POTD 59 of 365

I'm sitting in my office right now, drinking a beer, and reveling in a new experience (not the beer). Tonight, I developed my first roll of film, and, let me tell you, it feels good.

Had a few missteps along the way, to be sure. When the undeveloped roll hit the ground in the pitch black, I invented a few new profanities, but, everything went better than expected.

This is what it looks like now:



The purple tint could be any number of things, apparently, from a too-weak fixer to not enough rinsing, or, it could simply be the fact that Kodak uses a purple base. We'll see, right?

This is the setup for the shot of the shots.



The venerable 580EX II is on the floor, with the softbox, at 1/32 and bouncing off the white walls of the tub surround. I wanted to get a nice, even light through the film.

The film's still a little too wet to scan, but, soon enough.

Can't. Bloody. Wait.

POTD 58 of 365

Had a portrait session with a great family this evening, and the edits are in progress.

This is one of my favorites:



I've recreated the setup with Poomba. I spent quite a few hours in the past week trying to nail this one down, and this is how I got it done.



The flash is set low, at 1/64, and the softbox helps angle the light upward a bit. We're not getting much spill onto the mirror itself at all.

I'm shooting wide open, at f/2.8, to avoid having to bump up the flash power. Stopping the lens down would have helped me control the ambient light in the room, at the cost of having to make up the light with increased flash output, but, I'm sure the parents didn't want their child to leave with a suntan.

Shutter is at 1/125, which is good, because 3-month-olds can manage an amazing amount of traction on a mirror, and he was moving.

What really makes this shot possible is the angle. For this one, I was completely prone on the ground, with my lens only slightly above ground level. The two errant spots on the mirror in the SOOC shot were easily fixed by burning them in Photoshop.

The family was great to work with, and we got some excellent shots.

POTD 57 of 365

I believe this shot hails from 1994. No doubt taken with a Point and Shoot 35mm onto some form of Polaroid color film.

I wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a photographer back then, however, I did at least adhere to the Rule of Thirds in this shot, so, there's that.



This is from a negative scan at a low resolution. I'm OK with it.

POTD 56 of 365

The Missus and I went to The Cavalcade of Jazz this evening, at Arts YOUniverse in Wilkes-Barre, and it was quite a show. It's worth noting that a lifetime or two ago, I was a bit of jazz musician myself.

While all things historical in this household are handled by The Missus, I'll point out that Wilkes-Barre has a long, storied jazz career. Count Basie actually spent a week in the Wilkes-Barre area (I'm not convinced his bus didn't break down) and we've just dedicated a plaque downtown on the site of the (disputed) first ever Jazz Festival.

So, tonight, I took along the 60D with the 50 f/1.8 on it, because it fits in my coat pocket, and this is one of the shots from the evening:



No setup, obviously, although trying to color-balance this in Post was miserable. There were stage lights. Terrible, terrible stage lights.

POTD 55 of 365

Another placeholder post this evening, I'm afraid, as the film remains as-yet undeveloped. The whole 24 exposures are shot, so, I'll probably try my hand at developing my first roll tomorrow night.

Today's shot is (going to be) the landfill you can see from the parking lot where I work, otherwise known as Mount Louis.

I'm nowhere near as confident of this shot as I am of the substation yesterday, mostly because landscapes are not my strong suit, but, we'll see.

Assuming I don't jack up the developing too badly.

Edit: 02-Mar-11 22:42

The shot in question:



Yeah. That's no good at all.

POTD 54 of 365

I took a handful of pictures today, however, they're still wrapped up on a not-yet-finished roll of Tri-X. Once I develop that roll and scan in the pictures, I'll post one of today's images.

The shot I have in mind to post is a power substation in Dunmore - I liked the lines and the contrast against the clear sky, and, while you won't get any color, the sun was setting providing some great light on the towers.

The shot was taken at f/13 and 1/60 with at 50mm onto Kodak Tri-X 400.

Personally, I can't wait to see this shot, and can't wait to share it with you, my intrepid reader(s).

Edit: 02-Mar-11 22:41

And, the wait is over - here's the shot:

POTD 53 of 365

Photography has become a bit more than a hobby for me these days. For one, I'm actually taking in a few bucks on the side now and then, which is nice. I'm still deep, deep in the red if you factor in equipment and training costs, but the possibility exists that I might recoup my equipment costs, so, there's that.

Another aspect of my...interest (I hesitate to use the term obsession) is that I'm reading anything and everything I can get my hands about the art and science of photography, and I've taken a step to try to further my understanding of the medium. To that end, and I mentioned this, I picked up an older film SLR, a Canon EOS 620, and today, my first batch of film and developing chemicals came in:



I will be processing all of my own Black and White, and will be trusting my color slides to one of the two local shops that still process E6 chemistry.

Once processed, I'll be using the CanoScan to bring the film into the digital world.

So - more about this shot. Available light (tungsten) at ISO 2000, processed exclusively from a DNG in PS Elements. Not my most compelling or interesting shot, but, the POTD is a great way to document an entire year of my life.

POTD 52 of 365

This evening, I'm revisiting the solitary leaf I see from the couch. There's snow stuck to the tree on which this leaf is attached, and I thought it added a nice postscript to my missive from the other day - once again, the leaf survives a heavy snowfall.



As before, no setup shot. I was waiting for sunset, but, the clouds got thicker, so, I shot this before it got too dark.

POTD 51 of 365

Went to The Crossings in Tannersville. That was a rookie mistake. The place was a zoo (President's Day Weekend sales).

While we were there, I picked up a new pair of shoes, a new spatula, some wine stoppers that work with the FoodSaver, and we witnessed a truly stunning truck accident.

My picture of the accident is terrible (quality-wise, thankfully; nobody got hurt) so that's right out, but this gives a little taste of the throngs of people packing in the shopping center today:



I very briefly considered taking the Rebel with me today, but, I figured the place might have been a bit busy. Ah, but if I'd only known...

With that in mind, though, did you know they make a case for the iPhone that comes with a telephoto lens? How cool is that? It also has a tripod mount, rendering my wooden clamp obsolete. The lens is about the size of a 35mm film canister, so, it's certainly pocketable.

I might have to get one - it's $35 at PhotoJojo.com. Check out some of their other cool things if you go there.

POTD 50 of 365

I realized that all winter, I've been looking at this little leaf. It's survived snow, ice, rain, bitter temperatures, and gale-force winds.

Here it sits, a little worse for the wear, but, it's been hanging on:



No setup shot - shot through a window in aperture-priority mode, bumped up the contrast and darkened the blacks in DPP, tightened up the crop, and good to go.

POTD 49 of 365

I was really hoping to post a scanned negative for tonight's shot. *Sigh* Thwarted by an apparent lack of memory. When I started in IT, having 2 gigs of RAM in your server was considered overkill. Nowadays, you can't scan picture with less than four, it seems.

In any event, I was moping around the house trying to come up with something that didn't entail whipping out my iPhone, and I saw a horrifying site in the dining room chandelier.



Out with the camera, couple of shots to get the exposure right, and some serious white-balancing in Post (the chandelier is brass-colored) and done.

POTD 48 of 365

If you happen to have "liked" my facebook page facebook.com/gacphoto, then you'll already know that I picked up a new toy, a CanoScan 9000F scanner. All I can say so far is that it's really shiny. I figured I'd use it in tonight's post to try to control highlights.



My setup for this shot is my most cobbled-together yet, and that's saying something.



There's quite a bit to take in here, and, to be honest, this attempt wasn't entirely successful, but, it tells me what I need to do in the future.

The most important bits in this shot are the two Styrofoam insulation panels I have sitting on top of the third panel and presentation board. They're the actual key light in this shot. The 580EX II at 1/4 and 24mm is fired into them, creating (mostly) one really big light source above the scanner. There's enough spill to turn the sides of the presentation board into smaller light sources, which accounts for the "streaks" of light on the lid of the scanner.

The second light is one of the 430EZs, at 1/32 and 35mm, with a blue gel through a grid, positioned so that the top of the light beam just grazes the top of the scanner, and the rest of the light provides a nice blue glow on the table.

Obviously, a real light tent would have made this shot better, and easier, but that's expensive, and there's hardly any sport in it. Extending the sides of the presentation board would have reduced or eliminated the streaking, so, tomorrow, I'm off to pick up more white posterboard.

Not a bad shot - I'm pretty pleased that you can't see me or the camera in the mirror-like scanner lid, so, there's that.

POTD 47 of 365

The quality on this shot is terrible, but, the colors I saw tonight just blew my mind.



So, yeah, iPhone through a windshield in a (slowly, I assure you) moving vehicle.

POTD 46 of 365

Apologies in advance for a lack of setup shot this evening - circumstances forced us to evacuate the den before such a shot could be captured. Everyone's cool, but, it was a near thing.

So, I forget what I saw today that made me think of this, but, I wanted to get a shot of The Missus and her Converse All-Stars. For as long as I've known her, she's worn Chucks; she even wore them to our wedding reception.



Lighting is the 580EX II at 1/32 through a grid.

POTD 45 of 365

So, yeah. It's my birthday. And Valentine's Day. Anyway - dinner was great: Started with scallops, followed by surf and turf with prosciutto-wrapped asparagus and twice-baked potatoes.

And beer. Gotta love the beer - tonight's selection is a Vanilla Porter by Breckenridge Brewery.



That, friends are readers, does it for me - I'm done for today.

POTD 44 of 365

I've been organizing photos all day, and it's mind-numbing, tedious work. As such, I lost track of time, and had to rush this one through. Oddly enough, when I'm not fixated on a particular shot, or a particular look, the results can be kind of fun.



I love the way this looks like the sprinkle is escaping the two clusters - as happy coincidence would have it, there's even a missing space where it looks like it originated.

So, yes, another macro, lit by the worklight. Setup looks like this:



I changed the color tone in post to make the oranges look more pink-ish, to give this a little Valentine's Day twist, and, to disguise the fact that I've got candy from last October taking up space in my cupboard.

POTD 43 of 365

Tonight's shot started as a macro, then wasn't, then was again, then wasn't, and the subject changed three times.

This is where I settled:



Lighting is the 580EX II at 1/32 + 1/3, gridded, and fired straight down into the pencils. The pencils are sitting on a white posterboard, which is reflecting a good bit of the light back up into them, giving them a nice wrap of light.



I would be remiss if I didn't mention this - today, we lost a good person. Rest in peace, Todd. You were a hard worker, and a genuinely decent human being. You will be missed.

POTD 42 of 365

Tonight, I've deconstructed a previous shot. If you've been playing along at home, you'll know the shot to which I'm referring:



Two shots - one picture, and a fairly irked photographer. Sounds about par for the course, actually.

One by one...

The apple - two flashes. Key is the 580EX II at 1/16 with the grid, and the background light is the 430EZ at 1/16, 35mm, and a Storaro Green gel.

The apple is suspended from the ceiling by 4-pound monofilament (AKA - cheap fishing line) that I cleaned up in Photoshop.



The syringe is lit by the worklight, and is shot with the 50mm at f/22 and the #1 and #2 extension tubes.



Frankly, I loathe the apple, however, it looked even worse when you could see the line.

This, folks, is one of the reasons I eschew photo manipulation - I'm not creative enough to alter reality.

POTD 41 of 365

I've seen this shot done a million times, and, if you've ever been poking around a photography website, chances are, so have you.

I was curious, however, as to how technically difficult this shot is to create. The answer, surprisingly, is, not very. I could have spent a lot more time playing with the lighting to eliminate the reflection of the worklight and trying to control the shadow, but otherwise, this was done in under 15 minutes. I can state with a certainty that I'm going to revisit it, with a thinner glass, and different colors, but, for tonight, simple was the name of the game.



Lighting is the 580EX II at 1/16, fired up into two large pieces of Styrofoam placed on top of the presentation board / backdrop (and, apparently, the worklight adding an unwanted reflection)



So, yeah - more to come on this one.

POTD 40 of 365

I'll admit that macro photography is becoming a bit of a crutch for me - if I'm pressed for time and/or don't have a workable idea, I bust out either the 18-55 with the reversing ring, or the 50 with the extension tubes (like tonight). I'm trying to stay somewhat disciplined about it, however, and incorporate some combination of color, composition, and lighting.

Tonight's focus (pardon the pun) was, obviously, color.



So, yeah - worklight, extension tubes, and narrow (f/22) aperture.



In other photography related news, in the wake of Canon's bevy of new product announcements (T3i, T3 (why, Canon?) two new flashes, and a buncha new lenses, I went out and got myself the 2nd oldest EOS in existence. I picked up a used EOS 620 on eBay this evening, complete with an EF 35-70 lens. I plan on getting into B+W film including my own development, and this camera looks perfect - reliable and simple.

POTD 39 of 365

Playing with the iPhone and Camera+ again tonight - this time, I was shooting (pun intended) for a retro, Polaroid-instant feel. Mister Bean happily obliged my photographic pursuit.



This comes close, and frankly, it's pretty amazing considering this was all done in a telephone.

POTD 38 of 365

Tonight's shot is chock full o' symbolism - and some pretty cool lighting.



Lighting on this is two flashes.



Key is the 580EX II at 1/16 and into a Strobies beauty dish. The beauty dish sucks up light like a sponge, which is why the power was set to high for a flash placed so close to the subject.

The background light is the 430EZ at 1/32 (its lowest setting) with three gels on it. Here's a cool shot of the flash:



The first gel was a Neutral Density gel that reduced the output of the flash by three stops. That was really important, because positioning the flash properly necessitated getting it close to the backdrop, which, without the ND gel, just washed out the background. A tighter aperture would have helped, but, it would have negated the DoF I wanted.

The second gel is a Rosco Storaro Yellow - covering the whole flash head.

The third gel is a Rosco Storaro Red, covering (approximately) the top third of the flash head.

I chose the colors, their proportions, and the position on the background to simulate a sunset.

POTD 37 of 365

Apparently, there was some sort of football game or something this evening. Consequently, I found myself at my folks' house sans Canon. I've always got my iPhone with me, however, and I am really starting to dig Camera+.

This is a large clock my parents have above their fireplace.



I applied the internal "Vibrant" setting to the shot, and then, once I got it onto my laptop, oversharpened the snot out of it in DPP.

POTD 36 of 365

I took The Missus to work today, and, while she was giving me the nickel tour of the library, I took particular note of the card catalog. They're rare enough these days that the object itself is something of a curiosity, but, the repeating motif of the tiny little drawers is quite appealing.

I pulled one of the drawers, and took this with the iPhone using Camera+



A little punch in the contrast in DPP, and that's that.

POTD 35 of 365

I got a set of backordered extension tubes in the mail today, and wanted to try them on this evening's shot.



What you're looking at is a close-up shot of the small LED flashlight I keep in the psteudio for when I'm working in the dark.

Lighting is (once again) the worklight, placed in close.

Setup looks a little something like this - note that I used the iPhone mount I rigged up the other day to hold the flashlight.



Once I took the picture, I did put it on a black background in Photoshop. Once again, I'm finding I really like the abstract quality that macro provides.

POTD 34 of 365

It's not about your camera.

It may, however, be about how steady you can keep said camera.

The iPhone has a halfway decent camera, and a ton of cools apps you can use to squeeze some respectable performance out of it. Below, find a picture of my everyday gear, taken with the iPhone and Camera+ (by TapTapTap...what an odd name).



In it is the 60D with my normal lens, the magnificent 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM, the 580EX II, the 430EZ, the three cheapie triggers, and the transmitter.

I don't like the "lomo" look that I got here. It's not processing, it's just too much light too close to the gear. Frankly, it's a little dreamy for my liking, but, it's not terrible.

Light was provided by the worklight (which was still in the process of warming up, which may account for the overexposure).

Setup shot is here:



Wait...What in the name of Jeebus H. Macy is that...thing...on the tripod?

It's a very simple, very cheap, very quickly assembled mounting bracket I cobbled together for the iPhone. It's two 2x2s with an iPhone-width groove carved into them, held together with some obnoxiously-big bolts, and a 1/4x20 nutsert in the bottom for the tripod stud.

Slip the phone into the groove on the bottom, push the top piece down, tighten the nuts, and Bob's your uncle.

It's a lot like me - not pretty, but gets the job done.

POTD 33 of 365

I've had this shot in mind, and the apples for it, for about a week or so now. Today's snow day for The Missus and I made for the perfect opportunity to make it happen.



Lighting is pretty basic - I wanted harsh, but not shockingly-so, so I went with the 580EX II at 1/16 through a grid.

Setup is here:



The "lab coat" is just one of my chef's jackets, and the "apple" is an apple. It's got a thin rub of vegetable oil on it, to give it a little shine.

POTD 32 of 365

Last night's post was one month in on this project. This month isn't off to a particularly auspicious start, however, I am committed to posting my shots, even if I don't find them appealing.

Tonight's intent was to use the Lensbaby to put a surreal spin on a common item. I figured a combination of Lensbaby and lighting might do it. This the best shot of the series:



Very, very basic setup. Two flashes, the 430EZ at 1/32 with a purple gel, and the 580EX II at 1/32 with a blue gel, no additional modifiers.



In the setup shot, you can see the Lensbaby, with the same tilt I used for the shot. I may revisit this one at some point, but, it's clear to me I need more practice with the Lensbaby - cool lens, though, and very fun getting back to full manual control.