Tag: potd

The new blog headers

Jason4 Comments

As we head into the weekend, for those who are picking up the blog via RSS feeds and never made it over to the site, I had enough email from you requesting to share these in a dedicated blog post.  So, a little addendum post to get you through the weekend, here are the headers from this past week:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Any in particular jump out at anyone?  Feel free to share your thoughts, views, etc. in the comments.  In the meantime, Happy Shooting, and we’ll see you back here again on Monday!

What’s This? – Week 16

Jason1 Comment

Before I get into this week’s edition of “What’s This?”, I need to go back and share the full size versions of some previous What’s This?” entries that had not been done yet (thanks to Andrea who emailed to remind me).

So, here’s the last few weeks, cropped version and full versions:

Week 15 – CD Stack

Crop:

Full:

Week 14 – Turtle’s Mouth
Crop:

Full:

As you can tell, each of these had some downsides to where I didn’t like the whole capture, but portions would be fun to isolate out for their textures or looks, to see what others could come up with.  Thanks to everyone who has been participating in these weekly activities.

So, having done some house-keeping on the trend, here is this week’s version of “What’s This?”

What's This? - Week 16

Monday Myriad of Colors

Jason3 Comments

Well, Fall is definitely upon us as the leaves outside are starting to turn.  The Colorado skies are just rife with beautiful blues and a wonderful myriad of colors!  I was thus prompted this weekend to go out and capture just a little of the color that is so vibrant around here.  Naturally, photography cannot come close to the real thing, but I have endeavored to do my best.

In other news, I’m also rolling out some new headers for the blog this week.  I’ve finally had a chance to go through my archives with”blog header” in my mind, and found quite a few that work quite well (imho).  So, stop in over the course of this week to see a new blog header image every day!)  Also, feel free to share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section.

I’d also like to put out a reminder about the poll on the sidebar (“Has the economy affected your photography purchasing?”)…only 5 days left to participate in that (poll closes this Friday).  Also, the TWIP Photo contest is still going on, so you can enter to win a Drobo if you’re interested.  If you already have a backup solution in place, then stop over and vote for my contributed shot, as I really could use something better than a single WD Mybook setup.  That picture is also in the sidebar of the blog, and directs you to the Photrade site where you can register, vote, and participate with your own images.  It’s all free, so help a fellow photog out by stopping in to vote.  Only 10 days or so left in that contest too!

That’s it from the CB side of life for this Monday morning.  It will turn colder later this week with temps dropping below freezing, so that should push even more colors into the leaves, so I’ll see what I can do for some more colorful photos on Thursday or Friday.  How is the color where everyone else is?  Any other  captures of the fall foliage?  I’d love to see what others have got thus far, so feel free to share links in the comments.  Hope everyone else had a great weekend too.  Happy shooting, and we’l catch you back here tomorrow.

Vivitar Auto Thrystor 550 FD

Jason1 Comment

I got a few emails asking if they could see a picture of the flash as there apparently aren’t that many of them floating around the internet.  Never one to deny an opportunity to take a picture, even if it is really old gear, here we are, the moldy oldy Vivitar Thrystor 550 FD:

What’s This? – Week 15

Jason3 Comments

The turtle mouth of last week kind of took us to a different place, so let’s bring things back toward photography and technology a little bit (or is it a byte?) with the latest edition of “What’s This?”  Now in week 15, we’ve officially passed the two-week mark of image posts, and I would like to take a moment to thank those that have participated and shared their thoughts in the comments section.  So, let’s see who deduces it first this time.  Here’s your image:

What’s This? – Week 14

Jason8 Comments

If you post it, they will guess…that’s the theory I’m going with this week.  Anyone have any ideas?  I took a different approach to it this go around, hopefully a little more abstract…  Good luck, and Happy Shooting!

Take your camera with you!

Jason4 Comments

I was driving home from work yesterday with my camera bag in the seat next to me when I saw this on the opposite side of the road.  So, I swung around, popped out of the car, set up and used the roof of the car for stability and snapped off a few shots wide open and about 800 ISO.  As a full-size image it is a bit noisy, but here it looks pretty good.  To me, that’s proof positive that it always pays to have your camera with you.  That’s the “Tuesday Tip” for this week.  Enjoy and Happy Shooting!  We’ll see you back here again tomorrow.

Lucky 13!

Jason5 Comments

Here we are into week 13 of “What’s This?”  I know, it typically goes up on Wednesdays, but been having a few other issues going on so yesterday was a no-post day for me…anyway, here’s the latest edition for the watchful eyes of the readership.  What’s This?

Whats This - Week 13
What's This - Week 13

As always, the winner…wins! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Tuesday Tricks

Jason3 Comments
Orange
Orange

Jason Moore has his bi-monthly Photographic Compostion posted today, so be sure to stop over there and see the others (I am sure they were more creative than the one I came up with at the last minute yesterday…)

Rather than record a tip or trick for this Tuesday, I thought I’d share a few ideas and suggestions I’ve picked up from various magazines, forums, and photo communities for managing and handling your gear in the field.  These things have become almost second nature to me now and I can’t tell you how helpful these tips and tricks have become in helping me keep everything organized.  So without further ado, here’s my Tuesday tricks:

  1. Pack a large plastic ziploc or other sealable bag in with your camera gear.  When it’s windy or there’s lots of dust around, you can change your lenses from inside these bags to minimize dust.  Additionally, it serves as an additional layer of protection should mother nature decide to dump a deluge of water on you with little warning.  (I keep several sandwich bags in my pack for protecting things like CF cards, wide angle lenses, TC’s and other items.
  2. If you must change lenses in the field, keep the body of the camera pointed down so as to prevent dust from falling into the opening (dust won’t wall up…).
  3. Keep a notepad and pen in your pack, in case you find a location that you want to remember, meet someone and want an email or phone number, or to get an address to send prints or perhaps a resume to!  On the same note, having some business cards and model releases handy for handing out and in case you have a willing model…
  4. Turn your CF cards around backwards when full, so you always know which ones are used versus unused.
  5. Buy a car converter for AC to DC.  This way you can charge your batteries while en route to a shoot.  They’re only like $20 at Wal-Mart or Radio Shack and can add a certain peace of mind that you are going into your shoot with as much of a charge on your portables as you can get.  (Just make sure you add the battery chargers to your packing list…)
  6. Speaking of packing lists – make one!  This can help ensure you leave with everything you brought to a shoot.  I’ve blogged about this before, but it’s been a while, so bears mentioning again.
  7. Pack a micro fiber cloth for wiping off lenses in a pinch.  (Better a microfiber cloth than your shirt!)  These can be begged off any eyeglasses store (try Wal-Mart, they are pretty liberal with handing these things out..)
  8. Need a better way to store your gear at home?  Try shoe boxes.  You can get them for a buck a piece from a dolalr store – makes a great way to compartmentalize short lenses from long lenses, accessories, flash equipment, battery chargers, CD media, gray cards, lens cloths, etc.  A few labels from a Dymo label maker and everything is neat, and easy to find in your bedroom closet!
  9. Dress in layers – weather can change, especially if you are shooting at sunrise or sunet.  It can change from cool to warm or warm to cool very quickly and having a layer to take off (or put on) can extend your shoot time before you start getting uncomfortably warm (or cold).
  10. Take a bottle of water and a granola bar in your pack!  You’d be surprised how quickly you can dehydrate and how hungry you can get while shooting.  I’ve been on shoots where there is so much creativity and so many shooting opportunities, I can often forget to eat or drink.  When things finally end you can be very hungry and or dehydrated where even a bottle of water or a granola bar (or both) can give you the needed boost until you can get to Starbucks or the house for more healthy refreshments!

So, that’s my ten tips/tricks for the day.  Got any of your own to share?  Sound off in the comments – I’d love to hear what others have to say about shooting preparations.  In the meantime, happy shooting, watch those apertures and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow for the Week 13 episode of “What’s This?”

What’s This? – Week 12

Jason7 Comments

Here’s one for everyone…what’s this?

I had to go through some archives to find one that fit what I was looking for this week, but I found it.  This is a crop of a larger image.  The only thing I did was a little levels adjusting, the crop, and then some sharpening.  Can you identify this?  Share your thoughts in the comments!  The winner – wins!

As always, happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!