This is Spring??!

Spring was just a word in the lexicon of weather. Guess I was right.

What do ya' think?

olc

Week Number 7 of the Picture-a-Day Project

Now here is another one of those clay objects from the things I have found in my parents basement. There is no pin on the back, nor any identifier.I might need to redo this one because the green is not as vibrant as I would like.

I just now went back to PS and played around with the Saturation levels and got this. Which do you like better? 

Again with the found treasures. But this time I added a candle.

Another of the ceramics, but this one has a pin on the backhand some kind of makers mark.

On Wednesday, I sat at the bird feeder and this is what I got.

And Thursday came along and I took a day off from the camera.

Friday at the Drum Circle in Asheville. Can you see the major flaw in this picture? Let me know! I think I called this one HAPPY!

I found this Durkee's spice container on our spice rack. I think it is too old to use, but I really like the character of the can.

Here is this weeks P-a-D post. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a comment here!

Later, olc

Drum Circle Happiness

          Last night I went to the Drum Circle in Asheville. There were a few drummers there but, I think the fresh air and beautiful day took many people off guard. The open area where most gather to dance to the rhythms was pretty empty until a brave soul started to pull people up. That was all it took. I captured more images than this one---I just wanted to get it up now.

 I guess I am calling it Bright Toes a' Dancing.

         So, what do you think?

olc

Week #6 Picture-a-Day Project

I had a choice between this image and one of my Mother and Father. I think I'll make a separate post for that picture. Now about this one---Can you see the biggest flaw with it? Leave a comment letting me know what you see.

Sometimes even the most common bird can make a pretty Picture. 

This is the same Cross I have been trying to get a good image of. I like the way the gold reflects on the white background. What do you think?

I worked on this image for a bit trying to pull out some details in PS. Truth is, I was getting bored and did not want to wait until sunset, mostly because I did not have a tripod for the long exposure. I think I did a pretty good job, though.

It is becoming a thing, every week I seem to miss a day of photos. This is this weeks missed image. Maybe I'll have to keep track of just how many days I miss during the Project and extend the end to to include the missed days.

Boring, Huh?

However, the next day I pulled out my venerable 5D while I was at Owen Park and got this image right around sunset. Again this one is hand held, so I could not use a very slow shutter speed, but it came out alright though.

Whenever in doubt, I can almost always get one of the great hunter.

Here it is---this weeks' submission to the Picture-a-Day. I hope you enjoyed it!

Three missed days.


olc

Week 5 during Picture a Day Project

We had lunch with Mom at the VA in Black Mountain. She was really happy. Pizza is a treat!

The lens was about 2 inches from this key. I love the detail a macro lens can pull out of an image.

I was really tired after working and could not find anything to take a picture of. Then The Runtyun came home. Too bad I am still learning how to use the ETTL feature on the flash! However, after I took this picture, I figured out that I should shoot in fully Manual Mode and let the flash figure out how much light it should create. 

Still I kinda like the dreamy quality of this image.

I know it is one picture-a-day. But I learned an interesting lesson with the two shots. The first one is using the ambient light from the "studio" lighting inside the light tent.

The second is the same lighting and camera set up, except I used that flash (the one with ETTL) for fill light.

Wow what a difference!

Which one do you like better?

And then there is pretty Nova. I am getting better with that flash. This image is one of the first where we can see details of this very difficult animal to photograph.

          On Friday, I did take a picture of something, I forget what though. Unfortunately, I deleted it. I was trying a new workflow, but it failed and so did the image.

I was out in the backyard and this precocious beast escaped the porch. She had a walkabout. Then looked at me and posed. I especially like the way the sun highlights her lustrous fur.

         So, there is it another week, another week completed in this project. Please leave a comment. It is pretty easy, just click on the comment window.

Later! olc

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

A Great Blue Heron and it's short story to fame

Brandy Lampert is the Owner/Operator of the finest little framing studio around. I walked into her shop a while ago and saw that she has all the bells and whistles one needs to create  the final touches to my photographs--the matts and frames.

Here is her web page: Frameit Asheville.net
And Phone Number: 828-808-0923

She has taken care of my needs as a photog and charges vey reasonable prices every time I have used her services.

Here is an example of her work. The first image is the original picture, the next is a simple pic of her work. The last is my meager studio with the picture in its' final iteration.

 

Later, olc