Week 27, Day 191, October 31, 2009, Evidence of Wind II

It was very windy this morning, and we had sunshine for about 15 minutes.  I grabbed my camera and ran outside to take some photos of the wind blowing the corn.  I like the effect.

Lessons Learned:

• Have your camera ready to shoot on a moments notice.  Photographic moments come up all the time.  I'm driving some people crazy with the comment, "That would make a neat photo."  I guess I should back off on that statement, and just think in internally.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/125 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 400, Focal Length 21 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 34mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held, circular polarizer filter.

Happy Birthday Kari!!!

Kari's Birthday!!

Today is a very special day.  It's Kari's birthday.  You can tell from the photo that she was destined to become a Landscape Architect.

Happy Birthday Kari.

Week 27, Day 190, October 30, 2009, Gorge from the Bridge

After work I had a little time, so I decided to head over to the gorge on the other side of the Cornell campus.  I found some new hiking trails, and took this photo.  Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees, but there are still some trees on the south side (right side of the photo) of the gorge that have many leaves.  In the distance is the foot bridge that spans the gorge.

I feel blessed to be able to have so many amazing natural attractions so close to home.

What beautiful areas are there were you live?

Lessons Learned:

• I'm still having problems with the bright spots on my water shots.  I think that I have to widen the aperture a little more.

Photo details: Exposure time 1.3 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 25 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 41mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod, circular polarizer filter.

Week 26, Day 189, October 29, 2009, "Mustang Mike"

You may remember Mike from the famous photo Chopsticks.  Mike has a great Mustang convertible.  I think it's his midlife crises car.  He sold all his motorcycles from his youth (and not so youth) to purchase the car. Once a week we have lunch together.  I get to enjoy his midlife crises, and go for a ride to wherever we are going to eat that week.  We scream at the kids, "Get out of the road!".

I've had this photo in mind for a long time.  It's not very often that there is a parking space available in front of the Royal Palms Tavern in Collegetown, Ithaca.  I thought that the red of the car with the bright yellow of the building, and Mike standing in the background would make a great photo.  I thought this would be a good change in pace from the Fall photos that I have been taking lately.  If Mike ever takes up the guitar again, and records a MP3, he can use this for his album art.

I hope you enjoy.

Lessons Learned:

• Sometimes I need to be patient for the photos.   This one I've been thinking about for a few months.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/60 sec, Aperture f/8.0, ISO 800, Focal Length 34 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 55mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held, circular polarizer filter, I changed the intensity of the colors.

Week 26, Day 188, October 28, 2009, A Carpet of Leaves

"It can't snow until the creeks are full.", is a old saying in the North East.  There was a lot of rain today, helping to fill the creeks.

The last of the leaves are a brilliant yellow color, and they are falling quickly.  They produced a carpet of leaves on the hiking trails that follow the gorges.

Lessons Learned:

• The circular polarizer works well on cloudy days as well.  It helps to bring out the colors of the leaves.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/30 sec, Aperture f/9.0, ISO 1600, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 27mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held, circular polarizer filter. 

Week 26, Day 187, October 27, 2009, Gorge Revisted with Zoom Lens

I had all my lenses with me today, so I revisited one of the sites that I had taken a photo about a week ago.   This time I used my zoom lens.  Because of this I was able to capture both the bridge with the local colors, as well as some of the trees on West Hill.

The leaves have changed color in the past week.

I like this photo better than my first one.  I think the beauty of the bridge is highlighted better, and the trees still have some great color.  I also think the sun was more cooperative, and highlighted some of the trees in the gorge.

Lessons Learned:

• Don't be afraid to return to the same site at different times, with different equipment, and look for different lighting.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/125 sec, Aperture f/7.1, ISO 200, Focal Length 70 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 113mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

Weekly winner in online viewer poll. Monthly winner in online viewer poll

Week 26, Day 186, October 26, 2009, An Incredible Day.

October 26th is a very special day around our household.  It's my youngest son's birthday.    He's a great young adult, and were very proud of all his accomplishments.

We were also graced with an incredible day of beautiful weather.  The tower that is in this photograph is part of the same tower that I took a Black and White photo last Thursday. It looks a lot less scary in the sunny weather.

Lessons Learned:

• The sky, in the fall, when the sun is lower on the horizon, and there is less moisture in the air, is incredible!  The skies are so blue.  See Jen, Ithaca can have sunny weather. :-)
• Blogger and JPG images did some odd things at the boundry between the leaves and the blue skies.  It doesn't appear on my Picassa image.  It's very disappointing.
  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/100 sec, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 100, Focal Length 21 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 34mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held, circular polarizer filter.

Weekly winner in online viewer poll.

Week 26, Day 185, October 25, 2009, Posted

The Sun was out, the skies were blue, and most of the leaves have fallen.  It was a very beautiful day.

There is a lot of hunting in this area of the country.  Deer season for bow has started, and shotgun is around the corner.  It's an important time to remember to be careful if you are a photographer in the woods.

I stayed near the road today, but was able to get some great shots of the fallen leaves.  I hope you enjoy.

Lessons Learned:

•  Leaves on the ground can be as beautiful as they are in the trees.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/13 sec, Aperture f/22, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 35mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod, circular polarizer filter.

As far as yesterday's mystery, Kari was right.  I moved my niece to another table in the background.  I thought the photo would be interesting to people who know the family.  They would see my Sister, Aunt, and Uncle immediately.  Later upon further looking they would probably see my niece in the background.  

I do like all the things that others had to offer.  Some of them I saw, but many others I didn't.  Thank you for all of  your input.  Well done blogging community.  You do great work!!

Weekly winner in online viewer poll.

Week 26, Day 184, October 24, 2009, "Closer Than You Think"

My sister is up from South Carolina to visit my niece at Syracuse University for Parents Weekend. My sister invited me along for a look at the school, and we had a lot of fun. .

While we were eating at a local restaurant, I was looking for reflections for the weekend meme exercise proposed by Newton Area Photo. The mirror was very obvious as an easy target, but I wanted to make it a little more interesting.

I'll let you know what the interesting item is tomorrow.  In the mean time, please take a guess at what makes the photo more interesting.

Lessons Learned:

• Work to try and create a story with the photo.  I think this is especially important with photos of people.

Weekend Reflections is an idea by Newton Area Photo.
Join in the meme, and join the fun.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/100, Aperture f/4.5, ISO 800, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 81mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, hand held.

Week 26, Day 183, October 23, 2009, A Great Night in Football

It was a great night of football tonight.  My son's team won the division.  Congratulations guys. You did great!!

Although it was a great night for football, the rain made it difficult to shoot.  When the rain came down hard, I just hid the camera under my two rain coats.  The lights at the opposing teams field were fantastic.  They are much brighter than many other outdoor fields.  This helped a lot in getting tonight's photos.

Lessons Learned:

• I've seen a couple of techniques for keeping the camera dry during a rain storm.  I've seen hot dog roll bags, professional covers, and tonight I saw bubble wrap with rubber bands.  I get very nervous about having my camera out in the rain.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/160 sec, Aperture f/3.2, ISO 1600, Focal Length 110 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 309mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld, I used the tungsten white balance setting.

Week 25, Day 182, October 22, 2009, Halloween is Approaching

It's getting that time of year.  The leaves are falling, the end of October is approaching.  It was time for a spooky photo. 

There are a lot of really neat buildings at Cornell University that make great shots for photos.  The skies were starting to get cloudy, and this building has more of the iron work on top.  I like the single oak leaf floating off the branches on the left, and is near the top of the building. (You might have to click on the image to see it more fully.)

Lessons Learned:

• I started playing with filters on the Black and White setting on my camera.  The filters tend to make that color lighter in the photo.  i.e. A red filter will make a red hat white.  It could be fun to play with that some more.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/1600 sec, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 200, Focal Length 23 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 37mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld, circular polarizer filter.

Week 25, Day 180, October 21, 2009, Gorges II

A Professor in our department said that if you want spectacular photos, go to spectacular places.  Spectacular places do help, and Fall in Central New York is pretty spectacular.

In this photo I took a photo of the bridge that I stood on yesterday for yesterday's photo of the day.  I'm standing on a little foot bridge overlooking the gorge.

Lessons Learned:

• Take advantage of the sun when you have it.  The clouds were moving in fast, so I took a lot of photos before I lost the sun.  I think the sun at this time of year adds to the colors of the fall leaves.
• Be patient with other people.  Twice today when I was taking photos, people took out their cameras and came and started taking photos of what I was photographing.  I need to take this as a compliment instead of an annoyance.  (I've never had that happen before.  It was kind of cool.)

Photo details: Exposure time 1/50 sec, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 100, Focal Length 37 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 60mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld, circular polarizer filter.

Week 25, Day 179, October 20, 2009, Gorges

A few years ago my family traveled to Rome Italy.  We stayed on the edge of Rome, and had to travel by bus to the center of the city.  Many days people were sleeping on the bus.  I wanted to wake them up, and ask how they could sleep with such incredibly interesting places to see all around them.

Just about every day that I work, I walk over this gorge.  Before I started taking so many photos I didn't pay as much attention to my surroundings.  Now, I think I pay a little more attention.  I'm glad that I do, but I wonder what other cool things do I miss.

Lessons Learned:

• If the sun isn't shining,  It's pretty dark when I get home for work.  This will limit the fall color photos.  I have to take more photos during lunch time.  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/3 sec, Aperture f/22, ISO 100, Focal Length 33 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 53mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

My impressions of yesterdays photo:

I found myself wavering between not liking it, and liking it.  It some ways, I thought it had a Thomas Kinkade type of look.  I'm really not very interested in that type of art.  In other ways it does have a surreal look that AB mentioned.  I kind of like the surreal aspect of it.  I'll probably continue to try some more experiments like this to see if I can improve my abilities.  I really like Lynne Daley's photo that she did, so I think the technique has a lot of potential.  If you haven't looked at her work yet, please do.  I think you might enjoy it.

Week 25, Day 178, October 19, 2009, Experimenting with Images

This one's an experiment.  I got the idea from another photographer, Lynne Daley.  I found her photo very interesting, so I thought I would give her technique a try.  Her's is fantastic.

What do you think?  Please don't hold anything back, and be honest.
I have kids, so I'm used to criticism.
(I'll let you know my impressions tomorrow.  I don't want to influence your comments.)


This photo is from above the Falls at Filmore Glenn in Moravia NY.  It was quite dark when I took the photo.  There isn't much daylight left at the end of the day.

Lessons Learned:

• It is fun to try new things. Especially as experiments.

Photo 1 details: Exposure time .6 sec, Aperture f/4, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod, Out of Focus.

Photo 2 details: Exposure time 8 sec, Aperture f/22, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod, In Focus.

Week 25, Day 177, October 18, 2009, Fall Falls, Winner of the Week in Online Viewer Poll

We are very busy in our daily lives.  We work long hours. We spend time at our children's sporting events. I have a hobby of photography. Were looking with our son at Colleges for our youngest son.  We make dinner. We sleep. We are doing renovations to our house.  The list goes on and on.  I'm sure many of you can relate to this.

Today wasn't one of those days.  My wife and I got to spend some time together. First we went to Hollibeck Cider Mill for cider, and pies. Next we headed to the Ithaca Farmers market.  Third was Ithaca Falls, where I took advantage of my hobby. Finally we ended at the Thou Art Gallery in Groton for a little shopping.

It was a great day, and a lot of fun.  All that other stuff can wait for another day.

Lessons Learned:

• It will be tough to get a winter, early spring, or late fall photo of Ithaca Falls in their entirety.  The Sun is to far south, and the gorge blocks a lot of the sun at those times of the year.

Photo details: Exposure time .6 sec, Aperture f/22.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 70 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 113mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, tripod.

Winner of the week in the online viewer polls. Monthly winner in online viewer poll.

Week 25, Day 176, October 17, 2009, Wedding Cake in Founders Room

I took photos today at a very small wedding.  It was a special wedding, and very beautiful.  The people are all very special, and I'm glad that I could be a part of it.  I wish the bride and groom a wonderful life together of many happy years.

The wedding took place in the Founders Room at Cornell University.  The room has many stained glass windows, and a large table with glass on it.  I really liked how the windows would reflect off of the glass on the table.

Lessons Learned:

• It's very important to be at a wedding site early to take some test shots.  This helped me with the lighting of the photos for the wedding.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/60 sec, Aperture f/4, ISO 800, Focal Length 22 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 36mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

Weekend Reflections is an idea by Newton Area Photo. Join in the meme, and join the fun.

Week 25, Day 175, October 16, 2009, Leap Frog

Please Click on Image for a Larger View.  The flying mud and grass adds to the photo.


My son's team played football again tonight.  Next week is the final week of their regular season.  It should be an exciting game.  Both my son's team, and the team they will be playing has the same record.  The winner will be the winner of a Divisional Title.

I liked this photo because of the positions of all the players.  Number 33 on the left jumped over a player that was trying to block him out.  He was able to continue on his feet to continue blocking for 22.

It's a lot of excitement for $2.00 on a Friday night.

Lessons Learned:

• I just saw that there was an X-Large option for photos in blogspot (without having to modify the html by hand).  I'm trying that out with this photo.  I think it will be a great option for photos on this blog.  (It didn't work.  The photo was to large, so the sidebar was in the way.  I switched back to large.)
  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/200, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 600, Focal Length 170 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 276mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

Week 24, Day 175, October 15, 2009, Pellet Stove, Weekly winner in online viewer poll.

Tonight was a dreary night. It was rain/snowing, but it wasn't sticking. I came home and started making vegatarian chili, and I fired up the pellet stove. I was trying to figure out what to photograph, and it came to me. It's warm inside. The pellet stove is near the computer, so I can easily see how the photos are turning out. I don't have to go outside in the dark rain. Sounds like a no brainer for me.

As the pellets in a pellet stove drop into the firepit, they create sparks. With the right shutter speed this can create an interesting effect. I like it.

Lessons Learned:

I'll be taking a lot of photos when it's dark out, and I cannot get outside this winter. Fortunatly there are a lot of interesting places around here where I can do that.

Photo details: Exposure time 4 sec, Aperture f/4, ISO 100, Focal Length 26 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 42mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Weekly winner in the online viewer poll.

Week 24, Day 174, October 14, 2009, Happy Birthday Snee Hall, Cornell University

Today was the celebration of 25 years in Snee Hall for the Department of Geological Sciences/ Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University.  William and Kathrine Snee generously donated the money to build this incredible building.  Many of the Professor Emeritus spoke of fond memories of our first move into the building.

I like this photo because it isn't often that I get to stand behind a speaker, capture his face and his facial expressions, and also catch a glimpse of the crowd in the distance.

Lessons Learned:

• I took several photos of the different speakers, but I zoomed in very close on the face of this speaker.  I think it was the best photograph.  I need to remember to take shots where the face is very close to the camera.  I seem to forget that very often.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/100 sec, Aperture f/4, ISO 1600 (no flash), Focal Length 29 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 47mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, hand held.

Week 24, Day 173, October 13, 2009, Evidence of Walking

A good friend of my is in town, so we were going to meet him at the place that serves great popcorn. 

I had some time before we would meet him, so I went to Monkey Run.  I didn't see any monkeys, but there were a lot of people walking their dogs, and a lot of leaves on the trail.  With the recent wind the leaves have been falling quickly.

Similar to my previous photo Evidence of Wind, I wanted to capture movement.  Today I present Evidence of Walking.  I hope that you like it.

Lesson Learned:

• Many times I get an idea for a photo in my head.  They seldom turn out the way that I envision them.  I think that I'll continue to work on some of these visions, and see how close I can perfect them.  It should be fun to try. 
• Once again, I didn't have all my camera equipment with me.  I wish I had my tripod, and my circular polarizer filter.
  

 Photo details: Exposure time .6 sec, Aperture f/22, ISO 200, Focal Length 17 mm (I wanted to preserve depth), 35 mm equivalent focal length 27mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, the camera was sitting on a log for a tripod.

Week 24, Day 172, October 12, 2009, Fall Ivy at an Ivy League School

The ivy on the sides of the buildings at Cornell changing into their fall colors.  This ivy is on the side of the Staler Hotel, which is part of the Hotel School at Cornell University.

We're starting to lose more and more of our leaves.  Soon, Fall will be behind us, and winter will begin.

In addition to the colors, I like the texture of the rock, and the vines between the leaves.  I don't think this is a typical Fall scene.

Lessons Learned:

• Some days you it seems that you don't learn a thing.  This might be one of them.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/30 sec, Aperture f/8, ISO 400, Focal Length 40 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 65mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

Week 24, Day 171, October 11, 2009, Art Trail

It's been a great weekend.  We wandered out on the Greater Ithaca Art Trail, and found ourselves in Gary Rith's Studio, the locally famous potter with a huge web presence.

Gary is an excellent host.  If you're in the area next weekend, I highly recommend visiting his studio.  He has great pottery for sale, and gives incredible demonstrations of the creation of his work.

Here our children with their significant others display some of their great newly acquired pottery.  (Aren't they all beautiful?)

Another place that we visited is Nancy Boyce at the Thou Art Gallery in Groton, NY.  If you like bright colorful functional art, this is the place for you.  There's great wall switches, bowls, jewelry, and many other pieces of work.  In addition to her own work, Nancy also sells items from many other artist.  All of it is interesting, and you'll see new things every time you return.  I could spend hours there just looking at all the wonderful pieces of work.

Both of these artist have been great at encouraging me to pursue my interests in photograph.  They are great artist and great people.  Thank you Nancy and Gary for all your help.

Lessons Learned:

• Your own children make beautiful models.  

Photo details: Exposure time 1/80 sec, Aperture f/4, ISO 1600, Focal Length 22 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 35mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

Week 24, Day 170, October 10, 2009, Sunny Fall Colors

The sun returned, and it did a great job reflecting the colors of our surrounding hill sides.  We must be near peak colors for most of the trees.

This shot was taken during my sons football game in Newfield.  Newfield is surrounded by amazing hills of color in the fall.  It was spectacular.

I hope your day was good as well.

Tomorrow, "The Art Trail".

Lessons Learned:

• Circular Polarizer filters really do work, and the colors of these photos where so much better than without the filter.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/320, Aperture f/5.0, ISO 200, Focal Length 200 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 468mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

Week 24, Day 169, October 9, 2009, "Swirls in the Fall"

It's been rainy and dark, but the clouds have been interesting this week.  That's why I focused on black and white and clouds. 

Today, the clouds were much thicker, and it was raining.  I walked through the gorge next to my building, after all "Ithaca is Gorges".  The leaves on the trees were beautiful.  I took a few photos.  I realized that I needed a tripod because it was fairly dark, so I ran to my car and got it.

I took a few photos of the trees, but then I noticed the slow swirling on the side of the stream.  There were some leaves floating.  I took a time lapse photo to capture the swirls.

I hope you enjoy.

Lessons Learned:

• Many times I don't have my tripod with me.  Sometimes I set the camera on a rock or a fence to steady it.  
• Recently when taking photos without a tripod, I put the camera in burst mode.  I can then take a few photos in a row by holding down the shutter button.  I'm not depressing or releasing the shutter button on the middle photos, so this helps to reduce the movement of the camera.

 Photo details: Exposure time 10 sec, Aperture f/22, ISO 100, Focal Length 29 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 47mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, tripod.

Week 23, Day 168, October 8, 2009, Monolith

The gray overcast skies have been encouraging me to take photos of darkness. The light was reaching around this tower on Sibley Hall at Cornell University as I waited for the bus.  The sun was shining diffusely through the clouds.
I also find it interesting how the eye picks out the notch in the right side very easily.

Lessons Learned:

• I needed more time to take photos tonight.  There was a group of students practicing a free form on dance in the Engineering quad.  A couple of the photos came out ok, but I wished I had spent more time photographing.  The dance to the drum beat looked like a lot of fun.

 Photo details: Exposure time 1/800, Aperture f/10.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 115 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 186mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

Week 23, Day 167, October 7, 2009, Windy Fall Day, Weekly winner in online viewer poll

There was a wind advisory warning in the Tompkins County area until 8:00 PM.  Predictions of gusts up to 50 miles an hour.

On the run at lunch time, we had an excellent tail wind on the way out, and a head wind on the way back.  Fortunately we were protected by trees on the way back which helped reduce the head wind.  Unfortunately large branches were falling, and we had to be careful.  A good time was had by all.

I grabbed my camera after work, and attempted to capture the wind in a photograph.  This can be more difficult than you would imagine.  This was the best example that I had for today.

 I was looking for a black and white photo, but I left the color.  I liked the single color of red coming from the trees. I hope you enjoy.

Lessons Learned:

• Willows show the wind well, but the sky behind the willows wasn't as spectacular.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/800 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 40mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

Weekly winner in online viewer poll.

Week 23, Day 166, October 6, 2009, Tower Silhouette

I'm starting to try and see in black and white.  At least that's what some of my readings on black and white photography are telling me.  They say that I have to try and ignore the color, and look at the lighting and shadows.

Tonight on the way home I looked around, and found this interesting.  One book told me to avoid the sky, but we have a lot of clouds around here.  Many times they create interesting effects.

I want to try and get better at all forms of photography.  If you have any advice about black and white photography, or any type of photography, please let me know.

I like the iron work at the top of the tower, and in the arches.

Lessons Learned:

• Bright Skies are great for silhouettes.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/1000 sec, Aperture f/6.3, ISO 100, Focal Length 40 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 83mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at The Monochrome Weekly

Week 23, Day 165, October 5, 2009, Soccer, Weekly winner in online viewer poll.

On Monday Night the Groton Soccer Team played Moravia under the lights at Ross Field.  It was a great game, and both teams played hard.  In the end it was a tie at 2 goals each.

Soccer photography is a lot different than football.  The game is all over the field, and quick moving.  In football there is a stop and start of each play that gives the photographer more time to set up.  It was a lot of fun watching the teams play, and try to figure out a good method of photography.

I liked this photo because of the form, the lighting, and the mud flying through the air.

Lessons Learned:

• Photography of each type of sport is different.  It is helpful if I understand the sport.  It's interesting to try and capture the feel for the game in the photographs. 

Photo details: Exposure time 1/160, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 1600, Focal Length 185 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 474mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

Weekly winner in online viewer poll.

Week 23, Day 164, October 4, 2009, "In His Element"

I had the chance to get a sneak peak at one of the participants in the Fingerlakes Art Trail today.  Gary Rith, a famous potter with a large web presence,  was working getting ready for the event.  It takes place for the next 2 weekends. 

In addition to teaching at Cornell University's Pot Shop, Gary has a really cool studio in his home.  He's a great host, a lot of fun to watch, and his work is incredible.

If you're in town, I highly recommend that you put this stop on your calendar for one of the next two weekends.

Hey Gary, does this make me the "Backup Photographer for Gary Rith Pottery"?  (Gary does most of his own photography.) If so, I can add it to my portfolio.

Lessons Learned:

• It's a lot of fun exchanging ideas with other artists.  There are many similarities in the creative process through all the arts.  Thank you for the lessons on pottery, the opportunity to take more photographs,  the wonderful conversation, and the really neat pink flamingo pottery.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/125 sec, Aperture f/4.0, ISO 800, Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

Week 23, Day 163, October 3, 2009, Adam and Eve

We saw the sun again today, and with it the blue skies.  It was time to head to Grismore Farms with the rest of Tompkins and Cayuga County, and pick Apples.

It's been a while since I did a silly photo.

Kyle and Anna were home for the weekend, and I got them to pose for a photo.  The second I saw it, I thought of Adam and Eve.  In this photo Eve looks authoritarian, EAT!!  Adam is in the background with a smirk on his face imagining how everything is going to change once we eat the apple.

I hope you enjoy.

Lessons Learned:

• At first I had my camera zoomed into far on the apple, and the background was blurred.  I wanted more depth of field, so I backed the zoom off, and moved closer to the apple.  This worked well.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/125 sec, Aperture f/16.0, ISO 1600 (mistake), Focal Length 17 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 28mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

Week 23, Day 162, October 2, 2009, Return from the Battle

A week of rain, and rain this evening made the football field very muddy.  During one of the plays the opposing team kicked the football over into the muddy part of the field.  This player had to dive on the ball to prevent the other team from gaining possession.  He played it well, and became very muddy in the process.

Lessons Learned:

• It's difficult to photograph in the rain.  I learned a secret from the local TV camera person.  She used a hotdog roll bag, and rubber bands to cover her camera to keep it from getting wet.  I guess that's much less expensive than the commercial solutions.  I'll have to try it.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/160, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 1600, Focal Length 125 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 306mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

Week 22, Day 161, October 1, 2009, Fall Pub

Every day when I walk to the bus stop, I wander by this place. (But most days I do not enter.)  It's a great place to go.  The popcorn is fresh, the beer is awesome, and it's the hang out place for a local famous potter who has a large web presence.  Perhaps if you go there you might have a chance to meet him.

The fall colors of the trees around the building are spectacular, and my favorite brick road runs right in front of it.

I hope you enjoy the photo, as much as we enjoy this place.

Lessons Learned:

• I don't normally walk down this road, but one of the other riders of the bus told me the colors were really nice from this angle.  The lesson is talk to people.  They may have great suggestions.
• I should have used a higher iso because I didn't have my tripod with me.
  

 Photo details: Exposure time 1/15 sec, Aperture f/8.0, ISO 100, Focal Length 36 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 96mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.