Week #4 in the Picture a Day Project

A candle. I think I only took this 2 or 3 times. I am getting better at seeing what the camera sees and matching the image to my imagined picture.

This lock I took 2 times, it has such interesting character. This image is over saturated, but I like the greens that come through.

This one is more natural, or straight out of the camera. You cannot see the moldy greens as well. Which do you like better?

I was cloud bursting and trying to get a decent image of planes and jet aircraft taking off at AVL Regional. When I saw this dragon about to devour that poor Cessna... well you know... 

 I was doing a experiment in observing how light changes during sunset. After taking almost 70 images, this was one of the last. The light was almost gone, but my fantastic camera was able to pull this image. Too bad the operator was unable to capture the two lovers better.

Again with the experiment in sunset lighting. This was taken on the Blueridge Parkway. Again the day light  had just about left the cove of Haw Creek. But I was able to get this image. I love the way the light from the houses is reflected up to the cloud thus creating a very satisfying golden hew.

If y'all counted your fingers right you will have noticed there were only 6 images this week. Oooppps! I went to the doctors one day and had a shingles vaccination. It kicked my ass that night. I was able to complete my familial responsibilities that night, but that was all. I was wiped out. Through out the rest of the week I began to regain the little bit of endurance and strength I normally have and do not plan on having any more lapses.

So here are the pics 'o the day for this week. Please let me know what you think (start a trend)

Thanks for looking!

olc

OOOOPPPPPS A little fun with time-laps Photography, Part 2

Well it looks I don't have the skills needed to post timelaps video her so please visit my FB page. I hope it will work there. Search for Neil M. Turner, on Facebook.

olc

A little fun with time-laps Photography

Someplace I read something about how light changes during sunrise and sunset. The take away from the article was to set up my camera about a half hour before sun set and take a picture every minute to document the change.

I have tried this a few times and refined my technique.

For the camera geeks out there, the first time I tried this I used a very high ISO and Automatic White Balance. Also, I was on a dock floating on water which was moving due to rough water conditions. and this means that during longer exposures the subjects would not be sharp. So, in the middle of the actual picture taking I had to move to solid ground.

Also, some people wanted to get onto the dock and when the shutter speed got too slow their images were blurred.

Last night, I went to an overlook on the Blueridge Parkway and spent some time looking down at Haw Creek.

This time I used a lower ISO and Shot using a Color Temperature of 5200K.

Each video is a bout 3 minutes or so. The beginning may be a little boring, but try and tough it out, because as the last 25 slides come long the colors begin to pull some really nice images.

Let me know what you think!

olc

Week 3 in 365 Project

We actually got some kind of grin out of Dad for this shot. While The Runtyun allowed a rare picture with her in it. And Martha relaxed enough to get a nice smile through. As for me, you asked? This is a good representation cause, I am always a little out of focus. lol!

This is a broche I found, it measures around one inch. I had to get really close to get this.  

 When in doubt, I can almost always get one of Da Brat. This one is in the basement rafters, a fav place for him while I am playin' 'round in the basement.

 Now this one is a 10 inch Brass Cormorant. I started out trying to get a full image, but as I got closer, the beak began to stand out. I wanted to see what kind of focus I could.  I really like the detail in the eye and the way the beak wanders out of focus. What do you think?

Do you see the way the candle is lit from the inside thus throwing a little yellow against the wall. Maybe I should have used a darker room top bring out the highlights. 

 I was too tired to do anything really imaginative, but needed to get some kind of image...

 I have wanted a sturdy studio tripod and after a bunch of searching found this movie style tripod. It is heavy, which is good and the center column rises as much as 16 inches, I think. The thing is supposed to hold an 18 Lb camera, so my 6D and heavy lenses will be no problem for it. But the best thing about this tripod is the price. I asked some people on a Photo site what they recommended for studio work and they made a bunch of great suggestions. However, some of the suggestions went as high as $2000...way out of the field for a wannabe amateur.

So, here are my photos for the 3rd week of the photo challenge. Please leave a comment. Your comments, when they come, are always welcome.

olc

Week 2 of the 365 Challenge

        Here are my second week's pictures. This week I only have 6 images because I started taking them on Monday and from here on out I will start each week on Sunday. I will also post for the past week on Sunday. Now, that we have that stuff taken care of, let's have a look at what we got!

This is an acrylic or glass frog that I am trying to document for the Family Photo Catalog. As you may see it is a rather difficult subject and I spent 3 nights working on getting the best possible image for this post and the Catalog.

Here is Tuesday's version.

This image was a lot of fun to create. At first I was going to take an image of the whole top-shelf with a candle and a picture in the background. Then however, I looked t it and thought maybe a little cropping would be beneficial. Also, my ultra smart sister pointed out the way the shadows dance around the figures were nice.

I was walking around Beaver like on Thursday and found NO inspiration, no birds and no plants. Then I came upon this hollowed nut casing on a bench. Immediately in my my head I pictured a squirrel setting on its hunches, tail floating with the wind, nibbling at the nut, and cursed my timing. As I got closer, this image started to form in my mind's eye.

Friday proved to be a bit of a challenge for me. I ended up working a whole bunch of hours and did not get home until well after 9 P.M. I almost decided to forgo taking a picture, but felt that would be a bad precedent so early in the Project. Then my camera got funny and would not take any pictures at all. Finally, I got everything straight and Mercury allowed my this one.

Finally we come to Saturday and the last in the series of frogs. I was stumped finding a way to light up the inside of the frog until I put an LED light under it. Then I found a glass butter dispenser. On top of dispenser, I put a piece of translucent white cloth. Voila'! Here it is.

Please make a comment----Start a trend! I really value any constructive commends.

Thanks for having a look!

olc

Week One of my Picture-A-Day 365 Project!

I have started a Picture-A-Day Project! 

For those who do not know what it is, here we go! Basically, I take at least one picture every day and make sure that it is fairly good. The point behind the project is to get in the habit of having a camera with me at all times and use it. Also, this should be a wonderful learning experience. 

We will see.

So, what do you think about this first batch? I started the Challenge on the 1st of the month, so of course there are only 4 in this week’s posting. Starting next week I’ll post 1 image per day for the whole week. Each picture has its own story and I’ll put a little description in the body of the text and maybe a little caption.

To start with, the first pic is of a jet flying out of AVL Regional Airport. I bought a Sigma 100mm-400mm zoom lens and have been trying to get a good shoot of planes leaving and arriving. So, on the first day I had a moment of free time at a park close to the airport. Of the ten images I made, this is the best. Do you see the amber light in the middle of the letter “m”? It showed up in all of the Americana Eagle images I made. I am not sure what it is? Any ideas? I'll bet maybe my friend who was an USAF mechanic may have an idea.

I have been going through my parents things trying to catalog the more interesting ones. I am creating a Family Photo Catalog. I’ll bet lots of people have done the same thing. And this is my version. (BTW, I think a lot of the 356 Project will have images of this sort. Not only does it consume a good bit of my time, but I enjoy taking close up and still life.) It is a tie clip which was My Father's Grand Father, Leland.

Aw, Nova the beautiful Black cat my wonderful Runtyun brought into our house! She is a singularly difficult animal to photograph. She has such shiny black fur which makes her mostly a black blur, except for those beautiful green eyes. She was able to go outside on this day, so I had an opportunity and took it. Honestly, I wish the green watering can was not in the shot, but maybe it works to offset her eyes. I dunno. What do you think?

And the last is of an owl carved out of some kind of wood. During its travels he lost one of his eyes. I’ll  keep my eyes out looking for a replacement, for now we have a one eyed pirate owl. Maybe I should rig an eye patch for it? If any one out there has any suggestions for a replacement eye please let me know.

So this is the first installment of the 365 Project, lets look forward to 51 more!

olc