Photo of the Day - February 2009

[gkarris]

Took this as part of some pictures I'm taking for my parent's B&B. Does anyone know why the whites in the top of the picture are grainy? My background is solid white and the only post processing was contrast and saturation on a RAW file. Thanks.

EXIF
D80, f/22, 4.0s, 0ev, ISO 100, Focal 70.00mm

Sorry, but this doesn't look very appetising. The utilitarian dish doesn't help...

I work for a Food Service company - try a Champagne or Martini glass...

It'll add a lot of "class"...

 

[Doylem]

I like the look of the shot, and the simplicity... but, IMO, it would be stronger to have all the barbed wire in crisp focus (against the out-of-focus background). And you have a dust spot under the L-H 'barb'...

This wonderful shot reminds me of some of the early work of Sydney Laurence. If is squint really hard hand hold my head at an angle I and just make out a sheep in the cloud...

Sydney Mortimer Laurence (1865–1940) was a Romantic landscape painter and is widely considered one of Alaska's most important historical artists. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and studied at the Art Students League of New York. He married Alexandrina Fredricka Dupre in 1889, and they traveled to England, where they lived in an art colony in St. Ives in Cornwall from 1889 to 1898. Laurence came to Alaska in 1903 or 1904.

Thanks... Artists gravitated to St Ives, in Cornwall, primarily due to the quality of the light. There are still plenty of artists and photographers living there... and an outpost of the Tate Gallery...

In the Langdales today...

 

[pdxflint]

Phil, still enjoying your p&s experiment. Just how much do you miss using a DSLR? I've been using my g'friends D40 a little and even though it's pretty small by DSLR standards, I still find that I'm only taking it out when I really feel like using it, as opposed to all the time with my p&s, just in case.
Saying that, now that I sometimes take what some would call 'proper' shots(aside from still taking night "light' one's), the difference in quality is quite remarkable, so perhaps I should put more effort into lugging the D40 around!

This latest shot of another homeless dog at the shelter is, again, just lovely, yet also painful, to me at least. You really capture the yearning and the helplessness in the dog, and the situation it's in. You just seem to have a knack for really showing that, rather than it being 'simply' a dog photo, if you know what I mean. I don't mean to denigrate others' photos of dogs by saying that; maybe the situation and their resultant yearning & need(the subject in other words!)contributes somewhat to my feelings.
Looking at this photo and wishing I could just go there and bring her home with me.
Anyway, thanks for continuing to post your canine capture's!

Carl, I really appreciate your words about my "canine captures," and the connection they make with you. Of course, they're not all good -
you should see the ones I "throw away." Sometimes I get the feeling that if someone just did a photo book of homeless animals it would really be a good money-raiser for the cause. Most people when they look into the eyes of a stray as captured on "film" (I still like the way that sounds...) usually have some kind of positive emotional reaction, which is a good thing.

Sometimes I don't miss using a DSLR at all. I'm beginning to really appreciate diminutive forms and pocketable technology... I used film SLRs for years, carrying two bodies, lenses, flashes, filters, film, etc...loved them probably the most, then spent a bit of time with my first p&s (Canon A95,) and discovered digital. The speed of getting images into my computer outweighed the limitations of image quality I was used to. Film SLR was so versatile, including bounce/reflected flash, speed, etc. The p&s became a natural light only, because p&s and flash don't go together at all. Now I have a slightly long-in-the-tooth D50, which takes great images, but isn't as flexible as my old film equipment was - other than the quantity of images and being digital - but I like it. But since Christmas I've been once again appreciating the pocket sized image recording device - both for pretty good video and decent images. The p&s still can't really compare to the D50 in terms of overall image quality, but in many cases by simply being there it actually takes images I otherwise wouldn't have taken at all. I carry it with me all the time inconspicuously, where the D50 would be an object around my neck, or in a camera bag over my shoulder. When I plan pictures I'll definitely use the DSLR, but for spontaneous use I love my p&s. It's been fun exploring it's limitations so I can know what it really can and can't do... and how much I can live with those limitations. I think one of the 25mm equivalent wide-angle Lumix pocket cams would be real fun to use...

 

[NightGeometry]

C&C welcome.

To me this looks like an advert in an old 'mens' mag...

View on Flickr

 

[ipodtoucher]

From a lil fashion show going on near my apartment..

 

[srf4real]

Gee, thank you all for your kind comments on my last couple of submissions.
I am grateful to be an understudy amongst such talent as those who post in this thread.

Always looking for new ideas and ways to portray what I have passion for,
finding lots of inspiration on these pages!

Here is a surfer's eye view of Cocoa Beach, Florida on a mild mid-February morning...

 

[TheReef]

RAW - f13 - 2s - ISO100 - 82 mm equiv

 

[RHVC59]

In town just playing with my new 55-200mm lens in town today.

These guys just demanded to see to have their picture taken...

f4.8 1/30 iso 360

 

[dllavaneras]

My bug-hunting trips have been put on hold, due to work and the weather. I've been working on my photography club's assignments. Here's one from the "Self-Portrait" assignment:

 

[nuwomb]

urban grunge

 

[Cliff3]

 

[wheelhot]

My bug-hunting trips have been put on hold, due to work and the weather. I've been working on my photography club's assignments. Here's one from the "Self-Portrait" assignment:

Hmm, well I gotta ask, who takes photo of you? You take urself or someone takes for you? Cause I wonder if you use self timer, how you get the face perfectly focused. My only problem with taking my own shots is that there is no way for the camera to refocus right before taking the shot

 

[appie57]

no time, poor weather, so I took these tulips I bought the other day, how appropriate from this country. Handheld, should have used my tripod.

 

[sarcaya]

At the Mayaguez Zoo...

At the Mayaguez Zoo...

 

[dllavaneras]

Hmm, well I gotta ask, who takes photo of you? You take urself or someone takes for you? Cause I wonder if you use self timer, how you get the face perfectly focused. My only problem with taking my own shots is that there is no way for the camera to refocus right before taking the shot

It's a selfshot. I took it on front of the mirror, using an external flash to bounce it on the wall to my right. The flash has a visible AF light, and I used it to focus on my eyes.

 

[((Ignorbliss))]

last night

 

[ppc_michael]

This is/was from the set of Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

 

[wheelhot]

It's a selfshot. I took it on front of the mirror, using an external flash to bounce it on the wall to my right. The flash has a visible AF light, and I used it to focus on my eyes.

Ah, here is another of my always wondered question, you take that shot in front of the mirror, then what happen to your DSLR? Cause the DSLR need to be behind of you to get that shot right? So you edited it out or something?

Flash has a visible AF light? Hmm....I guess it means you are using Nikon then?

 

[LittleCanonKid]

Flash has a visible AF light? Hmm....I guess it means you are using Nikon then?

He uses an XTi, if I recall correctly. (EXIF data confirms this.) Canon Speedlites have an AF assist beam as well, I've got a 580EX that is helpful for focus when it's pitch-black. It's a decent selling point since Canon's DSLRs AF assist is usually strobing of the pop-up flash, which as we all know isn't the best solution.

 

[AlexH]

 

[dllavaneras]

Flash has a visible AF light? Hmm....I guess it means you are using Nikon then?

He uses an XTi, if I recall correctly. (EXIF data confirms this.) Canon Speedlites have an AF assist beam as well

Exactly, it's a red beam that aids AF. I have a Speedlite 430 EX II.

Ah, here is another of my always wondered question, you take that shot in front of the mirror, then what happen to your DSLR? Cause the DSLR need to be behind of you to get that shot right? So you edited it out or something?

Actually no, my DSLR is close to the right side of my face. It takes a few shots to position so that neither the camera or my arm show up in the pics. Even so, you can see a dark triangle in the lower right corner of my self portrait. That's my arm, holding up the camera. If you look at the pic, you'll notice that I'm not facing the mirror directly, due to the camera not being shot directly at the mirror.

On to today's pic!

Today my brother built an enormous Lego castle, complete with a fire breathing dragon and all. These new Lego kits even have facial expressions!

BTW, doylem, superb shot! Have you considered making an HDR out of it?

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Model shoot

My wife's dog

 

[RHVC59]

Went to the South Point Higgins Beach today while my wife was at a birthday party for one of her co-worker's child... The dog and I had more fun!

f5.6
1/125, -6.7
ISO 100
White Balance: Daylight
55-200mm @ 190 mm

 

[spencers]

Minnesota Winter Skies
(snip)
I took this with my XSi at ISO 400. It is a stack of about 180 twenty second shots. C&C is welcome.

Actually, I have a question. How did you manage to set the XSi for 180 shots? I can only seem to set the continuous shot feature for up to 10 shots.

 

[Cliff3]

I ordered a couple of small softboxes to use with my strobes, so I was playing with those (plus a third strobe shooting through an umbrella) along with manual flash.