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11月10日 Astrophotography from the Canary IslandsMy 5th grade daughter Elise has a growing interest in constellations, astronomy and the night sky. It started when walking the dog at night and we would talk. I showed her the constellations I knew. Soon she was showing me constellations. I've tried to keep her primed and stoked on this topic....setting her up with Google Sky, finding interactive web tutorials on things like lunar and solar eclipses, phases of the moon, etc... My latest discovery in this area is a website called Slooh.com. Slooh is a live webcam into space....with a lot of other value-add around the core offering. There is an observatory in the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa that has a telescope fitted with a CCD imaging device. The images are broadcast over the internet to your browser. You can do things like point the camera at your own objects, take pictures, change magnification, listen to audio explaining the sky objects, etc... There is chat, radio, blogs, photo albums, and more. Totally fascinating. Oh...slooh is a misspelling of slew....I guess if you had a real telescope when you move it you are "slewing" it.... Here are a few photos Elise took last night. The first is the Orion Nebula. The second is the Silver Coin Galaxy...which Elise thinks should be renamed the Bronze Coin or Penny Galaxy. I agree with her. 5月24日 Scary yet beautiful Katrina photosScary yet beautiful Katrina photos. I received these in the mail....along with this text.... These pictures were taken by a man in Magee, MS where the eye of the storm passed thru - what an experience. Magee is 150 miles North of Waveland, Mississippi where the Hurricane made land fall. Worth passing on!!! The dance with Katrina, part of her beauty as she left destruction on her exit. They are remarkably dramatic. 2月12日 Velonews photo contest winnerNight photography is difficult. Here is an interesting time-lapse photo of a campsite out in the desert. There is a decent arc on the stars, so I am guessing the time-lapse is 5-10 minutes at least. Difficult to get the exposure right with the stars, sky, and sillohette of the landscape being so dim...and the tent being brightly lit.
I also liked this photo...a good sensation of speed. Interesting cropping of the subject matter.
2月6日 A nice photo..Here is a nice photo ...the winner of the recent Velonews photo contest....
Beautiful photo of a dirt road through a stand of white birches in autumn. Note how the subject nor the road is centered...rule of thirds....and how the curve of the road sort of pulls your eye through the shot.
Not the winning shot...I also liked this photo. 1月26日 Free photography lessons
A few years ago I did an CDROM-based interactive photography lesson from Canon. It was truly excellent and opened my mind to the art in photography. I still have that CD...I should re-do it. Or, there is similar photography information online at this free photography lesson.
Let's talk a little bit about pictures and why we love them.
1月24日 The Orton EffectInteresting photographic technique called "The Orton Effect", named after it's creator Michael Orton.
Orton photos are generated by the overlay of two images of the identical scene. One image is sharply focused and over exposed ~2 stops. The other is very out of focus and over exposed by ~1 stop.
Details on how to do it here. And a gallery of Orton-ized images on Flickr.
12月27日 "Passing the Torch" from Velonews.com photo contestA nice photo from the Velonews.com photo contest titled "Passing the Torch". Nice use of depth-of-field to draw attention to the subjects. Notice the location of the water bottles on the older fellow....that's where they kept them before the emphasis on aerodynamics became so prevalent.  9月5日 Giant PhotosTwo interesting cycling photos in the Giant 2007 Fall Collection CD...
The first is a highly silhoutted photo of 3 people climbing a hill at sunset, or perhaps sunrise. They are all "out of the saddle", wheels overlapped. This is a tight group. I think it is effective because cyclists love to ride together.
The second is two riders going down a steep mountain road. Again, look at the tight formation. Lots of motion in this one...the "S" of the road, rolling hills from every direction.
Interesting commonality in both shots:
8月15日 How to take a good photographOne of my favorite places to take photographs is at Moore State Park in Paxton, MA. Photographs — both film and digital — is relatively inexpensive so shoot away to catch the ad hoc smile or pose. But next time consider also trying a semi-contrived photograph. With a little planning, you can get a great photograph that is bound for your family photo album. Here's my formula: Setting: Moore State Park is filled with beautiful scenery — trees, waterfalls, rhododendrums, daffodils, pastures. Go expressly to the Artist Overlook and go there in early morning or evening when the light is best. Depth of Field: Most people use their camera in automatic mode. Learn just a little bit about your camera and put it in a semi-automatic mode — either "Portrait" mode, or arpeture priority with a large arpeture. This will create a photograph with low depth of field. What this means is your subject is in focus, and the old mill in the background will be slightly out of focus. This low depth of field configuration is preferred by many portrait photographers because it emphasizes the subject yet still allows for beautiful scenery. Framing: The initial tendency is to center your subject in the frame. But also try taking a picture with the subject off-center, ideally 1/3 of the way into the frame, as this creates more interest in the photograph. As you try to do this it may mix up your automatically focusing camera as it may try to focus on the mill in the background or perhaps something in the foreground. You can try switching to manual focus, or use a function on many cameras called "spot focusing". Spot focusing is where you center your subject in the frame, push the spot metering button on the back of your camera, and then reframing the subject. Lighting: The best lighting for photography is natural lighting. And natural lighting for photography is best in the morning or evening. But natural lighting at the Artist Overlook can present a bit of a challenge for an automatic camera. You are in the woods, which can be dark, and shooting out into a brightly lit background; this is a situation called strong backlighting and can produce bright backgrounds but dark shadowy faces. If you recognize the situation as one of strong backlighting you can make simple adjustments on your camera. One thing I do is an arpeture adjustment of +0.5 or +1.0....this lets you use the automatic arpeture of your camera but just opens it up a little more to compensate for the backlighting challenge of the situation. The other thing you can do is spot-metering, which is very similar to the spot-focusing technique described above. Perhaps even your camera will spot-meter as it spot-focuses. Shoot the whole roll: The best advice I have though — ad hoc shot, or semi-contrived at the Artist Overlook — is to recognize the special moments or photographic opportunities as they happen. Film — digital or film — is cheap; time and opportunities are not. When the special moment or photographic opportunity is there, at the Artist Overlook or elsewhere, shoot the whole roll. Learn a little bit about your camera. Go to Moore State Park with your kids. Have a little day hike. Stop by the Artist Overlook. And shoot the whole roll. I bet you'll get a great photo you'll treasure for years. 5月11日 Pinhole photographyWith all the affordable photography equipment, especially digital cameras, I find it interesting that people still actively pursue pinhole photography. What is pinhole photography? It's taking pictures with just a pinhole in a piece of cardboard...no shutters, no arpetures, no zoom lens, no CCD. Just a pinhole...and some film.
And here is an example of pinhole photography.
 4月22日 Magnum in MotionLots of really good photography at Magnum Photos. I liked the interactive photo exhibits with narration the best. The color and framing on this particular picture is rather striking....in the Thomas Hoepker interactive exhibit. As good a photographer as Hoepker is...it is suprising to learn of his cynicism of photography...that while photos can be moving and informative...and his are....he thinks photographs ultimately do not change social issues, prevent wars, or change anything really. But...the photographer of the interactive photo exhibits named A Bitter Fruit, which documents funerals from soldiers from the Iraq war, obviously thinks photographs have the power to change. What do you think?  4月7日 Earth From AboveInteresting photos of earth on Flickr... This is the Aleutian Islands photographed with infrared bands.
 3月31日 Photo Critique: The Rule Of ThirdsThis is a good shot from the Black & White Photo Community. But....I think it could be better.
My main critique is with the framing. The tree and fence are too centered. I think the photo would be many times better if the Rule of Thirds were followed. I actually think this is an excellent example of why the Rule of Thirds exists.
The fence is good...and shows nice perspective. It also has that coveted "S"-shape to draw the eye. But again, too centered. And if it were at an angle, perhaps from lower left corner...to center...it would be much better.
For comparison, look at this photo, which does follow the rule of thirds. That the guy is not centered, but 1/3 of the way in the frame, it creates much more interest.
3月25日 Some spectacular black & white photographySome really spectacular black & white photography at yamasakiko-ji.com. Urban, grainy, sometimes blurry. Composition is often common everyday things....buildings, phone booths, faces or people on a subway....high-contrast and ad-hoc as if taken by someone with a phone camera...but very arty and interesting in the way it is framed and presented. Beauty and interest in everyday things, places, and people....if you look hard enough...and this photographer certainly does.
 3月21日 What Shall It Bring?Some really beautiful black & white photography at the Black and White Photo Community. This particular photo is rather striking...titled "What Shall It Bring?" Notice how the girl is not centered...rule of thirds...and how it creates interest. The gradual gradients in shading in the sky. The beautiful use of perspective of the road ...her road is long and the future unknown and limitless. The barefoot girl...in an Easter dress with a Teddy Bear. Is she waiting for someone...or a bus? Deciding which way to go?
 3月20日 Shine SFPlan 59Plan 59 is website on interesting mid-century images ....worth a visit. Cars, ads, rockets....all so modern looking.
 3月16日 Photos of the extinct dodo bird?Photos of the instinct dodo bird? Not quite, but still very cool "imagined encounters" of the dodo bird by Harri Kallio.
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