Lily's Floral Arrangement

31 January 2012:
I like this arrangement. There is a nice leading line of large Gerbera blooms up the left side of the arrangement. The challenge was to control the over exposure of the red channel. I should have done this a few days ago when the orange Gerbera had all its petals.

Canon 5D light painting

Moon and Clouds

30 January 2012:
The moon is a difficult subject. Here I experimented with a very high ISO setting on the new camera.

Typically, if the moon is exposed correctly, then the stars disappear. If the exposure is such that the stars are visible, the moon is over exposed. Here the clouds helped drop the light level from the moon, and with a little extra help in photoshop the clouds show up nicely. I think that spec at the bottom center of the frame is Jupiter (if it shows up in the jpeg image for the blog).

Canon 5D, f/4.5, 1/20 second, ISO 3200

?

28 January 2012:

Canon 5D

Fireworks

27 January 2012:
Also taken on the walk last night. A little work with the tonal contrast filter helped bring out the structure.

Canon 5D

Today's Abstract

26 January 2012:
Diagonals, color shifts, pastels, some texture. Interesting.

Canon 5D

The Moon and Venus

25 January 2012:
A waxing crescent moon (following the Chinese lunar new year two days ago) sets in the west, chased by Venus.

Canon 5D

Cards for the Girls

24 January 2012:

More flash practice. Writing out cards for the girls.

Canon 5D

Portrait Test

23 January 2012
Working on another homework assignment for next month. Weird but interesting, somehow.

Canon 5D

Traffic

21 January 2012:
At attempt to capture LA's very mobile populace in an abstract, or partly abstract, image. Does this work? There are visual cues to a street scene, with the crosswalk and palm trees in the distance, and blurred cars with very pointy noses that are screaming into the light space in front of them. Hmmmm. Comments?

Canon 5D, 3 stop ND filter, 1/6 sec exposure

Feeding the sourdough starter

20 January 2012:
More practice with the flash.

Canon 5D

The Trivet

19 January 2012

Another attempt at the photo class homework. Image of an object (here made by Opa and Bruce), deep depth of field, with artificial lighting. I was trying to bounce the flash off of the ceiling and get a nice soft light. The camera did not like this - I think it was trying to tell me to aim the flash straight at the &^$*&# object. I did, and the flash highlights off of the ironwork were both nice and unexpected. Trust the camera, Paul.

Canon 5D

Practice 2

18 January 2012:

An attempt at an HDR image similar to yesterday's. I thought I could get more out of the shadows, but I guess they were under-exposed on all bracketed images. The sheet of music comes out better. I think I need more practice at both the piano and HDR images.

Canon 5D

Practice

17 January 2012:
I am starting to really like the combination of this lens and the full size chip.

Maybe I will try an HDR version of this tomorrow night.

Canon 5D

Oops

16 January 2012:
I need a theme for the week. One of our homework assignments is to take a picture of an object with deep depth of field and using artificial light. So here is one attempt. Not too exciting - but I did get to practice more with the camera and flash.

I am going to disassemble this framed print tonight. It fell off of the dining room wall maybe a year ago, and I have not removed the broken glass. I need the frame to temporarily for another project.

Canon 5D

Lunch view

15 January 2012:
The view from the corner table, El Torito Restaurant, RB Pier.

iPhone

What's this ????

14 January 2012:

A fun-looking lemon from our back yard. I am enjoying the new lens and camera - the camera is easier to focus with live-view, and the lens is working well  here.

Canon 5D

Classy Mannequin

13 January 2012:
One last shot of a mannequin, at least for this week. This one was classy. Quite a bit of post-processing to get rid of window glass reflections, fix the contrast, and a few other tricks.

iPhone

Thank you, Lisa. Here is a second approach to the image. I like this one better.

More Mannequins

12 January 2012:
Store window, Hermosa Beach. Black and white, dry brush, and some soft focus added a nice touch.

iPhone

(iPhone?) Experiment 3

11 January 2012:

More fun with faces in store windows at night, this time with the Canon 5D. A bit spooky.

Canon 5D

iPhone Experiment 2

10 January 2012:
More fun spinning the iPhone at a face (faces) in a store window, and then having even more fun in photoshop.

iPhone

iPhone Experiment 1

9 January 2012:
Experimenting with iPhone motion and other added stuff.

iPhone

Whole wheat sourdough raisin cranberry cherry walnut molasses bread

8 January 2012:
Still practicing with the Canon 5D. Used the flash as well, ceiling bounce. Getting shallower depth of field at f/4 than I did with the 30D, which is what I wanted here. Anybody want a slice?

Canon 5D

Happy Birthday Gus

7 January 2012:
Seen near downtown Hermosa Beach. The yellow post-it note reads:

"On his birthday, a surfer named Gus
Both quenched and fueled surfing lust
On a gigantic wave he stood, did a double-barrel roll
Happy Birthday! He didn't bite the dust."

Canon 5D

An abandoned bike

6 January 2012:
This turquoise beach cruiser has been locked to a railing just south of the Manhattan Beach Pier for over 3 weeks now. It is in very good shape, and is a beautiful color. I noticed it because I need to avoid that front wheel on my commute home in the dark. I wonder how long the bike will stay there? I hope it gets rescued. It needs a good home.

iPhone

African Violet

5 January 2012

It was getting real late and I needed a POD...  I do like the color.

iPhone

Mounting the photo homework

4 January 2012:
First photography class of the year is tomorrow night. Better get the homework ready!

Canon 5D

Sunset Abstract

3 January 2012: I waved the iPhone at the western horizon.

Rear End

2 January 2012:

I am exploring and learning features on the new camera. "Live view" lets me use the rear LCD display to frame the picture and focus, in place of the viewfinder. This lets me get way down low if needed. Not terribly artistic, but the practice was fun...

Canon 5D

Morning fog, new year's day

1 January 2012: About 7:00 am, Pier Plaza, Hermosa Beach.
Canon 5D