The Photographer

After three months, I have missed a few days posting. I will be traveling, and Internet access will be spotty. I'll skip exif data for a while.

Here's a young woman with a Canon 50D. Canon makes a 40D and Nikon makes a D40. Are camera names so hard to come up with?



Notice that the horizon is straight, although the slanted beach gives kind of an uneasy feeling.

Bob

Poinsettias Now?

Here are some Poinsettias that were planted by the city before Christmas. They look EXACTLY as they did four months ago. Good color, still small. These aren't fake.





Bob

Another Sideways Shot

I like the sky, and this is the only way to reasonably capture it from where I was.





Bob

Tattered, But Not Torn

Well nuts, I guess that it IS torn.





And this is the flag at the U.S. Post Office! C'mon, we know that times are tough, but the Post Office can do better than that.

Bob

Position is Everything

I positioned myself between the neighbor's roof (left) and my roof (right) so that the cloud rhymed the roof line.





This kind of thing may be important to you. Or, not.

Bob

Live and Learn

I did'nt know that He had one.

Bob

A Dinosaur Awakens

Sort of.

I captured this image with a "smart" cell phone. Unfortunately, only the phone is smart. I cropped it in the phone and e-mailed it to myself. THEN, I disabled WiFi in my laptop, teathered the phone, and connected to the Internet through Verizon EV-DO. This post was sent through Verizon. Not quick, or elegant, but I guess it works.

I'm several decades too old for this stuff. Now, should I consider a color TV...

Bob

More Around Town

OK, here's about as mundane shot as you can get. I tried to show this street in its "best Light" by first, framing it vertically, elimination some streetlights and extraneous clutter. I made sure that the street was on a diagonal, and later made a serious curves adjustment on the sky.





Big deal. Well, it is home, and I want to make the best of it.

Bob

Ho Hum Shots

At the moment, my favorite shots are Ho Hum images from around town, taken during nice light. Capturing a familiar place or object appearing better than usual is gratifying for me.





Palm tree in Florida - big deal. It does make me feel at home, and a familiar subject seen under optimal conditions is soothing to the soul.

Bob

Religious Quandry

To be religious or not...





Signs can be fun.

Bob

A Crooked World

Sometimes, late afternoon / early evening clouds have beautiful lighting. This occurred at the local tennis courts and I just could not find a compelling subject for the foreground. These light poles were just too straight and static. Arguably, tilting the camera adds a bit of dynamism. Lines on diagonals add a bit of interest over straight horizontal or vertical lines. In his blog, Andreas Manessinger makes frequent use of this technique.





I guess it's not for everyone, but just one more arrow for the quiver.

Bob

The Other Birds

These birds roost about 100 ft. from the Herons and Egrets at the Venice Rookery.





Bob

My Turn

For several weeks, the juvenile Great Blue Herons were the subjects.





Now it's the White Egret's turn.

Bob

Slowing Down the Pitch

When a baseball batter becomes more proficient and increases his batting average, it is said that the pitches have slowed down or that the ball looks larger. I think that this is a left brain (analytical) / right brain (holistic) thing.

As a novice, the batter always has to rehearse fundamentals as the pitch is thrown. Are my feet in the right place? Is my left elbow high enough? There are so many left brain things to consider that there isn't enough time during the pitch. The analytical thoughts are not finished as the pop of the ball hitting the catchers mitt is heard.

When the batter becomes more proficient, the fundamentals have been practiced so much that they become second nature. The left brain does not have to consider them, so they become a right brain function. The left brain has time to recognize a fastball or curve ball and the body just knows what to do.

I feel that a part of my photography has become right brained. When I got my first DSLR 3 1/2 years ago, I photographed a Great Blue Heron just standing, not moving. The images were blurry. I was told to focus on the eye. The eye? Are you kidding me? I felt lucky to get the bird in the frame!

Now I am happy to say that when I photograph birds, I see the eye. Almost always.





When I photographed this cooperative Red Winged Blackbird, I immediately saw the eye. In fact, I waited to depress the shutter release until a saw a catch light in the eye. I think that this means that I am familiar enough with the fundamentals of the camera that my left brain has time to compose a decent shot. Sometimes.

For an accomplished bird photographer, this is kindergarten stuff. For me, it is a step forward.

Now, if only the birds would slow down, like the pitch...

Bob

The Joy of the Beach

Here is the wonder of finding something at the Venice beach.





It's nice to watch kids enjoying the simple things in life. This was taken at 200mm for a reason. Yes, this is a public place, but I'm still uneasy about photographing strangers, and especially kids. I have no idea who this lad is, and it doesn't matter. The joy of the moment is evident no matter the individual. But a guy with a camera may still arouse suspicion. The times...

Bob

The Halo

It must be nice to have a halo.





Bob

Light Refraction

Oops! I almost missed my first day posting. I still have 108 minutes.

The top of the mast and sails are almost wiped out by the sun.





I think that the long rays (red) of the sun are refracted around the mast, partially obscuring it. If this is not the cause, it sounds good anyway (to me).

Bob

PM light

In late afternoon soft light, the most mundane subjects look better.





Venice Beach around sunset is hard to beat.

Bob

The Work

It's a tough job...





...but somebody has to do it.

Bob

Leading Lines 3

Early morning, or late afternoon, is a good time to find natural leading lines.





Now the challenge is to find a worthy subject that justifies leading!

Bob

Leading Lines 2

I was able to get one side of the walkway to come out of the corner of the frame. I'd like to have repositioned myself so that both sides would have come out of the bottom corners, but the walkway wouldn't have pointed to the end of the pier. Life is a series of compromises.

Bob

Leading Lines 1

The Venice fishing pier again. If you can't find a leading line, become one.





Bob

Curved Horizon

This is probably the last post using the fisheye lens. I returned it to its rightful owner, and the week will soon roll over - need to get clicking again.





Bob

White Reflection

This is my last day posting from the laptop. It works, but BOY is the desktop nicer. This Egret doesn't know the difference.





Bob

Sunset Panorama

Well, not really. This is cropped to a panorama aspect ratio.





I wish that the boat were heading into the frame. I could turn it around in Photoshop, but the light would be on the wrong side. Oh what a tangled web we weave...

Bob

A Boating Necessity

No boating experience would be complete without one morning like this.





Bob