Somedays, You Just Have to Get Away..

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For Sunday, a break from the Halloween theme.. 

Sometimes balancing, dad, husband, programmer, photographer -- something gets slighted.  Last week it was programming.  I was really, super-extra, way-behind on some tasks for that, my real job.

 
I have a tech-zen-sort of hang out near the Gulf that I'll often escape to when I really need to be super productive. [ As a hint, it has sails and is older than I am.. :) ]
I worked for about 36 hours straight with a few 1 hour naps, lots of Redbull and other unhealthy food.

I did take a dinner break with a sandwich and a camera as a beachside walk at the public beach in Gulf Shores.

 

Cemetary

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For Friday: A Spooky Photo Self-Challenge Day #5

 
Spooky Photo Challenge
Cameras were out this week… So I've been releasing some photos this week for halloween by processing some photos in a creepy way. 
Day 5 of 5:  Cemetary
 
I decided to go the other way with this one.   Take something that is by itself pretty creepy and try to make it beautiful.   I released a similar shot to this earlier in the year but I've worked it over a little differently this go-around.  
Have a great weekend!

 

Haunted Mansion

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For Thursday: A Spooky Photo Self-Challenge Day #4
Spooky Photo Challenge

Cameras being professionally cleaned… I decided to try to challenge myself to be more creative in post processing this week for halloween by consuming these "leftovers" in a creepy or macabre way..   I'm aware this isn't my forte, thus the growth experience.

Day 4 of 5:  Haunted Mansion

As a departure from yesterday's gory submission, I'm going to cheat and use an easy one. I thought we'd take a transition to the realm of "fun scary"

This is a not-that-great shot of Disney World's Haunted Mansion.

On this day, it had been raining.  The interesting thing about fake fog and rain is that the fog tends to get heavier and cooler, then hang around lower.  I stepped out of the queue to try to get this shot.  I don't like the angle on the mansion but based on the queue awnings, I'm not sure the better angles are photo accessible.

If you ever wanted to know about how some of the special effects are accomplished, check this fun site out:

Where Siri Dumps Her Bodies

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Spooky Photo Challenge

Cameras being professionally cleaned… I decided to try to challenge myself to be more creative in post processing this week for halloween by consuming these "leftovers" in a creepy or macabre way..   I'm aware this isn't my forte, thus the growth experience.

Day 3 of 5:  Where Siri Hides Bodies
On the www.thisismynext.com technology podcast, Joshua Topolsky inquired of Siri on the iPhone 4S, "Siri, I nee to hide a body."   "She"/It will come back with a list of categories for probably locations to hide a corpse.   I'm not sure if it will suggest a pier. However, I was watching a Dexter re-run recently and it seemed to be a good location for one of the antagonists to stash their victims remains..

I realize that his is terribly overcooked and weird in so many ways.  But that was the challenge.   Edit it until it gives me the willies..

..and it does..

 

 

Descent

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For Tuesday: A Spooky Photo Self-Challenge Day #2

Spooky Photo Challenge

Cameras in the shop… I decided to try to challenge myself to be more creative in post processing this week for halloween by consuming these "leftovers" in a creepy or macabre way..

Day 2 of 5:  Descent: Ft. Creepsville

It was a very clear, cool January afternoon.  What's awesome about the Winter in a beach town is that you can often find local tourist locales completely abandoned.  As was the case on this spur-of-the-moment after-work trip to Ft. Morgan, Alabama.  It was cold and I only had a few hours before the Fort was to close but.. as was said in this fort's wartime, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" 

A lot of the architectural details struck me about this Fort's era, as did the history of the Battle of Mobile Bay. The masonry here is.. just breathtaking in places. The overall scale of the grounds is especially chilling when you are absolutely alone on them in a cold afternoon near sundown.  

However, in keeping with this week's theme of creepy places, I was also abundantly aware that many young men's lives had likely come to a violent end, here.

Look, I'm not particularly worried about ghosts and ghouls, aliens and zombies.  I'm quite aware of the many real dangers in this world than to occupy my limited brain cycles on such things.  That being said, I descended into the small catacomb-like entrance pictured here (to the right and down from center) for some exploration.

As I descended the very steep stairwell into the lower areas there was a disorienting blackness like I've seldom experienced. There, in the cold, you could almost hear the gunfire, smell the powder and hear the orders to fire being shouted to young men on shore guns.   Again, I'm not one to really put stock in hauntings and the like but I do tend to feel that different locales have a palpable "feel" or "energy" to them.   One particular room in these lower areas led me to believe it was time to leave.  

So, I did just that. ;)

 

 

Sunk

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For Monday: A Spooky Photo Self-Challenge 

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..

Golden Hour

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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. 

This is why we photographers love Golden Hour. ;)

 

The Golden Years?

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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.
Lord willing.

 

 

Make Dad a Collage (with Video)

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Here's how I made this:
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>
Smugmug: <a href="http://www.smugmug.com" rel="nofollow">www.smugmug.com</a>

 

Out, Damned Spot!

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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:
Very fast turnaround, great/solid work.
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.
Just have them do it :)

 

 

Small Town, U.S.A; 2011

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Video of how this was created:

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?