Sunday, June 13, 2010

First Unit Submittion!!


Ta-dah! My first image is ready for submission to NYIP. I came up with this idea the moment I read the requirements. I was supposed to capture motion either by freezing it (which I did here) or use a slow shutter speed and blur the motion. I tried a few times to catch a long streak across the image, but to no avail. Most of the time it was an unidentifiable streak of blue across the image. This one came out perfect, just as I imagined it. Thank you to my wife and lovely assistant for chucking it hundreds of times for me until it came out just right.

So, let's see if I can try and technically describe why I like this image and chose it for my submission. The hardest part was catching the Frisbee in focus while the background was blurred. I set the camera for my largest aperture (f/1.8) to throw everything in the distance out of focus. This left me with an area between 4' and 7' that would be in sharp focus. I set my camera to rapid fire as I held down the shutter button. This allowed me to capture two or three images of the Frisbee in flight from release until it passed the camera. This of course was the hardest part.

We took more than 200 photos and were surprised by how many were actually usable shots. At least 10 were in focus and fit what I had in mind. However, it was readily apparent that the above image was far and away the best option. It was perfectly in focus, tilted just right, and positioned in the frame perfectly. Off to Photoshop we go!!!

I did not edit this much, I really want my photography to stand alone on it's own merit. I used threshold and curves to trim the histogram edges, I used levels to bump the black and contrast, and I sharpened it just a bit. After that I cropped it down to 8X10 (had to pull the wife out of the image) and here it is.

Stay tuned, I still have two more images to go!

Joe

Monday, June 7, 2010

Off and Running

 
So, I finally started to get my act together. My wife and I spent a good hour or more throwing a frisbee at my camera in order to try and catch it mid-flight. One of my assignments was to capture motion, either by using a fast shutter speed to stop the motion or to use a slow one to exaggerate the blur. I tried both, and I have yet to decide a winner. However, we took some time off and shot some other stuff, namely Floyd (see above). I love his ears, but it was so hard to get him to sit still long enough to take the shot. I was trying to distort his head like you see on those funny greetinjg cards. In hindsight I see now I was using the wrong lens (it was 50mm and should have been my 18mm). But nonetheless it blurred the background nicely and gave me a great head shot. I plan to review my pictures tonight and post up the first NYIP submission soon. Stay tuned!

Joe
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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Need a weekend to recover from the weekend.

Well, Memorial Day has come and gone. I wanted to get out and shake the dust off my camera but it just was'nt to be. That is fine, it gives me a week to review my new NYIP Unit One course and prepare a great submission for review.

Beyond that, I once again have little of interest to provide you. I could ramble on and on, but that isn't fair to you, my loyal reader.

Until next time,
Joe

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Farewell to our family's best friend


This was not the post I had planned. But sometimes life gets in the way of well laid plans, and this was a blow right to the heart of our family. Wednesday night we found our beloved Amos, a full chested dalmatian, spread eagle on the floor. He had lost all control of his left side. By Friday morning at midnight the neurological paralysis had spread to his right side and crippled his ability to breathe. We said goodbye shortly thereafter.

So in memory of our lost friend I will post my first pictures in this blog as a dedication to him. He was the protector of the family, always on watch when I could not. We miss you Amos, you will never be forgotten.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

In the Beginning...

Well, here it is. I finally ventured into the world of personal blogs. In all honesty, I do not think I have enough to say in order to entertain an audience. However, this isn't meant for you. This blog is meant for me and my pursuit to be a better me. There are so many things I want to do, become better at, or stop doing altogether. Yet there always seems to be a reason why I cannot. Not enough time, wrong place, too much work, whatever. Well, that ends today. In this blog I hope to chronicle my day to day life in hopes to motivate myself or at the very least be completely honest with myself in a public forum. Sounds odd I know. Or does it? I have tried everything else, perhaps public humiliation will do the trick.

So I will start with a brief rundown of what I intend to do with my life, and my daily stumbles as I progress. For years now I have loved Photography. I bought my first DSLR camera as I graduated college knowing I was heading around the world. I wanted to take it with me to take images to share with everyone at home. I did so, but there wasn't a single photo that I could put my finger on and say 'wow. I love this shot. It reminds me of...'. Maybe several years from now I could be a professional photographer, selling my wares on the beach somewhere. So this is my official start to that goal. I will use this blog to force myself to take one picture every day, and post it here. I can then comment on it and describe why I do not like it (I am my own worst critic).

So there you have it. My first blog is done and posted. Tonight I will post my first image and comment on it tomorrow. Maybe my next goal will be how to make a blog more interesting...

Joe