I had an awfully hard time trying to figure out how to connect to yesterday's post for some reason. It's winter and snowy out here in the midwest and as such I have lots of winter, snowy type pictures that I have taken this week. Not much to connect with on those. I thought about doing friendship, but really who wants to see a picture of me.
I LOVE the flower in Jay'me's hair, a little spot of color during a cold winter. It made me think of this picture that I had taken a few days ago. One with a little spot of color in it as well.
Olympus Stylus Tough 3000 ISO-200 Aperture F/4.3 Shutter 1/5 sec. Focal Length of 15mm SOOC
This picture was taken through the windshield of my husband's truck while I was waiting for him to get out of Lowe's. I was bored and playing around with the camera when I spotted this blue car next to all these white, black, and gray cars. It just totally stuck out.
Photography is not just about getting a technically good picture (of which this would NOT be a good example of) even though that is important. It is also about being able to spot things in the world around you that stand out and capturing them.
Jay'me is up next. Let's find out what she sees in the world around her. Sere
I had the pleasure of dining with my fellow chick tonight at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Jay'me walked in looking beautiful as always. She had just cut her hair and changed the style. I can't tell you how much I love it.
Wearing a flower from a fruity drink we were told was awesome, I thought she looked too beautiful to not share.
Nikon d40 kit lens Aperture f/5.6 Shutter speed 1/125 ISO 200 - I left it low knowing I was going to have to use my on camera flash. On camera flash defused with table napkin
I've decided the best people to take pictures of are those that take pictures themselves. They know not to move. Jay'me sat patiently while I fiddled with the paper napkin to diffuse the horrible on board flash.
My tie in to Scott's post... well... lets go with colors. The colors in Jay'me's shirt closely mimic those in Scott's post. Yeah... that will work.
I hope you're all spending this Friday evening doing something wonderful. I did.
I loved Jay'me's latest post. I've discovered that I'm drawn to the abstract and Jay'me really played that up. What a fun shot to follow!
Originally I kicked around ways of capturing light refracted through a prism, or maybe a different piece of glass. But ultimately, I decided I needed some wine tonight and I might as well play with shooting a wine glass. Plus I have about 1.24 million beads (think Mardi Gras) that my dad has given my 2 boys and I've been dying to try something with them. I know I know, my dad must be one heck of a blast to party with but the truth is he's never been to Mardi Gras....or maybe he has! Dad, if you're reading this, I don't want to know!
Moving on, I used a single hot light to the right of the shot and hand held my camera using a small aperture to really notch up the butt kicking bokeh of my 50mm (sorry B, you'll have your own someday - unless you pick up a Canon and borrow my gear anytime you want!).
Next, I poured a glass of wine and sat down and drank it (you ever have one of those weeks?). Then I poured a refill and started playing around a bit. I shot about 30 photos, down from my norm. That's because one of my New Years resolutions is to shoot less and shoot smarter. Historically, I'm a big fan of "shoot early, shoot often." But I'm trying to apply what I've learned before the fact and get the shot I really want with less waste. So far, I've kept this resolution. Here's the final product:
Canon 30D Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 Shutter 1/200 Aperture f/1.6 ISO 200 1 Hot Light, white balance 3200K
My tie in is the points of light that are just out of focus, something that's unavoidable when shooting so close with a small aperture. Yet the soft focus really is part of the draw. It's easy to get lost looking at a photo with such buttery bokeh, especially when you're 2 glasses in!
I should also add that the light I used has a color temperature of 3200k, something that is just awesome to know and use, making white balance a cinch! But for this shot I actually upped the color temperature to 3400k just to warm it up a bit (why do the Brits spell it colour? You know, they're probably right, since they are English and it's the English language - sounds like a Deep Thought by Jack Handy). A tick up in color saturation and contrast and some sharpening and I was finished.
It was nice having a photo done quickly because I took the time to think a bunch before I shot. I'll have to keep this up. The wine didn't hurt either - gotta love Bordeaux!
I'll leave you with this from the "real" Jack Handy:
"As the evening sky faded from a salmon color to a sort of flint gray, I thought back to the salmon I caught that morning, and how gray he was, and how I named him Flint."
You know the drill... It's Wordless Wendsday on 3C1D. Lets Play.
Rules The poster (that's me) will post a picture and its settings. No other verbiage is allowed. The commenter's (that's you) will guess in the comments section below how my picture associates with yesterdays (Tuesday's) picture. It can be a setting. It can be a play on words. It can be a theme. In every photo there are numerous ties, thus creating no right or wrong answer. Just make a comment below and you will be entered into our drawing to be our next guest photographer.
What if I am not good enough to be a guest photographer? You are good enough. We love all kinds of photographers! That's what makes this so much fun. We believe that everybody has a unique view of this world and we want to see it through the lens of your camera. Any camera goes, camera phone, point and shoot, film camera that has its photos turned into jpgs., high end professional grade cameras, any and all of them! So make a guess and have some fun!
How does this all work? The contest will go on until my (Brandi's) next post. I will use random.org to choose the winner and post the story behind my picture and what the connection is, along with my photo for that day. All you have to do, as our chosen winner, is email us your picture before 10pm on your post day. Usually on a Sunday, but we are flexible. The photo has to be yours, has to tie into the picture from the day before, and 3C1D has to be authorized to use it. Just remember to keep checking back with us to make sure you get the post about who has won.
Only one guess per person. Have fun!
READY! SET! GO!!!!
Connon Rebel XT Manual Shutter 1/2 f 3.5 22.mm ISO 100
Yeah its another early Valentine's theme from me. Sue me! I don't really even care about Valentine's Day but they have lots of cute stuff to play with. I'm actually a tad bit late (or early) posting this latest picture.
Nikon D90 Lens My Fifty Nifty, of course! Aperture F/4.5 Shutter 1/60 of a sec. ISO-400 SB-900 Nikon Speedlight Flash (for its fast recharge time, needed for puppy pics) SOOC
I am trying to get a collection of good, cute puppy pics for this thing I'm doing so I have been practicing as often as I can taking decent puppy shots. In this shot I love the somewhat playful look the pup has. That is what a bouncy ball is to me, something to play with and both play objects are blue.
I'm sure Jay'me will be up later today as well to give you a Wordless Wednesday of fun!
BigDan's picture made me think two things. 1) I want a hot dog. 2) The building glowed. A soft beckoning calling to me.
Well, I got a hot dog for dinner and I decided to post this. Nikon D300 what? I don't remember which lens I had on it at this point, I had too many to choose from. ISO 500 Shutter speed 1/10sec Aperture f/2.8 swoon
Scott's father has a wonderful Nikon D300 that he let me borrow for a few days so I could put it to the test and make a decision on my new camera choice. Mr. L is a wonderful, wonderful man, that I canNOT thank enough. He loaned me his entire camera bag, lenses, speed light, camera, extension tubes, and a very well loved manual. It was pure camera heaven on earth. I didn't get enough time to play with all of it but I got enough time to know that the D300 will be my next camera.
This glowing orb is a ball that belongs to my daughter. It's a super bouncy ball that has glitter inside and changes colors. Once again I headed to my dark but large master bedroom closet, shut the door and snapped away. I took these photos last week, just to see how the camera handled in these conditions. But when I saw Dan's photo, that soft warm glow struck me and I thought it would be a good time to share this.
In other news the Wordless Wednesday winner for this week is mamalu. Mamalou was right, my connection was in the white. We had just gotten 19'' of snow and there was nothing but white. Pure white everywhere. This particular snow drift was about waist high on my 5'7'' frame. I just loved the texture of the snow. I'm not entirely happy with how I captured. Next time I'm going to try getting a little lower a little closer to eye level.
Well kids, Sere is up tomorrow. I'm sure she's going to GLOW.
Happy Stupor-Bowl Sunday everyone! I mean Super Bowl Sunday. What was I thinking?! Scott here with the latest WW Wednesday post winner, coming at you live from Chicago with Big Dan, another tried and true friend of 3C1D. Dan has posted before and we're thrilled he's back once more. Here's his shot in his own words:
5:00 A.M.
I wake up to take my wife to work, grab a cup of coffee and immediately snatch my laptop to see what I need to before going out to shoot. As Wordless Wednesday's winner, it's my turn to post.
That Scott is a smarty. Sure, he hits the pink from the previous post. I had already thought of that yesterday and had a great shot of a pink stool that was used to keep dibs on a shoveled out parking space on Chicago's crowded streets. But no, Scot had to do some reading and came up with the idea of shooting through his window to use color and texture to create one of his typical great shots. Great... just great.
Driving through the empty streets toward Rush in yet another snowstorm, the flakes kept melting on my window. Ah, Scot... I have the answer! I drive home like a maniac to get my camera because I know that I have about 20 minutes before the street lights that highlight the water droplets start turning off. My goal? Jim's.
Nikon D3000 VR 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6G 31mm Manual Focus F/18 1/10 s ISO 1600
Jim's is one of the original hot dog stands from Maxwell Street. It originally drew working class immigrants from the city's Near West Side with cheap, tasty food. During the sixties, it became the go to lunch spot for people looking to buy back their stolen hub caps on sale in the Maxwell Street Flea Market just steps away. When I worked nights at Rush, it became my 3 AM lunch break, complete with "salesmen" walking up to me selling porn videos, white gym sox, and designer watches. Yes, I did see huge rats running around. But the rats were always outnumbered by the people, especially on a hot summer's night.
Urban renewal and the southward expansion of the University of Illinois brought the demolition of Maxwell Street and the corner stands that brought joy to so many hot dog lovers. Jim's and one other hot dog stand moved a block east and 3 blocks north and rebuilt. It's not quite the same, but people still line up 24 hours a day to get their fix. You can see it as you drive south on the Dan Ryan, just south of Roosevelt Street. And, if the wind is blowing just right, I can still smell the hot dogs and fried onions as I step out of the doors at Rush, a mile and a half away.
My tie in from Scot's picture? The technique of shooting through something to give texture to the subject. There is kind of a soft focus for both the foreground and subject that is intentional. If I were to frame this picture, it would be small and set in a large frame. I don't want people focusing in on details. I wanted to give the picture a feeling, rather than a clear shot of a Chicago icon. If there is beauty in the city, I think it lies in the memories of the millions of places that become part of the one's life. This picture is not really about Jim's. It's about 3 AM in the heart of Chicago.
Thanks Dan for sharing. And I couldn't agree more about the feeling you've captured. It really does have a 3am in Chicago feel. Excellent work once again!
