Melinda4 Comments

Day 309- Neat?

I am going, somewhat reluctantly, with today’s challenge: NEAT.

Anyone who knows me would be certain that I would have to leave my house to find anything that is neat.

But…it turns out that I just had to open a cupboard!

f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 160, 35mm

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Day 308- Pointed

The Subaru had to go in for servicing in today, so, while we were waiting, my husband and I drove around looking for things that were pointed, today’s Flickr group challenge.  I took photos of roofs, gazebos, Mt. Diablo, fence pickets, and even my husband pointing at me (I posted that one to the group- loved it!).  I am choosing this bird (with a pointed beak) on a street lamp as my photo of the day, with a little texture added for no good reason (except I felt like playing with Photoshop).

f/5.6, 1/3200, ISO 200, 200mm

Textures: Kim Klassen’s break free and scratches, very reduced opacity, applied to sky

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Day 307- Capital of California

Benicia was the capital of California- really! Just from 1853 to 1854- but the capital building remains. It is a California State Park, and, because of the budget crisis, is slated to be closed.  A local group is fighting its closure, so there is hope that this beautiful building will remain open for school children and the public to view and appreciate this little piece of history.

I took bracketed photos, which I merged in Photomatix for an HDR image.

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Day 306- Waterfront

Walking along the Petaluma waterfront today on my way to lunch with my friend, Joan, I managed to get a few shots of the midday sun shining on the river. Since I joined a Flickr group called Bokeh Wednesdays, it seemed like the perfect shot for today. I have been practicing my Photoshop skills, inspired by my friend Carol‘s enrollment in a Photoshop class, and downloaded a few free actions yesterday from CoffeeShop. I decided to use Creamy Chocolate B&W on this one; I like the brown tones mixed in with the black and white.

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Day 305- Skittles!

Here are the Halloween leftovers (de-bagged for the photo)- SKITTLES!  These have always been my son’s favorite candy- so Matt- this photo is for YOU!

f/1.8, 1/200, ISO 400, 35mm

Textured with one layer of Kim Klassen’s “and then some” for Texture Tuesday.  Follow the link to Kim’s page to see some wonderful textured photos!

Melinda5 Comments

Day 303- No Brainer

Loving the ODC challenge today- TAPE!  How easy is that?

No, the package isn’t for YOU (whoever is reading this. . .)!

Or for anyone- I wrapped an empty box.

Now here is the “impressive” part: a few months ago I created some presets in Aperture 3 to try and imitate some of the actions I have seen for Photoshop. This one has a yellowish haze- I call it 1970’s extreme. I’ve only used it twice, but I like it for this one.

f/1.8 1/100 ISO 400 35mm

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Day 302- Chasing Fall

We were on a mission today: find some fall color before it disappears!

We ended up driving almost all the way to Tahoe today until we finally found fall foliage. None of my photos do justice to the gorgeous golden yellows contrasting with the dark evergreens, but I liked the way the late afternoon sun was hitting this beautiful aspen.

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