Monthly Archives: August 2012

Day 238 – Side-light

I would have preferred to use Sweetie for this, but he was busy taking the dog to the vet.  And it’s not as though I can go drag someone in off the street. Once again, my light study involves me.

Day 237 – Fun with Photoshop: Smudge Stick Quickies

It’s been a full day and I didn’t get home until nearly 9 tonight. So I grabbed my camera and flash and snapped a few of the dogs.  Though the originals shots were fine, I added a Smudge Stick filter to them in Photoshop, just for fun.  It is subtle, but there is more pop and contrast.

Nina. Filter: Smudge Stick

Buddy. Filter: Smudge Stick

Day 236 – Morning Sun and Afternoon Portrait

I usually shoot midday or late afternoon during my work week, but this morning I looked out my office window and saw some awesome morning light. I grabbed my camera and headed out for about five minutes.  I love the golden glow.

And late this afternoon I did a little experiment with myself.  I’d read this article, The Ultimate Guide to Zone Focusing for Candid Street Photography, at Digital Photography School and wanted to play with it a bit. These were shot at 1600 ISO, f/8, 1/30s.  To start, I focused the camera on a spot about five feet away. I then adjusted my camera according to the technique in the article, balanced the camera on my printer and set the timer to release the shutter. Voila!  I was in the focal plane!

Day 235 – Buddy

Buddy is my sweet boy and he loves to get attention from me and generally sticks close to my side, but when I bring out the camera he gets shy. Getting him to look at the camera can be a challenge, so when I get a couple of good shots of him, I’ve got to share.

Day 232 – Fun with fill-flash: Apples, grapes, ants and bees!

Getting this right will mean when I’m shooting people I’ll get it right then too.   All of these were shot at ISO 100 with exposure stopped down one or two stops and then fill flash at about 1/4 intensity. I used the LumiQuest 80-20 with the white reflector and no diffuser.

The apples are getting big!  I should be able to start harvesting them soon. I hope my co-workers are in the mood for Granny Smiths!

 

 

I hope they like grapes too. The vine always gives us far more than we can eat ourselves.

 

This ant was working the nectar . . .

Out front the bees were going at it.