Light Fixture

Light Fixture

I decided to scan this photo and publish for today's blog entry. One of the rules of photography is to know the rules of photography and then break them. One of my rules for the blog is to post a photo taken within a week, but I violated that rule since this shot was taken in 1993 with my Nikon 5005 camera. I could have used a bit more blurring of the background, but this was in the film days when you took a shot and waited a couple weeks for the film to get developed. I think this photo violates just about a million photography rules, but for some reason I really enjoy it. I like the business of the street, and the way the cars are blurred just a bit from going by. I like the way the light pole divides the shot with the symmetry of the men working on either side of the pole. Toronto is an amazing city.

Toronto Alternative

What do you do when your goal was to go to Toronto and take amazing photos of a beautiful city, but it was too cold windy and late to make the truck down town? You order a caramel Macchiato at Starbucks and take some photos of light fixtures. I've been admiring these light fixtures for quite some time and they appear in just about every Starbucks I have been in. The company that manufactures these things must be making a fortune!

One of these days I will return to the great city of Toronto for a photo taking extravaganza (but maybe when it's a lot warmer.) I took one of my best photographs in Toronto about 14 years ago. Two construction workers were fixing a light post. The framing of the workers, the buzzing traffic, the people walking by, and the colors all made the shot perfect. I took it with my Nikon 5005 film camera about 14 years ago and was the shot that made me really love photography. Until next time Toronto.

A slow walk to the bus stop

A slow walk to the bus stop

These every day moments fascinate me most. It's these moments that are not normally captured in family photo albums, and yet these events help frame us. It's these moments that make me reflect upon life and events. I treasure these moments and enjoy capturing them on film.

ISO: 400
Focal Length: 70mm
Exposure: 1/80
Aperture: F/4

Gymnast Salute

Gymnast Salute

"Gymnast Salute" These are the words that a gymnast hears after they have received a trophy such as this these. Sunday was a big gymnastics day full of sports photography. I really enjoy sports photography because you need to time your shot just right. It not only requires knowledge of photography, but also requires knowledge of the sport in order to get that well timed shot. In the following photo, I was familiar with the routine enough to know when to catch the flare on the mushroom. The following shot was taken with my 50mm 1.8 lens. Lighting in the gym is always horrible, so having a fast lens (F/1.8) is a must.

Mushroom Flare

Mantle Star

Mantle Star

When I saw this locker, I immediately thought of the Seinfeld episode where George wanted to name his first boy Seven. The number Micky Mantle wore when he played for the New York Yankees. I liked the warn look of the locker on this shot.

ISO: 400
Shutter Speed: 1/250
Aperture: F/2
50mm lense

Mobile Popularity

Mobile Popularity

I'm currently reading The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferris. The quote on the phone comes from the book and I felt it was a good backdrop for the final photo of the mobility photo assignment. "Everything popular is wrong." Inspiring words that make you think about doing things differently.

Auto Mobility

Auto Mobility

There's a lot you can do with a 10 second exposure time. The temperature outside at the time of this shot was about 3 degrees F. I darkened this shot a bit to bring focus to the trail of light made by the car. I like the subtle highlights of the ground below the street lights the frame the shot nicely.

Bluetooth View

Bluetooth View

mo·bil·i·ty (m-bl-t)n.

1. The quality or state of being mobile.

This self portrait represents two forms of mobility. The bluetooth headset gives mobility of phone calls without the likelihood that the police will enforce the new cell phone ban, and the rear view mirror represents the mobility of a vehicle.

Focal Length: 52mm
Exposure Time: 1/15
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200

Mobile Water

Mobile Water

The current photo assignment is mobility. The first interpretation I had of the concept of mobility came in the form of water flowing through the adverse conditions of the frozen world around it. This creek runs next to one of my favorite coney island restaurants. The food is great and the atmosphere is even better. I highly recommend Lipumas in Rochester Michigan if you ever get a chance.

Cajun Bread Crumbs

Cajun Bread Crumbs

This photo was taken on a long walk through the streets of New Orleans a couple of weeks ago. We noticed these crayfish heads sitting on the sidewalk every few paces. Seems like someone was eating them and then throwing them down like bread crumbs. I imagine if Hansel and Gretel lived in New Orleans they would have done the same thing. I did no post processing on this shot because I like the colors that are presented. The red really stands out against the gray background of the sidewalk. When I see it I think of a great day that I had walking and discovering such a beautiful city.

Fallen Language

Fallen Language

Another photo from the Education photo assignment. The flying book had to fall to the ground. I called this "Fallen Language" for two reasons.

1. The language book was flying in the air and had to fall to the ground.
2. The book is an old Fortran77 programming book (a dead programming language.)

This shot was taken at 34mm F/8, speed 1/1000 with ISO of 200

Drug Free School

Drug Free School

Another photo from my current photo assignment of "Education." I learned a great photography lesson from this shoot. Take shots from all different angles because you never know what will work and what will not. Taking every shot from a standing position can be boring and not very creative. I should have taken this shot from below looking up at the clouds, but instead I stood and took this shot (originally straight on.) I altered the perception of this photo by turning it and cropping it a bit. I like the cracks in the well warn sign.

Air Book

Air Book

Giving yourself a photography assignment is a great way to keep active and help with creativity. Today's assignment was Education. The idea of this photo came to me after asking my son what he thinks of when I say the word "Education," and is first response was "books." All day I had been thinking about taking photos of buses, school buildings, and street signs and had not once thought of photographing a book. The bright sunlight and the cloud formations made for a terrific backdrop, and this was one of many photos taken of the book in flight. My son was nice enough to help me destroy the book by continually throwing it into the air.

American Sunset

American Sunset

The sunset on this flag in just the right way to give it a warm glow. My fingers were freezing when taking this shot because it was 20 degrees outside. Taken with an F stop of F10 and an ISO of 200. A 1/100 shutter speed gave the tail of the flag a bit of a blurry look.

Drive Through

Drive Through

Someone took the drive through sign a little too literally. I'm glad I had my camera on me for this one. I went out for a double double at the local Tim Horton's and I couldn't pass up this shot.

Youthful Illusion

Youthful Illusion

Glass doors make for interesting subjects. This photo was taken at the West Egg restaurant in downtown Chicago. An empty coat hanger, a glass door, and a few children's hands composed this shot. The enclosed room required a 32mm shot with f4.5 and a slow shutter speed of 1/30.

Chicago Sky

The Chicago Skyline can be a difficult shot to take without a tripod. This was a case where I wish I had one with me. The Nikon D80 has a night-time shooting mode that really shows all the buildings and makes it look like the shot was taken in daylight. This is not the affect I was going for. I wanted more of the building lights to show up and the ominous clouds in the sky to show their true colors. Taken at 18mm with an ISO of 400, I was able to get this show with F/5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/30. I had to hold the camera very steady and behind a barrier to keep the wind from having an effect.

Skyway Toll

Skyway Toll

Chicago is one of my favorite towns. This shot was obtained on the Chicago Skyway yesterday. This toll will cost you a whopping $3 to go a couple of miles, but it brings you right into one of the most breathtaking skylines.

NOLA Seating

NOLA Seating

I'm cheating on my rules a bit with this shot due to travels this weekend. I took this photo less than two weeks ago on the river in New Orleans (NOLA is short for New Orleans Louisiana.) As I was taking it, I intended for it to be black and white. Upon review of the photo I think Sepia gives it just the right look. Iron work is amazing to shoot. Taken at a 70mm focal length with an F4. I feel like I could have increased the F-stop to an F8 or F9 to increase the depth of field. It was a bright sunshiny day, so ISO 200 did the trick.

Got Chalk?

Got Chalk?

Gymnastics is a way of life, and chalk is a big part of the sport. Sometimes the rituals before a sporting event are just as interesting as the event itself. The lighting at a gymnastics meet is notoriously horrible, and the shots usually obtained are a bit on the dark side. This one required a bit of a lightening, but the end result works well.

Lens: 70-210mm at 210mm
Aperture: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO: 400

Fido Rolltide

Fido Rolltide

This picture qualifies for my blog because it was taken exactly one week ago. I stopped in front of a ranch where the gate entrance said ROLL TIDE in big white letters. The words Roll Tide were everywhere near Tuscaloosa Alabama where this was taken. The shot just wasn’t right because the sunlight was shining at me diminishing the colors. As I was packing my camera back in the trunk of the car, I noticed Fido here staring at me. Could be Fido, Sluggo, Butch, or Dave; I really don’t know the dog’s name. This guard dog was minding his own business when I took this photo. I approached a bit closer to get a different angle and that is when he started barking at me. Good thing that chain is so thick. The lesson I learned on this shoot was that the shot you are trying to get is not always the one that presents itself. I am learning to be a keen observer of the environment. There is always a noteworthy photo to be taken; you just need to keep your eyes open.

Lens: Quantaray 70-210mm set at 140mm
Aperture: F5
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO: 400 (Way too high for the amount of light, but oh well)

I-75

I-75

Street signs are a favorite subject of mine. Taken at the full focal length I can get of 210mm, I found this location while shopping today.

Fun with F1.8

Fun with F1.8

Taken with my Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens at F1.8, you can see how the background becomes a complete blur. Opening the aperture as wide as possible makes the light scatter and not focus on one particular part of the photo receptors. This shot is not intended to be a masterpiece, but more an exercise in understanding depth of field.

Always carry your camera

Rainy Dawn

One of the first things I learned about photography was to always carry your camera. Today I was rewarded with this shoot at the Warren Community center in Warren Michigan. This massive sculpture bears the signature of David Barr and it is called Dawn. Without knowing it, I have already seen David's striking work in many locations including Hart Plaza in Detroit and the Flint Bishop Airport. This sculpture caught my attention right away and forced me to end my phone call to take the shots. The rain was heavy at times and I didn't expect to have a photo opportunity. This shot was taken with my 18 to 55mm Nikkor Lense at 23mm. The ISO was 100 at f4 with 1/800 exposure time since I was looking directly into the clouds.

Let the photo assignment begin!

You are witnessing the birth of a large assignment. A photo assignment with the goal of becoming a better photographer. Every day I will post a photo taken within the week along with a brief description of how the photo was taken and other aspects of the situation as the photo opportunity came to be.

My gear:
Nikon D80 - A great entry level digital camera with amazing features for the price
Quantaray 70-210mm f4.5-5.6 lens - By far my favorite lens if the light is right.
Nikkor 50mm f1.8 - A necessity for taking gymnastics photos in low light conditions.
Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 - Standard lens that came with my camera and great for getting those wide angle shots.

And so the assignment begins:

Purple Tunnel

Calling this shot purple tunnel is a bit inaccurate because the tunnel changes colors continuously. I found this location while traveling through the Detroit Metro Airport from terminal A to Terminal C. The sights and sounds of this tunnel are intended to make you forget you are underground and give a peaceful feeling of tranquility. I looked a bit out of place and got many stares as I stood with my camera, but the shots taken were worth it. I used the 50mm lense with F6.3 and and ISO of 400. Wishing I had a tripod, because I could have used a lower ISO. I chose shutter priority on this shot in order to control the speed of the shutter at 1/25.

I welcome your comments and suggestions for improvement.

Thanks for joining me on this journey to become a better photographer.