Month: June 2011

Today I learned a little bit more about taking portraits. My friend Cindy’s daughter Kelly, a student at Arizona State University, is excited to be a finalist for a position as a Phoenix Sun’s Dancer and I volunteered to take the head shots she needs for her interview in a couple of weeks in Arizona. I set up my studio in my sewing room taking advantage of the afternoon light from corner windows. I also had white reflectors everywhere and brought in every available lamp to enhance the lighting. I used my 18-200mm lens and discovered that it was necessary to slow the shutter speed to the point where I had to use the tripod and I attached the Scoop so I could deflect the flash to add even more light.

Kelly brought several changes of clothes and I had several backdrops of different colors and textures that her Mom and I bought at Joann’s yesterday. I downloaded photos to the computer frequently so we could evaluate how we were doing. The photos were good and I managed to get her eyes in perfect focus but something was missing. We tried different colored tops and changed the backgrounds but although the photos were in focus and well exposed, something was missing; I finally realized it was the lack of highlights in her hair. For all the lights and reflectors I had set up, I didn’t have an overhead light to reflect down on her hair. Luckily, Cindy had accompanied her daughter and she spent the rest of the afternoon holding an OTT light over Kelly’s hair. That made all the difference in the world and we finally got the results we were seeking.

In my opinion, it would be hard, if not impossible, to take a bad photograph of Kelly. I’m not sure which of the many usable shots she will pick for her interview. We all liked this photo but she felt it was a little too casual and not quite the “sexy” and “professional” look they were expecting and she preferred several others. But it is my favorite so when I got her permission to use one of the shots for my photo of the day, I informed her that I get to pick this one!

Focal Length 75mm
ISO 320
f/5.6
1/40
SOOC

I’m trying to catch up with the photography class assignments I missed while on my trip. Today I took on my lesson 2 assignment, shooting tall and hyperfocal distance. A smaller aperture gives a greater depth of field and hyperfocal distance is the spot one focuses on to give the photo the maximum sharpness. Since focus continues to be one of my issues, I thought this would be an appropriate challenge for me. We were instructed to use a wide angle lens so I attached my 35mm prime lens. We then had to photograph a scene with something in the background, something in the middle and something in the foreground and, in order to keep everything in focus, we had to focus on the foreground.

I stopped at an area along a nearby road with a sign that I find interesting and set up my tripod. I love this sign. It is obviously made out of a discarded piece of metal, perhaps a hubcap? With the barbed wire and the star thistle, I doubt it was necessary but it gets the point across. I focused on the yellow flowers in the foreground, the sign is the middle ground and the mostly obscured tree is the background. It all seems to be in focus.

Focal Length 35mm
ISO 100
f/16
1/100
SOOC

It’s raining again today; not just sprinkles but hard rain and thunder. By late afternoon I still had not taken a single photo and I thought I’d try water drops again because the water was pouring off the roof giving me a steady source. I set up the tripod in the front doorway and focused my 70-300mm lens at the drops; all my efforts were either out of focus or too dark. I switched to my remote trigger thinking I was shaking the camera on the tripod. Still bad photos. Then I got a brilliant idea to use fill flash. Brilliant except that the built-in flash on my camera syncs at 1/200 and will not allow the faster shutter speeds needed to stop water drops. Note to self: look into external flash units. I then thought I’d shine a bright light onto the drops but couldn’t find a good light source until I hit upon the idea of using the 300 watt work light over the workbench in the garage. That didn’t work either because it’s permanently affixed and wouldn’t reach the drops. But, because I was now in the garage, I noticed another drip from the edge of the garage roof that allowed me to set up the camera with lots of natural back light. I bumped up the ISO and matched that high ISO with an even higher shutter speed and stopped down the lens to f/8. None of the photos I took was spectacular but in one I realized that the black reflection in the drops was me. This has to be it for today. I need to go make a pot of soup to have for dinner on this dreary day.

Focal Length 280mm
ISO 1250
f/8
1/2000
SOOC

Or my reading ability, for that matter. My class assignment was to go to a zoo or someplace with animals in cages and take photographs using a tripod and manual settings. I checked out the hours for the Folsom Zoo which is closer to me than the Sacramento Zoo and drove off. I had packed my 70-300mm lens so I could get better closeups of the lions and tigers and bears (oh, my!) than my 18-200mm lens affords me and I fashioned a carrying strap for my tripod out of the strap for my laptop…only to find that the Folsom Zoo is closed on Mondays. The chickens roaming everywhere ended up being my subjects. Not exactly caged wild beasts but it worked for me.

I don’t know what kind of chicken this rooster is but he strutted his stuff and cock-a-doodle-doo-ed the entire time I was there. I like the composition of this with his body diagonally bissecting the photo and the black background that accentuates his upper body.

Focal Length 155
ISO 200
f/14
1/100
SOOC

I’m home and the basil I planted before I left is thriving and flowering. Can’t use the flowers for pesto so I harvested enough to make a batch of pesto and pinched the flowers off the rest. I got so involved in making the pesto that I forgot to take photos as I went. Food photography is quite a challenge and I know why so many food stylists often use other-than-edible food to make those magazine covers so enticing. When I decided to take some pictures of the finished product, I got so involved in setting up the shot that I noticed the pesto was started to discolor so this shot (the thirteenth) is a little darker than when I finished making it.

Focal Length 35mm
ISO 200
f/5
1/13
SOOC

Foxtrot Mary played for the Auburn Alehouse Brewery and Restaurant’s fourth anniversary celebration tonight. They had the place rockin’. Here’s Michael St. John and Tim Brisson jamming on Poke (Polk?) Salad Annie (or something comparably bluesy).

Low light levels and slow shutter speeds conspired against me once again so I converted the photo to black and white and then added sepia which seemed to work better with the grainy photo.

Focal length 105mm
ISO 3200
f/5.3
1/50

Friday was the last day of our Pacific Northwest adventure. We awoke early to bleak skies and rain in Seattle. I looked out the window of our room to see the empty streets and the empty Pike’s Public Market. It had not yet come to life and the fish, vegetable, and flower vendors were just starting to stock the tables and display cases with local catches and harvests. The market would come to life later with hordes of tourists and shoppers crowding the stalls but we were long gone when that happened. It was interesting to see the emptiness of the market at that early hour. I’m glad the bustle and excitement of the place had not yet begun because that it made it easier for us to leave.

I took this photo leaning out the fourth floor window of our room at the Inn at the Market. And, yes, we could open the window and there were no screens. How refreshing. I leaned a little too much to the left so I had to straighten it just a bit.

Focal Length 18mm
ISO 800
f/8
1/100

Today we took the Black Ball Ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles. We had to get our passports checked before leaving Canada and although the checkpoint, in Victoria, said “Welcome to the United States,” Canadian Customs officials staffed the office. While I waited, I took a photo of the tattered plastic American flag bunting that adorned the chain link fence.

Focal Length 52
ISO 640
f4.8
1/200
SOOC

Tonight we dined on the covered patio at the highly recommended (by the locals) Flying Otter Grill which is on Victoria’s inner harbor by the sea plane terminal. It’s a lively, crowded restaurant with staff who seem like your friends by the time you leave. We savored local beer at the bar with Scott while we waited for a choice patio table. Scott assured us that if the halibut burger I was considering for dinner was not the best I’d ever had, he would buy it for me. He was right; and he was off the hook. It was the best of all the burgers I’ve had on the trip, including lamb, salmon, and halibut.

When a table on the patio finally opened up, Eve, our lovely, personable and divinely decorated hostess showed us to our table. I have to admit that since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast and I was a little tired after driving all day sightseeing, I was already feeling the first beer when Eve showed us to the table, so I’m not exactly sure how it came to be that I was suddenly photographing the artwork on her thighs but the male patrons in the restaurant seemed to enjoy it and I was quite taken with the mermaid on her right thigh. I had to do a little tweaking because the setting was a little underexposed but I like the results. So, Eve, thank you. You are my photo of the day.

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Focal Length 18mm
ISO 200
f/16
1/200

We’re in Victoria, BC staying at the Magnolia Hotel just down the block from the British Columbia parliament building. Last evening, I looked out the window of our hotel room and could see the corner of the parliament building outlined in 3300 lights. So this evening after dark, Susan and I walked down to the wharf and I took some photos of the building. I didn’t bring my tripod so I took a chance that I could hold the camera still enough for a slow shutter speed. Today is the Summer Solstice and even after 10 PM, when I took this photo, it wasn’t completely dark so there is still some color in the sky and the boats in the wharf in front of the Parliament building are barely visible in the fading light.

Focal Length 34mm
ISO 250
f/4.5
1/8
SOOC

This morning we packed up and left our island paradise vacation home near Limestone Point on San Juan Island, Washington. We were up and dressed and the house was put back to what is was before we arrived (except for the sheets and towels) and we had time to take a final photo before we drove away to catch the 9:40 ferry to Sydney, BC.

I used my Gorilla pod and remote to trigger this photo.

Focal Length 18mm
ISO 200
f/14
1/100
Exposure increased +1

This morning I was sitting at the computer with my back to the window and noticed a reflection in the computer screen of something flying behind. A few minutes later, Barbara shouted that the bald eagle, the same eagle we’ve seen fly past our deck several times in the past few days, had landed in a nearby tree. I took my camera out on the deck and watched the eagle sitting in the tree a hundred yards away. When the eagle took off, it flew past me, not more than 30 feet away. Amazingly, I was (almost) prepared. It was dreary and overcast so used curves to brighten it in my Aperture program and then cropped it slightly.

Focal Length 200mm
ISO 200
f/10
1/320

When we were out whale watching on the Peregrine yesterday, a call came in late in the day alerting them to the fact that J and K Pods were heading toward San Juan Island but the pods’ arrival time was unsure. This afternoon, we decided to go to Lime Kiln Point State Park in Friday Harbor on the off chance we’d be able to catch them swimming by because the park has the best whale watching from land. We lazed around all morning and didn’t get out until after 1 PM, so we were thrilled when we arrived at the park to learn that some members of J and K Pods were heading our direction and should be arriving within the hour. We watched some spectacular whale activity as they cruised by us at about 6 miles per hour close to shore, slowing down briefly to harass something in a cove. They cruised by kayakers and a sea lion was brave enough to emerge because he somehow knew that these pods are salmon eaters, unlike the transients we saw yesterday who eat sea lions.

I set the camera to shutter priority because I decided I couldn’t trust myself with manual settings today.

The locals are back.

The first contingent approaches:

From their saddle markings, we were able to identify Lobo, Yoda, and Sonata:

Showing off for the crowd, including lobtailing:

Sea lion knows he’s safe:

This is Spock. Look how close to shore they are:

Today we saw orcas! None of the whales from the three local pods, J pod, K pod, and L pod, was in evidence today but transient orcas were. For about two hours, we watched T123 and her babies T123A (about 14 years) and T123 B (about 3 years) feeding on something near the shoreline. Orcas from the local pods feed on salmon. Transient orcas feed on sea lions and other animals. We don’t know what they were feeding on but the naturalist on board the Peregrine told us about their feeding habits. It was fun and exciting to watch them. I was surprised that they were so close to the shoreline but there is a steep dropoff at the rocks.

This is T123A and T123B, the juvenile and the baby. The baby’s fluke is the white one on the right. Mama is somewhere nearby.

Focal Length 200
ISO 200
f/9
1/200
Shutter priority
cropped

Today we arrived at our breathtakingly beautiful rental home in Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington. The house has a wrap around deck overlooking the San Juan Channel. There is a tiny park next to our home with beach access. Because the home is so secluded, the park and beach are deserted except for logs and and a few geese we saw paddle by. When we climbed atop a craggy outcropping to explore, we discovered a set of U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey Disks that marked triangulation survey points that measure the US coastline. On-line research revealed that each set of disks is stamped with the name of the surveyor (Penin) and the year (1940). Each disk also displays a warning that indicates disturbing one is a fine of $250 which in today’s dollars would be more than $3800. Luckily, a disk-disturber today would still have the same fine, as it is cast in bronze and probably not subject to inflation. These six inch disks were usually placed in sets of four but we found only three and this one points to the actual triangulation station a few feet away.

Focal Length 80mm
ISO 250
f/7.1
1/500
SOOC

Today we visited the Smith Tower in Pioneer Square. It is a beautiful building opened in 1914, one of the world’s first skyscrapers, and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until the mid 1960’s. The view from the observation deck offers 360 degree views of the city and, unlike the Space Needle, the observation deck is almost deserted. Sadly, its offices are mostly unoccupied at this time, although a family currently lives in the redecorated tower apartment. I took this photo of the bank of elevators in the ornate onyx clad main lobby, with an elevator operator peering from one of the cars. Although he doesn’t exactly have the maniacal stare of Jack Nicholson, the photo reminded Honora of The Shining. I tend to agree because the deserted hallway with the lone, peering troll-like human has an eerie sense of foreboding.

Focal Length 20mm
ISO 1600
f/5.6
1/25
SOOC

This morning as we approached the original Starbuck’s on Pike Place, the aroma of fresh baked cinnamon rolls drew us up short of our destination. Piroshky Piroshky, a bakery next door to Starbuck’s, was the source of the irresistable lure. We watched the baker rolling dough and cutting it into strips for a delectable treat. Because Honora (as well as fellow photoblogger, Melinda) is such a Starbuck’s fan I had hoped the picture of the day would be Starbucks but all the Starbuck’s photos were rather mundane and uninteresting. Instead, I thought the baker made an interesting subject.

Today I switched between manual and aperture priority. Sometimes AP resulted in excellent exposure and sometimes the photos were over exposed so I occasionally switched to manual for better results. This was one of the better AP photos.

Focal Length 18mm
ISO 320
f/3.5
1/60
SOOC

This drainage system is on a building just down the street from our hotel. I thought it was a more interesting view of Seattle than some of the more touristy places.

I decided not to tempt fate and set the camera to aperture priority.

Focal Length 24mm
ISO 200
f/3.8
1/800

No day light savings time for the sun dial. It indicates about 4:50; the clock on my camera (adjusted for daylight savings time) says I took this photo at 5:46:21.

Focal Length 105mm
ISO 200
f/5.6
1/100
SOOC

Tonight I listened to some great live music at The Juke, held at Pace Auto in Auburn. The shop, where only a few days ago my Toyota got its oil changed, was transformed into a music club of sorts, a juke, with a stage, speakers, chairs for the club patrons, a dance floor, and a strobe light for atmosphere. I took photos of the bands, Awesome 80’s Boombox and Foxtrot Mary. The music was fun, rocking, bluesy, fabulous. My photos, not so much.

My lens wasn’t fast enough to take decent photos in such low light levels; I bumped the ISO so high most of the photos I did get had too much noise; the slow shutter speeds compromised the focus. My tripod proved awkward to use at this venue. I didn’t like most of the band photos but the strobe was colorful and photographic and I found it amusing that it set upon a piece of shop equipment, perhaps something for attaching struts? A drum kit is in the background.

Focal Length 130
ISO 2500
f/5.6
1/10
SOOC