Project 365 - Day 59 - If the warm weather won't come to us ...

So, you know I am over winter.  And with the 36 hour "storm" we just got, well that just made things worse.  So if the warm weather won't come to us, I am going to bring it to you.

Enter a shell that I found on one of our shelves.  No idea where this thing came from, Sonia probably knows.  It was likely something brought back by one of the nieces or nephews at some point.  But it does make a good prop.

This was shot with a 1.4x extension tube and my 60mm Macro.  0.5s at f/20.  I used a card to shape the light around the shell from an off camera flash.  Bumped up the red a bit in lightroom and cropped to make it punch more.  Also, turns out I have a spot on my lens or sensor, so I cropped those out too.

Here's the shot:

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to clean a lens or sensor - or both!  ;-)

Project 365 - Day 58 - Painus Posterius

Well, it's that time again.  Tax time.  I have to dig out all the receipts and paperwork, and run the numbers, and figure out how much to put into RSPs to keep The Man from getting all my money, and then figure out where to get the cash to actually put into RSPs... :-)

So you could say I was inspired.

Today's shot is of a paper tax form (who uses those anymore) and a very violent and early end for Mr #2 pencil.  RIP pencil, you have served me well...

60mm macro lens, f/8.0 and 1/3 second.  ISO is 400.  I'm using a tripod and also off camera flash in a completely dark room - so no ambient light here.  It didn't have to be dark, I just like it that way ... :-)

Project 365 - Day 57 - Things in groups

Whenever I see like items in groups I wonder how I can make an image out of them.  Today's shot is an example of this.  At work we have these .74m antennas for our internet over satellite product.  These particular antennas are used to monitor the carriers on one satellite, and are all facing the same direction.  I had my camera at work today, so I decided to shoot these antennas.

This shot was made black and white in post production as the background is rock topped with very yellow very dead grass.  The antennas themselves are grey, so it wasn't a tough decision.

Shot at 50mm at f/5.0 and 1/80 sec.  ISO is 400.  Handheld as well.

Project 365 - Day 56 - Here we go...

So it's that time of year again, where my weekends are mostly taken up with going to BMO field in Toronto to watch TorontoFC play.  Sonia and I have been season ticket holders for 5 years now.  We try to go to each and every game, but sometimes life gets in the way.  Our first game is next Saturday at the Roger's Centre (aka Skydome).

At this point in the year, I usually race home to see if anyone has delivered my season tickets yet.  They usually come before the first game, but since the first game is actually being played at a different stadium (indoor) they sent commemorative tickets in advance.

So can you name a better subject for today's photo shoot?

I used my year one jersey as a table covering, and placed the tickets on top.  Then, I tossed in the baseball cap that we have with Richard Eckersley's signature on it.  The light is ambient light from the room.

Here's today's shot:

 

Project 365 - Day 55 - It snowed ... again ...

Got up early again today to try and catch a sunrise.  No go.  It actually snowed again.

Back down to Oakville Harbour I go, armed with my trusty camera, camera bag, tripod and layered clothing.  Soon enough I remember that the light dusting of snow reduces the friction coefficient of ice, and I almost fall 3 times!  Don't worry, my first instinct is to protect the camera ... :-)

I happened upon this particular subject while walking along the pier.  The pier at Oakville Harbour has a lighthouse at the end.  It's pretty cool, but you really need the right sky for the shot.  I still took a shot, but I tried to get cloer.

Closer to the pier is a bunch of seagulls and Canadian geese.  As I get closer, I spook one bird, and he in turn spooks the rest of the gulls.  The geese don't move, they know that they don't have to worry about one guy walking on ice - all they have to do is send one or two of them towards me, I would try to run and slip on the ice - likely falling in the water.  So I was taking my time.

I got to the point where the birds were, and I see this in the snow.  Have to get low for this shot...

70mm on my 24-70 lens.  ISO is 800, 1/800 sec shutter and f/4.5  This is hand held, no tripod. 

Project 365 - Day 54 - Another great day in Oakville

On Friday morning as I was driving into work there was a spactacular sunrise.  I was a little late for work, and I did not have my camera, so I didn't stop to take a shot.  So yesterday evening I decided that I would get up early today and go out to the lake to shoot the sunrise.

Evidently, today was not a sunrise shooting day.  I did, however, get to practice my panning technique.  Not quite there yet, but there were a lot of geese flying around to practice on.  I got one good shot, but it's against the grey sky so it's very uninteresting.

Today's shot is from that shoot, but it's a still of a mooring post that boats get tied to in the summer.  I have not been down here in the summer, but I assume that it's very busy with watercraft and so forth.  I will be returning in the spring and summer, as it is a great place for water fowl.

I had to lie on the ground to get this shot.  Needless to say, my pants were soaked and dirty.  But I got my shot.

 

f/2.8 and 1/40 sec ( I was braced on the ground so it was easy to hand hold).  ISO is 800 because of the lack of light this early and I didn't want to go slower than 1/80.  45mm on my 24-70 lens.  Adjusted the white balance and bumped up the contrast a bit.  Simple 5x7 crop as well.

Project 365 - Day 53 - Rainbow

Have you ever looked at the silver side of a DVD or CD?  Do you notice the way the light is caught in the surface of the disc and refracts to create a sort of rainbow?   Today's shot attempts to capture that light.

I put a DVD on the kitchen counter on a piece of white paper.  Then I took a black surface and placed it behind the DVD.  I propped the DVD on a lens cover from my 60mm lens.  This allowed the DVD to catch the halogen lights from my kitchen.

The black surface created a neutral reflection in the DVD, bringing it to black as this is not the part of the photo that contains the interest.  I got in close and shot on an angle so that the rainbow effect was running through the pic diagonally.

Post work was flipping the image horizontally so that DVD +R was oriented the proper way.  Remember, this is the underside of the DVD, but looked wrong the way I shot it.  Slight crop on this one.  1.6s at f/29.

Project 365 - Day 52 - That's it ... I'm grillin something

Today on the way home from work I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some vegetables for dinner.  There was some good stuff out today, and I saw a bag of those little sweet peppers.  So, I decided to build dinner around those peppers.

I also picked up some mini potatoes and a couple of steaks.  Yep, it's official.  It's grilling time!  I did do a bit of grilling in December, but the BBQ has pretty much been idle for the past couple of months.

I pulled off the cover today and cleaned it out.  Then I started the grill and basked in it's warmly goodness.

Today's shot is from the grill.  Now, you should know that by the time the food went on the grill it was pretty dark outside.  So this shot was done basically in pitch black.

30 second shutter, f/6.3 and ISO is actually at 1600.  24-70 mm lens at 55 mm.  Slight crop in lightroom.

Project 365 - Day 51 - Aren't you glad ...

So, I tried my hand at a little bit of abstract photography today.  It's not a bad start, but it does need some work.  Anyone guess what today's shot is?

I took the bananas off their hook and placed them on their side.  I couldn't get a good shot of them all as a bunch that didn't look like a photo of bananas - something you might see in a grocery store flyer or something.  I wasn't happy with it, and it's not the first time I have tried to shoot bananas.  Something I learned in Banff from one of the instructors was when the shot isn't working, get in closer.  So I did.

60mm macro lens (again) and up nice and close.  Off camera flash.  f/40 at 10 seconds.   ISO is 400 since I have the tripod anyway.

Oh yeah, I also turned it to greyscale.  I tried bumping the colours around, but it turns out that Mother Nature got this one right.  The brown and black spots contrast very nicely with the yellow banana.

Here's the shot:

 

Okay spring, any time now ... I want to shoot bugs and flowers and buds on trees and birds ...  :-)

Project 365 - Day 50 - Tulips again ...

One of the great things about tulips is how long they last.  They opened up nicely the day after I bought them from Sonia.  Now they are starting to droop and are wide open.  What better opportunity to shoot straight into them?

Today, I lit the tulip from above using the kitchen light, and then put a speedlight right under the blossom to light from below as well.  You can see the light on one of the petals on the right hand size.  That spot, although it looks blown out, is just very very bright ... :-)

f/13 on this one and a 4 second shutter to get right down the throat of the flower, to bring the stamen into focus.  A tweak of contrast to bring out more detail in the tip of the stamen and a touch less exposure.  No crop, no saturation adjust.

Here's the shot:

Project 365 - Day 49 - Another walk in the park

Today I went to a different part of Oakville.  There is this giant metal wheel on Speers road just south of the Oakville GO station that I have always wanted to shoot.  Today was the perfect time to do it, there was no traffic and the GO station was empty - lots of parking available.

I got a couple of good shots of the wheel, but none worthy to post here today.  I am still planning that shoot.  There was too much snow and ice around to get a good clean shot.

So I went for a walk down the heritage trail, a trail that is closed for the season.  This is an incline of about 20 deg or so, and apparently it is almost all ice.  I slipped a couple of times, but nothing too major - I didn't fall or anything.

I saw a couple of birds, one of which is the elusive Cardinal.  I call this Cardinal elusive as I have not yet been able to get a good clear shot of this guy.  There is one in my neighbourhood that likes to greet me when I get home, but then flies away at my first movement.  He even goes as far as perching on an old tree stump in our front garden - creating the perfect composition - before flying off.  I really need to learn how to make friends with this guy.  His colour is awesome, and he's a beautiful bird.

So I followed this particular cardinal around for a bit today, but he alwasys put trees or bushes between us.  He had what I assume was his mate with him, and they were happily chirping away as they would flit from branch to branch, maximizing the distractions between us.  So finally I gave up and he flew away.

I did, however, get this shot.  I don't know what this flower is, but in the winter it leaves this husk that looks kind of like a bee hive.  The sharp edges create a contrast to the white fluffy snow behind. 

Here's today's shot.

Project 365 - Day 48 - It's cold out there ....

So, it's -12 deg celcius, and that's before the wind chill - what better day to go back down to Coronation park in Oakville?

When I returned from my shoot yesterday, Sonia took a look at my photos and lamented that some of them would benefit from a clear sky.  One in particular was the shot of the tree.  Although it was a good shot, it could be better - or possibly different.  So off we went, on what could have been the coldest day of the year, back down to Coronation park. ( I actually asked Sonia why we don't go to this park when it's warm outside)...

First things first, I recreated my shot from yesterday.  Blue sky, cool tree, it's a very nice shot.  So now I have options for what I am going to do with the four seasons photo with that tree.  But that's not the main reason why we were there today...

It was a completely different park today, the water was rougher so there weren't as many birds floating around.  No geese and no swans.  I got out my 18-270 Tamron lens and shot some ducks at 270mm.  But now, looking at those shots on the computer screen, they just aren't sharp.  It's not motion blur, but it's a general softness to the shot.  Not impressed with this lens...

So, I put the 24-70 back on and shot some of the ice on rocks and tires and stuff.  Got some good shots.  The weather was not as cold yesterday as it was today, so the ice pics that I got yesterday were not what I was going for.  Today was a different story.

Today's shot is of a rock that is just at water's edge.  This rock was clear of ice yesterday, but today it has some significant ice collection on it.  You can tell it has started to melt, but over night this thing is going to get covered.

I was lying on the rocky, icy beach to get this shot.  The sun is coming down behind me, it's 3:30 in the afternoon, but the sun is already low in the sky.  Shot at 70mm, 1/2500 sec shutter and f/4.5.  ISO is 400, and could have been lower still.

Here's the shot.

Project 365 - Day 47 - The tree in coronation park - part 1

So there is this tree.  It's in Coronation park in Oakville.  I love this tree, it has a lot of character. I have a plan to capture it in every season.  Should be interesting.

So when Sonia kicked me out of the house with my camera this afternoon to go and shoot, I decided to get some shots of Coronation park.  There are a lot of birds and squirrels and people around this park most of the time, so I thought it would make for some good shots.  When I first got there, I set up the shot of the tree.  I think it turned out great!  The sky is bland, and just a flat white, but I bumped up the contrast to draw more attention to the tree.  I also reduced the clarity a bit.

I took a shot of my settings on the camera and lens, so that when I go out in the spring I will have a reference.  What's that you say?  Just record the metadata from the shot in lightroom and bring it with you? Well, that's a very good idea, but it requires organization - something I usually lack.  I always have my phone with me... :-)

Here's the shot.  I took a lot of other shots today, and I will be posting on facebook as well.

ISO 400 f/4.5 and 1/250.  On a tripod.  34mm focal length with my 24-70 mm lens. 

When I get all four shots, I will be cropping more of the bottom of the shot out.  I just cropped this to 4X5 to make it easy to post.  I want the shots to be the exact same focal length, angle and depth of field, hence the tripod.  I took a shot of where the tripod was positioned, so it should be easy to recreate.

Project 365 - Day 46 - A nickel for your thoughts

So, the penny is done.  It's not gone by any means - we'll always find them lurking in our ashtrays in the car, or deep in the couch cushions.  But we won't be getting any new ones for some time.  Which makes me think - will the old saying "penny for your thoughts" change to something else?  Will the next generation wonder what a penny is?  Will we all have the same difficulty trying to describe the penny like we do with such foreign terms as an Album or Floppy Disk? 

But then there is our parent's generation.  Those who thought that plastic Windex bottles were a new and bold idea (my mother had a story about her first plastic windex bottle, and trying to show her friend how indestructible it was).

I guess change is inevitable, even if it means we won't have any more change... ;-)

Here's today's shot...

Project 365 - Day 45 - Love is in the air ...

Hey everyone.  Happy Valentine's day.

So today's pic is inspired by Valentine's day.  Duh.  What a stretch, right? 

A few years back, Sonia and I were celebrating Valentine's day.  We went a little overboard, and after the dust had settled we decided that we really didn't need to go all out on this one day a year, especially so close to Christmas and my birthday.  So we agreed to just spend the time together on that day, and I agreed to let Sonia spend more on me on Christmas ... :-)

I went to Metro today to get some flowers to shoot.  Also to give to Sonia, but let's face it - I wanted to shoot flowers on Valentine's day.  The floral department at my local Metro is right by the entrance.  So when I went in, I was immediately in a crowd of men - young and old - lining up to buy flowers. 

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but do grocery store flowers count as acceptible Valentine's day flowers?  I don't think so, but maybe it's the thought that counts.  I will admit that the flowers were pretty good, and fresh - they were almost walking out the door. And for $24.95 and 25 bonus air miles, you can't really go wrong. 

I will also admit that I have bought flowers from the grocery store before on Valentine's day, and they passed as acceptible, but my wife is just awesome that way.

So when Sonia got home today, and saw the flowers, she said "Shooting flowers today honey?"  It's like she knows me.

But did I get the roses?  Nope.  I got something better.  It's not just love that's in the air.  I am tired of winter.  I enjoyed the snow this year, and I actually got some pretty good shots on a couple of winter outings.  But now it's time for spring.  Yeah, it's February, but I don't care.  I need sunshine and spring flowers and my beloved TFC to start playing again.

Here's today's shot.  I lit a piece of foamcore from behind to make it white, and I lit the flowers separately.  Both off camera flash, two channels.  The flower light was set to +1 stop and the background was set to -1 stop.

Yep, Tulips.  Sonia loves Tulips.  We can't grow them because our friendly neighbourhood squirrels decide that they would rather eat the bulbs than look at the nice flowers.  So Sonia gets her Tulips in cut flower form...

Project 365 - Day 44 - Bark at the moon

I have always wanted to do a moon shot.  Today's moon was impossible to resist.  Although the shot is not exactly what I wanted, and it's far from perfect due to my lens choice (which ultimately is due to my lens collection) it is a start.

I used my Tamron 18-270 on this one, zoomed out to 270mm.  Manual focus, as this lens does not like to focus in low light - let alone dark.  F/6.3 and 1/25 shutter.  Camera was sitting on a tripod - and it seemed like the moon was screaming across the sky.  I didn't realize it moved that quickly, I guess it's on a lower angle these days.

I am likely going to rent a long lens when I go camping this year, so that I can get a good shot of the moon on a clear night.  That shot is on my bucket list.  I don't have a good enough lens right now to capture it properly.

Here's today's shot.

Project 365 - Day 43 - Mystic Monkeys

See No Evil
Hear No Evil
Speak No Evil

These monkeys look down on me every time I am at the computer at home, making sure my moral compass is always pointed at "good".  (You can read more about the monkeys here). 

But today's picture is not about monkeys, or proverbs, or turning a blind eye - no, today's picture is about depth of field.

In our basic photography class - oh so many many moons ago - we learned about depth of field.  One of our assignments was to place three objects in a diagonal line and shoot with all three visible.  We had to make the first one clear, while blurring out the other two.  Then we had to make the last one clear - again blurring out the other two.  The third pic, as you may have guessed, was the middle one clear while blurring out the others.  I used my McFarlane hockey guys for that shot and scored excellent marks.

I always saw this technique done, and now I learned how to actually do it thanks to that class.

The image today is a version of the third image that was assigned that day.  ISO400, F/5 at 1/250.  Off camera flash is to the right creating a harsh light.

Voici l'image

Pretty much as shot - just a crop to get rid of some dead space above monkey #1.

Project 365 - Day 42 - Orange you glad

The Oakville Photography club has a new facebook group geared to help people with their photography.  It's a place where you can post your photos and get feedback - constructive criticism to help you with your hobby, or in some cases obsession ... :-)

The first "theme" for photographs is Orange.  During my recent trip with Omar D'Angelo, we discussed what to shoot.  I said that I was going to go literal, shoot an orange with my macro.  Omar suggested placing a lemon behind it or contrast.  Voila, today's shot...

I wanted dramatic light, so I resorted to off camera light and a little light painting for fill light.  Also, with the Macro being so close, I needed to close down the aperture and slow the shutter to allow me to get more of the orange in focus.

25s shutter, f/45, and ISO400.

Sure is orange.  But do you want to know a secret?  It's actually a mandarin... :-)

Project 365 - Day 41 - Family Day Photo Shoot

My Sister and Brother-In-Law are in the real estate business.  They organized a Family Day event today, where people were getting together as a family and getting their picture taken by a photographer.  That photographer was me.

So this is the first time I have done something like this.  I got my gear together and Sonia and I figured out a plan to make everything happen.  It went off pretty well, and I got to practice interacting with people and posing them - although Sonia did a lot of the actual posing, I just clicked the shutter release button ... :-)

It was a good day, and today's photo is from that shoot.

This is Dan and Nadia.  Nadia is my neice.  Dan won the coffee maker in the raflle.

The picture is taken using my 24-70 mm lens, and I have a speedlight in a softbox off to the left a bit.  I have my pocketwizards on the speedlight and the camera.  I only used a single light all day, for some of the shots I needed a second light and a bigger backdrop.  I guess I know what to ask Santa for this year ... :-)

Here's the shot.

Project 365 - Day 40 - Trip to Belfountain

What a great day.  For those of you that are in the GTA, you know how beautiful it was today.  Yes, a little cold, but it was sunny with blue skies.  A great day for a walk in the park.

My friend Omar D'Angelo and I decided to go on a photography outing.  We are both part of the Oakville Camera Club, and they are planning an outing later this month to Belfountain.  Since neither Omar nor myself could make this outing, we decided to go today instead.  What a good decision.

We were one of the first people in the Belfountain Conservation Area today, and that has it's privledges.  We were able to get some excellent shots of the area, and we also ended up blazing a trail for those photographers who followed.

We had a good little hike and came home with full memory cards.  Today's shot is from that outing.  I slowed the shutter down to get the waterfall.  You can see the moving water, and in contrast the frozen parts of the waterfall.  It was pretty awesome under the swing bridge today.  For those who have never been up there, I highly recommend taking a trip.  Belfountain is a great little community and the conservation area has a couple of challenging trails.  Omar and I will be returning in the spring for sure!

Here's the shot.

ISO100, f/22 and 1/4 sec shutter.  24mm on my Nikon 24-70 lens.  No filter today.  Cropped and adjusted white balance in post, as well as bumping up the greens and browns a bit for the trees.  Not much work at all.  I am going to post the rest of the pics on my facebook page soon.

A quick shout out to Higher Ground Coffee Company in Belfountain for making our very tasty late lunch after the shoot.  This is an awesome place to eat, they have great coffee and sandwiches.

Project 365 - Day 39 - Snomageddon

The GTA was hit with a snow storm today, more snow in one storm than we have had since 2008.  I had a 2 hour commute into work, and then a 2 1/2 hour commute home.  Upon reaching home, I was welcomed with 14 inches of white fluffy snow that I had to clear from the driveway.  I also got stuck trying to get my car into the driveway as well.  Sonia got home before me and managed to get the van pulled about half way up and she had already started clearing the snow.  So we worked together for the next hour and got it all cleared out.

So, what do I want to shoot today?  Surely not snow.  Surely, I would have had enough of the white stuff after the almost 5 hours of driving.  But what can I say, when life gives you lemons ...

Today's shot was not what I was initially going for.  The drive took it out of me today, and I also have a cold which has my energy level pretty low.  So I was really drawing a blank.  Sonia suggested I go back outside - after getting all nice and warm - and shoot the trees in the backyard.  What can I say, she was right.

Here's the shot.

It was tough to get this, as the branch was moving with the wind.  The lighting is a single speedlight camera let.

Apparently it is supposed to be 6 deg and raining on Monday, so all of this new snow will be gone - well most of it anyway.  This is all the snow I need, a photo on a blog.  Bring on spring... :-)

Project 365 - Day 38 - Planetary Experiment

So I tried something tonight.  Not entirely what I wanted to do, but it is an interesting shot.

My idea was to try and get a shot that looked like a planet, complete with stars behind it.  I took a Lindt truffle and stuck a wooden skewer in it.  Then, I made it sit horizontally facing the camera.  I put a piece of dark grey construction paper in behind and poked holes through the paper.

Using my pocketwizards, I put a flash about 6 feet behind the background.  This allowed light to come through the paper, and also spill out over top of the truffle-planet.

It was a pretty good first shot.  I think that in future, a real black background is needed and possibly a different colour truffle.  The dimple in the truffle kind of makes it look like the death star, so maybe I'll model that instead next time.

It was definitely a good learning experience, trying different things and seeing what the results give you, then adjusting.

Here's the shot:

And, of course, the setup shot:

The paper towel behind the background paper was to diffuse the light from the flash - which is over on the other counter facing the setup.  No extra light hits the lens, but the flash did bounce off the wall behind the camera and light the truffle slightly.

Project 365 - Day 37 - Shooting at night

The one thing about this time of year is I get to work when it's still dark and I leave when it's getting dark.  So there is really only a small amount of time available for shooting if you don't want to shoot at night.  Fortunately, I have no issue shooting at night.

This evening, I went back down to Bronte Harbour.  (Click here for the shot that day).  I have a feeling I will be back to this particular spot a lot over the coming months - it's a very nice area.

My first idea was to get a shot of the lighthouse with the lights along the walkway.  Got this shot, and it was in my back pocket as a usable shot.

Then I happened upon this really cool tree ( I love shooting trees) that had a red ribbon on it.  So, up goes the tripod and on goes the camera.

The shot is at ISO400, 8s at f/7.1  I set up the shot, and it turned out really flat.  The tree was underexposed, but there was no depth to the scene.  So I took out my speedlight and set it to 1/8 power.  Then I put the timer on the camera, and when the shutter opened, I ran around the tree popping the flash as I went.  This gave depth to the tree and also created the look like it is slightly frosted.

Take a look at the sky.  No touchup on the blue on the sky.  This was out of camera.

Here's the shot:

Project 365 - Day 36 - The secret ingredient

So I toyed with the idea of not telling you what today's subject is, and I still may not do that.  It's really up in the air right now.  What you can know is this is another macro shot.  I really enjoy macro photography - as you may or may not have noticed.

This shot is again using my 60mm lens with all three Kenko extension tubes.  The Kenko tubes allow my 60mm to auto-focus, but for something like this you really have to focus manually.

This shot is 30s at f45.  I lit it using an LED flashlight off to one side.  It turned out better than I had hoped, as the cold LED light adds to the total effect.

Here's the shot...

 

No crop on this today, basically straight out of the camera.  I did clone out some dust from the subject in one or two spots, but for the most part this was as I shot it.

I will post the setup shot later ... :-)

 

Project 365 - Day 35 - Starry Starry Night

On the way home from the Oakville Photography Club I noticed that the stars were out.  We do get some stars in Oakville, contrary to popular belief.  In my area, the light noise is not as prevalent as some, so you can make out some of the stars from time to time.

So I broke out my camera and set it up with a 30 second shutter.  The result is pretty good, not exactly what I envisioned.  The sky is blue, because of the light noise. 

This is definately a shot I will attempt again on a clear, possibly much warmer night ...

Here's the shot:

The shutter was a bit long as some of the stars are actually showing slight trails.

Project 365 - Day 34 - Superbowl Chili

So it's Superbowl Sunday, and the Ravens won.  It was a great second half - well the second part of the second half anyway.  After the power outage, the 'Niners really started to pick up the pace.

But aside from that, it was a chance for me to make my annual Superbowl Chili.  If you saw my blog yesterday, you saw the peppers that would eventually be part of today's Chili.  So this is what the pile of peppers became - once you add all the other veggies and the beans and the meat.

Romano beans, Red Kidney beans, black beans, tomatoes, yellow peppers, orange peppers, green peppers, red peppers, roasted red peppers, hot peppers, mushrooms, ground beef and hot Italian sausage.  It was good.  Made enough to freeze and also enough for lunches for a week!  So if you work with me, stay out of my office this week... :-)

Project 365 - Day 33 - Superbowl Weekend

It's that time of year again.  No, not Groundhog day, but Superbowl Saturday.  I know, the game is not until tomorrow, but the preparation starts today.

Today, we start making the chili that will cook for ~ 24 hours before being served.  It's tradition.  I have made some minor changes over the years, but for the most part it is unchanged from the original recipe.

This year is no exception.  When we went to Metro to get the ingredients today, I found that the yellow, orange and red peppers were the same price as the green peppers.  Usually they are double the price, but now today.  So I got two of each colour for the chili.   ( I make a big batch and freeze almost half of it to enjoy later).

As I was cutting up the peppers, I noticed how well the colours worked together.  So I tossed all the cut up pieces into a bowl, arranged some of the pieces so the best ones were out front, and of course I grabbed my camera.

Here's today's shot.  No speedlight today, I actually lit it with a camp lantern behind the bowl.  Brodie was close by as he always is when I am cutting up peppers, and I didn't want to start flashing him.  He did, however, hear the shutter and freak out just the same.  At least I tried.

Here's today's shot.

I lowered the luminance on the yellow a bit to turn down those peppers.  But the rest of it is unchanged.  The red peppers were exceptional in colour, sometimes they are a little orange. 

60mm macro lens 0.6s at f8.

Project 365 - Day 32 - Memories of Small Product Photography

Sometimes I like to look back on assignments that I did for my various photography classes and think about how I could have done them differently - better even.  In class you have a 3 hour window to get your shot right, and you are working with a group as well so it's difficult.  In my case, the group I was working with worked really well together and we usually all got our shot.  Some of us would go home and re-shoot, but for the most part we used our time properly.

Today's shot brings me back to the first assignment for Small Product Photography with Bob Hundert at Sheridan College in Oakville.  If you are interested in learning more about photography, I recommend the Sheridan program - there are a lot of good instructors there and as it is night school everyone is pretty serious about it.  You learn so much from shooting with other people.

Ok, back on track.  The first assignment was to "shoot a diet coke can".  The idea is that the diet coke can is silver, and silver is a mirror, so you were to set up your lights in such a way that you didn't see any of the gear or photographers in the reflection on the can.  Simple right?  Not.  You can see my final shot here.

When all was said and done, Bob got 28 pictures of a diet coke can.  28 of the SAME picture. 

So how could we have done this differently? Well, first of all get rid of the silver can.  Yeah, I know, the whole point was to make you shoot the silver can so that you would learn about reflections.  But that was a rule, and we all know that in Photography rules are made to be broken!  :-)

Bring in the Coke Zero can.  And instead of a white backdrop, make the background black.  Use one off camera light source and a speedlight with a orange gel over it to balance the colour of the light (or more specifically the temperature of the light).  Bingo, you get this shot.

Now, I will give you that this is not the shot that Bob was looking for.  I will also say that I probably would have received an F, or an incomplete on this particular shot.  But it sure is a heck of a lot better looking than the original shot of the diet coke can!  :-)