Project 365, Day 59. Two month mark!

It's the end of February, that makes two months down!

All last month, on the way to paramedic refresher class, I saw a sculpture just off the highway next to a lightrail station. A bunch of giant leaves.


Here's the station:



I thought it looked like it might make a good subject for a pic of the day, so while I was out running around Denver today, I stopped by and started shooting.

While there, I decided to shoot the leaves in HDR or High Dynamic Range. I've mentioned the technique several times in the past here on the blog. It's taking the same picture at different exposures to get the full range of shadow and light.

Here's the results:






While I didn't quite get what I was looking for, I did get some nice shots.

I also got a great idea for an upcoming project within a project.....

More on that tomorrow!



Music tonight:
The Dope Show by Marilyn Manson
You Really Got Me by Van Halen
Highway to Hell by AC/DC
Love Bites by Def Leppard
Rough Boys by Pete Townsend
Summer Nights by Van Halen

Pics O' The Week #9

So as Brian just mentioned, I do have a bit of a project going with eyes. It's still in the early stages so I don't really know where it's going quite yet, but I never pass up the chance to add an interesting eye to the mix.


Dave's birds were quite the good sports for us today, and made perfect models - even with cameras on both sides.


I'm not sure if he was curious or making sure that I had the right camera settings!



As a side note, I'd like to point out that I did a bit of post-processing work on each of these images with very little kicking, screaming, or complaining about it. For me, this is most impressive - and I'm happy with the results.

Thanks, Dave, for letting us come by!

Project 365, Day 58. A Bird's Eye View....Of A Bird...

I am going to use today's post to segue into Emily's weekly post.

As previously mentioned, Emily has a running project to shoot eyes. Any and all kind of eyes. (What? You didn't know that? Please try to keep up here, huh?) I think it's a brilliant idea and I'm jealous I didn't think of it first, honestly.

I mentioned to Emily that my mentor (and more recently, part time boss) Dave Tejada has two African Grey parrots. The first thing she said was "Oooo! I want to shoot their eyes!"

Dave being the swell fellow he is, extended Emily an invitation to come shoot his parrots, Fox and Cinder. We took him up on that today.

Today's shot is a picture of Fox posing for Emily...


Remember to click on the picture once or twice to see it in a larger format!

I got a few nice pics of the birds myself and I'll put a couple up on my website later. Be sure to check back and read Emily's post and what results she got!

Thanks again, Dave!


Today's music:
Rio by Duran Duran
Time Machine by Joe Satriani
Thunderstruck by AC/DC (live)

Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 57. Passport to digital exposures...

There is one creative trick that I just haven't been able to get the hang of.

In camera image overlay.

Not sure what that is? Well, it's kind of what multiple exposure was back in the days of film. You take a picture and instead of rolling the film to the next frame, you shoot a second image over it.

I've seen some awesome results using film. Digitally? It's a hell of a lot easier to do in Photoshop, ending up with much better results. (At least compared to what I've been getting) If you've seen my Winter Solstice Eclipse picture, then you know what a positive result is. (Click the link already!)

I decided to try it today. I've also been getting the bug to go back overseas lately (Common Powerball, papa needs a trip to London!) so I pulled out my passport to shoot as a subject.

Thankfully, I have a tougher critic than myself. Emily. She has an amazing eye and I was not going to give this up until I got something that SHE liked. It would feel like giving up if I didn't.

I don't give up on nuthin. Not easily.

Unfortunately, the coolest looking pages were all stamps from Dubai, rather than someplace nice like Ireland or New Zealand. Oh sure, Dubai is nice, if you like taking acid while in Vegas.

So, here are the results:



Well, there ya go. Three shots merged into one in the camera rather than in Photoshop. Get it right in the camera as they say...

Oh, I also understand that my grandmother got high speed internet yesterday. I guess I cant swear anymore on the blog.

Fuck.

I mean....fudge. Sorry Grandma.


Music for tonight:
Trampled Under Foot by Led Zeppelin
Kiss Your Past Goodbye by Aerosmith
Love Ain't For Keeping by The Who
Walk on Water by Aerosmith
Time Is On My Side by The Rolling Stones
I Can't Tell You Why by The Eagles
Hold The Line by Toto

Until tomorrow...!

Pics O' The Week #8

To fully explain this post, I have to start by talking about shoes, and choices.

To me, there really is such a thing as having too many things to choose from. The reason I like buying running shoes so much is that only three manufacturers make the kind of shoe I need, and Boulder Running Company only carries two of them. The result is that when I need new shoes I usually have two choices: these or those. As far as I'm concerned, this is just about perfect.



This helps explain why my least favorite part of this hobby is the post-production side of things. Digital photography and lots of memory cards makes it possible to shoot hundreds of images without even realizing it. So while I had a great time at the gymkhana last weekend, and think I got some good shots out of it, the thought of wading through over 900 photos to find the dozen or so that I really like makes me want to take up stamp collecting. I hesitate to delete pics outright "just in case" there might be something there that would come through in post processing - even though the odds me of actually sitting down to do that much post work are somewhere between Slim and None, and I think Slim's out of town.

At any rate, one of my co-workers got some beautiful lillies for Valentine's Day - quite interesting up close, I think.

Project 365, Day 56. Missed Opportunity

It snowed a miniscule amount last night. Not enough to make some interesting subjects to go out and shoot today.

Not even enough to make the dogs happy.

It did leave behind a nice layer of hoar frost though. That's what Doug went out and shot today. He came back with some nice images.

I was right in the middle of editing images from last weekend's horse gymkhana. I didn't want to stop what I was doing, I know some folks are waiting on some of those images. I figured the frost would be there later.

Well shit, I was wrong. Maybe next time.

I did get a shot of a tree that I liked....




Remember to click on the picture once or twice to see it in a larger format.

I also sat down and weeded out a bunch of crap from my iTunes. That was a long time coming.


Music tonight:
Dr. Love by Kiss
Running With The Devil by Van Halen
Secrets by Van Halen
Surfing With The Alien by Joe Satriani
Girl Gone Bad by Van Halen
Cheap Sunglasses by ZZ Top


Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 55. New Toys! Kind of...

I always shoot what I see.

Sometimes that is an image I come across and think to myself:

"Self, that's gonna make a nice picture, put that camera to your eye and shoot it!"

Other times, I see the image somewhere else.

In my mind.

I visualize an image in my mind's eye then have to figure out a way to use my camera to bring it into a digital format so that others can see it. That's not so easy sometimes.

I got a new toy today that will help me bring my mind's eye into a visual image. Not so much a new camera or lens but rather a software program. I use Niks Software plug ins for Photoshop for all of my editing. They launched the upgrade to the Black & White plug in today.

Black and white is powerful imagery, pure and simple.

I saw the remnants of an old gas station on the way home the other day, by the time I was home. I had an image in my mind.



With a simple crop, I can focus in on what I saw in my mind.


Be sure to click once or twice on the pictures to see them in a larger format.



Music tonight:

Under Pressure by Queen
I Can't Stand It by Eric Clapton
Let's Go by The Cars
Don't Stop Me Now by Queen
Until It Sleeps by Metallica
Girls on Film by Duran Duran
Big Gun by AC/DC
Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd (Live)
Faithfully by Journey

Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 54. What Would Dave Do?

Today I was able to work for my mentor, David Tejada as his photo assistant again.

We had two different shoots today, both were portrait type shots, or as Dave calls them: "Guys in Ties."

Dave normally has all his shots planned out as well as how he plans to light them. But today, both of the clients said "Oh by the way, since you're here....we need you to shoot this too..."

I like working for Dave. I learn something new each time. I get to see how he plans his shots and how to light them.

But today, improvisation! It's one thing to see someone work from a script, but when someone throws a curve ball at you and you have to pull something out of your ass on the fly, well, that is a learning opportunity second to none. I learned a lot of cool stuff today.

One of the clients handed him a picture of one of the executives and asked if he could duplicate the results. His reply was something along the lines of how it might be difficult, but he could probably do it.

He then winked at me and whispered: "I shot that picture." He then proceeded to duplicate the results and amaze his client. I bit my tongue and rolled my eyes. I learned how to BS my client and come out smelling like roses. Always so much to learn from Dave....

While we were waiting for the Guys in Ties, I was able to use Dave's strobes with my camera and get this shot. He only let me have one (read, he only stood still for one) I had better make it count.




I also learned some new tricks for some of the photo editing software I use.

I made you look ten years younger, Dave. Remember....your invaluable photo assistant....


The music tonight:
Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd
Us and Them by Pink Floyd
Ballroom Blitz by Krokus
West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys (What?)
The Great Gig in the Sky by Pink Floyd (iTunes likes Pink Floyd tonight)
Stand Up by David Lee Roth

Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 53. In memory...

I saw this memorial on the way home yesterday and it caught my eye. I planned then to shoot it today.

Today it holds a bit more meaning besides a memorial for the person it was meant for when I found out this morning New Zealand was struck by a huge earthquake, killing a large number of people and destroying landmarks that I enjoyed just over a year ago.



Until tomorrow....

Project 365, Day 52. Hotel Cali...er...Colorado...

I was on the way to the hospital today to get the blessing and signature from the doctor that oversees EMS so that I may send my National Registry paperwork in and have another two years to practice medicine.

On the way I spotted this amazing motorcycle parked right in front of what I could only call the perfect background.

I stopped on my way back to snap a few shots.

The owner came out to see what I was doing. He and his buddies were inside smoking some of Mother Nature's finest herbal medicine. I'm a paramedic, I know it when I smell it.

I'm quite sure someone had glaucoma, cancer or other debilitating illness and his buddies were there for support. Who am I to judge? We should all have friends that care that much about us!

At any rate, the owner was quite generous in letting me shoot to my heart's content while he returned to....self medication.



Cheers, mate! Get well soon!



The music tonight:
Atomic Punk by Van Halen
Don't Get Mad by Aerosmith
Until It Sleeps by Metallica
Mother's Little Helper by The Rolling Stones.
Hotel California by The Eagles
Boys of Summer by Done Henley

Remember to click once or twice on the picture to see it in a larger form!

Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 51. My cousin the cowgirl.

My cousin, Susan wanted to know if I wanted to come to a gymkhana to shoot this weekend.

I of course, said "Yes"!

I then said, "What in the hell is a gymkhana?" It sounds like the name of a bad 80's ninja movie.

But knowing my cousin, I knew it must have something to do with horses. Google proved me right on that. Thanks Google, I didn't show up looking like an idiot with no clue on what I was going to shoot.

So, I borrowed Doug's 200mm f/2 lens (Google THAT why dontcha? See what a beast it is.) grabbed my monopod and a few other lenses I thought might be good for this type of shooting and Emily and I met up with Susan, her horse and her man and I went work.

Work = 2250 shots. Woof. That's 30 and half gigabytes of images. Plus what Emily shot...

I got some awesome stuff. It's hard not to with that camera, lens and that type of subject matter. I haven't even looked at most of them yet. I'll be putting a gallery on my website just for this event.

But for now, a shot of Susan...


The music for the editing and writing today:
Nothin' But a Good Time by Poison
Dream On by Aerosmith (ask me about a good joke relating to this song...)
Yankee Rose by David Lee Roth
Big Time by Peter Gabriel
Renegade by Styx
Can't Get This Stuff No More by Van Halen

It took a while to edit and write today, what can I say?

That's the post for yesterday, stay tuned for today's post!

Project 365, Day 50. Blue Blue Heeler.

The wife and I had planned on going to shoot sunset at Red Rocks today.

The motivation went right out the window when the weather went to shit and my mother-in-law said there was beer in the fridge for us.

Bad weather, I can deal with. But the beer? Yeah, forgetaboutit. I'm not going anywhere, I'll find something to shoot at the in-law's house.

My dogs turn into slobbering retards when they see my father-in-law. They love him to death.

I almost used a picture of one of them doing just that. Slobbering on him. But I had four to pick from this evening, so I left it up to Emily to decide which one it should be.

She chose this one:



A picture of Angie the Blue Heeler. The lighting was less than spectacular, (it's tough to follow pictures like last night) so I converted it to black and white and applied blue toner to the picture.

Music tonight:

Have a Drink On Me by AC/DC
Rebel Yell by Billy Idol
For Those About to Rock by AC/DC ( My "random" iTunes is ANYTHING but fucking random.)
Just Like Paradise by David Lee Roth

Like horses? I should have some awesome stuff tomorrow night.....

Until then....!

Project 365, Day 49. Two for Tue...er..Friday

Today was the last day of Paramedic Refresher class! A few signatures here and there, staple some paperwork together stick a stamp on it and I'm good for another two years!

As a treat, I went to the state capital building after class to do some shooting.

I had a full moon coming up over the capital building. It was pretty cool.

While I was swapping out lenses to change up my shot, I heard an ambulance headed my way. I was able to get a lens on quickly, get my camera back on and get a shot of the ambulance that I really liked.

It was too hard to pick one photo for today, so I chose two.



The music I listened to for the ambulance shot?
Dr. Feelgood by Motley Crue
Abracadabra by Sugar Ray
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica


I got quite a few of the capital that I liked, but I was in an HDR mood tonight...



The music for the capital building:
Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin
Lords of Karma by Joe Satriani
Come Together by Aerosmith
Coming of Age by Damn Yankees

(It took a little longer to edit the second pic...)

Oh, the HDR pic is four shots at a full stop in between.

Be sure to click on both pics once or twice to see them in a larger format!

Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 48. Duck!

Doug and I went down to the local goose swimming hole today.

Only to have Doug chase everything off. He's been doing that a lot with birds recently.

Oh well.

I was able to get a few shots of some ducks that I kinda liked.

The music seemed to be no help editing tonight. I played with the picture in post for quite a while, starting over at least three times.

Everything is brown here, it's hard to make that look interesting.

But I noted that the music seemed skewed to 80's pop music tonight.... Queen, Sammy Hagar, Men At Work, Prince...

That got me thinking...

I started over once again, sharpened the image, cropped it a bit and used a film emulation plug in. The filter simulates qualities that certain films used to produce. Old music...old shooting....shoot film!

So, tonight's picture what it would look like if I had shot Kodak Ektachrome 64 in my old Nikon F5 film body rather than my D700 DSLR.

Guess the music helped after all, huh?



Remember to click on the image once or twice to see it in a larger format!

Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 47. Great Gig in the Sky....

Frequently, something will catch my eye and I think to myself:

"Self, that's fucking awesome! I need a picture of that!"

I rarely argue with myself. At least not in public. People tend to stare at me when I do.

Last weekend I worked as an assistant for my mentor, Dave Tejada when I spotted something that caught my eye.

So, I thought to myself:

"Self, that's fucking awesome! I need a picture of that."
"I agree, but you're working right now and can't take the time to shoot it."
"Well, note to self, come back and get this shot."
"So noted!"

Yeah, I talk to myself. What of it?

The shot in question happens to be at the old Yellow Cab dispatch building that has recently been converted to upscale offices and lofts. They didn't tear down the huge antenna from the dispatch days and the shot that me, myself and I thought would be awesome was to follow the steel cables that hold it in place up to the antenna itself with the lighting that only the late afternoon can provide.



The picture is a five shot HDR with a 1/3 of a stop difference between each shot.

If you read last night's post, I mentioned how music influences my writing and post processing.
Tonight's playlist:

Great Gig in the Sky by Pink Floyd (hence the title tonight)
Iron Man by Ozzy
&.......Hold Me Now by The Thompson Twins

Hey, they all cant always match the theme.

Remember to click on the picture once or twice to see it in a larger format!

Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 46. Takin A Ride On Heavy Metal ...

It's not as cold as it has been the past few weeks.

Which means......nothing really.

I'll still go out shooting even when it's so cold the dogs refuse to go outside.

I just have a little more motivation to go out when it's not so cold that my snot freezes while it's still in my sinuses.

I have a list of stuff I have been wanting to shoot at night. You've seen a few of those shots of the Denver skyline and the light trails on I-25.

While on the way home from paramedic refresher class the past few weeks, I've noticed the Air Life chopper sitting on the pad at the local hospital. It sits outside and is lit up beautifully at night. So, I added it to my list of stuff to shoot.

Tonight, it made it to the top of the list.

(Remember to click once or twice to see the picture in a larger format!)

As an aside, I almost always do my post processing and writing while listening to music. I think it sparks my creativity.
Sometimes my iTunes is a bastard and picks crap that I had no idea I even had and cant image why it would be on my iPod. I mean, common, who the hell listens to Big Head Todd and the Monsters anyway?! Geez.

Not tonight....

Tonight it picked:

Radar Love by Golden Earring
Jet City Woman by Queensryche
and Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride) by Don Felder, which is where I got the title for tonight.

Yeah! How appropriate!

Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 45. Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

What kind of lousy husband would I be if I didn't get my wife chocolate today?


She got me Red Bull and Sweet Tarts! Mmmm! The best wife ever!

Until tomorrow....!

Pics O' The Week #7

So as it often happens, I find my pic of the week after I'm done shooting whatever it is I thought I would take pics of that day. Case in point, the windows above. This is what I saw as I leaned back on the futon after picture-taking time was done - it's the afternoon sun through the clerestory* windows at the top of our stairs.












What I had intended to shoot today was my French horn. I did end up with several shots that I liked.













Of course it's a wonder that I got anything taken at all with this guy running around - is it me, or does he look just a little bit crazy? Ok, ok, not a little bit crazy.....a LOT crazy!



THAT's why I was gonna let the dogs eat him last week.... ;-)


*Thanks to MA Hatch for the new vocabulary word!

Project 365, Day 44. I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own

After working as an assistant yesterday on the Small Strobes Big Results workshop, I decided to get my own strobes out and play.

One of the ideas Dave advocates is to substitute your reality by using your strobes. Create your own environment.

I reject the reality of my own living room and substitute this rock concert.


Party on Garth.

Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 43. Lighting workshop...

Once again I was able to work as a photography assistant for the amazing photographer, David Tejada.

He teaches a workshop called Small Strobes, Big Results. In this workshop he teaches you how to use the small flashes, like the ones I have, and get studio quality results once only thought possible by the huge strobe lights that could barbecue a cow at 50 yards.

When he started teaching this, very few people believed that this was possible. (Getting good results from the small strobes, not barbecuing the cow with your studio strobes.) But holy shit, it's not only possible, it's more likely that you'll be able to obtain better results with smaller strobes due to the creative freedom they provide.

Now, I didn't get a chance to play today, I had to work. But, I'll always jump at any opportunity to glean any information from that man's brain and to try to get him to realize that he simply can not work without a good assistant.

Such as myself. Ahem.

I plan on taking the class as a student next time, rather than the hired help.

So, no fancy lighting shots tonight. Rather, candid shot of our model, Megan.



The picture is crap compared to what Dave was getting with the strobes. So, now if you'll excuse me, I am off to try to convince the wife I need a large softbox and dream of radio flash triggers...

Remember to click on the picture once or twice to see the picture in a larger format!

Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 42. More night shooting.

Nothing too fancy tonight.

Just a little more shooting after class this evening.

One of Elitches Six Flags roller coasters...


Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 41. Screw you, I'm retired!

I think I have isolated my camera problem. Might have solved it with something as simple as a pencil eraser.

It still needs to go in to Nikon for some TLC, though.

Today, I went to see my mother, who recently retired.

She had said that once she had told her boss what part of her anatomy she needed to pull out of what orifice, she was going to get purple highlights in her hair. Her big "Screw you! I'm retired!"

That's my mum, the life of the party! Any wonder I turned out the way I did?

She did it though, got her purple highlights.

Personally, I don't think she went far enough. I think she needs to use Kool-Aid next time!

Project 365, Day 40. Camera malfunction!

I went out shooting tonight after class. I had planned on taking some night shots of the Denver skyline again as well as long exposure shots of the interstate to get light trails.

I took two shots...the shutter made a noise that it's not supposed to...camera malfunction.

"Err" blinked on my LCD screen.

That's never a good sign.

It seems to be working now. I'm hoping it was just due to how cold it was outside tonight that caused it to misfire. That won't make me happy though, I still have quite a few ideas that I want to try out in cold weather.

Either way, it's going to have to go into Nikon after I am working again. It really should have gone in for cleaning after I got home from Afghanistan like my D300 did.

Anyway, here is one of the two shots I was able to get off tonight:

Project 365, Day 39. The Brindle Boozehound.

Most dogs like people food. Some even like people beverages.

Think about it a minute. How much would it suck to go through your whole life and only drink water?

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know what you're gonna say. "People food isn't good for dogs!"

However, it's not like I'm handing the dogs the debit card, car keys and directions to the supermarket and telling them to stock up on bacon and cinnamon rolls.

Well, ok, I am telling the dogs to do just that, but the lazy beasts never listen to me. Their loss.

I had one dog that liked coffee. He's get up on furniture and start lapping up unattended java. He was afraid of the coffee grinder, ironically enough. A weird one he was.

But the wife's dog?

She likes booze.

If you've got a alcoholic drink in your hand or if you're sipping a bottle of beer, she's on you like a cheap suit, hoping that your next breath is your last so she may taste that sweet, sweet heaven that is Guinness.

She takes after the wife that way.

Project 365, Day 38. Thank your local paramedics.

We study hard.

We spend months in clinicals, years in school.

We get paid crappy wages and work long hours.

To save lives.

Yours may be the next to be saved. Thank your local paramedics in advance.

They don't hear "thank you" enough.

Pics O' The Week #6

As Brian mentioned in his last post, part of his day was spent chasing the dogs around outside. Of course, when I peeked outside to see what they were up to, it looked like the dogs had taken him down with the intention of turning him into their next meal.


On closer inspection, things didn't look good.



However, much to the dogs' surprise he sprang back to life and then it was payback time - everyone got a faceful of snow.



Of course Tess, being Tess, thought that was the best part.

Project 365, Day 37. Flight in snow.

It snowed here.

A lot.

The first half of the day was spent letting the dogs chase me around in 8 inches of fresh snow, which is fun for everyone involved. That is, until I was so tired that I laid down in the snow for a moment to catch my breath and one of my dogs took my glove off my hand and ran away with it.

She thought that was great fun.

The rest of the day was spent out in the middle of nowhere shooting in the still falling snow. I got quite a few nice pics that I liked.

I just missed two hawks sitting in a tree together at one point.

BUT, I caught this one as he took off to go have a taste of whatever his buddy spotted and took off after.


Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 36. Happy Birthday!

Today was my Uncle Bobby's 60th birthday.

It's nice to be in the same country for a change when stuff like this occurs.


Happy Birthday, Uncle Bobby!

Project 365, Day 35. Denver at night.

It wasn't as ball numbingly cold tonight after class, so I decided to try and shoot a picture of the Denver skyline.

It was cold enough that I didn't stay long enough to take more than a few shots.

This is the one that I liked of the group.


Remember to click on the picture a time or two to see it in the larger format!

Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 34. No pictures, please!

I have a bad habit of trying out new lenses while using my lovely wife as a model.

I took one in New Zealand with my new 135mm-DC lens and it turned out really nice. I've gotten back in the mood for that sort of thing after playing with some new lenses at the camera store this weekend.

Apparently, my subject matter doesn't always appreciate the paparazzi....

Project 365, Day 33. On the way home.

I had class tonight. No real time to do anything creative.

And it is REALLY cold outside, which prevented me from trying some night photography stuff after class while I was in Denver.

So it goes, so it goes.

Instead, I just shot something on the way home.


Umm...no, I didn't take this picture while driving down the interstate. Why do you ask, mom?


When I started this project, I told you it wouldn't always be something cool you'd want to hang on your wall.

Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 32. High ISO lets you take pictures in the dark.

Tonight I thought I'd play with the high ISO feature on my camera and get a shot of the snow as it goes through the streetlight.

The high ISO turns night into day....


Pretty bright for almost 10PM, huh?

It's too cold out to do much more than shoot out the window at the moment.

Until tomorrow...!