Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
Month: November 2009
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Happy Thanksgiving Xanga
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Weekly Photo Challenge, “Projects in the Works”
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Weekly Photo ChallengeThere was a time I always had projects in the works. Now things don’t move as fast physically but my mind is always at work. At this time of year I try to be ahead of things getting holiday projects finished. Some of my projects include early purchase of gifts and planning ahead for trips. One creative project I try to manage for holidays are digital desktop wallpapers for friends and cards for printing to send to snail mail recipients.
This past weekend we drove to my sister’s home in Columbus, Ohio. I took photos of farms as we drove because I like farm photos and they work for Thanksgiving images. Most farms don’t sit close to the expressway so I play with light settings and shutter speeds to take images from a distance. Looking from a side window in the car makes everything appear to be zooming by which it actually is at about 70 mph. I set my shutter speed from 1000 to 1600 to stop blur and open up extra light to replace the loss of light from the fast shutter. If a photo I like has problems I edit in Paint Shop Pro.
Some of my Photos
1- The shutter speed for this image was 1/1000 moving sideways past it.
2- I brought the image up to size and then cropped it to give me this. I played with edges, enhanced color and sharpness in my photo editor.
3- I added a thin line frame and greetings and my signature. It will be a single fold card with a verse on the inside. I have played with more folds in cards but am not happy with them. I don’t have the expertise for neat folds when the paper is so fat between the folds.
4-This is the original image also taken at 1/1000 shutter speed. It was far enough away I really couldn’t tell what was in the yard. I never know what will appear so take the photo and ask questions later.
5- The crop from image #4 and I was surprised to discover all the sheep. I edged and played with color as it was a darker image. I added the thin line frame, my greeting and my signature.
6- Taken in May of 2008, traveling and looking a bit to the side but forward from the passenger side window. The shutter speed was much slower, 1/200 which works if you are not looking straight at the fields and trees seeing them flitting by in your eye piece. I have edged the image with my photo editor Paint Shop Pro and enhanced color. I see some reflection at the bottom I will edit out before I print it.
7- This is an older photo. I took it in may of 2005 with my Kodak DC4800. This farm sits nearer the road and I took the photo looking forward and to the side as we drove. The shutter speed is 1/333. The photo is fresher and greener than most of our fields in Ohio at Thanksgiving but I like the picture and the whole world isn’t Autumn colors in November so it works.
I’m not sure which of the above cards I will print but making cards is a lot more fun than buying them in the stores because they are your own photos. I enjoy it and my projects give me something creative to do with photos that belong to me. I imagine we all feel the same satisfaction when we have projects in the works using our own photos.
Have a really super week.
Thanks always for your comments
and keep on taking those photos.
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Weekly Photo Challenge, “The Moon”
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Weekly Photo ChallengeHeavenly bodies are fascinating, “the Moon” every bit as much as the sun. Both are studied from scientific standpoints while tales have been passed to us from the Greeks, Native Americans, the Orient and ??? about Gods and powerful others related to the existence of both. For the Photographer, the moon is of interest because it not only lights the night but can often be seen traveling the sky during the day. I have some photos displayed for both.
My Photos
1- This is one of a series of daytime moon photos I took in October of 2007, 6:30 p.m. We spent a big portion of our day at a Pumpkin festival and we noticed the daytime moon when leaving. This particular photo has been doctored. It was taken with my kodak DC4800 and was very dark in the shadow area and the birds (which I didn’t see when taking the photo) did’t show up well. I didn’t like the image as it was but am very happy with it now. I think it gives off a feel of the harvest with the bit of a moon hanging above the fields. I have seen some wonderful close up images of the moon and envy their bigness and clarity and the camera that took them, but for myself, I prefer the moon to be a part of a scene in a finished photo. With the lighting improvements, in my mind this image has greatly improved and has a nice amount of interest.
2- A cemetery we were taking photos in. We always find things of interest and the day got away from us. This photo was taken in early evening light at 8:00 pm in May of 2008. I brightened it up a little as it was so dark because of the dying day. We didn’t expect the full moon, floating above us for photos. It was a nice surprise to end our day.
3- After 8:00 p.m. July 26, 2008 on the drive from Rockford, Illinois to Cincinnati. The harvest moon was a really nice surprise looking huge when it first came up.
4- Cincinnati does not get hurricanes but September 14 of 2008 we got the unusual. Hurricane winds normally die down as they travel north. On this day we saw what was totally abnormal, 70 mile an hour winds off and on during the day. Power was knocked out in the storm path, some was out for weeks. As it was very hot, we spent the day on our porch watching trees sway farther than I had ever seen them. We took photos and ate canned goods directly from tins to avoid opening refrigerators. That night, I took photos like this one.
5- This photo is October 12, 2008, taken at Lake Isabella. I’m plugging in some of the particulars for it and the image below trying to sort out the extreme star around the moon. I’m pretty positive the fault was letting in too much light which allowed for the moon glow. I like the photos but would like more control than I have. Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1.3, Av( Aperture Value ) 7.1, Metering Mode Evaluative Metering, Exposure Compensation +2, ISO Speed 800, Lens EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Focal Length 28.0 mm, Flash Off.
6- Tv( Shutter Speed ) 0.6, Av( Aperture Value ) 4.0, Metering Mode Evaluative Metering, Exposure Compensation +2, ISO Speed 800, Lens EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Focal Length 28.0 mm, Flash Off. Eventually I may be able to automatically know how to set things on the camera. That would be so nice. Practice is the key.Thanks always for your comments and
enjoy your photo takings.
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Weekly Photo Challenge, “Heart’s Desire”
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Weekly Photo ChallengeA “Hearts Desire” can range from very personal, such as husband and children to totally material. I have the necessities and the loves of my life but two things come to mind I can call “Heart’s Desire”.
1- better health and
2- windows facing East and/or West (rather than North and South), in a large eat in kitchen and family room. I grew up with sunsets as a part of my life. My “heart’s desire” would be for those same sunset lit, evening views. As I don’t have the home with East/West facing windows, some photos of sunsets, from evening drives when the sun is going to sleep for the night must be satisfactory to fulfill my “Heart’s Desire”.
My Photos
1- There is something to be said about sunsets, or photos taken of sunsets, on the road. They are infinitely different, over and above what are seen, from the same views in windows at home.
2- On the road scenes are ever changing when you view them traveling by car at upwards to 70 miles per hour.
3- If you are traveling in the opposite direction, you have to take everything in from a rear view mirror and save it to memory, your own and your digital card for posterity.
Thanks always for your comments
and keep on taking those photos. -
WeeklyPhotoChallenge 2 Entries, “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Something Borrowed”
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Weekly Photo ChallengeBorrowed! our home belongs to the bank so I consider it borrowed. But, what I’ll review or expose, with my photos, is the fact my husband and I are borrowed in the deepest sense of the word.
1- This skinny little cat found us in July of 2008. I thought it was a kitten about 6 or 7 months old. The vet said his teeth said he was about 18 months or so old. It’s still so hard to believe as he was really stringy. In this photo, he wasn’t real comfortable as he still felt out of place not having wormed his way into our house, yet.
2- This is the same cat nearly a year later to the month, on our roof which he has found how to get onto. So far we have trimmed two bushes back to prevent his climbing to the roof but he still gets there and has us stumped as to how he does it. I guess it’s time to take the bushes out completely. I’ve wondered if he can climb the brick like SpiderCat.
3- Having made the move into the house and taking us over as borrowed servants, this is the satisfied look of a very smart cat who eats and sleeps inside, knowing he can meow his way to the outside world about 20 times a day. Smart he really is, he trained to knock on a hanging bunch of napkin rings to alert us he wants in and he rings bells hanging on the inside of the door to let us know he wants out. We showed him how and why and he got it in about 1 showing. All knocking and bell ringing are utilized at the same time as the MEOW.
4- And here, the satisfied preening, with eyes closed, of a well fed cat who knows he has successfully manipulated his “Borrowed” family into hostages.
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Weekly Photo ChallengeI had to study carefully, the pages I researched to define exactly what dusk, dawn and in between was really considered to look like. I really didn’t know the exactness of the terms. I finally got it, I think. So, some photos with camera information on one image.
1- I take a lot of night images. This is obviously a westward drive. Particulars are on the third image down. They would be similar for all of my Dusk till Dawn photos.
2- This is Lake Isabella. John and I spend a fair amount of time there. Our hours vary but nights are good for some lovely quiet images.
3- Lake Isabella Dusk: Silhouette, TreeOriginal File Name IMG_1962.JPG
Camera Model Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi, Shooting Date/Time 11/14/2008 6:48:39 PM
Shooting Mode Shutter-Priority AE, Tv( Shutter Speed ) 0.3, Av( Aperture Value ) 3.5,Metering Mode Evaluative Metering, Exposure Compensation +1 1/3, ISO Speed 800,
Lens EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Focal Length 28.0 mm, Image Size 3888×2592,
Image Quality Fine, Flash Off, White Balance Mode Auto, AF Mode One-Shot AF,
Picture Style User Defined 3(Landscape), Sharpness 7, Contrast 4, Saturation 4, Color tone 0,
Color Space sRGB, Noise Reduction Off, File Size 4930 KB,
Drive Mode Single-frame shooting, Owner’s Name RSBlain, Camera Body No. 1721128133
4- This is the drive from Lake Isabella to our house. This image is looking from the road to my right as we drive, homes lit on the hill above the river.
Thanks always for your comments and keep on taking those photos.
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