Both of my cameras out this week for semi-annual Sensor Cleaning
(I use and recommend, http://www.cameraservicepro.comif you ever have the need.)
Spooky Photo Challenge
Sans Cameras.. I decided to try to challenge myself to be more creative in post processing this week in celebration of our fun little candy-giving holiday by recycling some photos from throughout the year with the intention to make them spooky, creepy or macabre in some way.
So many of my shots are bright, fun and beach-y scenes so I'm not sure how this is going to work out but here goes. :)
Day 1 of 5: The Sunken Boat: I've always found wreckages creepy..
Working from home this week, catching up on a long laundry list of programming tasks that I've neglected for one reason or another. I have to be "in the zone" and uninterrupted to really get coding tasks done. The uninterrupted part seems to be rare..
For my lunchtime bike ride, I was struck with just how much depth our clouds had today. It was killing me to be stuck indoors at my home, 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. I had set my mind that when my family got home we'd go to either Fairhope or Gulf Shores for some "Golden Hour" sunset photography.
As we were deciding our destination, a sea turtle-activist-conservation-expert, self proclaimed "turtle lady" that works with my wife called to say they'd be releasing a nest to the Gulf this evening at sundown. Our destination set, we made it down a few hours early for a pretty productive photo session.
Didn't get the best of shots of the turtles, night-time, no flashes and all -- so didn't really even try.
This, photo, however - just sort of happened while we were waiting for the "turtle people." Nope, it isn't HDR. Just some contrast enhancements on a single exposure.
When my wife and two children (6 and 2) went to the beach to observe the turtle release, we were the first ones at the beach. It was a great time to snap some photos of the kids and to explore a "new to me" section of Orange Beach, near "The Palms" and "The Turquoise" condominiums.
It is getting cooler so the kids played in the sand with their sand pales and shovels, my wife enjoyed the salt air and breeze and watched as her two smaller children played in the sand while her 32 year old child ran up and down the beach-line with a Nikon and Tripod.
The folks in this image showed up shortly after us, sat up next to the trench and unfolded their chairs to watch the sunset. One of the things that struck me was the contrast between their point in life and ours.
Two, younger retirees sitting on the beach at sunset, probably condo owners. Given their relative younger age, probably reasonably successful. What adventures have they had? Where have they travelled and where to next? What careers did they hold and how did they meet? Boxers or briefs? (okay, yeah that last would I don't really want to know.) Everyone has a story but I didn't have the opportunity to get theirs, unfortunately. I felt it inappropriate to invade their perfect moment with my weird queries but I did open up the shutter of my mystical light capturing device in order to forever imprison their binary doppelgängers on my DROBO.
Coming from my station in life as a photographer, then network engineer, then programmer, then manager, then successful programmer again - turned failing photographer; two kids, wife, mortgage, at least two jobs; this scene was encouraging to me. The current hectic pace of my life will hopefully one day yield to a quiet, reflective time like this with my own loved ones.
What the hell do you give your dad for father's day when there stands a high likelihood it could be his last?
I found out a few weeks before Father's day that it looks like my dad's battle with cancer has suffered some setbacks. His diagnosis ranges from months to years. After all, Doctor's are practicing medicine.
Skepticism for "hallmarky" commercialism born made-up holidays aside, one thing was certain this father's day: I felt inordinate pressure to try to find "just the right" gift.
S
omething with the right balance of celebration, memorialization and a touch of "foreverness".
Regardless of your religious views, parents and grandparents can find immortality in that of their children and grandchildren. My goal was to create a keepsake photo collage of some of Dad's favorite photos of my kids. To add the lasting sense of "foreverness", I had this panoramic put on a Metal Print from Bay Photo.
The result is better than I could imagine.
Looking for something to give Dad this father's day? Why not dust off your photoshop skills and make him a collage of the grandkids or even of yourself.
.. and to make that print truly archival, I highly recommend metal prints from Bay Photo. I printed this one through my smugug account. Believe me, they do amazing work.
..and no this isn't a commercial and I didn't get paid to say that :)
Bay Photo: <a href="http://www.bayphoto.com" rel="nofollow">www.bayphoto.com</a>
Taken near Kingdom Hall and the Baldwin Rural Area Transport Service station in Robertsdale. I leaned out the car to snap this photo after leaving the Law Enforcement Memorial. That's my excuse for it not being so great. ;)
This photo had some spots, both from the lens (actually, the polarizer filter) and dust on the sensor.
I made a quick video of how to use Photoshop to remove the spots you see in high f-stop blue-sky shots.
BTW: I highly recommend the Giottos Rocket Air Blaster to get stubborn spots of your sensor. Use with caution, though - If you touch your sensor, you could damage the low pass filter that covers your sensor. That's a costly repair.
http://www.adorama.com/GTRABLR.html
If that doesn't get your spots out, I recommend having a professional do it. I use these guys:
I've tried the Eclipse Pads and Static brushes myself without much success. I didn't damage my sensor, just made it dirtier with dried out Eclipse pads or goofy little fuzzies from the $45 static brush.
Busy day today, taking photos. CSU gives employees the day off for their birthdays (a pretty epic benefit, I think) I spent my free day with the camera.. Two farms, The Sheriff's Office Memorial Park, NAS Whiting Field, Malbis Memorial Church and the grounds of US Sports Academy were my photography stops today. I collected enough material on the trip that I'll be sifting through and posting for a week or so, easily.
I thought I'd start sharing today's results with this rendition of a farm on the west side of Highway 59 as you come into Robertsdale from the North. I've been doing the bike-ride or jog thing at late and these farm landscapes have captured my attention. I decided this one would be a good aged photo-looking candidate; your thoughts?
