Augmented Reality

2011-12-30T20:30:00.001-05:00

Decided to take Molly to see the lights at Victoria Park this evening and ended up taking a dozen or so images of the skating rink. Took several shots with the default iPhone camera and then decided to try the Camera+ app with image stabilization turned on. Looks Like I made a good choice because the three images I took with Camera+ were much sharper than the others. This is a square crop of the first of them.

2011-12-30T20:23:00.000-05:00

This is Maya, my great, great niece, with her aunt on Christmas day. Took a couple of dozen pictures with the iPhone 4s and this is the only one that was deserving any further attention. The colours in the original were flat and added nothing to the image, thus the the B&W treatment.
All post processing done in CS5. Alien Skin's Snap Art2 was used to remove distracting details from the background as well as some texture to the foreground.

2011-11-14T09:51:00.000-05:00

Chairs

Another from the 4s, this time converted to B&W and cropped to a square format. I liked the abstract nature and out of focus chair legs combined with the play of the lights on the chairs and in the background on this one.

2011-11-12T18:52:00.000-05:00

Scarves

Another from the iPhone 4s. The more I play with this camera, the more I like it. It ain't no DSLR for sure. Distortion, softness and noise are among the most obvious shortcomings BUT the good news is there seems to be enough information in the files to allow them to be manipulated in Photoshop and come out the other end looking half decent. Perhaps the most beneficial advantage though is that now that I have a pocket camera I am enjoying photography again.

These scarves were displayed in the doorway of a shop in a nearby mall. I think that the next time I am there I will go in and ask if it's okay to take some pics as the store is full of interesting items.

2011-11-09T17:38:00.000-05:00

iPhone Pic

Yes, I know what you're thinking. Not another sunset picture taken from my balcony. Of course, you're right but I just wanted to get at least one picture posted from my newest toy, the iPhone 4s. This one has been processed: square crop and three curves layers to adjust contrast and colour saturation. I took the original using the HDR function and when compared to another with HDR turned off I am happy with the results.

2011-09-29T17:45:00.000-04:00

Scaling #1 London Place

The view from my apartment provided a front row seat to a charity event today. I first noticed these folks about 8:30 this morning. It is now 5:40 and they are still at it. Who knew there were so many brave souls in London. Certainly not something I would ever want to try.

2011-07-18T18:10:00.004-04:00

More Contemplative Photography

(click here to see on black background)

Finally got back to reading The Practice of Contemplative Photography today and was again inspired to capture some images. My plan was to head out on the streets to see what I could find but with temperatures in the mid 30's and high humidity I thought better of it and watched a movie instead. Some time later sitting in my air conditioned living room I glanced over at the window and this vase with a dead leaf in it jumped out at me. I had to take it out of the window to avoid the sun's glare but knew what I was after and the accompanying image is the result. The assignment from the section of the book I read was colour.

2011-07-01T20:13:00.002-04:00

Space

(Click here for a larger image)

Today I began reading 'The Practice of Contemplative Photography' by Andy Karr & Michael Wood and was inspired enough to go out with my camera and take some pictures. The book has chapters discussing concepts for taking images along with assignments but I didn't get that far in my reading. I did read enough to get the gist of the book and, in fact, I didn't learn anything I didn't already know, the idea of conceptual photography is based on the Buddhist concept of clear seeing, among others, something which I have practiced for several years now. But thetext did serve to remind me that I could use what I already know to improve my photography

And so, I went to a nearby park where I sat under my favourite tree and alternated short meditation sessions with photography and the above is the result as are this and this.

Only time will tell if this book will continue to inspire my photography but, even if it doesn't it makes for excellent reading and has lots and lots of pictures which are themselves inspirational.

2011-06-17T20:20:00.002-04:00

I've taken many pictures of this building but not from this angle. In processing it, I've also revisited a favourite work flow of mine by converting a copy to a black and white, applying the find edges filter and then compositing this with the original. It's an effect I particularly enjoy using on architectural shots such as this one. Adds a little bit of grunge while accenting the lines of the buildings.

2011-06-11T19:06:00.004-04:00

Scleroderma Walk

Today was our 2nd annual Walk/Run in the Park for Scleroderma. Last year we raised $11 000 and this year, before adding online donations we are at just over $21 000 so I suspect we will double last year's total or come very close to it.

As for today's image, obviously I didn't take it since that's me in the chair. I did, however, do some processing to improve the image so I will take some credit for it. Not sure why I even chose this one to post because, first of all, it's not a great image and secondly I hate having my picture taken. Never have liked it but now that scleroderma has affected my appearance I am somewhat self conscious of those changes so dislike having my picture taken even more. Nonetheless, here I am, warts and all. Cathy, my physiotherapist for the last six years, is the owner of the smile behind me. This whole picture thing was her idea so what could I say?

2011-05-10T16:49:00.002-04:00

Magnolia

Taken last weekend. Not fully opened up yet but pretty close, at least on the lower branches.

2011-05-08T17:26:00.003-04:00

Bistro

It appears that spring has finally arrived with temperatures in the mid teens and it's supposed to improve over the next few days. So, no more excuses. I headed out on my first photo expedition since last October. Took 41 images and ended up processing this one and making a composite on another. Nothing special here, with the exception of the Bistro's colour, but that alone is enough to carry it in my opinion.

It's also prompted me to give some more thought to an idea I had for a series on intersections of downtown London. I started thinking about this last fall when I took this image. Looking back on my photography over the last several years it seems that I have been most productive when I have a project like this to work on, so I think I'll probably go with it.

2011-05-01T16:26:00.002-04:00

My View

Actually, the view is from my bed. The last several mornings I've lain in bed pondering this scene and how I could make an interesting photograph out of it. This isn't quite what I'd envisioned apart from the framing and the B&W treatment but as I worked on it this is what evolved.

E-PL1 w 14-42 kit lens at 14mm, f4.5, 1/30 sec, ISO 3200

2011-01-20T12:24:00.002-05:00

Buddha

Here's another taken around the apartment. Click here for a larger version on a black background.

2011-01-16T18:18:00.004-05:00

Quarter to Twelve

(Click here to view on black background)

The Panasonic Lumix 20mm f 1.7 really is a great little (25 mm long) lens. This was taken wide open, hand held, at the minimum focusing distance of about 20 cm. (8 in.). Yes it's been processed but only minimally, and also cropped to a square but it was pretty striking right out of the camera.

The image is of a burl clock I have hanging on the wall in my living room. It's never looked so good.

2011-01-15T15:26:00.003-05:00

Prayer Plant & Terracota Pot

Been a while since I've posted here. This post is the result of an assignment on TME which prompted me to get the camera out and take some pictures, something which I just haven't been doing. Guess I'm in a bit of a slump when it comes to photography. Blame it on winter and the fact that I'm not getting out much although, even on those occasions when I do get out, I haven't bothered to grab my camera. Perhaps I'm simply bored with photography and need some inspiation to get going again.

2010-12-06T17:43:00.003-05:00

Wintery Night

Winter has arrived in London Ontario. It snowed most of yesterday, has not let up all day today and more of the same is promised for tomorrow. This image, taken from my balcony, or rather, taken through the door leading onto my balcony because there's a good 40 cm of snow out there, doesn't really give a sense of how much snow has fallen and since I haven't been out it's difficult for me to hazard a guess. By this time tomorrow however we could easily have 60 cm or more.

Update: My daughter was just here and she believes we already have 60-70 cm. Mmmm, could have a metre by this time tomorrow. Sure am glad I don't have to go anywhere.

Took this with the 20mm 1.7 Panasonic mounted on the E-PL1. At ISO 1250 there was some noise but Noise Ninja did a decent job of removing that. I then used Infocus from Trojan Labs, which I'm trying on trial, to bring back some of the sharpness. Not bad.

2010-11-20T16:38:00.004-05:00

<- Click to enlarge

Geranium Sunset

Still not doing much photography but was anxious to try the recently acquired Panasonic 20mm 1.7 pancake on the E-PL1. I was happy with the result before applying the snap art filter but decided to keep messing around and this is the one I'm posting with the impasto filter applied.

This lens is one of the most consistently praised lenses in the entire m4/3 line up and I can see why. A bonus is that, when attached to the E-PL1, the whole setup easily fits into my coat pocket. I will definitely have to take it with me next time I go to the market to see what I can come up with.

2010-10-28T13:38:00.002-04:00

Chimneys

Another Alien Skins Snap Art image using the Impasto preset. I'm still not taking new images. I will have to wait until the bandages are off my hand as they are quite slippery and make it difficult to use a camera without dropping it. My hand is healing well but I have no idea when the bandages will be removed permanently but I am thinking it will be another couple of weeks anyway. In the man time I will continue to play with Snap Art and images pulled from the archives.

2010-10-23T10:02:00.003-04:00

Leaf on Blue Spruce

Downloaded a trial version of Alien Skin's Snap Art and have been playing around with it. I tried it once before but that was when I was working with my G5 iMac and it was so painfully slow I gave up on it. With the dual processors however it is very fast and I am having some fun with it. Of course the purists out there will scoff at a plugin that makes a photo look more like a painting but I enjoy the process and will play some more before I decide if I want to pay out the $200 for this software. It is powerful and flexible, especially when one uses masks to control the effects.

Still not taking pictures. My right index finger was amputated this past Tuesday and holding a camera is out of the question at this point but it is healing well so in another week or so I expect I will be ready to start experimenting to see how my middle finger works as a shutter finger. It's definitely going to be awkward but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

2010-10-16T18:20:00.002-04:00

Leaf

Beautiful day, sunshine and seasonal temperatures. Didn't take this today though as I've been in most of the day adjusting to new medications. Fortunately, the west wall of my apartment is all windows so I'm at least able to enjoy the sunshine from the comfort of my trusty recliner.

2010-10-09T20:06:00.003-04:00

Sunset

Wouldn't be fall if I didn't post at least one picture of the sunset as seen from my balcony. I'm still not doing well holding the camera and it's going to get worse before it gets better because I learned this past Wednesday that my right index finger is to be amputated on the 19th of October. Not looking forward to that.

Oh yea, didn't mention that this was taken with my new second camera, the Olympus E-PL1. Also had to buy a new computer a couple of weeks ago.

2010-10-03T12:00:00.004-04:00

Fall

Just an image from the archives posted because I don't have anything recent. I am currently unable to hold a camera in my hand because it is covered in guaze due to a scleroderma related infection. In fact the little bit of editing I did was done operating the mouse with my left hand and that is more difficult than I'd imagined. At any rate, I did want to post something just to keep the blog active. This image does speak for the state of things in London these days. Fall is slowly making its presence known. The weather people have promised us some sun today but it's now noon and there's no sign of it. It's been raining steadily for two days straight now so we really could use a break and it would work wonders to lift me out of the gloomy mood I am in due to my messed up hand which makes everything I do a major chore. If I sound like I'm complaining well, yeah, I am 'cause it's been one thing after another with my health these last few months and I'm getting just a little bit fed up. There, I've said it and I feel better for it. And besides, my rheumatologist says it's okay to complain once in a while so I'm just following doctor's orders.

2010-09-19T22:53:00.004-04:00

Richmond & Dufferin

This image was a bit of an experiment, a test of Photoshop's photomerge tool. It is made up of 5 images, 2 across the bottom taken with the camera in horizontal orientation and 3 for the top section taken with the camera rotated 90 degrees, all hand held. I am pretty pleased with the result even though it took some fine tuning to get it to this point and it's still not perfect by any means but I suspect the problem areas will be difficult to spot if you don't know where to look.

In the past, I probably would have used my wide angle for this type of shot but today I went with the Leica 45mm macro. I am finding that this is fast becoming my default lens for almost any shooting situation. All images were shot at f 5.0 with shutter speeds ranging between 320 and 1600.

2010-09-15T19:36:00.004-04:00

Bike Seat

With a bright yellow seat and tangerine frame and fenders, this bike just wouldn't let me pass without taking a few pics. It was mid afternoon with full sunlight so I wasn't sure if I could pull it off without having the seat at least fully blown out. But hey, it turned out not too badly.

f2.8, 1/4000 s, ISO 125

2010-09-13T10:51:00.003-04:00

Sparrow Hawk

At lest I think it's a sparrow hawk. At any rate it's an image of a raptor from our trip to Hawk Cliff. Was very pleased with the sharpness of this image from the Panasonic 35-200. This was taken around the middle of its range at 109mm, f 5.0. Reviews of this lens are mixed but I have to say I am very happy with the results I've achieved.

2010-09-12T20:08:00.004-04:00

Monarch Tagging

Visited Hawk Cliff today, so named because it is on the migratory route of thousands of raptors each fall as they head south for the winter. But it's not only birds that follow this route but monarch butterflies on their way to their wintering grounds in Mexico. This one was netted and tagged before it was released again to continue its journey. They are also sexed (this is a female), weighed and swabbed to test for a parasite. Who knew?

2010-08-30T16:46:00.003-04:00

Pigeon Feather

Spotted this feather while walking the dog the other day, the remnants of a hawk's dinner no doubt, and thought "Why not bring it home and try a macro shot?" And so, that's what I did. I set it on the windowsill for lighting and took a dozen or so shots at various angles. This is only a portion of the original with texture added. Is it original? No, far from it, but I learned more about my macro lens in the process and for lack of anything better I post it here.

The latest rumours re Olympus and micro four thirds are that tomorrow they will be announcing a new E-P1 kit with a black 20mm 2.8 lens, purely an aesthetic change, but then aesthetics plays a large part in this camera's appeal so I suppose it's not surprising. Does this mean the rumoured E-P3 is just that, a rumour? They'll also be announcing two new m4/3 lenses, a 75-300 and a 40-150. The super zoom might tempt me at some point in the future. After all, that offers an equivalent focal length of 600mm but, on the other hand, the 400 I already have is fine.

2010-08-20T13:28:00.003-04:00

Roy & Some Other Guy

This image has undergone a similar treatment to the last image and for much the same reasons.

Still thinking about cameras. If I do buy another m4/3 camera (perhaps the rumoured E-P3) then the question remains, what do I do with the E-P1? If I sell it, I;m sure to lose a bundle and so my current thinking is that I will buy the highly touted Panasonic 20mm 1.7 pancake and mount it on the E-P1 which will give me a small, almost-fits-in-your-shirt-pocket camera for those occasions when I don't want to bother carrying extra lenses and such.

2010-08-18T08:40:00.002-04:00

Spectators

Wanted to try something a little different for today's image. U liked the repetition in this one but the colour image had too many distracting elements so decided to go with black and white and then added sepia toning to brighten it up a bit. Also added a texture layer to tone down the background.

2010-08-17T16:32:00.002-04:00

Colour

One of the things I enjoyed most about Afrofest was the colourful clothing. Just made me feel good.

2010-08-16T08:13:00.010-04:00

Butterfly

On the way home from Afro Festa, I spotted a butterfly bush so decided to see if there might be something to shoot. There were the inevitable bees and a couple of these rather plain looking butterflies flitting about barely resting in one spot for more than a couple of seconds. I decided to concentrate on the butterflies and was pleased when I got home to discover that I'd caught the one in the foreground here with its proboscis extended and, much to my delight, it was actually in focus. How lucky was that?

On another matter, I am seriously considering upgrading from the E-P1 to the E-P2. I like everything about the E-P1 except the absence of a viewfinder. I thought I could get used to relying solely on the display but after a couple of months I am tired of trying to shoot in bright daylight conditions and not being able to see what I am shooting.

Update: Just read on the 4/3 Rumors site that Olympus may be introducing new Pen models at Photokina 2010 which starts on September 21 so I think I'll hold off until then.

2010-08-15T10:05:00.004-04:00

Crazy Shades

Another from the Afro Festa. How could this young lady not catch my eye. I mean, is this not a picture just waiting to happen? It was simply a matter of waiting for the right angle.

f5.6, 1/160 s, ISO 1600 at 200 mm with the Lumix G Vario 45-200

2010-08-14T21:04:00.003-04:00

Jingle

Attended Afrofesta today and was looking for something other than the dancers to photograph when I spotted several ,ladies wearing various assorted bells around their ankles. Of course, they're still dancers but, zeroing in on one aspect of their costumes makes this and the others I took just different enough to make a more interesting subject or at least that's the way I see it. I'll probably post more in the days to come as I've got at least two others that I have processed.

f 5.6, 1/200 s, ISO 250, 200 mm, 6.6m, with the Lumix G Vario 45-200

2010-08-12T22:26:00.002-04:00

Another Flower Macro

Haven't been doing any photography since I took this almost a week ago. My arms are simply too sore to hold the camera but I got new meds today and I already see a difference so I hope to get back out there shooting again real soon. This is about 30% of the original and I would have liked it to be a little sharper but we have to make do with what we have. Made use of Kuler again to get a triad of colours. The magenta petals started out pink but the orange and green are pretty close to the original.

f2.4, 1/320 s, ISO 200, 0.2 m with the Leica Macro Elmarit 45mm 2.8

2010-08-08T10:30:00.003-04:00

Blue

(Click to enlarge)

Another image from my quest for a blue subject yesterday. This is the one I will submit for the assignment as I like the abstract nature of the final product. This is a detail and, thus, a drastic crop, perhaps around 15%, of the original.

Tech info: f2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO 250 with the Leica Macro Elmarit 45mm

2010-08-07T22:16:00.001-04:00

Flower Arrangement

TME's current assignment is to take a picture where one of the subjects is blue. And so today I went out with the assignment in mind. I captured some garden flowers, some blueberries a bracelet display and and this arrangement at a flower shop, all using the Leica 45mm macro wide open.

I immediately liked the blue, green, orange colour triad when I saw this on the monitor so this was the first one I decided to work on. the colours are exactly as they came out of the camera. During processing I opened the Kuler tool, clicked on the blue of the flower in the middle, switched to triad and found that I had an almost perfect match. Pretty impressive and a testament to the skill of the florist who put this little arrangement together.

tech stuff: f 2.8. 1 50 sec., ISO 1600. 0.2 m with the Leica Macro Elmarit 45mm

2010-07-25T21:34:00.003-04:00

Sunset

Put this together from two images although now I wish I'd taken a third to the left of these two. No matter, this turned out not too badly. Added the motion blur to the clouds as well as the crescent moon. Actually the moon was almost full when I took these and it was far off to the southeast and besides I am partial to crescent moons anyway they're somehow more interesting than shots of the full moon. But that's just me.

Both images were at f 5.6, 1/100 sec., ISO 400 with the Leica, Macro Elmarit 45mm

2010-07-24T09:42:00.004-04:00

Beetle

(Click to enlarge)

Made a detour on my return trip from physio today. Nearby there is a large meadow, part of one of London's larger parks, and adjacent to the paths are myriads of wild flowers which attract countless insects. And so, armed with the Leica Macro Elmarit 45mm I was on a mission. The challenge, I knew, would not be finding suitable subjects but rather getting them in focus hand held at such close range. The trick was finding a f stop that would increase the depth of field just enough to include most of the subject but still blur the background. I was surprised at just how successful I was. This image is uncropped.

f 6.3, 1/100 s, ISO 400, lens IS on, body IS off,

2010-07-19T16:57:00.004-04:00

Burek Maker #2

A slightly different treatment this time but still black and

white with lots of texture added.

f9.0, 1/100s, ISO 1600, 400mm efl with the Panasonic 45-200mm

2010-07-18T17:06:00.002-04:00

Making Bureks

Inspired by my last image, I decided to see if I could capture more hands at work. This guy was my first choice of a subject. I have sat on the upper level of the market and watched him at work below me on the main floor countless times but quickly discovered that getting an interesting image was a daunting task. Not only is he a true artist at his craft but he works with lightning speed. He really is amazing to watch. Capturing that in an image proved to be very challenging and nothing really pleased me until I started to experiment at last coming up with a somewhat abstract version of this one.

f 9.0, 1/160 s, ISO 1600, 400 efl with the Panasonic 45-200mm

2010-07-11T17:33:00.003-04:00

Artist at Work

Attended Sunday in the Square today, an art show and sale held every Sunday during the summer. I was there as a vendor so had plenty of time to look around. I watched this guy working on various pieces all day so as things were getting ready to wrap up I asked him if he'd mind if I snapped off a few shots. I only had the Leica 45 mm macro with me so spent a lot of effort moving in and then backing off trying to get just the right framing. This one came close to my vision and I only had to do a minor crop to get it just so. The image was taken in full sunlight so I underexposed by 1/3 stop to make sure nothing got blown out. I didn't touch the colours at all on this, just adjusted luminance and contrast with a couple of curves layers, sharpened and that's it, oh and a little warping to straighten a line or two.

f4.5, 1/3200 s, ISO 200, -1/3 exp., with the Leica 45mm macro lens

2010-07-08T12:02:00.004-04:00

Lily Pond

This pond is located behind the museum of the previous image. The beetle in the flower first caught my attention and had me wishing I'd brought the macro lens along. Oh well, have to make do with what's at hand so framed this one up and was happy with it later when I saw it on my computer screen. , I especially liked the reverse 'C' curve of the cement embankment and the way it interacted with the position of the flower.

f9.0, 1/2000 s, -0.3 exp. compensation, ISO 200, 9mm

2010-06-30T21:55:00.002-04:00

Museum London

Ventured out today with wide angle architectural images on my mind. when I happened upon these guys working up on the roof of Museum London, I took some shots from several different angles. Had several good candidates to work on but in the end chose this one over the others. Don't ask me why, it just worked for me somehow.

f9.0, 1/400 s, ISO 200, 18mm (30 efl)

2010-06-27T20:44:00.002-04:00

City Centre Mall

Another image with the Olympus 9-18, this time architecture as originally planned. Did more processing on this one to accentuate the lines and add some punch to saturation and contrast.

f4.0, 1/2500 s, ISO 200 at 18mm (efl)

2010-06-24T20:06:00.002-04:00

Mannequin

busy day today but I found some time on my way home from downtown to try out the new lens in a mall. This is, be far, my favourite of the bunch. Getting the people in the background all in desirable locations was the tricky part and, truth be know, I simply got lucky with this one. The square crop was the clincher, made it all work together somehow - nailed three out of four corners without any rescaling and the fourth on the bottom left, well, it works too.

f4.0, 1/80 s, ISO 200, 18mm efl with the Olympus M 9-18 wide angle lens

2010-06-22T11:32:00.002-04:00

This shadow of a Canadian flag being violently whipped about by the wind captured my attention as I was passing by it a couple of days ago. Of course, this is a still picture so very little of that motion carries across into the image. Still, I like what I saw so thought I would post it anyway.

Later today, if the rain stops, I will be picking up my latest and possibly last lens for the E-P1, an Olympus 9-18mm. One of my favourite lenses with the Canon was my Sigma 10-20mm so I am hoping that this will fill the void left by that. When considering crop factors the Sigma, at its widest was 16mm equivalent. The Oly will be 18mm and I know that at these focal lengths that 2mm is significant. There was an alternative available in micro 4/3, the Panasonic 7-14mm but at twice the price and with reviews that report an IQ pretty much equal in the two lenses, I didn't think the Panaonic was worth the extra money.

Tech data: f4.5, 1/2500 s, ISO 200, 90mm efl with the Panasonic 45-200

2010-06-15T21:31:00.001-04:00

Walk in the Park

Just another image from last week's fundraiser.

2010-06-06T18:33:00.003-04:00

Buddies

Joe De Angelis and Bill Durst have been making music together for four decades, since their high school days. Quite an achievement. I took this photograph yesterday as they were performing, again, at the second annual concert for Scleroderma awareness.

f 5.1, 1/40 s handheld, ISO 1600, 34mm with the 14-42mm Olympus kit lense

One of the shortcomings of the Olympus E-P1 is that it doesn't have a built in flash so it took quite a bit of work to transform the original raw file into something presentable. The lighting was terrible but the fact that I was able to save the image does speak well of the camera I think.

2010-06-02T20:24:00.002-04:00

Allium

It's been a while. Health, other projects, weather, the new ipad, they've all contributed to my recent absence here. And I don't see that changing in the immediate future although I hope I am wrong. But I did want to post something so here's another flower, this time an allium from the same garden up the street where I found the iris.

f50, 1/100 s, ISO 320, with the 45mm Leica macro

2010-05-25T21:31:00.003-04:00

Shaving Brush

This image was made for an assignment on TME. Briefly stated, it had to be taken in the bathroom so this morning as I was preparing to shave I decided to take some macro shots of my shaving brush. End of story.

Tech stuff: f 4.0, 1/80 s, ISO 1600 with the Leica 47mm macro

2010-05-22T10:02:00.003-04:00

Iris

<-- click to enlarge

Seems like I have a strong attraction to flowers recently. I found this one just up the street from my apartment yesterday and saw it as an opportunity to see what could be done with the macro I had mounted on the camera. Of course, as inevitably happens when trying to capture macros outdoors, a slight breeze came up just as I began shooting but between gusts I managed this one.

Tech data:f 4.0, 1/320 s, ISO 200 @ 45 mm (90 mm efl)

2010-05-16T10:16:00.004-04:00

Waterman Fountain Pen

<-- click to enlarge

If I were a collector, I would collect fountain pens. I actually considered it at one time, did some research, scouted out antique stores, but then lost interest. Guess I'm just not a collector at heart. I'm not sure what it is about a quality writing instrument that attracts me, nostalgia probably has something to do with it as does the almost lost art of hand writing which I admire so much. Anyway, this is a macro of my highly prized Waterman, a retirement gift from the last school I taught at. And I used it almost daily while I was doing my back-to-nature thing in Bancroft. I had a laptop at the time but the pen and a small journal seemed more suited to my lifestyle, emulating Thoreau in my tiny cabin in the woods. Indeed I have many fond memories of lounging in my hammock, or in colder months, sitting beside the wood stove, writing in my journal. The pen has been replaced by a keyboard now as writing by hand is next to impossible because of my sclerodactyly, a symptom of scleroderma.

Tech data: f2.8, 1/80 s, ISO 1600 with the leica 45mm macro

2010-05-15T21:06:00.003-04:00

Forget-Me-Not

<-- click to enlarge

Finally got over to take some pictures at Lisa's today. Decided to go with the Leica 45mm macro. There was just enough of a breeze to make it darn near impossible to get things in perfect focus but I got at least a couple that are passable, this being one of them. I also liked the way that a flower in the back seemed to catch most of the light. Adds a different flavour to the image.

Tech data:f 2.8, 1/500 s, ISO 200 with the Leica 45mm macro

2010-05-14T20:22:00.003-04:00

Redwing Blackbird

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Trying out the 45-200mm at its extreme limit. Not bad, although I did do quite a bit of pp to get to this point. The raw file was pretty dark but that was intentional as I'd underexposed it 1/3 stop, a trick which seems to avoid a common complaint about the E-P1 of blowing out highlights. The coloured patch on the bird's shoulder, for example, was barely perceptible. Looking at it now I may have overdone it when I brought the colours up but that's okay, I'll leave it as is.

Tech data: f 5.6, 1/800 s, ISO 200 @ 200mm with the Panasonic 45-200 zoom

2010-05-05T15:50:00.004-04:00

Fancy Tulip

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Another from yesterday. I framed this so there was a black textured rock directly behind it but found the resulting image needed something more so I added this water colour background from my texture files.

Tech data: f 10.0. 1/250 s, ISO 200, 400mm efl

2010-05-04T19:11:00.006-04:00

Orange Tulips

Back to the 45-200 zoom today. I think this will be my everyday lens. The macro is a great lens but with my mobility limitations, it's difficult to get into a suitable position for many of the shots I want to take. The telephoto compensates very nicely for this and it's a nice lens, maybe not the sharpest lens, but good enough such that PS can easily make up for any lack of sharpness. In every other sense this lens/camera combination is more than satisfactory.

Found these tulips at the base of a carillon erected in a nearby park to commemorate the liberation of Holland by Canadian troops, an anniversary which will be marked this week incidentally.

Tech Data: f5.6, 1/1000s, ISO 200, 182mm efl, Panasonic 45-200

2010-05-01T19:56:00.003-04:00

Lilac

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Switched back to the 45mm macro today because I wanted to take more pictures of blossoms which are everywhere at the moment. Tried some crab apple, quince and, finally, these lilacs which were an afterthought. Good thing because they turned out to be the most interesting of the lot.

f2.8, 1/100 s, ISO 200 with the Leica 45mm macro

2010-04-28T20:09:00.003-04:00

Slurp

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Got a new lens today, the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-200/4.0-5.6 Mega OIS - quite a mouthful huh? It seemed like the best choice if I wanted to stick to a true micro 4/3 lens. This gives me an effective focal length of 90-400 and I think I'll be quite happy with that. I only took a half dozen shots, four candids and a couple of still life. This woman was eating soup at a neighbouring table and it seemed like an interesting shot with the potential to stimulate the viewer's imagination so this is the one you get today. Did all the normal processing steps plus converted to B& W since the colour didn't add anything to the finished product, and no cropping. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Tech data: f6.3, 1/50 sec, ISO 1600, 400mm efl with the Panasonic 45-200/4.0-5.6

2010-04-21T18:54:00.004-04:00

Beads

Spotted these bracelets on display in a flower shop in the local market. I just took a couple of shots and both turned out okay so I chose this one for the background. I've never really been into macro photography but I have to say I am really enjoying the experience with the new lens. Could become a habit.

F2.8, 1/125 s, ISO 640, hand held, leica 45mm macro

2010-04-17T13:50:00.006-04:00

Magnolia Macro

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Yesterday I took several images of some magnolia blossoms. I worked on several of them looking for something worth posting and several were acceptable but none really stood out. Then I started isolating some individual petals looking for interesting lines. Again, I found a couple with potential but this one ended up winning out. Finally, I converted to black and white and the result is presented here. Hope you like it.

Tech data: f 2.8, 1/200 sec, ISO 200 with the Leica 45mm macro

2010-04-15T13:23:00.002-04:00

Graffiti Detail

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Zeroed in on this piece of graffiti I found under a walk bridge yesterday. This is cropped again in PS to emphasize the crackled paint. Think I'll file this in my texture folder as well.

Tech data: f 5.0, 1/100 s, ISO 400, Leica 45mm macro

2010-04-14T20:49:00.002-04:00

Blossoms

Still learning the Leica 45mm macro. These blossoms were being buffeted about by the wind making it difficult to get a decent macro shot but when I saw this one on the computer the background looked intriguing so it becomes the one I post.

Tech data: f 4.0, 1/800 sec, ISO 200 with the Leica 45mm macro

2010-04-12T08:36:00.003-04:00

Violinist

London closed a section of its downtown to motorized traffic yesterday and, judging by the number of people, it was a huge success. Let's do this every Sunday.

Tech info: f 4.5, 1/640 s, ISO 200

2010-04-11T08:32:00.002-04:00

Goldfish Plant

Another image from yesterday. Not much to say about this one except that, again, I am very pleased with the performance of this lens.

Tech data: f2.8, 1/250 s, ISO 200, Leica 45mm/f2.8 macro

2010-04-10T17:25:00.005-04:00

Buddha Macro

I did get out today as the weather has improved considerably - it's currently 11 C and sunny - but came home with no images. So, I decided to see what I could come up with using the new lens here in the apartment. I took several images, some of plants and then this small statue of the buddha (15cm/6 in.) There were several good images which stood up to the test of shooting wide open, at minimum focus distance and hand held. I opted to try the in-body IS and turn the lens IS off. I'm pretty happy with this image's results which, incidentally, has been cropped down to something less than 50% of the original.

Technical stuff:f 2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO 1600 with the Panasonic 45 mm 2.8 macro (prime)

2010-04-09T20:24:00.003-04:00

Trio

Well, a week ago the temperature was 22 C and today it snowed, but only off and on and not enough to get any ground cover. Still, we got tricked into thinking that spring had truly arrived when it was just a tease. I refuse to complain however because we did have one of the mildest Marches on the record books so I'm just looking at this as a reality check. This also explains why I had to go back to an image which isn't exactly new. It has simply been too miserable out there the last couple of days to take pictures. And me sitting here with my new Leica 45 mm macro. Guess I could have tested out the micro capabilities around the apartment but I was uninspired. Things are looking up for the next couple of days so maybe I'll capture something new then.

Not musch point in posting the technical data for this since it's been processed beyond recognition.

2010-04-07T20:20:00.002-04:00

Reminder of Last Year

This is one of the first images taken with the Olympus E-P1, again in my daughter's garden. Did the square crop and B&W conversion in post processing.

Tech data: f 5.4. 1/400 s, ISO 200, 39mm efl

I did mess around with the double exposure function today but nothing suitable came of it so will save that for another day.

2010-04-04T09:23:00.004-04:00

Fire Dept Connection

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Spotted these on my way home yesterday. Loved the patina on the back plates. This image points to a minor shortcoming of this camera, or, more specifically, the kit lens and another justification for buying the Leica I spoke of in yesterday's post. It's not possible to get a shallow depth of field with the kit lens. The Leica macro should fix that however as it is an f2.8 lens and is also capable of a closer minimum focusing distance.

Tech Data: f 4.5, 1/400 s, ISO 200, 34 mm efl

2010-04-03T11:25:00.003-04:00

Three o'three

I already gave the background for this image in yesterday's post so won't repeat it here. What's new though is that I ordered a second lens for the Olympus Pen, a Leica 45mm/2.8 macro 1:1. As soon as I got the new camera, I started looking at lenses and have waffled back and forth between, wide angles, telephotos and macros - debating the practicalities of each, trying to decide if I wanted to stick with primes or broaden my search into zooms, four thirds, which would require a $250 adapter, or micro four thirds, all the while reading endless reviews of each lens and on and on it goes. And why did I settle on the macro in the end? I'm still not sure - it is a micro 4/3 and it's compact and light and versatile and the fact that it's a Leica certainly didn't hurt. Of course there's a hefty price tag to go with the name but I broadened my search to e-bay and ended up ordering one from Japan which saved me a couple of hundred dollars on the cheapest Canadian price I could find.

Tech data: f10, 1/320 sec, ISO 200, 84mm efl

2010-04-02T15:43:00.003-04:00

Twelve Thirty-Five or Thereabouts

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Took Molly out for a walk around 10:00 a.m. and didn't get home until around 3:30. Ended up in my daughter's back yard where I took this image. I have another with lady bugs, in fact it was they who first got my attention, crawling around on these orange pieces suspended from the bird feeder. As an afterthought though, I figured I might as well take a couple of shots of the flies as well. And so without giving it any prior thought it was the lady bugs which I processed first, perhaps I'll post them another day, but then, when I went back to bridge to look at the images again, I realized that the flies image was much more interesting from a composition point of view even though the colours were somewhat less interesting. And surely, I thought, that can be fixed with a little tweaking and sure enough I like the result.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that it was 23 degrees C today. Wow!

Technical data:f 9.0, 1/250 sec, ISO 200, 80 mm efl

2010-04-01T20:15:00.003-04:00

Flower Shop

This is a crop of approximately 25% of the original and heavily processed to emphasize the colours. It;s from a few days ago and again at the Covent Garden Market. I went into a used book store today to take some images but am not happy with the results although I have an idea to fix one of them up but it will require compositing and another image, one which I can take here in the apartment. And so, for today we are stuck with this one.

Tech data: f 5.6, 1/80 sec., ISO 1250, 74 mm efl

2010-03-31T19:33:00.004-04:00

Walkin'

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Took this today while enjoying my coffee at the market. It's definitely an advantage having the live view feature. I just set the camera on my lap and wait for a photo op. Much less obtrusive than lifting a camera to one's eye to use a viewfinder. The problem, of course, is when one tries taking pictures in bright sunlight. Must test this out one day soon which should be possible because our weather is more like June than March/April.

Tech data: f 5.6, 1/60 sec., 1600 ISO, 86 mm efl

2010-03-24T17:57:00.007-04:00

Ollie, Stan & Fred

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Converted this one to black and white because I really don't like the colour of this mural - nothing to do with the camera, it's just that the artist gave everything an ugly red tint. The black and white, on the other hand, looks great. Took several shots of my buddy Fred for this but the first one, the most candid of the lot, is the most interesting.

Tech stuff: f 5.0, 1/60 s, 1000 ISO, 66 mm efl

2010-03-24T11:56:00.004-04:00

Pinhole Art Filter

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This is an image of a backlit bamboo plant shot through my drapes. And although this has not received any CS4 processing it has been altered but, this time, in camera.

The E-P1 comes with six art filters and this, to me, may be the most interesting of the lot. As can be gathered from the title, this image was taken with the camera set on filter 6, pin hole camera. I really didn't think if I would use these much but I must admit I do like the way this one came out, especially the vignetting. The image also has a bit of an antiqued feeling to it and when I compare this with the images shot without a filter, this one does stand out as a more interesting image. So, who knows, maybe I will experiment further with these filters after all.

2010-03-22T09:28:00.005-04:00

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Geranium

This is a severe crop of a geranium sitting on my windowsill. It's a little softer than I would have liked but still acceptable.

I have already been researching lenses for the new camera and a good macro capable lens is one of the items I've been considering. In general, the reviews for the micro four thirds lenses are disappointing, especially the primes which is the direction I was considering going. There are, however, some nice zooms out there and my favourite to date is the Panasonic 7-14 mm wide angle, a candidate to replace one of my favourites from my DSLR, the Sigma 10-20 mm. Problem is it's pretty pricey at around $1300 and I'm not sure I want to spend that kind of money just yet. Guess I'll just continue with my research for the time being.

Tech stuff: f 5.5, 1/140 s, ISO 200, 80 mm efl.

2010-03-20T20:53:00.002-04:00

Further on Down the Wall

This is part of the mural from yesterday but for this shot I wanted to get some people in there, kind of a Wizard of Oz effect.

This was shot at 1/20 sec with image stabilization turned on and judging by the sharpness of the background it worked. This camera has three IS modes by the way, normal and one each for horizontal and vertical panning. Something else to try. Other technical data is: f 7.1, ISO 1600, 30 mm efl.

2010-03-19T19:18:00.003-04:00

Mall Mural

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Discovered this mural outside a movie theatre today. Thought it would be a good test of colour for the E-P1. Went through my usual work flow in CS3 and I think the results speak for themselves.

Technical data: f 4.4, 1/80 sec., ISO 1600, 48 mm efl.

Something new to me with this camera is the ability to set ISO on automatic while working in aperture priority. Wasn't too sure about using this but thought I'd try it and so far it's working out great. At 100% the original shows no noticeable noise in the darkest ares of the image. Not too shabby for 1600 ISO on a sensor which is about 50% smaller than the one in my Canon.

2010-03-18T19:29:00.004-04:00

Crocuses

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These are the first flowers I spotted today when I visited my daughter's garden. In fact they were almost the only flowers but I later found some snowdrops. It has been very warm here the last couple of weeks, today's high was 18 Celsius (about 64 F). I believe normal is about 5 C or 40 F. And it's March break for the schools so it's well timed.

As for today's image it's been cropped to about 50% of the original and I did process it adjusting luminosity, saturation and sharpening but it needed very little of any of them. Tech data: f 5.4, 1/100 s, ISO 400 @ 48 mm efl. This camera continues to live up to my expectations.

2010-03-17T18:20:00.002-04:00

St. Patrick's Day

Well, here it is, the first posted image from the E-P1 pretty much as it came out of the camera ( did a minor perspective correction for vertical distortion). This was just a grab shot taken on the fly so I wasn't sure how it would come out. I know that, as an image, it's nothing to shout about but I am pleased with it technically. Specs are f 5.6, 1/160 s, ISO 200 with an effective focal length of 44 mm.

I have had some time to spend learning the camera and I am favourably impressed. All functions, menus etc. are quite intuitive and readily accessible. There are still a couple of functions I'm trying to get my head around, like Gradation for example. I understand the concept , just not sure when to use what but all in good time I suppose.

2010-03-15T17:24:00.002-04:00

Got It!

My Olympus Pen E-P1 arrived today and I am pumped. As I pulled it out of the box and unwrapped it I can honestly say that I haven't been this excited about a camera since I bought my first SLR, also an Olympus, an OM-1 to be exact. And these two share more than their manufacturer's name. Both are known for their compact and rugged build and the Pen is even more impressive than was the OM-1. The Pen's hefty little retro look stainless steel body is very impressive. When I held it in my hand I knew I had something here. It's a perfect fit.

The image above sports the Zuiko 17mm prime but I opted for the 14 - 42 Zuiko Zoom because I figured it would be best to start with a more versatile lens. Once I get to know the camera better, I will start to consider more lenses and will probably stick to primes which, generally speaking, are faster and sharper than a zoom.

I wish I had an image taken with the camera to post but I forgot to order a memory card with the camera and none of my current ones will work. Should have the new card within a couple of days and will then start posting images. My first job will be to test the lens at the extremes of its limits as well as testing for its sweet spot for image sharpness. So please check back regularly as I begin a new chapter in my photographic journey.

2010-03-12T16:32:00.003-05:00

South Side

I wanted to post an image today mostly as an excuse to say that I bought a new camera yesterday. I purchased it on line so, no, this image is not taken with the new camera but rather my Canon Rebel XTi although I did crop it to the 4:3 format which, for those of you in the know, should be a not too subtle hint about the new camera. Got it? Yup, I'm moving over to a micro four thirds format camera, specifically the Olympus E-P1. Why? Well, for several reasons really not the least of which is that it has become increasingly difficult for me to raise a camera to eye level, pretty much a necessity with a camera which demands that you use a viewfinder to see what you're shooting which is the case with my current one. With the live view on the EP-1 I can use the screen on the back, a huge advantage. Of course this camera is also smaller and lighter than my DSLR, another advantage which helped convince me that this is the camera for me. Doesn't hurt, either, that it is capable of HD video with stereo sound recording. The end result of all this is, I hope, that I will do more shooting. Needless to say, I am pretty excited about my new acquisition (just received an e-mail that it has been shipped) so stay tuned for all the new images which I'll be posting soon.

So, anybody want to buy a Canon Rebel with three lenses cheap?

The song title, South Side, is by Moby. I chose it because today's image is the view looking south from my balcony. Found this video featuring Moby and Nelly Furtado on YouTube.

2010-02-23T12:45:00.004-05:00

Parisienne Walkways

First of all, I have to confess that this is not an image taken by me but rather I 'borrowed' it off a facebook page. The picture is of my nephew Chuck and his girlfriend Gabie who are in France for six months. The processing though is mine. I liked the composition of the original but it was very dark and a little out of kilter so I decided to see what I could do with it. Several curves layers, a couple of artistic filters and a number of other adjustments gave me this result. Works not too badly I think.

Parisienne Walkways is by Gary Moore. Here's a YouTube concert video. If you've never heard Moore play this song, do yourself a favour and give it a listen. By the way, I believe that's the famous Peter Green gold top he's playing.

2010-02-15T21:44:00.003-05:00

Looking Out

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last posting. That's got to be a record. This image, taken from my balcony, is fairly representative of the days we've been having lately - dull with light snowfall. It's that time of year again when I start yearning for spring. Not that it's been a particularly long of harsh winter, there's just something about February which has me longing for winter to be over. Ah well, just two more weeks until March arrives and that always lifts my spirits 'cause the end is in sight.

Looking Out is by Brandi Carlisle. Found this on YouTube.

2010-01-18T15:24:00.004-05:00

Se A Cabo

Well, I'm back to dead stuff once again. At least it's still plant life and not something more macabre like an animal or such. This type of subject matter continues to hold my interest so when I was looking for something to photograph around the apartment today I spotted this remnant of times long past, a sweet pepper located on my balcony which the frost claimed before I could harvest it this past fall. This has undergone a treatment which I used on my previous dead subjects - that is a duplicate image converted to B&W then find edges and pasted back on top of the original colour image. Then several layers where colour and luminance was tweaked and finally a background layer for added texture and interest.

Se A Cabo, as near as I can tell from my research, means 'it's over' or 'it's finished', an apt title for this image I think. And besides I've been listening to Carlos Santana and attempting to play some of his music on guitar the last couple of days. Otherwise I never would have thought of this title. YouTube has this version, among others.

2010-01-07T17:34:00.003-05:00

Summer Days

This image is from last summer's Sunfest. Came across it today and saw some potential in it so after an hour or so in PS this is what I came up with. I also figured a little touch of summer wouldn't hurt during these cold, dark days of winter. Just got the replacement charger for my camera today so will be able to get to my project tomorrow (see last post).

Summer Days is by Bob Dylan. YouTube has this.

2010-01-04T11:04:00.004-05:00

Hard To Explain

I had a plan for the new year but, as often happens with such plans it met with an obstacle. My plan was to post a picture each day for the month of January, all taken from my balcony. It was a challenge of sorts, a challenge to be more creative in my picture taking. It's not like I haven't posted images here from my balcony previously but I wanted to see if I could give my creativity a nudge by finding enough interesting subjects to complete my assignment. So what's the problem? The image posted on January 1, the one of me in my wheelchair, was taken that day by my son, who, after taking six pictures, informed me that the battery was dead on my camera. The problem began when I came in and removed the battery to charge it. My charger had disappeared and despite turning the apartment inside out myself as well as having others do the same, it's now January 4 and still no charger. The thing is, it has to be here, I have no way to explain its disappearance, but I don't know where else to look so I have one on order and until it arrives I am without a camera. The charger should be shipped today so I expect to have it before the end of the week. Today's image was taken from my balcony but on December 22. Nothing to get too excited about but I wanted to get something posted.

Hard To Explain can be found on the Cowboy Junkies' CD Pale Sun Crescent Moon. Found it on YouTube.

2010-01-01T14:07:00.003-05:00

I'm Movin' On

Today's image is more documentary than anything. It is a picture of my newly winterized wheelchair taken around noon. Since then we've received another 15 cm or so of snow. Molly and I just returned from our evening walk and had no problem whatsoever navigating the sidewalks. In the past, venturing out on a day like today would have been out of the question as wheelchairs just aren't built to handle a Canadian winter. Needless to say I am feeling not only liberated but extremely thankful to the folks at Tetra for their help in rebuilding my chair. See my Scleroderma blog for a more detailed account of the process.

I'm Movin' On can be found on the recently released CD, The List, by Rosanne Cash. Watch a performance on YouTube.

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2010.

2009-12-22T17:42:00.002-05:00

Nothing Is Easy

Couldn't resist one more in this series. This one's all about story. It's about youth and boys and girls and acting silly and awkwardness and well, you get the idea.

For the second time in this series the title song is by Jethro Tull. Found this YouTube performance.

2009-12-21T12:02:00.005-05:00

Song For a Winter's Night

One more of the rink at Covent Garden Market. There have been skaters the last couple of times I've been there but no new pictures so this is another from the first set. It was the shadows which really got my attention so I've cropped the original to place more emphasis on them.

Song For a Winter's Night, like the title for last post is also by Sarah McLachlan. Found this video from the movie "The Lake House".

2009-12-15T15:34:00.002-05:00

Wintersong

Another from Saturday with much the same treatment. I have been back to the rink but it was raining both days so no new images.

Wintersong is by Sarah McLachlan and it is available on Youtube here.

2009-12-12T17:23:00.004-05:00

Skating Away

I've been thinking about taking pictures at this rink since they started making the ice a couple of weeks ago. The weather is too cold for me to even consider taking pictures outdoors but I realized that I could sit on the upper floor of my favourite haunt and have a great view of the rink while I sipped on my coffee. When I first arrived all the window seats were occupied so I sat sipping on my coffee and reading while I waited for the spot I'd scouted out to become available. Once that happened then it was just a matter of waiting for the light to be more favourable which turned out to be a half hour or so. I took about three dozen images. This one seemed like it would be the simplest to make presentable. I'll probably post a couple more over the next while and may even return tomorrow to take more pics.

Skating Away (On The Thin Ice Of A New Day) is by Jethro Tull. Found this video from 1977 on YouTube.

2009-11-15T11:45:00.002-05:00

Where Have All The Flowers Gone V

This time it's a thistle, one which my daughter grew with the intent of providing fodder for the finches, one of their favourite foods. It also makes for an interesting photo subject. This didn't appeal to me initially, mostly due to a pinkish colorcast picked up from the brick wall in the background. So, I converted to B&W, fiddled with the background to add some interest, dropped in a couple of texture layers, added a warming filter to the thistle and there you have it.

2009-11-10T10:51:00.003-05:00

Where Have All The Flowers Gone IV

Here's another in the series. Same workflow as all the others with the exception that I used 'find edges' twice, once on the original and again on the texture layer. Wish I'd thought of that earlier because I like the results.

2009-11-08T18:29:00.003-05:00

If It Makes You Happy

Not sure why but this image does make me happy. Or maybe it's just the weather which allowed me to get out picture taking the last couple of days. Temperatures soared this weekend, 17 C today ( 63 F), nary a cloud in the sky and it's November. And all that makes me very happy because I know what's coming and it aint pretty, at least not from my present perspective. There was a time when I loved winter and everything it could throw at me but being dependent on a wheelchair to get around has changed all that. Now winter is mostly an inconvenience. But enough of that, it's been a glorious weekend and tomorrow looks like another gift from mother nature so I shall enjoy every minute of it.

As for the image itself, it took considerable reworking to get it to this point which is what I imagined when I took it. I knew for example that all those vertical lines were just screaming at me to add a vertical motion blur plus a find edges layer taken from the original. A few more tweaks et voila, there you have it. Hope it makes you happy too.

If It Makes You Happy is, of course, by Cheryl crow. Found this acoustic version on YouTube.

2009-11-06T18:17:00.003-05:00

... Close To The Ground

A tight crop of an old image. I seem to be developing an interest in detail recently. It;s a new way of looking at things, for me at least. In fact, I'm coming to the realization that it's something that I have ignored in my photography to a large degree. I guess I'm naturally a 'big picture' sort of a guy. That is to say, when I'm out roaming the streets with my camera my inclination is to look at the big picture. Of course there are exceptions and I have plenty of images in my archives to prove it. But mostly I gravitate away from details. After all, it's a whole different way of looking at the world. I suspect this is true in other aspects of my life, in my learning style for example. Whatever the case, it's certainly something to keep in mind as I venture out this weekend thanks to unseasonably warm temperatures, probably the last time I'll be able to do outdoor photography for some time.

Close To The Ground is actually a partial title, borrowed from Willie Nelson's Angel Flying To Close To The Ground. Hear it on YouTube.

2009-11-05T13:23:00.001-05:00

Where Have All The Flowers Gone III

Still playing around with this theme so here's one more. Yesterday's remains my favourite but I've revisited at least one of the former images to apply what I've learned in the process. After I publish this I will print some of them off to see how they match up to the monitor versions.

2009-11-04T11:45:00.003-05:00

Where Have All The Flowers Gone II

I am enjoying playing with these dead flower images taken a couple of weeks ago. I have developed a work flow that seems to work well and the addition of various textures transforms them from 'just another picture' into something quite respectable and maybe even worthy of printing and hanging on the wall. Wish I had more of them now. We're supposed to get some warmer temperatures this weekend so maybe I'll try to get out to see what I can find.

2009-10-31T18:16:00.002-04:00

Where Have All The Flowers Gone

Another image from my photo walk a week ago. Once again I have borrowed a texture from one of the masters, this time Monet, manifested in all of those swirls in the background which, in the original, was pretty flat and lacking in interest. This seemed to be just what was needed to take it up a notch.

Where Have All The Flowers Gone is a folk standard which has been recorded countless times. I have it in my music library by Peter, Paul and Mary. I was hoping for a good vintage performance from the sixties and this one came closest.

2009-10-29T21:41:00.002-04:00

(Click to enlarge)

Empty Chairs

This image was taken from my balcony a couple of weeks ago. When I looked at it today I immediately thought of this crop, tried it, and and liked what I saw. And so, with a little selective tweaking of colour some curves adjustments and the addition of a texture layer lifted from a Van Gogh painting to the plants this is where it ends.

Empty Chairs is from Don McLean's American Pie album. There were several videos on Youtube but the audio was terrible. This one, without only a static video, is better though.