Project 365
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Day 144: Return to Katz’s
Alex and I braved the snow storm here in NYC today to have lunch at the Katz’s Deli. I had the pastrami on rye with extra mustard and Alex’s had the Philly Cheesesteak (newb). Both sandwiches were complimented perfectly with cream soda and a side of fries. After lunch, we spent the afternoon shopping at B&H Photo on 34th street. Despite the snow storm, it was a great day.
Day 145: East Houston
East Houston Street in a snow storm.
Day 146: Sunset at OBX
Spending a week with three of my cousins and their families in a beach house in Corolla on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Here is a magnificent sunset just a mile down the road from the house.
Day 147: The Beach House
Corolla, NC
Day 148: Cape Hatteras Light
Cape Hatteras Light is a lighthouse located on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. At a height of 200 feet, it is the 23rd tallest in the world. Due to erosion of the shore, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse was moved from its original location at the edge of the ocean to a safer ground in 1999. The lighthouse was a 1.5 hour drive from our beach house, but it was definitely worth it.
Day 149: The Last Sunset
Here’s to the last sunset of 2010 and what a beauty she was.
Day 150: Drive Home
On the drive back home to Boston, I stopped on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in VA to capture today's photo. It was a beautiful new year's day.
Day 152: Return of the Death Knight
Jiny, my level 80 female gnome Death Knight has pink hair tied up in pony tails and delivers DPS than can bring down an Orc with just one swipe of her two-handed epic sword. She's been on a hiatus for the past year but it's time Jiny returns to Azeroth. Blizzard just released their 4th major expansion pack to the ever popular World of Warcraft (WoW). It's time to take all my level 80's to the next cap. Look out hordies.Projectproject365canon50mmf1.45d25DMark2WowwarcraftMMORPGDeath KnightProject project365 canon 50mm f1.4 5d2 5D Mark 2 Wow warcraf
Day 153: Rebecca
In an instant, Rebecca's world will change forever.
Day 154: Uninspired
Completely uninspired and lost for subject, I put a macro extension tube on the 50mm f1.4 to get this shot. Not interesting but I have 211 more opportunities to make it up.
Day 155: A Beautiful Sight
Alex's room is directly across the hallway from my office at home. Once in a while, I catch a glimpse of him completely immersed in his school work. What a beautiful sight.
Day 156: Friday Night Dinner
Tonight's dinner was ground chicken with red and yellow peppers, baby spinach served with farfalle. Pretty healthy dinner except I think I had too much bread.
Day 157: Behind the Glamour
Worked with Laura Frazier this afternoon. On this particular shot, we tried to mimic the glamour look of the 1920's from Hollywood. The key light was an AB1600 beauty dish with a grid set high to camera left, an AB800 with a grid for hair light set directly over and slightly back to the model, and an AB400 to light the backdrop. All triggered wirelessly with a Pocket Wizard II.
Day 158: Un-posed
I started out by taking portraits of Dani in different poses but none of them were really to my liking. The lighting was too harsh and I couldn't get a natural expression out of Dani. As I was wrapping up, Scooter came into the room and sat next to Dani. Dani's expression suddenly opened up and she looked down with a smile to pat Scooter on the head. Without time to adjust any of the settings on the camera, I pressed the shutter to capture tonight's 365.
Day 159: Red Red Wine
Between my wife and I, we end up buying more wine than we drink. Our collection keeps growing until we have company and than we start all over again. Of course, I keep the real good ones way in the back
Day 160: Three and One
A late night scene at Anna's Taqueria in Brookline.
Day 161: Snow Day
I woke up to about 18 inches of snow today. Clearing snow off a 200 feet driveway is a backbreaking work, even with a snow blower. On top of that, when we get more than a foot of snow, I have to plow a trail completely around the house so that Scooter with his short stubby legs can go outside, do his business and get his exercise. I can't wait for summer.
Day 162: Frozen Aperture
Walking back from taking out the trash, I noticed the pretty sparkles created by the light from the lamp post shining on the frozen snow. This shot was hand held at 1/15sec at f/4.0. If I had used a tripod and closed down the aperture to f/16 or 22, I think I would have had a better result, certainly prettier sparkles. Given that I was freezing my aperture off, and that I was in my pajamas, this will have to do for tonight.
Day 164: On The Way To Scusset
On the way to Scusset Beach, I caught this view of a narrow channel that intersects the main road. Scusset Beach is located in Cape Cod Bay towards the eastern end of the canal. The area was completely deserted. Maybe it had something to do with the temperature being 10 degrees this morning.
Day 165: The Good Doctor
Dr. Gonzo is a local New England singer, songwriter and a heck of a piano player backed by his band, the Roadkill Orchestra. His voice is a mix of George Thorogood and Tom Waits. Their sound is harsh and raw but genuine, much like the lyrics to the songs he writes. They create a mix of jazz, blues with a good pinch of zydeco and ska thrown in. I had the pleasure of meeting the band at a photo shoot today.
Day 166: Fun with Light Box
I tried out the Giottos Light Box my wife gave me for Christmas tonight. The light box is basically a foldable cube with the walls made out of translucent cloth to diffuse light. I used my 580 EXII Speedlight on a light stand and a remote trigger to trigger the flash. Even with the flash dialed all the way down to -3 stops and shooting through the translucent material, it was still way too bright. After trying out different positions for the light and camera setting, I finally got this result at ISO 100, f/9 at 1/200 sec. I used a piece of aluminum foil as a reflector to fill in some of dark spots on the right side of the subject. The flash was positioned about 2 feet away and 45 degrees on camera left and above the subject. I think I'll pick up some cheap lighting from Home Depot this week and try setting up a three way lighting system.
Day 167: Remembering David
I heard today that a dear friend of mine has passed away. I've known this friend for over twenty five years and served together on several mission trips to the Amazon, the slums of Peru, and the jungle villages in Nicaragua. He was a brilliant doctor, a loving father and husband, a great friend and a faithful servant of God. On our last mission trip to Peru, we took a day off to visit the museums in Lima. I picked up this replica of an ancient Peruvian pottery at a museum shop, and David bought a handmade leather stool. David was concerned about whether my pottery would make it home in one piece. As you can see, the pottery came back in several pieces. I did my best to put the pieces back together, but there is still a piece missing. For what it's worth, this pottery will always remind me of our mission work in Peru and the missing piece will remind me of my friend David.
Day 168: Free Food!
This little guy and about 10 of his friends were having a feast at the feeder today. We filled the feeders yesterday and by this afternoon, it is almost empty. What happened to "eating like a bird?"
Day 169: Days of Wine and Roses
Today's title is from a great movie from the sixties with Jack Lemmon and Jack Klugman, the original Odd Couple. I'm experimenting with different lighting schemes for my new lightbox. Today's subject was lit with two $8 aluminum light reflectors from Home Depot with 100w "daylight" fluorescent bulbs (6500 Kelvin). The lights were placed to the left and the right of the subject outside the box. I used strips of aluminum foil as reflectors to reduce the shadows on the bottom of the dish.
A red background was used for this photo but I didn't like the result at all. The background appeared way too bright and it was competing with the subject. In post, I desaturated the red to almost a pinkish hue as seen here to soften the tone and added slight vignette to the edges. By the way, that's watered down apple juice in the glass. I didn't want to waste a whole bottle of vino for this photo.
Day 170: Oh no...
A follow up to my Day 42 photo. One of my worst fears and a subject of recurring nightmares.
Day 171: Uni at ISO 5000
I went out for sushi tonight. Uni is my all time favorite and it's usually one of the most expensive item on the menu. Some sushi bars serve this delicacy with a raw quail egg on the top, but not this one. Fortunately, I'm the only one in the family who enjoys this sushi so I don't have to order too many. The restaurant was very dark with only a red lantern lighting our table. I bump up the ISO to 5000 at f/4 but I was still shooting at 1/13 sec. Even after trying to get the color correct in post and removing noise, the photo here doesn't do this wonderful sushi justice. I promise to present a better looking Uni in the future. It still tasted like heaven in my mouth.
Day 172: Composition
Just messing around with these bottles looking at lighting and composition. I applied a similar concept for posing people to these bottles by creating difference in height, interesting lines and triangles. Balancing just the right amount of depth of field while maintaining the necessary shutter speed was bit of a challenge
Day 173: Warm Fuzzy
Dani calls these her warm fuzzy socks. On cold nights, she likes to put these on before climbing into her bed for some night-time reading . She's a good sport for letting me take these photos. Good night, Dan...
Day 174: Target-Rich Environment
I went hunting for today's 365 and ended up in the garage. I didn't realize what a target-rich environment my garage was. I could probably make a whole series of photos just from items found in this garage. After considering all the options I had, I went with this presentation of tools that were hanging over my workbench. The tools were laid out on the garage floor over a white foam board. The image was shot straight down lit with a 580 EX II speedlight and a diffuser. It's so satisfying to find a "gem" in the most unlikely of places.
Day 175: Pensive
I picked up a white shoot through umbrella today for $15 to use with my 580EX II. The Canon 580EX II produces more than enough light for a tight portrait like this. In fact, even at f/11 and ISO100, I still had to dial the flash down 2.3 stops to keep the exposure from blowing out.
Day 176: The Morning After
Town of Easton received another 12 to 14 inches of snow last night. The temperature wasn't quite freezing so it was the heavy and wet kind - a real backbreaker. Here's a view from my deck overlooking the backyard. Aside from the snow, it was a beautiful day with deep blue skies. A perfect day for shoveling snow.
Day 177: The Tale of Two Forks
This was inspired by a photo I saw in a magazine today. This wasn't quite what I wanted but it's close enough and it's getting late. No extension tube or close up lens here, just a 50mm f/1.4 cropped tightly. Two light set up: one directly behind the subject to blowout the background and one to the camera right.
Day 178: Getting Ready
While waiting for this model to get ready, I stole this quick shot. It turned out to be one of my favorites from today's shoot.
Day 179: High Key Tulip
High key photography isn't necessarily any subject that's brightly lit with an overexposed white background. A true high key requires a scene that is made up of predominantly "light" or "high key" tones (greater than the middle tone or 18% grey if shooting BW) such as soft pastel colors with minimal contrast and shadows.
Here's an attempt at a high key with a light colored tulip. Canon Speedlight 580EX II was used with a shoot through umbrella from camera right. Additional strobes were used to light directly on the white background and on camera left and low to get rid of shadows. The challenge here was to blowout the background evenly without overexposing any part of the flower. The right side of the flower looks overexposed here but that is because the flower petal is actually lighter on that side. This would have been a lot easier with a darker colored flower.
Day 180: Ice Pod
I didn't have my tripod with me, so for this long exposure shot, I got down on the ice covered ground and rested my camera on a block of frozen snow to stabilize it. It worked out well except after taking five shots of these long exposures, I couldn't feel my stomach (note to self: go buy an extra tripod and leave it in the car). The last hint of sunlight from below the horizon gave this snow covered cemetery an eerie glow.
Day 181: Dani's Birdhouse
This little birdhouse hangs right outside our living room window. It's pretty to look at but not many birds come by to feed from it. It was made by Dani when she was in pre-school. She couldn't have been more than three or four years old. She's thirteen now. I told Dani more birds might come by if she filled it with bird food.
Day 182 An Ode To Mary
The Lord replied, "The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you."
Day 183: Past Prime
Though bananas are one of my favorite fruits, for me, they have a very narrow window of period where I would consider them in their prime. I like mine slightly unripe where there is still a hint of green hue left on the skin. This makes the banana somewhat tart on the palate with a wisp of fresh cut grass in the flavor. Unfortunately, this only lasts couple of days before it reaches a past prime stage as shown here.
Day 184: Frozen Serenity
Finally, a day of peace and quiet. Tomorrow's forecast: more snow and rain.
Day 185: Nowhere To Go
Scooter sleeps in our bedroom at night and he is usually the last to get up in the morning. For whatever reason, Scooter was up early this morning. I found him just lying down at the end of the hallway with no particular place to go.
Day 186: Lunch at Border Cafe
A bowl of gumbo at the Border Cafe in Burlington. Dee-lish.
Day 187: Q-Bert
Remember "Q-Bert," the arcade video game from the 80s? That's what my living room looks like now. The old kitchen has been completely gutted and it's sitting in a big pile in the backyard and the new kitchen cabinets, appliances, floor, awaits in the living room to be installed. I know, it's not an interesting photo but it's still a milestone and worth capturing.
Day 188: Ames Memorial at Night
A powerful silhouette against the night sky, the massive structure sits high above the street on granite outcropping with a commanding view of its surroundings. The Memorial Hall nestles in natural surroundings designed by famed landscape architect F.L. Olmsted, best known for New York’s Central Park.
The building is lit by two nearby lamp posts. A thirty second exposure taken with the camera resting on top of my Honda.
Day 189: A Case For The 24-105mm
Even at ISO 3200, the shutter speed read 1/30sec for a balanced exposure. The Image Stabilization (IS) feature on this 24-105mm f/4 lens allowed me to handhold this shot and still come away with sharp details. At times like these, I don't envy the 24-70 f/2.8 at all. It seems the IS cancels out the extra stop afforded by the 24-70. I'm sure the 24-70 owners would argue about the sharpness of their lens, but is it really that sharper?
Day 190: Mt. Mano Izquierda
Beautiful starless night over the arid terrains of Mount Mano Izquierda.
Day 191: All That Jazz
Oliver Ames High School put on a big fundraiser concert tonight. In addition to the the chamber orchestra, which Alex is part of, there were impressive performances from the show choir and the jazz band. I was especially impressed with some of the talents in the jazz band. Who knows, maybe this photo will be worth a lot of money in few years.
