Glow and a WW winner announce

Here's a little video to go with my post today.

It fits today's post.

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.

xoxo,
Brandi

Sweet Home, Chicago - Dan Style

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!

Rosy Cheeks and Rosy Sunset

This photo is tied to the pink seen in Jay'me's post. I first noticed the pink hats, followed by the pink boots, gloves, scarves, and snow pants. I considered something snow related but decided I could use a technique I've read about which has you picking a background with color to shoot out of focus. Tonight it was a sunset. The foreground is a window in our family room with blown seals allowing condensation to form on the inside of the pane of glass. I was further inspired by some of the reading I've done recently concerning texture. I like the results and already have ideas for what I want to try the next time I try this technique.



Canon 30D
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8
Shutter 1/125
Aperture f/4.5
Exposure Compensation -1.0
Natural Light

I used a stop less on my metering due to shooting directly at the bright sky. I feel it really allowed for better contrast, color, and overall exposure. After messing with saturation and contrast I sharpened a bit and converted to JPEG from RAW and poof, here ya go!

I should also mention that I used an aperture less than wide open to increase the DOF just a touch. Sometimes I get carried away using wide open apertures and there is no recovering after the fact. What is something you do that might qualify as a bad habit? For me, it's without question using too wide an aperture.

Tomorrow we'll have Dan with us once more as the most recent "winner" from Wordless Wednesday. Can't wait to see what you do Dan!

Scott

Faces Friday with Jay'me

Cannon Rebel XT
1/250
f13.0
34mm
no flash
ISO 400

SNOW DAY !!!
All this snow... We have to enjoy it.
So, I had tons of ideas and I got to play with a very sexy camera today (New Cannon 50 D). But As it turns out I have my faithful model (Maddie) here with her bestest friend (Delaney) enjoying the snow just as they should.
I wanted to give you the frosty morning breath from my husband or or kids as they waited for the bus... You would think for as cold as it was this morning you could see our breath -NOT! I wanted to give you snow melting on someones tongue. Well, neither happened today. I'll keep on shooting for the stars and enjoy my little stars as I go. SNOW DAYS ROCK but I'm ready for normalcy and a nap.
Keep on enjoying the winter wonderland I know we will.

Ripples in the snow

National Geographic talent I do not have. It's very frustrating actually, because they are normal people like me, nothing special, but yet they have it, I don't. I'm sure they could have captured the ripples in the snow that God's hand has made and with their talent shown something fabulous. Unfortunately you are stuck with my somewhat mediocre talent, so here is my best shot.


Nikon D90
ISO-100
Lens 18-70mm at 55mm
Aperture F/13
Shutter 1/250 sec.
Exposure -0.3
No Flash, Natural Lighting

I went out at high noon today to water the dogs and just fell in love with the wind patterns on the snow, just like with Brandi's shot. The patterns are all unique looking and just beautiful. Normally high noon is not a very good time to take pictures, but it was great for the play of light and shadows I was trying to capture. Part of the reason why I went black and white is to enhance those shadows, which black and white does far better then color.

I also had turned my exposure down some because when shooting in wintery, snowy conditions your sensor gets a little messed up reading the snow (reads it as much brighter then it actually is) so you turn down your exposure to help compensate for some of that. I turned the picture to black and white in Photoshop and bumped up my blacks a tad to give it a slightly more dramatic look. 3C1D had two adorable baby pictures recently, one in low light, almost black and white looking and one in full beautiful color. Brandi had her shot done in full color for our most recent Wordless Wednesday, so I changed mine to black and white to continue the theme. Anybody else wishing they had National Geographic talent??? Or am I the only one??

Sere

Snowmaggedon 2011 a Wordless Wednesday Adventure

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!!!!



Nikon d40 kit lens
ISO 200
Shutter speed 1/4000sec
aperture f/4.8

Hoping everyone is safe and warm tonight.
xoxo,
Brandi

More Dreaming

I had all kinds of intentions to do something awesome tonight. I'm not even going to tell you what I was going to do because I'm going to try again tomorrow. But owing to the fact that Armageddon is happening outside my 4 walls and snow is literally piling up in my attic, I've had to ditch the idea for the time being. As you can imagine, my attention is demanded elsewhere.

I LOVED Amanda's photo for so many reasons. There is the subject, who is of course breathtaking. Then there is the really different and creative perspective. And finally, she used low-key lighting, which is just fantastic. Amanda is either experienced enough to have done this on purpose, which is awesome, or she just has photographic instincts that kick ass, which is even awesomer (yes I said awesomer...so sue me!). So I must say once more, thank you Amanda. We are blessed with some pretty awesome contributors.

Amanda truly inspired me and I'm ticked off that I'm falling back on my archives once again. It's just unavoidable at this point so I'll just get over it. I chose this pic as a sort of connection and opposite. This is Brandon, my youngest son, at the tender age of 12 days. The light source is a window with defused sunlight. The blanket acted well enough as a reflector and white balance reference. I take no credit for the smile.

I see similarities in the light source and the subject matter. The differences include the background (white vs. black) and the perspective.

Canon 30D
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L (it's too bad Nikon doesn't have an "L" like catagory)
Iso 200
Shutter 1/125
Aperture f/5.0
Natural Light

One thing I'm thankful for when I dive into the archives is the chance to see some of the photos I've taken. After all, that's sort of the point. I find I don't do that often enough. What do you all do with the photos you've taken?

Good luck to the 100 million of you that are weathering this storm! And now to dig out more snow from my attic!!!

Hoping to be here tomorrow,

Scott