Rock, Paper, Scissors

What in the free world is a girl to do with a picture of a rock?

I've been pondering this question since midnight last night when I saw Scott's post. I came up with quite a few pretty decent ideas actually. But when I awoke to see the windiest conditions Chicago has ever seen, I knew I was going to have to come up with a indoor plan.

More brainstorming......
Don't judge me, it was early.
and more brainstorming....


Then suddenly, it hit me.
Rock, Paper, Scissors!
I can play with paper and scissors. But how does one translate a kindergarten picture into a cool photo. Yeah, I could take a picture of my beautiful daughter playing with her pretty pink scissors or I could take a picture of my hands cutting paper or...
I threw my hands in the air, and there it was.

Flying paper.


Nikon d40 18-55 3.5-5.6
Shutter speed 1.00sec
aperture f5.0
ISO 200
focal length 23mm
manual
spot light from below

I knew I didn't want a background and I wanted the only light to come from below. Don't ask why, it's just what I wanted.
So I headed to my unfinished basement and found a dark corner. I hung up a very dark blue blanket over the concrete to create a feeling of negative, infinite space behind the falling paper. I got out the work lights I borrowed from my brother Justin and set it up on the floor. Working quickly because those lights get crazy hot, I covered the lamp head to diffuse the light, set my camera up on the tripod and began shooting.
Once again I used my 10sec self timer on the camera to allow me two free hands to throw the paper strips with.
To be fair I will admit I did not use a pair of scissors in this project. I used my paper shredder instead. I maybe be crazy but I'm not stupid.

There was no post processing other than a crop so I could achieve a little more vertical feeling on the photo.

Now, who wants to play?
Sere... you up for a game. How about best 2 out of 3?


xoxo,
Brandi

Let Your Love Light Shine

Before I unveil my picture for the night, there is some 3C1D business to tend to.
First: Go comment on Scott's post from yesterday. Seriously people all you have to do is comment and you could be randomly selected to be our next guest photographer. Click on the guest photographer link over there --->
to see who else has been a guest photog. They'll all tell you it's easy as pie.

Second: We've got our very own flickr stream. Ever look at one of our photos and wonder what the pull back shot looks like or what kind of bloopers we might have? This will be the place for you to see all of those. No more cheating on here. If you want to see that second shot (or 4, 5, 6..10th shot) you'll have to head here.

There. That's done.

****************************
Scott's picture yesterday was all about light. The color cast from the high pressure sodium lamps, the flare, the specks... it's all about light. The deliciously, wonderful light.
I wanted to find another way to make light the leading actor. In fact in this photo the light is the only actor.

Nikon d40 kit lens
ISO 400
Shutter speed 8.00sec (yes that's correct)
aperture f25

These are glow sticks, 6 of them to be exact. I originally had lofty goals of writing of 3C1D but alas getting the heart was enough for a solo project. I slowed the shutter down, used my 10sec timer (you'll remember my wireless remote is in the bottom of the lake) to make sure I didn't shake the camera at all and slowly drew a heart. Over and over again, trying to stay in the same shape and size as the previous heart.
Grab your flashlights, your tripod and your camera and give it a try. It's crazy fun. Oh and locking yourself in your dark closet can be dangerous. A hanger to the eyeball is painful. Use caution.

Which Friday Face is Sere going to catch....

Friday Faces & Ducks are Cool!

border="0" />Canon 30D
Canon EF 75-300mm f/3.5-5.6
Shutter Speed 1/400
Aperture f/7.1
ISO 400
Manual Mode
Natural Light

I have a thing with ducks. Northern Illinois University has the Kishwaukee River running through it. Every day for 3 years I had to cross that river and every day I was greeted by several ducks. I swear they would talk back to me as I muttered my "good morning!" Since those years I've always had a soft spot for ducks, humble and unassuming as they are.

This guy was taking an afternoon siesta on the Fox River in St. Charles. There were probably around 20 ducks in all, half sleeping and the other half practicing their synchronized swimming routines as they plunged their heads into the water over and over. It was fun just watching them.

The reason I spent so much time with the ducks is because once again, I chickened out when it came time to photographing a stranger. I'm just a big wimp! I had my chances! There was the guy that looked like a beat up version of Joaquin Phoenix (think last appearance on Letterman - if you haven't seen it, youtube it). There were the 4 waitresses taking a smoke break from the fancy Italian place on the river. They were very pretty and yet they were obviously letting their hair down for about 5 minutes. The light was great, my camera was set-up, it was a fantastic setting, and I sat there like a 6th grade boy trying to get up the nerve to ask the popular girl to dance with me. There was also the two friends sitting on a park bench obviously catching up after a long separation. They would have been thrilled to be photographed most likely and I could have shared the photo via email. I just completely wimped out.

But when I saw the ducks I made a B-line right too them and they gladly approached to be photographed. I'm no fool, they thought I had food. I can handle that.

At first, I got as close to the surface of the water as I could to get eye to eye with the lovelies. I got one shot in particular where this beautiful female is looking at me with one eye, almost feigning sleep. There is another one with a male walking towards me, dripping water from his head as he investigates my presence. In the end, I walked over to a bridge that was directly over some sleeping ducks. They were lazing in the shallows and I got this birds eye view.

This guy was just waking up and shaking out his wings giving me a full view of the fantastic patterns and colors his plumage provides. What a beauty! Because of the dark setting it was necessary to shoot in manual mode to ensure proper exposure. This is an example of needing to underexpose. With it being so dark the camera's meter is fooled into thinking there isn't enough light. Using an ISO of 400 allowed me to use a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action (he was really doing the jitterbug!). Plus, I could use an aperture of f/7.1 to ensure sharpness. This was particularly important because the lens I used is really soft at wide open settings.

My connection to Jay'me is tenuous I'll admit, but we were both outdoors when we shot our photos. I had other things in mind like the fall colors, maybe a butterfly, or maybe my friend Mike eating a leaf. But this photo was too hard to resist, especially seeing as I asked Brandi to randomly pick a number from 1-14 to decide for me (I couldn't choose! Don't judge!). Thanks for checking us out and I promise to continue my efforts at asking the popular girl to dance with me.

Scott