Day #70 - Another Self Portrait

I decided to give the old self portrait another shot today. I have a few other self portrait ideas but today I wanted to show me using a camera. As I have a few photo's of me using my DSLR, I thought it might be neat to be holding something more vintage. Thankfully my Mom and Dad and a friend (Jen) have donated several vintage camera's to my collection over the years. I liked the idea of the image being more about the camera than myself. I like to be behind the camera and in so many ways I tend to hide behind it. I thought, "why fight it"? If that's what I do, it will look strained to show more of me than the camera.

Shot spex: RAW Image, Pentax K10D, ISO 800, 90mm, f6.7, 1/90 sec., flash aimed at ceiling.

PhotoShop spex: Smart Sharpened (as always), adjusted Levels and Brightness/Contrast. I then decided to desaturate the image to create a BW image and then I bumped up the Contrast even more. (Basically the same steps as yesterday!)

Tunes listened to while editing: A - Hi-Fi Serious. The first 6 tracks. Yes, the groups name is "A". Great rockin' tunes!

Day #69 - My Pod

One of the items that you can always find within arms reach of me is my iPod. The other thing is my Skull Candy headphones. For those who have not yet discovered the awesomeness of Skull Candy, these things ROCK!!! When I am forced to listen to my iPod with normal ear buds, I get really frustrated. Anyway, as most people who really know me will attest, music is a big part of my life. Obviously I started listing the music I listen to as I edit images because music is important to me. I get inspiration and motivation from the wide variety of music I listen to. Thankfully I have a friend who pulled me out of the rut I was in listening to the same 3 bands over and over. Now my collection is so big I have no idea how many groups I listen to!

Shot spex: RAW Image, Pentax K10D, ISO 800, 200mm, f6.3, 1/30 sec., flash aimed at ceiling.

PhotoShop spex: Smart Sharpened (as always), adjusted Levels and Brightness/Contrast. I then decided to desaturate the image to create a BW image and then I bumped up the Contrast even more.

Tunes listened to while editing: Story Side: B - Everything And More. The first 5 tracks. This is a group I forget about a lot and then when I remember them I really wonder why I keep forgetting about them.

Day #68 - "Napoleon, give me some of your tots."

Okay, so today I was really grasping for an idea. I saw these tator tots left over from our dinner and decided to stack them in the same way that Pedro had his stacked in the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Then I thought, "Why not shoot these as my picture of the day"? My wife thought (and still thinks) I was nuts, but she's always thought that.

What started out as an easy shot, quickly became a learning opportunity! I've noticed a few shots I've done lately change in color quality when I use the "Save for Web" option in PhotoShop. This image was one of those ones that really turned flat when I did that tonight. No one would think these tots looked very tasty had I left them the flat color they turned using that option. So I set out to figure out the solution to my problem. It turns out that I don't need to use the "Save for Web" option at all. So I learned something from this simple "Tot Shot"!

Shot spex: RAW Image, Pentax K10D, ISO 800, 200mm, f6.3, 1/30 sec., no flash.

PhotoShop spex: Smart Sharpened (as always), adjusted Levels and Brightness/Contrast. I then created a duplicate layer and applied the Smudge Stick filter. I then erased the are where the tots were to bring back the sharpness there. The Smudge Stick filter was really used to make the pan look better.

Tunes listened to while editing: Diffuser- Injury Loves Melody. The first 8 tracks.

Day #67 - Soccer Season Starts Again!

It seems like just yesterday that Soccer season ended. In fact it was 67 days ago! I started this project the same day that we went to the end of season soccer picnic. Wow!! Time flies right by! One minute summer has barely started, and the next, summer is almost over!

Anyway, tonight we had the first practice this season and I decided to shoot a picture to celebrate that moment.

Shot spex: RAW Image, Pentax K10D, ISO 200, 90mm, f8, 1/500 sec., no flash.

PhotoShop spex: Smart Sharpened (as always), adjusted Levels and Brightness/Contrast. I then applied the Poster Edges filter.

Tunes listened to while editing: Bleu - Redhead. The first 4 tracks. Great feel good album!

Day #66 - The Shadow Proves The Sunshine

Maybe a lazy shot today. I was pondering using an image I shot yesterday, and was idly gazing around my office when a cross that my Dad made for me years ago caught my eye. I've always cherished it and try to leave it hanging somewhere visible. The shadow it was casting really intrigued me. I was able to shoot it with no additional light and then did some layer trickery to get the effect I wanted. I actually made a duplicate layer, then I applied the Cutout Filter to one layer and erased the cross area to bring back the actual wood of the original exposure.

The title of today's post comes from the Switchfoot album, Nothing Is Sound. The song by the same title is a great one if you ever get the chance, give it a listen. It's track #4 on that album.

Shot spex: RAW Image, Pentax K10D, ISO 800, 200mm, f6.3, 1/30 sec., no flash.

PhotoShop spex: Smart Sharpened (as always), adjusted Levels and cropped to my liking. I made a duplicate layer, then I applied the Cutout Filter to one layer and erased the cross area to bring back the actual wood of the original exposure.

Tunes listened to while editing: Acceptance - Phantoms. The first 9 tracks. Great disk!

Day #65 - Speedy Gonzales!

We decided to take a walk up to Brookridge Elementary School (where Cameron starts 3rd grade in 2 weeks!) for a walk today. It is one place where we can let Chewey off the leash so he can get a good run in. The walk was pretty nice. I still can't believe that it's August and the weather is still so nice and cool! Chewey got a good run in and I was hoping to catch a good action shot of him. I think I got it here. He is one super fast dog!

Shot spex: RAW Image, Pentax K10D, ISO 100, 200mm, f6.3, 1/180 sec., no flash.

PhotoShop spex: Smart Sharpened (as always), adjusted Levels and cropped to my liking.

Tunes listened to while editing: Van Halen - The Best of Album. It was nice to revisit some old faves.

Day #64 - Home Grown

I love home grown tomato's! I finally decided to plant some this year so I could quit mooching off others for home grown tomato's and while my regular tomato plant is doing okay, it's my cherry tomato plants that are doing really good. I've finally reached a point where I am getting several ripe ones each day. I have enough to fill a small bowl now and decided they would make a nice still life photo for today. Then I ate about 5 of them!

Shot spex: RAW Image, Pentax K10D, ISO 800, 200mm, f6.3, 1/10 sec., flash with diffuser aimed directly at subject.

PhotoShop spex: Smart Sharpened (as always), adjusted Levels and adjusted Brightness/Contrast.

Tunes listened to while editing: Mae - The Everglow. First 5 songs. Probably my favorite album of all time. If you've never heard it, do yourself a favor and go get it and listen to it from beginning to end. You'll thank me! Oh and to the person who introduced it to me, "Thanks Donovan"!