Week 46, Day 320, March 14, 2010, Let Sleeping Dog's Lie

Our dog, Tank, still has a lot of energy, but there are times that he crashes for a nap in the middle of the afternoon.  It's at these times we catch a breather from playing fetch, or tug of war. 

Lessons Learned:

• I took some advice from Pam on the chaotic photo.  I found Tanks foot pad to be a very interesting subject, and placed it in the foreground of the photo.

Photo details: Exposure time 30 sec, Aperture f/22, ISO 100, Focal Length 40 mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, camera sitting on the floor. 

Week 46, Day 319, March 13, 2010, Lollipops

My children are all here for the weekend, so it's been very busy.  Today was a very cold windy rainy day.  I chose to take today's photo inside.  I decided to work on the food theme for a third time.  This is my son and his girl friend.  They were eating lollipops, so I asked if I could take their photo.  They were great models, and allowed me to take several photos.

Lessons Learned:

• I played with Photoshop to modify this photo. I first selected the lollipops by a color range.  Then I copied and pasted the lollipops into a new layer.  I then converted the main layer to black and white, and adjusted the brightness, and contrast. 

Photo details: Exposure time 1/50 sec, Aperture f/1.8, ISO 1600, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 82mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, handheld.

Week 46, Day 318, March 12, 2010, Pineapple

It was a cloudy dreary day, so I took the opportunity to take the second photo in my food challenge photo.  I find the shapes of a pineapple very interesting.

Lessons Learned:

• I think that color can sometimes distract from the shapes and textures.  At first I was using black and white for this photo, but I think that sepia worked even better.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/15 sec, Aperture f/1.8, ISO 100, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 82mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, tripod.

Week 45, Day 318, March 11, 2010, The Old Recipe

This months photo challenge for our local photo club is "food".  This is not an area that I have a lot of interest in photographing, but I'm taking it as a challenge.  Here's my first attempt.  I think that stepping outside our comfort zone can teach us new things.  Perhaps this will be more fun than I thought.

I have a friend, Jen Yu, that takes incredible food photos. (as well as many other types)  Take a look at her blog

Lessons Learned:

• I lens with a wide aperture seems to be a good tool when taking food photos.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/6 sec, Aperture f/1.8, ISO 100, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 82mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, tripod.

Week 45, Day 317, March 10, 2010, Chaos

A couple of weeks ago I had a photo of a simple line of a snow drift curving around a tree.   Last week I attempted to photograph some shelves that had several bowls, and cook books.  I didn't like the second photo, and asked for your suggestions on how to make the photo better.  One of the things that some of you said was make the shelves less cluttered. (or simple).  This has me wondering if it is possible to take good photos of very busy photos (chaotic), or I should say what makes a good chaotic photo?  I don't know the answer yet.  I think of my children's "I Spy" books, and the photographs are beautiful and very busy, but not chaotic.

This is another chaotic photo.  I like it a little better than the shelves photo, but it's still not quite right.  I think I should have tried from a different angle. 

What do you think?  Is it possible to take a good chaotic photo?  Do you have any examples? 

Lessons Learned:

• Experimenting is a lot of fun, and can be a learning experience.  Other times it can be frustrating.  Sometimes the lesson is, this method didn't work.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/25 sec, Aperture f/5.7, ISO 100, Focal Length 17 mm, Lens Canon EF 17-40mm, handheld.

Week 45, Day 316, March 9, 2010, Evidence of Spring

We're on our 4th day in a row of Sunny Skies.  People around here are in shock, and thinking of spring.  It looks as if the Mallard Ducks are as well.

I think that the colder and darker the winter season, the more we appreciate spring.  There are smiles on peoples face everywhere.  Life is good.

Lessons Learned:

• I think that when photographing birds the photographer either needs to be very fast, or very patient.  Because of a lack of time, I went for speed on this photo as the ducks retreated up river.  That caused a lack of clarity because I was holding the camera instead of using a tripod.  I also had some blurry photos of hawks.  I think that setting up and waiting for birds will result in better photos.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/800 sec, Aperture f/2.8, ISO 100, Focal Length 200 mm, Lens Canon 70-200mm f2.8L USM, handheld.

Week 45, Day 315, March 8, 2010, Light Dance

As I was coming home this evening, the sun was low in the sky and creating great shadows on trees.  I had my 50mm lens with me.  I pulled it out, and started photographing the light and the shadows on the trees.

Lessons Learned:

• I'm trying to see in black and white, and looking for large contrast between the light and the dark, and how they play together.  Tonight I saw it.

Photo details: Exposure time 1/80 sec, Aperture f/6.3, ISO 100, Focal Length 50 mm, 35 mm equivalent focal length 82mm, Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, handheld.