Cereal Flasher II

I'm pretty sure David Hobby has used that term (cereal flasher) before, but it fits, and I'm using it as a homage. Here's a more produced photo—probably my most produced one since my most recent set of water drops. I think this technically qualifies for the current Lighting 102: Assignment - Cooking Light. As far as his assignment goes, it's probably not that great, but that doesn't make it any less of a photo. I shot it more for myself than to impress other strobists. Which I think is really the point of the assignments anyway; to give yourself a challenge, and to exchange ideas with other photographers. To that end I'll post a setup photo a little later.

Ah, I knew I shot another cereal bowl for this blog, and looking back at it, these two posts share quite a bit of similarity, but they're also pretty different.

Uh, Something

Here's another case of the last minute I've-got-to-shoot-something-before-I-go-to-sleep-itis. This is some junk on the bookcase just off the head of my bed.

Panoramas

After a few unsuccessful attempts, I'm so far quite pleased with Photoshop CS3's updated Photomerge feature. It's probably the smartest panorama stitching software I've used (when it works). I didn't shoot any of these with a tripod, and most of them had a pretty wide focal length. Both of these factors tend to wreak havoc with stitching software. I did have one sequence that failed. When CS3 Photomerges fail, it just stops. If you start the process and then leave the room for a while, you wonder if it actually did anything. It goes seemingly through the whole process and then just closes the new window and that's it.
I took all these photos in the general vicinity of Lake of the Clouds.

More Vacation Photos

Here's just a few of my top picks, to make up for falling behind a bit on shooting, and this blog. Laura and I hiked from the summit of Mount Washington (took the auto road) to the Lake of the Clouds Hut. Took all of these photos while in or around the hut.

GPS Games

Here's my brother's friend Dave playing a GPS game at night in NH. Took quite a few good photos on my trip to NH, I'll post a few here, but I won't count them as photo of the day. Which means I still have to come up with another photo for today, Sat...

Updates

Just Updated Cookies! with the photo. I was in a hurry and the program was running a little slow, so I didn't have time to post the photo with the blog post. Also I took this photo a while ago, but didn't have time to post it either. It's my new toy and part of the reason why I fell a little behind on my photography.

Mt Washington

Took the Auto Road up Mount Washington then hiked to Lake of the Clouds. More Photos to come. Oh I've just been informed that Laura took this photo. I took plenty of others though, don't worry.

Couch

Here's a couch and coffee table in the condo I'm staying at. I'll post more pictures soon. Hopefully.

Vacation

Heading out to New Hampshire shortly. I can probably still post a few photos while I'm there, but not as easily.

The Talking Tree

Saw this recently "landscaped" tree while walking on my lunch break. It looked like a face, so I whipped out the camera phone and snapped this quicky.

Cookies!

Made some cookies on Sunday. They're pretty good, but I wouldn't use that recipe again.

Now That's Not Normal

Point and shake. That's how I've been doing some of these abstract photos. So many things have LED indicator lights. The fan I shot for this photo has a ridiculous amount, for something that's supposed to help you sleep at night.

Uechi Tattoo

I practice Uechi Ryu Karate. Uechi Ryu tends to have a reputation (warranted or not) amongst other martial artists as being a more physical, harder style. Some people think we beat each other up to "toughen up." That's not entirely true, but I'll not get into details here.
Anyway, I don't bruise very easily, at least not visibly. Tonight after class, I noticed a small bruise on my arm. It's not much, but I'll wear my new Uechi Tattoo proudly, until it fades away.

Touchy!

Here's a lamp; a touch lamp. This is not how I saw this scene with the naked eye. I'm still surprised at the way a camera records differently than the eye. In this case it was mostly a dynamic range issue. I still think it looks pretty nice, considering. I bet photographers are the only ones that care about blown out highlights and blocked up shadows—and not even all photographers! That's not to say I don't care about it, but that's not the only thing that matters. It's the motive/intent/emotion of the image that matters.

Cool Bike

"Laura is cool." If it says so on the side of a child's bike, it must be true.

More Light Streaks

This one reminds me of Saturn, a little.

Eat Some Bugs

Went to Borderland State Park for the first time this weekend. It's a pretty nice place. There's a mansion, lots of trails, even a Disc Golf course. This little guy was in a garden that had once been a swimming pool.

Freeze!

Notice the title of this post isn't "my biggest fan," or "Fan-tastic!" Tryin to keep things classy, not cheesy around here. ;-)
Got a new fan. Just trying to freeze the blades in motion. Only using the built in flash though.

Heads Up!

This is the back of my head. Something I can't normally see. I figured I'd use photography to enhance my powers of perception. I think I need to slightly touch up my haircut.

Carnival

Here's some more abstract photography. I'm not sure what to call the technique. Reverse light painting? Dragging?

A-door-a Borealis

Made this late last night. I've never seen an actual aurora borealis in person. So this isn't the real deal. I stumbled upon this look, almost by accident, just by playing around. I took a few others that looked more like I think what an actual aurora borealis looks like, but I figured this is more interesting. Why bother trying to duplicate nature exactly?

I did a little post processing, mainly just to get a nice color. Technically it's just a white balance adjustment—something I probably could have done in camera.

Winner!

Finally won my second ever game of solitaire on the ipod. Ok, hopefully I'm over that obsession—at least for now.

Solitary Frustration

Got an ipod nano the other day and I've gotten somewhat addicted to the solitaire game on it. I've never been a big fan of the game, but I dunno I just like playing it on this thing that I'm sure is totally straining my eyes. Anyway, the first game I played on it, I won! I had even forgotten how to play at first and still won. I haven't won since. Here's the closest I've come so far.

Giant Scary Bug!

Time for another bug post. Arachnids and insects outnumber humans by some ridiculous amount. Just get used to it and accept them for who they are. Most of them are quite fascinating if you learn a thing or two about them—except mosquitoes.

Sparklers!

Had a family cookout today and when it got dark, the sparklers came out! :-)

The sparkler light trails remind me a bit of Jackson Pollock's work, the way it captures arcs of both time and space.

Shallow, do not Swallow

Here's an example of shallow depth of field, as if you needed one. A few times, I've left the 200mm prime on the camera and gone shooting somewhere with it. While not a versatile as a standard zoom, I find myself surprised by the results with a lens that would seem to be a tad restrictive in terms of available composition options. In restriction, however, there is freedom. Restrictions can make you think differently, find new and different solutions, and more importantly, see the world differently.

Good

Just missed seeing this blimp land.

Cloth Mountains

Macro photography breaks down a place into lots of tiny places. It lets you rediscover old, new places.

The Tissue at Hand

Hey I like puns ok? If you don't, get over it. Actually I'm trying to cut back—not quit, mind you. The subject of this photo reminds me of a drawing exercise I did in college. We crumpled up a piece of tissue paper, and had to draw it. This is slightly less challenging to photograph. Though it would be interesting to do studies of light at different angles/distances, etc.

Tape Time

Quick! Find something to photograph! This'll do I guess. Note the rapid light intensity falloff. The light source was very close to the subject. See Strobist: Lighting 102 - Position | Review