Project 365, Day 65. It's About Time.

The post tonight, it's about time.

Or a clock, rather.

I got cockblocked by a bunch of dirty hippies from where I wanted to shoot this weekend. I packed a camera bag specific to the one place I wanted to shoot and the unwashed masses had it blocked off for a street party. The weather shitcanned my back-up plan too.

Damn hippies.

So, instead, I took a picture of the clock that my mum received as a retirement gift. It's quite a very nice clock, so clearly it wasn't given to her by her former employer. I think they gave her a shove to the parking lot. No, the clock was given to her by my Auntie Nanc and Uncle Glen.

It has some nice crystals that spin in the base that I tried to blur the motion on while at the same time freezing the second hand. Nothing too fancy.




What did I get my mum for retirement? A gift certificate to the local nursing home. Shhh, don't tell her, I want it to be a surprise! My father-in-law's retirement may be coming up here pretty soon too. I'm trying to talk him into buying a build it yourself helicopter. No, really.

What?




Music tonight:
When It's Love by Van Halen
Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones
Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas

Pics O' The Week #10

Nothing too fancy tonight, just a rather stark shot from last night's visit to The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs (see Brian's pic from yesterday for reference). I'm not sure if they have lights on the trees year-round but it makes a beautiful impression while driving up to the front of the hotel. This just happened to catch my eye - it's the top of a weeping willow that's draped in lights. The outline is great from a distance, but up close you can really see the difference between the lines of lights and the actual outline of the tree...

while the interior of the tree turns into a tangle of wire and blubs against bare branches:

Pretty as the lights are I think I would prefer the tree in summertime - green leaves make the best dressing for it!

Project 365, Day 64. The Broadmoor...

I wanted to do a bit of night shooting tonight, but the sky was pretty cloudy, so that ruled out trying the star trail thing again.

So I thought I'd go shoot at The Broadmoor.

It's the local ritzy luxury hotel. Five stars and all of that. Presidents, heads of state and all the famous people stay here.

The grounds are quite beautiful. Of course, it's still winter here so nothing is growing, hence the night shots. I'll probably shoot here again in the summer, have a cigar and a 15.00 drink and pretend I'm a pretentious snit.


On the plus side, I found a flat that I'd like to move into just across the street. Until mom told me they have a 1.5 million dollar price tag attached. Shame that.

Music? No music tonight. I've been watching "Idiot Abroad"while working on the post tonight. Funny shit!

Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 63, One hour, one shot...

I decided to try my hand at star trails last night.

Never tried it before.

So, like anything else new that I try, I didn't reading up on it prior to doing it. I glanced at some material on the subject for all of three or four seconds to make sure I didn't make fundamental mistakes and jumped right in.

I took one picture last night. Just one. The exposure was 65 minutes. It's all well and good that my camera will take exposures that long. The down side is that the camera needs to process the shot for the same amount of time afterward. Not a problem if your shooting at 1/8000th of a second, but it took the camera an hour and five minutes to process the shot after I closed the shutter.

You're screwed if you want to take another shot in that span of time. Unless you have another camera body with you. (Which I did, just in case) Basically, my 65 minute shot really took TWO hours and ten minutes. Hence the reason I didn't write this last night. It was almost midnight before the shot was processed by the camera alone.

I got some interesting results. I got star trails alright. But it looks like I shot it at 9:30 in the morning rather than 9:30 at night. Some heavy post processing went into the shot.



I don't think it's bad for a first try. But it looks like it's back to the drawing board. Luckily, I just bought an e-book on just this type of shooting.

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


Music....
I'd like to thank Pandora for streaming an awesome array of 80's rock on my iPhone last night while I was shooting. 65 minutes of great classic rock.
Music for post processing:
Heavy Metal by Don Felder
I'll Wait by Van Halen
UHF by Weird Al
Good Bye Blue Sky by Rodger Waters
Mama I'm Comin' Home By Ozzy
Shot in the Dark by Ozzy (Ha!)


Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 62. Robotic Graffiti

I went out hunting for graffiti wall art again today. While it's easy to find "tags" or artists' signatures where they mark their territory, it's quite a bit harder to find the nice art pieces.

This is where the war over graffiti as an art form wages. In between rival gang and independent artists tagging and the truly amazing pieces that take your breath away when you turn a corner in an alley.

It's understandable, at least to me. I can see both sides of this issue. As a business or home owner, I would not want people tagging my property. As an artist however, this is a unique urban art form. To find an art gallery amongst the dirt and dumpsters in back alleys is like discovering a lost painting by a master.

Is it a crime? I refuse to take sides. Is it art? It sure as fuck is...



This is a homage to work done by an artist named Hajime Sorayama. I first found Sorayama's art while I was in high school, which was the last time I as immersed in art as I am now. I was taken back by his hyper-realistic style. He was the pioneer in Sci-Fi pinup art. Art which any geek can't help but stare at.

Technical shit: This is a five shot HDR picture, 2/3 of a stop in between each shot. I used the same film emulation software as I did yesterday. I intend to post process all of my shots for this project in a similar fashion to get the same feel.

This isnt the only piece I shot today. Check out the website in the next day or so to see what else I shot today!

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

Music today:
Line Up by Aerosmith
One of These Nights by The Eagles
Kings and Queens by Aerosmith
Hold On Loosely by .38 Special
Dr. Feelgood by Motley Crue


Until tomorrow....!

Project 365, Day 61. Paint it Black

I loved every minute in England. We had a blast. London is one of the coolest places on earth, the countryside was beautiful. Hell, even the food was great. I don't know where people get this conception that English food is crap.

So, imagine my surprise while working on my 30 Days and Nights on Broadway project, I found a fish and chips restaurant! It just happened to be right next to the place where I was planning on shooting today. Score.

I haven't had fish and chips since I've been home. It was quite tasty! I know the best place to get fish and chips in London, now I know the best place to get it here in Denver.

Here's your shameless plug, guys:



I'm also a big fan of English music. The Who, Pink Floyd...Led Zeppelin...The Rolling Stones...

Which was the subject of my shot today:


Technical shit: This is a three shot HDR picture with a Kodak Ektachrome 64 Pro emulation filter added. That's it. No sharpening, no noise reduction, just sandwiched the three shots together and hit the emulation software and LOVED the results!

I'm really digging shooting the wall art graffiti. I've started a new gallery on my website dedicated to this form of art. Keep checking back! Now if I could just find a wall dedicated to The Who....

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


Music for today: (It's a Stones kinda day)
Mixed Emotions
Beast of Burden
Gimmie Shelter
Paint It Black
Street Fighting Man
Sympathy For The Devil
...all by the Rolling Stones.

Until tomorrow...!

Project 365, Day 60. A project within a project...

After shooting yesterday's picture, I drove down Broadway in Denver most of the way home. This is the main drag in this city, it's the east/west divider street, tons of old antique and freak shops, home to local wall art, great places to eat and hang out and obviously, shoot pictures.

I was thinking there would be enough stuff on this street, end to end, to keep me busy for a month. So, I'm going to try it. It won't be consecutive, because with any luck, I'll be working again soon and won't be here. Over the course of the year, however, I plan on having 30 shots from Broadway.

30 Days and Nights on Broadway.

Here's the first part:



I've really taken an interest in the local wall art here in Denver. It's a group of graffiti artists that have gone straight and use their art as advertisement for local businesses. This shot is from a local head shop. The medical marijuana thing is really taking off here in Colorado.

I'm also not a fan of HDR photography that looks like a bad acid trip, but I think it kinda works with this theme. It's a five shot HDR using a fisheye lens.


Music for today, (it's Rodger Daltrey's birthday today):
Eminence Front
The Kids Are Alright
Baba O'Riely
Bargain
Love Ain't For Keeping
My Wife
This Song is Over
Getting In Tune
Going Mobile
Won't Get Fooled Again
Pure and Easy
Behind Blue Eyes
Magic Bus
...all by The Who.
(Took awhile to edit and write today!)

Until tomorrow...!