Junk drawer- Andrea

This is a close-up since I don't have any special lenses or tubes for macro.

Dave - Closeup

This is about the best I could do without a Macro, It's moss growing on the side of a step outside our backdoor. Guess I need to get the pressure washer out. 1/60, F11, ISO 100, about 8-10 inches away.

Experimenting - What do you think?

Stephanie G - -Week 2 homework - Macro

This is almost exactly 10 feet from my front door.  Probably the most interesting item out there at this time of year.

I tried many shots of the junk drawer, and took things out of it as well. This is the one that I liked the best.

Dave W - Close-Ups

Junk drawer, wow, I don't even know what some of this is! But, I like the colors and the layers of stuff.
I ended up laying on the ground, trying to take the perfect flower picture. I went for the Rhodies first but they didn't have a very rich color, I ended up here with the nice purples with the blurred background.

Couldn't Resist!

CHRIS - WHAT IS IT?

I HAD SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE LIGHT FLAIR ON THE GLASS BUT I LOVE THE COLOR AND SHAPE

CHRIS - WHAT IS IT?

I had a lot of fun getting to know how to use my new toy. Macro photography isn't as easy as it looks with the shallow DOF.

Melissa- Flower close-ups

I spent a lot of time working on flower close-ups this week. The main thing I learned is that taking close-up photos of flowers is ...REALLY ...HARD! Plus I think I have 20 new wrinkle lines around my eyes.

These two photos represent the extremes. The tulip is taken with the lowest f-stop I had and the highest ISO, to make it softer-looking (f/5.3, 1/400, ISO HI-1.0). The cineraria is taken with ISO 100 and f/16 to try to make it sharper (0.77 sec shutter) , but it still falls way out of focus on the edges.

Bill Reynolds - Junk Drawer - What Is It

This was taken with my newly purchased extension tubes. Thank you Barbara.

I can hardly wait for the bugs to come out!

Bill Reynolds - 10 Feet From Door

This pet greets people at my front door. I didn't have my extension tubes yet so I just did a close up.

Shelley - Junk drawer.

There was a lot of interesting junk in my drawer with a different perspective. Had fun with this assignment learning how to use my new extension tubes. I need help with getting a clear, sharp focus.

Shelley - Lace Leaf Maple

This shot was taken near my front door of our lace leaf maple that is budding out. It's hard to focus with macro. I think my glasses will be completely crooked from now on! I can see why focusing rails would be needed if you did a lot of this.

This task really frustrated me! I was not able to get a good macro shot, but as Dave says you can't get the shot you are looking without the macro lens... So hence this is about the best I could get. I did find a spider in the general area of this pot of flowers, but just not fast enough yet. This photo is taken with 1/60 ~ 7.1 ~ ISO 320 The junk drawer shot was impossible for me, well I could get a large view of the box, but not able to disguise anything within the area of the frame. Looking forward to black and white lesson on Wednesday!

Bill Russell Thermometer face

Too windy for flowers. No bugs. Needed something that didn't move.

Bill Russell Oil in water

I know this is not 10' from my door or the junk drawer, but I really liked it and wanted to share. I will be post something from the assignment when I get something worth posting.

Melissa- Fern Fronds Unfurling

Melissa- Macro mystery item

I decided to change my mystery item, just for fun, to something less well recognized (but more important to me...this is my collection). These are no larger than the push pins, and I can't get it that close with the filter. But I just like the photo better.

Old Photos- Andrea

While reviewing my old photos, I noticed that almost ALL of them are of children. I love taking pictures of kids. They are so spontaneous, show their emotions so readily, and are full of excitement and wonder. I came across a photo of my middle son, then two years-old, taken last spring when I first got my camera. The exposure is terrible (what was I thinking??? ISO 400, f/2.2 on a bright sunny day!...oh, I wasn't thinking because I didn't know how to use my camera back then) and there is a very distracting line made by the sun/shade going through the back part of the photo. What I love about the picture is the moment in time that was captured in my son's life, when he was completely unaware of any gender stereotypes and could happily dance around the backyard with the dogs in a frilly tutu and batman cape. So, even if this photo is flawed beyond repair and my son is centered in the image, I will never delete it. But I am happy now that I can look at my histogram and realize ahead of time which adjustments need to be made to get a properly exposed shot.

What do you Think?

This is when a little boost from the software can help an image.

Breaking the Rules- Andrea

The thick, bright green moss is what first caught my attention for this image. I tried taking pics of just the mossy fencepost, but I decided to include the old, red barn in the background to give some sense of place and for the complementary colors. The fence is more prominent and the background more blurred than I would normally make it for a landscape photo. Also, the fence leads off to the left rather than the right. I would have liked some more dramatic lighting for the scene, but the day I had to shoot was overcast and gray.

Parking Lot Photo

Old Trick From Last Quarter

Since Deana is such a Mickey fan I chose to use this trick to blur motion that we learned last quarter. 30 Seconds, F22, ISO 100. This Farris wheel moved and had lights that moved throughout it too.

Jessica - Older image

Prior to these classes, my kids and family/friends were the main focus of most of my images.  They will continue to be a focus but I'm excited to have a vision and interest for other subject matters as well.   In reviewing older images, I saw composition, exposure, perspective, mood, etc that I would change if I retook the shot today.  I love to try to capture the essence of my loved ones at the time and although I would change the composition on this shot of my daughter and work on the exposure, what I do love is that it shows the true Kaari in that moment.  My goal is to continue to develop the overall quality of my images while also capturing emotions, personality, or mood of the subject matter that might evoke something for the viewer as well.

Week 1 Photos - Landscapes & Olympia

Here's one from last spring that I like. The grass on the left and the log give it some idea of scale and I feel like i'm there again when i look at it!

For my landscape picture I went to the Maclane Nature Trail between rain showers. I wasn't happy with any of the larger scale pictures i got but like this one - the colors are great and I like the motion of the water passing through the picture.

I was down at the water trying to get a good shot of the marina with the capitol in the background when I saw the fountains go up and thought that would be a more fun and unique picture so i gave it a try - it's hard to get the water just right when you don't have much time!

Jessica - Landscape; breaking the rules

The beautiful light and reflection off the water is what interested me enough to pull over and grab my camera.  I really like the light on the trees on the right side and middle background. The reflexion of the sky on the water is what led me to break the horizon line rule and place it right in the middle of the image.  I took a few shots with the capital a stronger focal point but realized quickly that it was of little interest to me other than in providing a frame of reference for any of us familiar with Olympia and specifically Capital Lake. 

What do you think?

Just experimenting.

Shelley - Forest walk

This was on my way for the big landscape view. I liked the feeling of walking towards the light. I seemed like a promise of a good view. I like that I was able to capture the sky in the reflection. Might have been better if blue.

Deana - Shadows in the Garden

F/5.6~1/640~ ISO 125 As I was walking by an entryway I noticed the ironwork sign. As I approached I noticed the shadows the sign cast. I stepped back out of the entryway to photograph the shadows that were cast with the flower pots. If I was at home I would photoshop the left and some of the top of the picture to make the lines crisp.

LANDSCAPE - WOODARD BAY

This shot is one of my favorite places. I love the feeling of calm that I get when I visit this area. I haven't been there is a while so I decided I'd bring that feeling home with me. I love the depth in this shot.

LANDSCAPE - OLD RUSTY BIKE

I shot this because it caught my eye from the road. I reminded me of times gone by and I just had to pick up the camera and grab the shot. I manipulated it a bit by croping a bunch of junk out of the frame.

Disney Shadows

?????????

What do YOU think?

Dave - Shadows in Motion

While in Disneyland this evening I could not resist capturing the movement of shadows.

Landscapes: Breaking the Rules

Here's the landscape photo from the parking lot at SPSCC Hawks Prairie that Barbra asked us to post. 

Here's the best "breaking the rules" photo from this week's landscape assignment.  I seldom take photos from the ditch.  This also is a more "in your face" image than I usually take. I chose the scene because of the lovely old cat tails right up against the front of the frame.

Landscape - Black Lake

This was taken the day before Easter at Black Lake. It was a very dark and rainy day but it was the only day I had free to take the landscape shots.

I think this shows how gloomy the day really was.

Bill- Mt. Rainier National Park

This was taken while showing an old friend and his daughter some of the sites of Washington. They live on the Gulf Coast outside of Houston Texas.

Spanaway Creek Suggestion

Bill stated that the water movement and moss caught HIS eye. When I looked at the image, MY eye immediately went to and stayed at the "V's" created by the middle ground trees.

Since I knew the photographer's intent was to draw attention to the water movement and moss, I wondered if his capture would be more successful if the "V" lines were not in the middle of the frame. I also questioned if the partial tree on the left side of the frame diminished or increased the strong lead-in line created by the water.

Being the visual person I am, I played with the image in Photoshop CS4, so I could compare/contrast and see the results. HMMMM.....

What do you think?

Spanaway Creek

Took this today at Spanaway Lake. I liked the movement of the water and the moss.

Breaking the Rules

Just exploring visual composition possibilities to make a strong image - stronger. LOVE your evolved WAY of Seeing, rather than just 'looking'.

What do YOU think?

Melissa- Swimming across the sky

This was taken at Nisqually. I thought the water had a really cool viscous quality today, like liquid mercury. I was trying to set up a shot with the sun reflection included in the corner so it would look like more of a classic landscape and then a group of geese swam through the scene. The photo is rotated 180 degrees. I think it looks like the goose is swimming right through the sky.

Jessica - Olympia Postcard

The One Shot During Class ~ Deana

F/18 ~ 1/100 ~ ISO 100

Dave - Landscape

F14, 1/100, ISO 125.

Melissa- parking lot landscape