Snakeskin Shadow on Handrail
I had time to do a photo-walk this evening. Go figure! Walking over the bridge crossing the freeway, I noticed the chain-link-fence was casting this awesome shadow on the handrail. It created this snake-skin like effect that looks painted-on. If you look, you can make out a car just under the rail.
#ds167 – Make two photos today of the same subject: one with deep depth of field, one with shallow. Post your favorite of the two.
I took several of these with several depths of field. So yeah, I think I completed today’s assignment. 🙂
Morning at the Ferry Building, San Francisco
This morning when the Ferry Building in San Francisco opened, I managed to get to the second floor to get some shots of the wonderful architecture. Supposedly there is a rule against using tripods there. The guards would walk from far away to politely ask me to stop. The first said I could use my tripod on the second floor which I did until the second floor guard asked me to stop as well. I originally wanted to do some HDR shots, but instead I opted for this single exposure. I love the colors here.
I warmed this up slightly and gave a small bump in saturation and some slight manual vignetting.
#ds151 – Every town, village, or city has distinguishing icons and landmarks. Make a photo of one wherever you are today.
Bee Cluster
I didn’t go out shooting today with any intent to photograph more bees. However, this, I could not pass up. While walking through an old orchard, I noticed a large something hanging from a tree. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be hundreds of bees. Perhaps a thousand or more? I probably got about 10 or 15 feet away to take this shot (and a few others). I was a bit nervous to get much closer. At first I thought this was a hive, but when I returned later in the day to get more shots, all of the bees were gone. In reading on this, it looks like the hive had split and this group was looking for a new home.
The close-up detail (while not super-sharp) gives a good perspective on just how crazy the cluster was.
This shot is a single-shot HDR to bring out the details in the cluster. This was taken around noon so the lighting was horrible.
Cattle Egret
Our first visit to the new Happy Hollow Park and Zoo provided a few opportunities to get some fun photos. This one is of a Cattle Egret. Sure, it’s a zoo bird, but it is a good looking bird nonetheless. The sun was high and bright for most of the day, so shooting was a real challenge. This photo was taken in the shade and had the grass highlighted wonderfully behind the egret.
Additionally, I wanted a photo of some vivid colors that weren’t flowers or bees for a lagging daily shoot assignment. This one will do nicely I think.
#ds152 – Bright, vivid colors can draw attention and add “pop” to a photo. Make a photo that has vivid colors today.
Hummingbird Chases a Bug
Today is the first time one of my Daily Shoot suggestions was used. Today also has horrible weather and I won’t be going out shooting in it. So instead, I am sharing a photo that I’ve been sitting on this for a while. The image quality isn’t great, but this catch shot of a hummingbird chasing a bug is one I feel lucky to have. In this, the beak is open and the bug is plainly visible.
This was taken in San Jose while at a park with the kids. I was trying to shoot some of the birds in the trees when I saw this hummingbird in the air. This was shot a 110 mm on a 70-300mm lens at 1/1000 f5.6.
#ds147 – Birds are beautiful and rewarding to photograph. Challenge yourself by making a photo of a bird today! (@theskane)
Morning Coffee
Today’s Daily Shoot assignment required leaving the big camera alone. I read the assignment just after pouring my first cup of joe. The camera of choice was what I had near by, my iPhone. I think this shot is pretty good for my iPhone despite some blurry bubbles which bothers me a bit. The coffee is from Barefoot Coffee Roasters, my daily addiction. If you are ever in the San Jose area, worth a trip for a cup and some beans.
#ds144 – Put down your big, fancy camera today. Fully engage your artistic side by making a photo with minimal gear.
Zoe
This evening while taking the kids to the park, a neighbor was playing catch with Zoe, a very energetic and well-behaved pup. The photo opportunity gave me more of a chance to practice shots with the evening light and fulfill yesterday’s Daily Shoot assignment of speed. I love that the evenings now come complete with sun.
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter everyone! The Easter Bunny made a visit and made his grand-kids very happy. 🙂
Grandpa, the Easter Bunny
#ds140 – Sunday challenge: Create a photograph that makes you feel happy looking at it. Don’t stop at good. Go for full on happy.
The Reluctant Gardener
Having a bit of fun with the evening light and water. I’m not sure if the expression here is one of boredom or concentration.
#ds130 – Time to revisit a traditional photographic look. Make a black and white photo with high contrast today.
Still Chasing Bees
I have been quiet on here lately, but the shutter has still been firing. Bees are still capturing the attention of my camera. They are challenging to capture in interesting moments, which usually means flight. I’ve been getting pretty close and I upset one of the larger bees (which are quite aggressive even towards the other bees). The trick I learned here was a shutter speed of about 1600 was required to get the better shots. Manual focus seems to be the way to go along with patience. Chasing the bees with the camera is just plain frustrating as they are far faster than the focus.
Reverse lens macro of one of the bees on the spanish lavender.
Dudley and Spring
Today’s photos don’t have much to do with one another other than both being Daily Shoot assignments. The first assignment is #ds123: Find something that’s so old it’s almost timeless and make a photograph of it. This is Dudley. We’ve known each other for many years. He seemed to age quickly, but now he’s doing better year-over-year than I am.
The second shot is of Spanish Lavender. #ds124 – Change your angle today. Make a photo from 1′ (30 cm) off the ground and post it.
Walk for two minutes. Stop. Take a photo.
Today’s Daily Shoot assignment was as challenging as it was odd. Today’s assignment is: Grab your camera and walk 2 minutes in any direction. Stop. Find a photo worth making from where you stopped and post it.
The point of this is that there is probably an interesting subject anywhere, you just need to look for it. After my two minute stroll at oDesk’s office complex, I found myself surrounded by the 101 freeway, some uninteresting plants, grass, and the sign for the complex. The sign has a piece of glass behind it to add some drama. It also reflected the back of the sign nicely. While not my favorite shot by any means, I am reasonably happy with it considering the constraints of this assignment.
An SJC Morning
Friday morning I had a bit of time to kill in the new terminal at San Jose International Airport. The architectural details are interesting, and the light coming in from the skylights made for this interesting shot with a bit of a skewed perspective for added interest. This is also Daily Shoot Assignment 118 – Curves, squiggles, and flowing lines interest the eye. Make a photograph dominated by a curvy shape of some sort today.
Waiting to Fly
Disconnect
Takeoff
Queried Creativity
While doing some data-mining this evening at work, I thought I would try to complete some of my lagging Daily Shoot assignments. The time during query execution is only so entertaining so why not fill it with something more fun. I don’t own a fancy flash, so the only lighting help I can get is from the sun, room lighting or my trusty pop-up flash. This evening I thought I would try to make my pop-up flash shots look good instead of washed out.
Precarious Pushpin – this shot was taken with a 8×11 piece of paper held just at the end of the lens to diffuse the flash. Overall the results of this look decent to me. The pin is slightly pushed into a plastic bottle cap.
#ds94 – Fragility conveys tension. Make a photo today of a person or object in a fragile state.
Girl Scout Cookies – No fancy title for this one but it did have a cumbersome lighting setup. Well, it was more like a few sheets of paper setup on the sides of the cookies. I had one piece of paper on the right and left sides of the cookies angled at about a 45 degrees from the flash to bounce light towards the cookies. I had a third piece of paper that I held at a very steep angle, maybe 20 degrees off of parallel with the lens towards the paper on the right. This allowed the majority of the light to come from the paper on the right, while still providing some fill light from the front and a bit from the left. Not bad for a pop-up flash and no studio if I do say so myself. 🙂 I consider this my “experimentation” for this DS assignment.
#ds107 – Find out what those buttons and dials on your camera do. Play today! Try a new setting and make a photo. (via @dibytes)
Warm Morning Light
Today the light shining through the window blinds cast a perfect striped pattern on the lamp shade for the Daily Shoot assignment. I think this is made more interesting by the horizontal blind pattern and perceived inversion of the shadow pattern on the blinds.
#ds109 – Striped patterns have a natural pattern that catches the eye. Find some stripes today and make a photo.
Morning at Sanborn Park in Santa Cruz Mountains
Today I took the kids out into Sanborn Park in the Santa Cruz mountains. The redwood forest is always a spectacular place to visit. This was my first time in this particular area. Below is small collection of photos from the morning, starting with the log cabin type hostel.
I love the look of this building. The fact that moss grows absolutely everywhere out here adds tons of character to everything. It was a challenge to capture things with just the right amount of light since the most mossy structures were also in the shade. This collection is comprised of both single-shot and HDR images to bring out the looks I was going for. With most of my HDR images, I prefer the more natural look.
Towering Redwood Trees
Creek outlet under path
Mossy Stairs
Creek in Sanborn Park
Creek in Sanborn Park
The first image I used for the Daily Shoot assignment: #ds103 – Novelty can help goose creativity. Go somewhere today you’ve never been, even just a different street, and make a photo.
Golden Glass
Downtown San Jose, taken on the same trip as yesterday’s golden clouds. The building was lit up wonderfully from the clouds and sun from the east with the nice pastel colors on the clouds to the north. The negative space adds to this one so I am using this as my Daily Shoot submission for DS102.
#ds102 – Negative space can be just as important to a composition as your primary subject. Explore negative space in a photograph.
Only Amazing Clouds have a Golden Lining
One more shot today of the spectacular sunsets we’ve had lately. This one was taken as a passenger in a car barreling down the freeway. It was also taken out of the driver’s side window, which was a shot only available for moments before it had a chain link fence in the way.
Tomorrow, I’m hoping sunrise will be good and I can be setup for it!
There is a tiny bit of horizon, so I’m stretching for meeting this assignment today.
#ds104 – The horizon can be a strong composition element. Make a photograph that emphasizes the horizon today.
Firey Sky
This evening I walked out of the office and was treated to a wonderful array of colors in the sky. It has been some time since I have seen anything like this. Other than adding a bit of dark back into this photo, the colors are as they were seen. Amazing after a super rainy day. I only wish I anticipated it so I could have gotten to a place with a bigger sky.
I think this counts as a background for this Daily Shoot assignment. 🙂
#ds98 – Backgrounds are tricky. They can make a subject stand out or distract from it. Make a photo with a good background today.
Magnolia in Bloom – Daily Shoot 97
Photowalks have been eluding me lately. The flowers are in bloom all around and I haven’t been stopping to capture it. The magnolias near my office are blooming and the trees are short. I can actually get shots pointed down. This shot took some time as I am not quite tall enough to frame it with either the viewfinder or live view. I was shooting by feel mostly and have lots of throw aways. On this shot I used a mild flash to bring out the detail inside the flower.
#ds97 – An old adage in photography says if you want to improve your photographs, move closer. Fill your frame today!
A Handsome Seagull
While shooting at Travis Marina, I found this fine seagull model. He made sure to pose a few times for photographs. In the end he looks quite stunning with his bright plumage and yellow eye and beak. This is my contribution for Daily Shoot #80, a tack-sharp focus.
#ds80 – Make a “sharp” photo today any way you interpret it, either tack-sharp focus or a subject that is sharp itself.
Travis Marina
After a busy week at work and very few opportunities to use my camera, I returned to it again over the weekend. The following four photographs were taken around Travis Marina just northeast of the Golden Gate Bridge. A great chance to catch up on my Daily Shoot assignments.
This is Travis Marina with a faux tilt-shift technique applied.
#ds88 – “We often get stuck in a rut of always zooming to the longest focal length. Break out today by making a wide-angle photo.”
I love the detail in this pelican. For this assignment, this is titled “The Pelican Brief”. Yes, I know it’s literal, but it is a nice pelican portrait.
#ds89 – “Continuing the Friday fun theme, make a photo that goes with the title of a book you’ve read.”
A couple enjoys the view of the San Francisco Bay.
#ds91 – “Sunday (Valentine’s Day) challenge: What is love? Make an interpretive photo today. Keep it clean, people.”
Fog Under the North Tower of Golden Gate Bridge
#ds90 – “Odd or even: Compose an image with an odd or even number of subjects today, and make a photo.”
Curse of the Golden Flower – Daily Shoot 82
Experimenting with different development techniques today. This flower was shot with a flash which really brought out the texture detail which also made it look very plastic. Some adjusting with a high-pass filter combined with a color-burn in Photoshop gave it a metallic look. Back in Lightroom, I did some final adjusting to match it to the Daily Shoot movie theme.
#ds82 – More fun on a Friday: Make a photo that goes with the title of a movie you’ve seen, interpreted any way you like!
Pig-tailed Fence – Daily Shoot 83
Today’s curves come to you from the Campbell Community Center.
#ds83 – Curves carry the eye along with them. Make a photo that creates a sense of movement with curves today.
Sean Kane 
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