I’m taking Emergen-C, my favourite cold-fighter today- with Vitamin C and Zinc and thinking positive thoughts that I don’t have a cold, I don’t have a cold, I DON’T have a cold!
P.S. The topic for my daily challenge group is “a FAVOURITE thing”- not a favorite (boring American spelling) thing- love it!
This morning I took this photo of a quilt as it sat on my lap- thinking it an okay choice for the topic of intersection, the topic of my daily challenge Flickr group.
But I was really counting on getting some good architectural photos for my other Flickr group when I went to Petaluma today. After having lunch with my friends, I wandered downtown for awhile. Petaluma is full of beautiful old buildings, and I allowed myself twenty minutes in the freezing cold- at an INTERSECTION- to take some photos.
I found myself second-guessing every shot, knowing that it would be critiqued. Until I joined this group, I was taking photos because I wanted to- not to measure up to a certain standard. I haven’t taken photography classes (except one in college), and I find myself a little sensitive to constructive criticism (even of others!). No one has been unkind; most of the criticism is in my own head. Guess I need to grow up!
So, here is the quilt. . .
And here are some shots of Petaluma. . .
Rooftop of the old Masonic Hall- notice the eye in the triangle!
Detail of the windows of the IOOF building across the street and down (taken from the same vantage point- just facing right, instead of left).
And finally- closer to the waterfront- the restaurant where I had lunch with Joan a few months ago. I love the contrast of the bright paint against the gray sky, but this was the shot that I had concerns about submitting to my Flickr group. I personally don’t mind the distortion of perspective here, but know that it is an issue that has been mentioned in critiques. I actually have taken many architectural shots previously at wide angle, looking up- to emphasize the distortion. I like that look in photography. But I also understand that there are techniques to remedy the distortion- if that’s not the look you want. I did use a wide angle in order to get the entire building in view.
f/9, 1/500, ISO 800 18mm
Props is the topic for today’s challenge. I decided to keep it simple and look around for everyday props, so here they are! What could be more simple than kitchen props, used so often they are always in plain sight?
Shot at 1.8 with my 35mm
The challenge for my Flickr group today was salty. Being the literal-minded person that I am at times, I took a photo of some salt.
After being out all day, I came home, put my feet up for awhile and thought about whether I really wanted the salt photo to be my only photo for today. I remembered the advice to look for the light, so got up and went downstairs to look for the light. The most likely place to look would be my kitchen table, which gets the late afternoon light. The sun turned out to be lower than I thought, but I was able to capture the last rays hitting the frame of the window and shining through the leaves and deck cover outside. Is a photo that is almost a third bokeh still a good photo? I think it IS!
Today’s photo is a macro of my father’s cribbage board, which is engraved with his name and rank and the name of the ship(USS Ajax) he served on in WWII. I believe he got the crib board, along with a souvenir plank, at a reunion of the Ajax crew. I keep these items, as well as his other WWII memorabilia, in his old dental cabinet which stands in our entry hall- all future photo subjects, I’m sure!
Today marks the beginning of my second Project 365- only this time it’s a Project 365 plus 1, since it’s a leap year. My photo of the day is a paper white bulb just planted today, using the theme of in with the new.
So, here are my top photography goals for 2012:
I think the fifth goal is my most important. I got my camera in order to take better photos of my grandchildren. I had an AHA moment recently when I realized that I see my sweet boys only a few times a year and that I don’t practice with people in between. I practice on THEM, my grandsons. I need to photograph people consistently to develop my skills. Having an external flash now will encourage me to get out there and shoot my friends, so to speak!
For the last month or so, checking the topic for the next day has been my bedtime routine. If I forget, my husband reminds me. If I’m tired, I do it on my iPhone from bed- checking the photo of one of my Flickr contacts in the group (being in Australia or somewhere far away, she’s often first to post). That’s what I did last night. Her photo was called Time, and it was a lovely textured image of a clock.
I planned to go downtown to shoot one of the clocks down there. I ended up doing laundry and watching videos on using my new flash, and I realized that the time had past to get good light downtown. While practicing with my speedlight, I took some photos of my grandfather clock. These are the kind of shots where I raise the ISO or use a tripod and long exposure- but today I used flash bounced on the white shutters. It was like I was cheating- it was so easy!
However, I felt like a dork when I uploaded it to Flickr and realized that the topic was Money can’t buy– and my Flickr friend had creatively interpreted it to be Time.
Oh.
But I like the picture, and it will be my photo of the day. If I think of something else for the topic, I’ll take another photo!
Only 3 more days. . .
f/2, 1/80, ISO 200, 35mm, with flash
Thank you, Lonnie!!!
Look at my new toy!!! It is easy to attach to the camera and use right out of the box- but if you want your photos to look natural and not “flashy”, well then, there is a LOT to learn!!! Here’s some synchronicity- there is a Clickin-Mom’s breakout session with Neil van Niekerk on Off Camera Flash going on right now! I have started the class, even though I will be using my flash ON camera. In the videos, he goes over the principles off both on and off camera flash, so I can learn both.
So far, I’ve taken fairly natural looking photos inside with the flash bounced off our (yellow!) walls. At nighttime, however, the flash had to work harder- and my photos look flashier. The good thing is that a lot of wrinkles disappeared!- but the photographs themselves just look too bright and “lit.” I tried fill flash outside today- not great so far. I’m excited to master these skills, so I will have something to fall back on when I can’t get good exposure inside with the grandkids.
Learning flash is going to be one of main photographic challenges for 2012!
In case you want to try this at home, put your camera on a tripod with a small aperture (like f/22) and a long shutterspeed (4 or 5 seconds), focus, and slowly zoom out. This one was from around 50mm to 18mm. I tried this with trees outside in the summer and remember others doing this with Christmas trees last year. I thought of it again when I saw it on Courtney’s Click It Up a Notch site (see link on side). Fun!
BTW, only one more week of Project 365 2011!
Today’s theme is symbol, and I chose to photograph a detail of the wreath (symbol of the coming of Christ) on our front door. I left the door open, so that I could get some Christmas tree light bokeh in the background. For variation, I used a used a brown toned black and white conversion.
f/3.8, 1/60, ISO 3200! (too lazy to set up the tripod today- too much to do!), 85mm
Before bed last night, I checked to see what today’s topic would be. I groaned when I saw stain– what an unappealing topic! When I told my husband, he immediately said, “Your father’s stained glass!” I had a good night’s sleep, knowing there would be something fun to photograph in the morning.
My father was a man of many interests- music (he played saxophone and clarinet in a Dixieland jazz group), photography, gardening, wordworking, and, in his retirement years, stained glass. He made the stained glass lampshade that hangs in our kitchen, and one year, he made our family a set of stained glass ornaments. His example of being creative during retirement years is one I try to live up to (although I also like to chill out with a book like my mother, a voracious reader).
Here is a detail of a star ornament made by my dad.
f/4, 1/6, ISO 200, 85mm
We have this chair we love. L O V E !
It is an antique, and we have had it repaired at least three times. When someone (usually company . . .) sits in it and puts their weight on the arms to stand up, it is just too much for this dear old chair to bear. CRACK! The last time this happened, we let the chair sit unrepaired in an extra room for over a year. We recently had it repaired again, but we just couldn’t bear the thought of an unsuspecting soul sitting in it and splintering it again. And oh yes, we would care about injuring the guest as well!
Why do we care so much about this old chair? My mother loved it- and there is a story.
When I was a child, my mother admired it so much when she visited a friend’s house that the friend finally presented it to her as a gift. Mother had it recovered with some old needlepoint that either my grandmother or great-grandmother had done years earlier, and it was a beautiful addition to her living room. And it remained unbroken until it came to live with us. . .
I also have some vague memory of the owner of the chair being a distant relative and have the intention of solving this genealogical mystery, but that’s another story.
And oh yes- the topic for today is ARMS! So here are the infamous splinter-prone arms of the chair!
f/3.5, .8sec, ISO 200, 85mm
I took many photos of the chair today- using the tripod with a long exposure. I used custom white balance (good girl!), varied angles and aperture settings for different depth of field. I took shots where the needlepoint was in the background, either in focus or blurred. I ended up going with my first photo with no needlepoint- and then thought it looked better with a black and white action added (meaning my custom white balance was for nothing!). Oh well. . .
I was lucky to be raised in a house with two grandmothers and one grandfather in addition to my parents and myself. My mother’s parents were always my role models for a long and happy marriage. I will never forget the adoring way my grandfather would look at my grandmother, Mimi; his love for her was evident in his every action. All of us hoped that when their times came, he would go first. We just couldn’t imagine how he would live without her.
However, Mimi died suddenly at age eighty. Grandpa surprised all of us with his calm acceptance and resilience. We would find him sitting outside talking softly to her, as if she was sitting right beside him. He knew she was “gone”, but felt her presence with him all the time. My grandfather had been a churchgoer for most of his life, but had told me many times that he didn’t have to go to church to be with God- he just had to go outside and God was all around.
Today’s topic is mystical figure. My grandfather would never have identified himself as a mystic, but, as someone who easily communed with God, I believe he was. My photo of the day is my grandmother’s musical angel, always present in my house and a reminder of the beautiful souls who were my grandparents.
f/4, 1/80, ISO 1600, 85mm
Oh thank God for an easy topic! SHOPPING!
Here is how I love to shop- especially during my current state of health (although I am finding it is not so good for me to use the computer. . .).
I heart Amazon!
f/5.6, 1/30, ISO 1600, 35mm
melinda anderson photography 