Monday, June 6, 2011
I Just...I Mean...Wow
As a soon to be Bostonian, I am officially offended. You know, between fits of hysterical laughter. I love the part where the British were taking our guns and Paul Revere came at them with "papers". I'm not sure if she made it all up or is mashing together the right to bear arms and the story of Martin Luther and his Ninety-Five Theses. (I'm TOTALLY betting it was the Theses mixup. Sarah is just so likely to know about that). The "shots and bells" part is another classic. And not to be outdone by their feckless leader, Palin supporters then went on Wikipedia to change the page on Paul Revere to more accurately reflect Sarah's account. Oh Sarah, how I have missed you since the 2008 election. Welcome back Beauty Queen, Welcome Back.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Two Words: Jet Lag
While I work on a post or two about my trip to Boston, I thought I would share a bit of this cuteness with you.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Beantown And Lima, Ohio
Don't you just love what I did with the title? Well, I leave tomorrow for a five night trip to Boston to check out Northeastern and look for places to live. I'm sure I will come home with a ton of great pictures and stories, but until then here is a little look at my trip to Glee Live 2011 last week. It was freaking amazing. I didn't know what to expect from the tour and was not disappointed in the least. The photos aren't great because I wasn't allowed to bring my DSLR camera in (thanks to a bitchy security guard who thought she was Secret Service), so I used my iPhone.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Pretty Boy
I recently learned how to make curled ribbon by wrapping ribbon around a barbeque skewer, clipping it at both ends, and baking it at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. The result is fun curly ribbon that looks great in hair accessories. And, of course, this was bound to happen ~
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Photography Lesson VI - Using Reflections
Reflective surfaces can be a great photography tool. They come in both natural (water) and manmade (mirror) forms. Not only can they add an interesting element to your photos, but they also boost the amount of light in your picture. These surfaces can be used as a basic aspect of your photo, or alone as an artistic shot. Here are a few examples ~
I took this photo during a walk through my neighborhood (yes, I sometimes bring my D5000 on exercise walks with me). The road wasn't particularly visually interesting, though it's pretty curvy, so when I saw the mirror attached to a telephone pole I knew it would make a great, artsy shot. Because I couldn't move the mirror, I had to angle myself and my camera so the road lined up in the mirror. The result is a fun shot using an unusual method.
Here's another example of using a manmade reflective surface. I took this photo during a snowmobiling outing in Lake Tahoe. I had gotten a bunch of great shots of the scenery and noticed how the gorgeous blue sky was reflected in Gilda's helmet. I thought it would be fun to get a picture of it and I also knew that my reflection would be captured too. Since a photographer isn't often the subject of many photos, this was a nice bonus. I guess that's how many people see me anyway, with a camera pressed to my face. I love that I captured me, Richard, the sky and landscape all in one shot. I also like that I used the helmet to achieve this because it gives a real feeling for what we were doing.
This is a picture from my cousin's wedding in Texas of the river that ran beside the resort. I liked that both the trees and sky were reflected in the river. It really gives a feeling for how calm the water was and how relaxing the experience was.
This was another shot that was purely for artistic expression. The clouds that day were almost cartoon-like in their fluffiness against the clear blue sky. I saw the puddle on the ground and thought it would be fun to picture the sky reflected in it. The result is what looks like a puddle full of sky and clouds.
This shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, taken from the Marin Headlands, is another example of using water to reflect light. As you can see, it was a cloudy day, so the light was diffuse and was reflecting nicely on the water of the Bay. It also meant that the shadow of the bridge span was cast on the water very distinctly. I made sure to adjust my settings in this shot so that the dark and light areas of the clouds were defined and the same was reflected in the water.
This photo of the Washington Monument and Capitol Building was taken from the Lincoln Memorial and I felt that it was important for me to capture the reflecting pool as well. See, even the architects of D.C. knew the importance of reflective surfaces. In this instance (a dark night shot) the reflection was also important because it nearly doubled the amount of light in the shot.
So, now you know how to use reflective surfaces to make your photos more interesting. When dealing with these surfaces and how they interact with your light source, you may have to adjust the settings on your camera to maximize the effect. Just mess around with it!
I took this photo during a walk through my neighborhood (yes, I sometimes bring my D5000 on exercise walks with me). The road wasn't particularly visually interesting, though it's pretty curvy, so when I saw the mirror attached to a telephone pole I knew it would make a great, artsy shot. Because I couldn't move the mirror, I had to angle myself and my camera so the road lined up in the mirror. The result is a fun shot using an unusual method.
Here's another example of using a manmade reflective surface. I took this photo during a snowmobiling outing in Lake Tahoe. I had gotten a bunch of great shots of the scenery and noticed how the gorgeous blue sky was reflected in Gilda's helmet. I thought it would be fun to get a picture of it and I also knew that my reflection would be captured too. Since a photographer isn't often the subject of many photos, this was a nice bonus. I guess that's how many people see me anyway, with a camera pressed to my face. I love that I captured me, Richard, the sky and landscape all in one shot. I also like that I used the helmet to achieve this because it gives a real feeling for what we were doing.
This is a picture from my cousin's wedding in Texas of the river that ran beside the resort. I liked that both the trees and sky were reflected in the river. It really gives a feeling for how calm the water was and how relaxing the experience was.
This was another shot that was purely for artistic expression. The clouds that day were almost cartoon-like in their fluffiness against the clear blue sky. I saw the puddle on the ground and thought it would be fun to picture the sky reflected in it. The result is what looks like a puddle full of sky and clouds.
This shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, taken from the Marin Headlands, is another example of using water to reflect light. As you can see, it was a cloudy day, so the light was diffuse and was reflecting nicely on the water of the Bay. It also meant that the shadow of the bridge span was cast on the water very distinctly. I made sure to adjust my settings in this shot so that the dark and light areas of the clouds were defined and the same was reflected in the water.
This photo of the Washington Monument and Capitol Building was taken from the Lincoln Memorial and I felt that it was important for me to capture the reflecting pool as well. See, even the architects of D.C. knew the importance of reflective surfaces. In this instance (a dark night shot) the reflection was also important because it nearly doubled the amount of light in the shot.
So, now you know how to use reflective surfaces to make your photos more interesting. When dealing with these surfaces and how they interact with your light source, you may have to adjust the settings on your camera to maximize the effect. Just mess around with it!
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