2 Picture Posts Today

Because I didn't post yesterday I will do two photos today. So, you know what they always say about being prepared and having the right intentions? I will say that Friday night I saw the fog and knew that the temperatures would drop freezing the mist to the trees and making for a very beautiful scene. I made sure my gear was ready to go, then... Nicholas got up in the middle of the night and was up for a while, so I overslept past my intended time and missed the great scene that I wanted to capture with the light at the peak. That is what I wanted to post. But here is what I will post, just a couple more pictures from the Maui trip, one will be a Valentine's Day themed photo that I snapped from my phone, so the resolution isn't great but it conveys the spirit of love.

-Enjoy

This picture is from under the largest banyan tree it was really a cool thing to see, so if you ever find yourself in Lahaina on Maui go check it out it is pretty neat.

This was shot using the iPhone's camera. I think that the cameras capability is lacking, but with that said, it was the only one I had with me at the time. To give a little background we were driving around the northern shore of Maui on the western side and we were stopping at scenic overlooks and a few of them had these rock formations that people had stacked and I was curious to know why they stacked the rocks. Clearly, some were stacked up for an obvious message (see the picture above and the heart below), others made less sense. But it was still really cool.

Okay, so I have posted more than two pictures, but it was more to illustrate the stacking.

-TC

It's Feb 12th and I am starting my 365 photo-blog now???

Okay, this is a test to see how well I can stick to a thought. I know, I will really be testing the boundaries of my self-diagnosed ADD (no H cuz I'm not that hyperactive), so if you catch me drifting then give me knock up the side of the head.

My intention is to try and post at least a photo-a-day, now in my interpretation of this is that I may post seven photos a week (maybe all on the same day, but in the end we should get 365 total photos). I promise though not to post 364 photos all on Feb 11th, 2011 and overwhelm the Blogger site with my flooding it with pictures; if anything I will give up about a quarter way in after getting distracted by the bright, shiny objects that often distract people like myself (see ADD warning above).

My intention with this blog is not to underwhelm you with my mediocre photography "skills", it is more a try to push my creativity to the edge of a figurative precipice and cooly strut back...or burn out my camera in the hopes of getting a new one.

I will take reasonable suggestions as to what to try to capture, though I would ask that you to keep the request somewhat vague to help spur the creative juices; I will also ask that you keep them fairly local (Twin Cities area, unless I announce that I am traveling out of town) so as to not draw me away from my family.

My attempts will be to utilize my Nikon D50 as my primary camera, though once in a while I will probably use whatever picture taking device I can get my grubby little fingers on (I may be mediocre, but still somewhat of a photo-nut and attempt to use anybody elses camera in order to see if I can figure out how to use it).

You will also notice (if I haven't driven you away from the blog already because you are telling yourself that I should be showing pictures and cutting out the incessant rambling) that I tend to parenthasize a lot and I do a lot of ..., it's habit, not always a good one, but I type like I talk with pauses and a lot of asides. So, if you have stuck around this long you just might get past the ADD and my quirky typing habits, I promise that it may not always be worth your coming back to see my "art" but I hope so.

So, just a few more "housekeeping" items, I will try to give you some of my thoughts as I was taking the picture; or the strategy I employed to execute the shot, as well as some of the meta-data so as to give you the "stats". Now, finally, on to the picture showin'...unfortunately, I don't have anything incredibley new, but after some reviews I will show one of my recent favorites, I promise that one of the next posts will feature a new picture (I define new as taken within a day or two of posting). Since I am a music fan you may also see me employ a trick they use in the music biz to fulfill a contractual obligation to the number of albums they are contracted to record, so if I hit a creative rut then I will probably do a greatest hits week, or something to that effect and highlight my favorite photos from the past.

Okay, this was one of my favorite photographs that I took of my wife on our recent trip to Maui. She has always been my reluctant subject/model and may be a frequent subject of future entries (along with our son Nicholas). 

Thoughts: So, we were walking the beach at sunset and I decided just to kind of point-and-shoot to see what I'd get. Since light was diminishing it triggered the flash and put some really good fill light in the picture. I think it appears that the picture is slightly tilted for two reasons, one because it probably was since it was a quick shot; and two because of the tilt of the sand/line of the beach. But what I think makes it is the way she is looking off and almost drinking it all in.

Data:

F-Stop: f/3.3

Exposure Time: 1/320 sec.

ISO: 200

Focal Length: 28mm

Max Aperture: 3.5

Flash Mode: Flash, auto, strobe return