Week 18, Day 131, August 31, 2009 "The Beginning of Fall"

At lunch time I run with a group at Cornell called the High Noon Athletic Club. A couple of the guys said that Fall is like a switch in this area. One day it's summer and hot, the next day it's cold and Fall. I'm glad Fall is here, because I really like the cooler temperatures for running. Somewhere between 50-55 degrees is my preferred temperature. A friend of mine from Israel says that when it gets that cold nobody in Israel runs.

The fields around my house are just filling with color. The goldenrod is yellow. The cattails are brown. There is still a lot of green in the field. And this flower is purple. I'm not sure what it is. If you know, please let me know.

Lessons Learned:

• The dirt on my ccd of my camera is bothering me. When I use a narrow aperture it is very noticeable. I didn't use a photo today because of it. When/if I get a new camera body, I'm going to try to clean it with one of those cleaning kits. The newer cameras have a shake feature that helps to keep dirt off of the ccd. Mine is told old, and doesn't.
• The colors in the field have been screaming for me to take a photo. It was easy to take several photos today. I'm really amazed by photos from different parts of the world, because they are different from this area. I think that things we take for granted around here, amaze people from other areas. The other day I took a photo of some fog, and Elizabeth Gilje mentioned that they do not have fog very often where she lives in Montana. I hope this photo is unique to this area, and people from other parts of the world enjoy seeing some of the beauty that we experience.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/500, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 100, Focal Length 115 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 186mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, tripod.

Week 18, Day 130, August 30, 2009, Empty Nest

Our second oldest child moved on Friday, and our oldest moved a couple of weeks ago. These were not the "I'm going to College, and I'll be back for the summers, holiday, and between semester breaks.", but probably something more significant. They have both already graduated from college. We're very proud of them, but we are beginning to get that feeling of the empty nest.

To celebrate our empty nest, my wife and I went to the Ithaca's farmers market for an excellent lunch, and to purchase some produce. We talked to Nancy about photography, and some projects that she is helping me. After our lunch we went to the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University to walk some trails and look for birds. As with us the Heron Nest was empty, but presented itself for some photo opportunities.

Lessons Learned:

• Expect to be surprised by changes in your life, and opportunities. I assumed that my photo would be of birds. I assume that the empty nest will be difficult. Others have told me different. I hope they are right.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/2500, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 100, Focal Length 135 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 218mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held.

Week 18, Day 120, August 29, 2009 Football Season Is Upon Us

The skies were cloudy. There was a threat of rain in the air. Thundershowers were predicted. It must be football season in the North East. The Groton Team, on which my son plays, scrimmaged against 3 other teams in Homer NY. It's a great opportunity for the coaches to work with the teams as they play another team. The coaches are on the field, as are new recruits for the officials.

I enjoy this photo because there are many things going on. Number 22 from Groton is trying to avoid stepping out of bounds. The opposing team is trying to tackle, or push him out of bounds. The chain gain, is trying to get out of the way. The fans are very close watching the whole scene.

I'll be taking a lot of football photos in the coming weeks. The scrimmages are also a good time for me to practice my skills as a photographer. It should be a great fall.

Lessons Learned:

• Photography skills become rusty when I don't practice them. Sports photography requires different skills, and each sport requires a different way of shooting. The photography needs to be practiced to stay on top of getting the best photos.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/1000, Aperture f/5.0, ISO 400, Focal Length 108 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 176mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held.

Week 18, Day 119, August 28, 2009, Water Drop

This afternoon we began to get rain. I look around for inspiration, and ended up photographing rain drops. (Some of you may have seen my facebook photo of a rain drop. This is the first one that I posted to this blog.)

It was quite dark when I was photographing, and I used a wide aperature. I like the effect of the blur on both sides of the rain drop.

Lessons Learned:

• Sometimes it takes a long time to take a photo, and I have to long at a lot of objects before I feel inspired.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/640, Aperture f/1.8, ISO 1600 (because of the darkness), Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 81mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, camera set on sidewalk (undercover).

Week 17, Day 118, August 27, 2009 "Staying Warm"

As I drove home this evening I looked up on the Groton Community Church's roof. I saw that there were pigeons on the steeple. I took out my camera and hoped that they would fly. I enjoy watching them flock together. As I watched a few would fly up to the roof, but never in a group. It wasn't until I looked at the photos at home I realized that they are probably enjoying the heat from the sun on the shingles. Today was much cooler than it's been in a while.

Lesson Learned:

• I worked a lot on cropping to see if my eyes would wander around the photo. I have read that it is important not to put the main subject in the middle of the photo. I liked this crop. I would be interested in hearing what you think, and how you might have cropped it for a different effect.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/640, Aperture f/5.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 200 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 323mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held.

Week 17, Day 117, August 26, 2009 Fog Wall, Winner of week 17 in online viewer poll. Winner for the Month of August in the online viewer poll.

On the way home from dinner, the fog was starting to form and move in interesting ways. I didn't have enough daylight to capture it well, but he was the most interesting shot that I got.

Right after I put my camera away 2 bicyclist drove through the fog. I missed a great opportunity.

Lessons Learned:

• You win a few, and loose a few. Tonight I missed the bicyclist.

Photo details: Exposure time 3.2 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 19 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 31mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Winner of week 17 in the online viewer poll. (It was a tie)

Winner of August in the online viewer poll.

Week 17, Day 116, August 25, 2009 Dad's Birthday, Winner of week 17 in online viewer poll.

Today is my father's 73 birthday. Two of his most favorite things in the world are the Boston Red Sox, and Elderberry Pie.

Normally my father doesn't like having his photo taken, but he has a great sense of humor. I proposed a photo where he would wear his hat and cut his pie. He willingly agreed, and I'm really happy for it. I think the photo captured his sense of humor, and his love of the Red Sox, and pie.

Happy Birthday Dad. I hope that you get to enjoy most of the pie, without having to share to much of it.

Lessons Learned:

• Don't give up on trying to get photos of people who don't like to have their photos taken.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/30, Aperture f/2.5, ISO 100, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 81mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, hand held.

Winner of week 17 in online viewer poll. (It was a tie)

Week 17, Day 115, August 24, 2009 "Corn Field Part II"

This is my second attempt at this photo. I do like how this one turned out. It looks as if there is a long tunnel.

It's amazing how dark it is in a corn field with all the leaves above my head. So far I have been unable to create a blue sky so far because it is so dark. Maybe some of you photographers would have some suggestions. I may try some HDR processing in the future. At this time, I don't know how to produce an HDR image and then add it to the blog. Do any of you?

Lessons Learned:

• This time I used an row of corn planted in an East - West direction instead of a North - South. At first I shot toward the sun, but after some attempts I realized that shooting away from the sun was working much better. I think that using an East - West direction gave me a little more light to create a better photo.
• Take an extra battery. My battery died, and my second one was back at the house.
  

Photo details: Exposure time 2.5 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 800 (it was a very dark under the leaves), Focal Length 29 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 47mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, camera bag as a tripod.

• 
  

Week 17, Day 114, August 23, 2009, "Running Man"

I wanted to go for a run this weekend, so I contacted my friend who is also named Steve. He's training for a marathon, and he told me he was doing his long run on Sunday. He told me that he was starting his run at 6:00 AM to avoid the heat and humidity. I said, "Ok, I'll get up that early and join you for part of your run." He was running 16 miles, and the most that I have run this summer is 7. I agreed to run out 4 miles with him, and then back 4 miles for a total of 8 miles. It's great to have the run done for the day by 7:00 AM.

On the way out we passed a red barn. Steve said this is a marker for him. it's basically uphill on the way out until this point. On the way back it marks a downhill trend to the finish. I grabbed my camera and took several photos of him. In this one I wanted to take a photo of the red barn in the background as he was finishing his run. I like the effect that it has. It makes the photo more personal, and has a greater meaning for him.

Lessons Learned:

• If the subject of the photograph is a person, ask questions and try to incorporate something personal into the photo.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/250 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 800 (it was a very cloudy day), Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held.

Week 17, Day 113, August 22, 2009 "Larch"

Years ago when I was walking through the Groton Cemetery I noticed an unique tree. This tree was huge, and it had very large branches that would travel from it's base a long way horizontally before reaching for the sky. I attempted to photograph it today. I had some luck, but found it difficult to capture it's largeness. I even tried a few shots of me standing next to it for a scale. (Working in the Earth at Atmospheric Science department taught me to do that.)

I'm not completely happy with this photo. I tried to use high contrast, black and white to look at it in a new way. I really like this tree, but am baffled on how to do it best. I hope to go back in the fall when all of it's needles turn brown before they fall off.

Lessons Learned:

Today I read another blog by Scott Bourne that I think describes it very well. In the blog the author mentioned that there are different levels of learning:

1. Unconscious Incompetence (We don’t know we suck.)

2. Conscious Incompetence (We know we suck.)

3. Conscious Competence (We know we don’t suck but have to work at it.)

4. Unconscious Competence (We know we don’t suck and taking good pictures is almost effortless.)

On this photo I feel like I'm at step 2. Woohoo, I'm 1/2 way there.

Keep Shooting.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/4 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 24 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 39mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Week 17, Day 112, August 21, 2009, Stained Glass Window Sage Chapel Cornell

Fall is approaching, and the amount of daylight per day is also reducing. My guess is that it will be more difficult for me to take outside photos as the days becoming shorter. Today we had a lot of rain, and I had to work late. I had some time near the end of the day for a few photographs inside while it was raining.

This photo is the very large stained glass window at the back of Sage Chapel at Cornell University. The window is up behind the pipes of the pipe organ. There was enough light coming through this beautiful piece of artwork to take it's photograph. Please click on it to see greater details.

Lessons Learned:

• There will be a lot of indoor photo opportunities this winter at Cornell University.
• I can create and HDR file, but I haven't figured out how to output it to a format that the blog software will take. I'll keep looking.
• The telephoto lens came in very handy for this photo. Sage Chapel is huge.
  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/2, Aperture f/9.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 105 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 170mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, tripod.

Week 16, Day 111, August 20, 2009, Feathered Visitor

While I was at work this morning I received a phone call from a colleague, Hal Coghill. Hal asked me if I had my camera, and I said, "Of course". He told me that there was a Red Tailed Hawk in the Engineering Quad at Cornell University. I was waiting for matlab to download, so I grabbed by camera and my telephoto lens as was out the door.

Hal and I followed the hawk through 3 trees, and took several photos. The hawk was beautiful, and we posted a link of the photos on face book. Soon stories from people all around campus began to collect. It seems as if there are some hawks living on campus. What a pleasant surprise. I hope to see them often.

Lessons Learned:

• I'm glad that more people are knowing that I like to take photographs. Hal gave me a great opportunity to take some photos. Thank you Hal.
• Always have the camera ready. It seems like opportunities present themselves when you least expect it.
• Once change in shutter speed has a great effect. I had a few photos from this angle. The shutter speed of 1/1000 gave me a blue sky. A shutter speed of 1/800 gave me a white sky. I need to pay more attention to this.
  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/1000, Aperture f/3.5, ISO 100, Focal Length 200 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 323mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held.

Week 16, Day 110, August 19, 2009 "Corn Tunnel" Winnder of Week 16 in online viewer poll

Tonight shot is from a Corn Field. I like the effect that it has, but I can get it much better.

The sky was to bright when I took this photo. I'm going back when it's earlier in the morning, or later at night. I also made the stupid mistake of leaving my camera set at 1600 ISO. I would think that I would know better by now. uurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Tonight I ran out of time in between this shot, making and eating dinner. Talking to my daughter on the phone, and then getting out there to late. I might try again tomorrow.

I think that I can do better, but I still like this shot.

Lessons Learned:

• In my life there are many things that are more important than photography.
• I still make a lot of stupid mistakes.
• My camera bag makes a great tripod when I need to photograph down low.
• I did remember to use the Focal Length of 17mm to give more feeling of depth.
  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/4 sec, Aperture f/10.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, camera bag tripod.

Winner of week 16 in online viewer poll.

Week 16, Day 109, August 18, 2009, "Reflection in a Wet Parking Lot"

This photo of the day has forced me to try new ways and new subjects. During the day, I'm always looking for an interesting way to take a photograph.

I had to pick up a new toner cartridge for my HP Color laser jet today, and I ended up taking this photograph.

Can you tell what it is? Any guesses? I'll post the answer tomorrow.

Lessons Learned:

• There are interesting photo opportunities all around us. The trick is seeing them, and making them interesting. Great photographers do it well, and I really appreciate looking at their work.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/80, Aperture f/8.0, ISO 1600, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 81mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, hand held.

Week 16, Day 108, August 17, 2009 "Hidden Picture"

Do you remember those pictures as a child that had the hidden pictures? I felt like that tonight as I tired to follow a red squirrel through the trees with my camera. They are much faster than gray squirrels, and try to hide on the other side of the tree. I wanted to try and take a better photo from a little more left that this shot, but he moved once again. It was a lot of fun trying to track him down.

Lessons Learned:

• Red Squirrels are hard to photograph, and move quickly.
• I like the effects of the circular polarizer filter on this photo.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/100, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 400, Focal Length 200 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 323mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held, circular polarizer filter.

Week 16, Day 107, August 16, 2009, "Foggy Sunrise"

The fog coming up over Peg's Pond when it was still foggy was incredible this morning. I love camping.

Lessons Learned:

• Sometimes photography is very easy when something so beautiful presents itself. All I had to do on this one was frame the sun in the trees. I think I'll print this one.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/2000, Aperture f/10.0, ISO 200, Focal Length 175 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 282mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held.

Week 16, Day 106, August 15, 2009 Dog Frisbee

This weekend we made our annual pilgrimage to Peg's pond. For me it's been about 26 years. For our children, it's been there whole lives. It's a time for Peg, the Houcks, and the Gallows to get together once again and have a great time. Our kids have grown up together, and our dogs have as well. These times are very special to us, and bring back years of memories, laughter, meal sharing, and more laughter. Thank you Peg for being such a great hostess.

We really lucked out this weekend. It was one of the best weekends of the summer. It was hot enough so all of us, including the dogs, spent a lot of time in the pond. Here Kyle is getting ready to throw the Frisbee for the dogs. You may already know Tank in the middle. Molly is on the left, and Tucker is on the right.

Lessons Learned:

• All of the photos of Peg's pond over the years have help enrich our memories.
• I have to get used to my circular polarizer lens. My photos were much darker.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/400, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 70 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 113mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held.

Week 16, Day 105, August 14, 2009 "Big Dipper"

Bear with me on this one. We were camping in the woods, and the stars were incredible. I grabbed my camera, and did my first attempt at photographing the stars. I can tell it's going to take some playing with the camera setting to improve my photos, but I was having a lot of fun.

Pictured here is the big dipper. I didn't realize there were so many other stars that you cannot see with your eye The camera picked up several others that are beyond the dipper that I couldn't see. This exposure is for 5 minutes, so there is a shift as the earth rotates. Also not the air plane that went by on the upper left corner.

Lesson Learned:

• I don't know anything about shooting stars yet, but found if very interesting. It took me a while to even get one star to appear.
• The sky is much bigger than I thought. It really requires a wide angle lens.
  

Photo details: Exposure time 301 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 40 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 65mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

I'm going camping. There's no internet access where I'm going. I'll post photos again on Sunday or Monday. Have a great weekend.

Week 15, Day 105, August 13, 2009 Sad Eyes

Our Dog Tank has some of the most interesting looks. I really like the looks of his eyes in this photo. He's a difficult dog to photograph because he moves so quickly. It's difficult to get him to stay still for a shot.

Lessons Learned:

• Dogs require lots of photos to get a few that turn out ok.
• I like the effect of the wide aperture in this photo. It draws the viewers attention to the face without being distracted by the background.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/20, Aperture f/2.2, ISO 100, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 81mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, hand held.

Week 15, Day 104, August 12, 2009 "Black Berries"

We have a lot of organic Blackberries around our house. They're organic because we just let them grow. There's no fertilizer sprayed on any of our property. (Why would I want my lawn to grown quickly? I'd just have to mow it more often.)

The berries may not be perfect, but I had somebody stop by my house this year wanting some of the plants and the berries. He makes black berry wine out of them. As a child he was friends with the previous home owners children. He picked the berries as a child, and remembered them being great. I'm not sure if they still stand up to his expectations, but we like to make blackberry cobbler out of them.

Lessons Learned:

• This photoblog is becoming a historical document. Next year when I think, "When were the black berries ripe last year?", I can look it up on my blog. I think photographs are like that. They help us remember the past.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/4 sec, Aperture f/10.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 33 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 54mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Week 15, Day 103, August 11, 2009, Lilly

I had hoped to catch up on my blog today, but the power outage of last night killed the power supply on my computer. I did a quick run the store in Ithaca, and installed a new power supply. The computer is once again running, but I was very limited on computer time as well as limited on photography time.

This Lilly is taller every year. This year it's almost as tall as I am, and I'm 6'3".

Lessons Learned:

• Once again, a lot of time and effort is needed for great photos. Sometimes I can get lucky, but this isn't one of them.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/13 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 200, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Week 15, Day 102, August 10, 2009, Power Outage

We had a power outage during an electrical storm this evening. I'm in a book study on Tuesday mornings, and I hadn't read the assigned chapters. The headlamp that I use for camping came in handy, and so did my tripod and remote.

I have a little infrared remote control that I can use to trigger my camera. I use it all the time for photos with long time exposures. It helps reduce any vibration that I might give the camera by pushing the shutter button.

Lessons Learned:

• I think there is some potential for some interesting photos with flash light shining in the camera to block certain features. This allows the viewer to use his/her imagination to fill in the missing part of the photo. I may explore this theme some more.

Photo details: Exposure time 2 sec, Aperture f/5.0, ISO 200, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Week 15, Day 101, August 9, 2009 Privy Inspection

Primitive camping has just gotten easier. In the past we used a shovel and dug a whole to take care of business in the woods. Now the state has provided box privies on all the camp sites. Here Pastor Chris inspects the privy. There isn't much privacy except a few trees, but it's easier than digging our own hole.

Lessons Learned:

• A person made this photo much more interesting, and humorous.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/100, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 400, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 81mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, hand held.

Week 15, Day 100, August 8, 2009 Spider Web Dew Catcher

When we awoke on the third day there were a lot of spider webs catching the morning dew. I love how the drops of water look like a tiny necklace.

Lessons Learned:

• I would really like a great macro lens.
• I should have taken a tripod with me. (I was trying to cut down on what we had to carry.)
  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/125, Aperture f/1.8, ISO 100, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 81mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, hand held.

Week 15, Day 99, August 7, 2009 Sunrise over Lake Lila, Winner of Week 15 in Onine Viewer Poll

The second morning at Lake Lila I woke up early before the sunrise and took several photos of the moon, followed by the sunrise. This photo is the sunrise with a lot of fog burning off the lake. The combination of the thick fog, the sun, and a calm lake created some interesting photo opportunities.

Lessons Learned:

• Morning time is an excellent time for photography.
• Sleeping on the hard ground helps me to rise earlier.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/640, Aperture f/7.1, ISO 100, Focal Length 70 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 113mm, Lens Sigma 70-300mm 1:4-5.6, hand held.

This photo was the winner of the week 15 online viewer poll.

Week 14, Day 98, August 6, 2009 Fire Starter

For about the last 12 years there has been a group of us that have traveled to remote areas in the Adirondacks for a weekend of primitive camping. These areas are incredible beautiful, and great opportunities for photography. On this day we traveled to Lake Lila. All boats and equipment have to be carried about 1/3 of a mile to the lake. No motor boats are allowed on the lake. There are fewer than 30 camp sites on the lake, and it's a first come first serve basis. Campers are limited to 3 nights, or 4 days.

In this photo one of the campers is blowing on the wet wood to get the fire started.

Lessons Learned:

• Ziplock bags are very handy. I put my camera and my lenses in ziplock bags to protect them. The waves were very rough, and the canoe got a lot of water in it. The ziplock bags saved my equipment.
• My less expensive lenses also came in handy. I didn't have to risk any of the more expensive ones.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/200, Aperture f/1.8, ISO 100, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 82mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, hand held.

Week 14, Day 97, August 5, 2009 "Silly"

I was really strapped for time tonight. I'm packing for a 4 day canoe trip in the Adirondacks, and I almost forgot about adding a photo to the blog. Just as I was remembering, I looked up and saw the disembodied heads floating in my sons window. I said stay right there while I get my camera.

I hope it brings a smile to your face.

I won't be publishing the photos from the canoe trip until Sunday or Monday when I return.

Lessons Learned:

• Silly photos are fun.

Photo details: Exposure time 1.3 sec, Aperture f/7.1, ISO 100, Focal Length 20 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 32mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Week 14, Day 96, August 4, 2009 Sunrise, Winner of Week 14 in Online Viewer Poll

The sunrise this morning was one of the most beautiful that I have seen. I had to take a few photos before I left for work at 5:45 AM this morning. I didn't have time to set up a tripod, but I think it came out fairly well anyway.

Lesson Learned:

• There are a lot of blogs that have incredible daily photos. Looking at other peoples photography is helping me to see things in new ways. I find it interesting how different people approach the same subject.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/80 sec, Aperture f/4.5, ISO 400, Focal Length 70 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 113 mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f4.5L USM, hand held.

Winner of week 14 in the online viewer poll.

Week 14, Day 95, August 3, 2009, "Horses in the Fog"

If you are a friend of mine on facebook you might have already seen horses in the fog. I had forgotten and left the memory card at work, so I couldn't use it as a photo of the day. I like the facebook version better. But, there was fog this morning, and the horses were out. So, I stopped and took some more photos. One of these day's the horses will be in the right positions, and the fog will be just right, and the sun will be breaking through, and I'll get the perfect photo.

Lessons Learned:

• Cropping is very important. It took me a while for this crop.
  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/80 sec, Aperture f/10.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 35 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 56 mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Week 14, Day 94, August 2, 2009, "There is blue sky"

I think many time the subject of photos that I find interesting is things that I don't see as often. This year we've had a lot of rain and cloudy skies. Tonight as the clouds began breaking up I really liked the looks of the blue sky behind the clouds. I framed the shot with some 70 year old hemlock trees that grow in our lawn.

I hope all of you are enjoying moments like these during your summer. (Or winter if you are below the equator.)

Photo details: Exposure time 1/60 sec, Aperture f/13.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 27mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Week 14, Day 93, August 1, 2009 "Block Attempt"

My son's team played 3 games today at the Le Moyne College
Basketball tournament. They played quite well, and have a large team with a lot of great player. Coach Filzen works with them all summer in a summer league, and these tournaments, or basketball camps. His dedication to the sport and the team are incredible.

I've been taking sports photos for a while, and basketball is one of the most difficult. The lighting in many of the gyms is very poor for taking photos without a flash. But a flash is not a good thing to use because it can disrupt the game. (As depected in the funny commercial where a bar requests that a basketball game be sent into over time. I looked for the video of the commercial online, but couldn't find it.) The key things that I do for sport shooting is to set a high ISO (My camera does 1600). This causes the photos to look grainy, but there isn't anything I can do about that. I then set the white balance to either florescent or tungsten depending on the lighting in the gym. I then usually do aperture priority with a wide aperture. I usually start with 2.8, and then adjust it up until I'm getting a shutter speed of about 1/250 sec. I also set the auto focus into servo mode so that the camera adjusts the auto focus almost continuously. This is important because the scene changes so rapidly.

The final thing I do is just take a lot of photos. Usually I end up taking about 600-1000/game. There a lot that are poor, but every now and then I'll get an interesting one. I like this one.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/200 sec, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 1600, Focal Length 80 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 129 mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, hand held.