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.