Week 30, Day 211, November 20, 2009, "The Season is Over, but Far From Forgotten"

Tonight was the final night of my son's High School football career.  The Groton Team had a fantastic year, and made it to the state semifinals.  They lost the semifinal game to a great team. 

We're very proud of the team, and I'm especially proud of number 80 my son.  He's been very sick the last few days, but he still went and played hard.  I think that he did not want to let the team down.  He had a great catch, and dive into the end zone for a 2 point conversion.

The stadium, Marina Auto Stadium in Rochester NY, has a large screen at the end of the field.  After my son completed the pass, the camera zoomed on him.  This photos is of that screen in the stadium.

Lessons Learned:

• Each stadium has it's own type of lighting.  It's important to keep checking the settings on a camera, because the lighting conditions change as the sun sets.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/3200 sec, Aperture f/4.5, ISO 800, Focal Length 115 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 187mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

Week 29, Day 210, November 19, 2009, No Whining

I think tonight was the beginning of a lot of indoor photos.  I have really enjoyed outdoor photography, and I enjoy being outdoors.  I've been dreading indoor shooting and attempting to take advantage of what little Sun light that we have during the day.

Tonight, I began looking around, and saw that there are lots of possibilities for indoor shooting.  This will help me to expand my horizons as a photographer.  I realize that I have a lot to learn, but that's ok.  So tonight's title is no Whining. (I can see many of you rolling your eyes.  The only good pun is a very bad one.)

What's your favorite pun?

Lessons Learned:

• I was thinking about lighting tonight.  I used a incandescent bulb to back light the wine bottles.  I wonder if in the future if photos that have used incandescent bulbs will look old.  I guess this isn't a lesson, but more of an observation.
• I think wine bottles are beautiful.  The colors, the designs, the corks.  I think this will make a great future subject as well.
• I tried some photos with a short focal length, and focused on the middle bottles.  I didn't like that effect as well.  I think it would have been better to focus on some of the closer bottles, and blur the background a little more.  There must be some shots that a short focal length with the subject in the middle of the field in focus would be interesting.

Photo details: Exposure time 1 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 26 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 55mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod. 

Week 29, Day 209, November 18, 2009 Let the Games Begin

It's amazing the influence that Rome has had on the world.  The Stadium at Cornell University is no exception.  The Eastern side of the building reminds me of the Colleseum in Rome with it's many arches.

In this photo the leaves have fallen off most of the vines, and the vines have taken over this side of the building.  It was a beautiful morning with the fall sun shining on the stadium.  I stopped on my way to work to take a few photographs.

Where do you see Rome's influence today?

Lesson Learned:

• I'm really liking the Fall Sun.  It's much less harsh than the summer sun, and casts interesting light throughout most of the day.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/60 sec, Aperture f/8.0, ISO 200, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held, circular polarizer filter. 

Week 29, Day 208, November 17, 2009, Chasing the Sun

Everyday as I leave work the Sun is closer and closer to the horizon.  There are two bus stops that are about equal distance from my building.  One is down the hill, and one is up the hill.  I went to the stop up the hill today because there isn't much of the direct sun at the lower stop.  Today's photo shows the direct sun on just the upper part of the building.

Lessons Learned:

• Always keep a watch for the light.  The opportunities change all the time.  
• Usually I set my camera to collect the photos in RAW format.  When I'm at a sporting event, I use JPEG because on my camera the burst rate is faster for JPEG.  Tonight I used RAW and JPEG, because I usually have to convert the files to JPEG for my photo blog.  When I'm not concerned about space, this helps speed up my processing.
  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/50 sec, Aperture f/5.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 19 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 31mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held, circular polarizer filter.

Week 29, Day 207, November 16, 2009, Sky through an Arch.

On my way from my office to the bus station, there was a beautiful sky.  As I was walking, I was thinking , "What would make a great frame for the sky.  I immediately thought of the arches at the Law School.

I hope you enjoy.

Lesson Learned:

• I find myself thinking more about how to set up shots.  Sometimes I get and idea, and it takes some time to set it up.  I think this is when I get some of my best photos.  I need to do this more.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/50 sec, Aperture f/14.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held, circular polarizer filter, White Balance Flash setting (it tends to make the colors a little warmer).

Week 29, Day 206, November 15, 2009, Evidence of Superman

It's been a while since I posted a silly photo.  I'll call today Silly Sunday.  Today's photo I call "Evidence of Superman".  I thought the colors were appropriate. 

Was it a bird or a plane?  What's your guess?

Do you have any silly photos to post?  If so, post them on your blog and leave a link in the comments.  I'd love to see them.  We all need to be silly sometimes.  (Gary, you're not allowed to post the links to all of your blogs.)

Lessons Learned:

• Be sure to keep the lens clean.  I need to remember to clean the lens especially after a rain storm, or photographing water falls.  Droplets of water were on the lens, and left a stain.  You can see them in the dark areas of this photo.

Photo details: Exposure time 2 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 27mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod, circular polarizer filter.

Week 29, Day 205, November 14, 2009, Ludlowville Falls

I like these falls. Many times when I go there are only a few of us.  My daughter used to have an apartment nearby, so it also reminds me of her.

  I like the formation of the falls.  There is a large solid piece of limestone over a lot of shale.  It's that large solid layer of stone just above the spout of the falls. This limestone erodes much more slowly than the shale around it.  So there is a little cave behind the waterfalls to the left of this photo.

The cave is very dark, so those photos weren't as nice as this one.  In this photo, I  like how the water flows down in that one pocket, and is lofted into the air.

 Lessons Learned:

• I was thinking about the photo from yesterday.  I was thinking how it's probably a photo that I appreciate more than most of the blog readers because I know the people.  My emotions play a large part of what I enjoy in photography.

What are some of your photos that containing a much greater meaning than the photo itself?

Photo details: Exposure time 1/3 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 40 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 65mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod, circular polarizer filter.