Day 84 – Reason Rally, Washington, DC

I took many photos at the Reason Rally today, but when I saw this one I knew it was my photo of the day. More photos from the rally at my other blog Blue Lyon

Day 83 – The National Mall

Just a few of the places I’ve seen today.

Day 82 – Jake

I’m in Washington, DC and spending the night at an old friend’s house. The thing is my friend isn’t actually here as he was scheduled to be in New York tonight. Long story short, I’ve got the place to myself. Well, almost. Brian’s beloved Jake is keeping me quiet company. He keeps hoping Brian will come through the door.

Day 81 – Smiling Dog

A little evening play time made for a happy, happy dog.

I’ll be on a plane all day tomorrow, heading for Washington, D.C. I’ll have lots of opportunities for photos, but if you don’t hear from me regularly, it’s the trip that’s keeping me away.

Day 80 – The eyes have it

The portraits that most intrigue me are those that have a very short focal length where the subject’s eyes are in focus and the rest of their face falls off into progressively softer focus.

For example, see these photos by Fred R. Conrad. They take my breath away.

I love this technique, but I’ve never tried it before. I usually shoot faces (human and animal) at about f/8, saving shorter focal lengths for dramatic depth of field shots with inanimate objects or close-in shots of plants, flowers, or insects. Until today.

Today I tried it on me after getting some inspiration here. Phil Kneen is an amazing photographer…I’ve looked through his entire blog and love it. Go see! The photos in the linked post were shot at f/2. While my lens will not go to f/2 (grrr!), I gave it the old college try. And I’m going to keep working at it (and one of these days, when I’m feeling flush, invest in a better lens).

Shot by my office window. 400 ISO, 37mm, f/4.5. Same photo in B&W and Color. Here I am…wrinkles and all.

Color

I wish the right side of my face wasn’t as cut off as it is…taking a picture of oneself does have its drawbacks.

Day 79 – Stop-Motion Dogs

The other half of my lighting class assignment: photograph a moving subject without blur.

We tried shooting in the house. No go. So after work tonight we gave it another go in the yard. I don’t know if I will use either of these for my class, but I wanted to share my learning curve with you. I’d like to try shooting this in better sunlight, but I likely won’t get the chance as I’m off to Washington D.C. on Thursday and won’t be back until Tuesday (therefore no daytime dog photography before the project is due in class). I may have opportunities in D.C. to try to shoot other photos though.

The first photo below is a “without blur” version of Nina racing around with her toy (see Day 77). It’s quite interesting how different this one looks. While she was moving just as fast, look how still she looks. The only visual cues to her motion are her flapping ears, her feet off the ground, and her flying dog tag.

Here is Buddy leaping to catch his “Toy.” And by his “Toy” I mean that it is his only toy. It’s not for lack of trying to introduce other toys to him. He loves this toy and only this toy. It is several years old now and it’s been through the washer a number of times. The squeaker has long since died, but Buddy has never chewed a hole in it. It stays in the house and every time Buddy comes in he has to find it and loll it about in his mouth. If he can’t he gets really, really nervous and runs around until he does find it. Anyway, he’s gotten quite good at catching it in mid-air. Like Nina, he is frozen in time, but his off-the-ground feet and his upside-down dog tag indicate his leap.

Day 78 – Rock Point Mill

I’ve driven by this spot for years, but desperate for a photo for the day, I stopped here today during my run to the grocery store. Just off Hwy 50, the Rock Point Mill:

Founded in the early 1850s, after gold was discovered in the area, Dayton is one of Nevada’s most historic mining communities. A trip through the town reveals a quaint and historic downtown with a handful of well-preserved buildings.

However, the east edge of town, adjacent to Dayton State Park, is a lesser-known historic site that helps tell the story of Dayton. Nestled in a grove of graceful cottonwoods is the Rock Point Mill, one of Dayton’s oldest remnants of its mining glory days.

Charles C. Stevenson, who was Nevada’s governor from 1887 to 1890, built the mill in 1861. Constructed at a cost of $75,000 (a considerable sum at the time), the mill had 40 stamps that crushed silver and gold ore carried over the mountain from Gold Hill via an elaborate tram system.

I knew none of this when I pulled over to the side of the road to explore. I didn’t have much time, and I’d like to go back and give the place a closer go-over, but here are a few shots from my cursory visit.

There were three hawks flying overhead, but I only managed to get this fellow’s picture.

Detail!

As I mentioned, time was short, so I jumped back in the car to head to the grocery store, but on my way I was distracted by what I thought were more hawks. Nope. Turkey vultures! There was this handsome guy.

Actually, there were three (but just two in this photo).

Day 77 – Blur!

More blur photography with flash; this time in the backyard. I will likely use the first one as one of two photos required for our next assignment which is to photograph a moving subject with and without blur.

This shoot was fun. The dogs were going crazy and running around the backyard. I just sat there and tried to keep focused on them. (Click on photos for larger versions.)