Last Bullets Standing

After shooting this weekend, the comment was made, as we were putting up the empties, that I had something new to shoot, with a camera that is.  Turns out, Lindsay was right.

 

Date: 04/28/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/13 sec
Aperture: F/14
Focal Length: 100mm

Cropped in photoshop - no other adjustments.

Reflections

After the eagle was scared away by somebody driving past, the light outside was too amazing to simply go back in the house.  So with my pajama pants on, I wanted over to the pond because I thought I heard some geese honking. 

The geese were not there, but the water was as flat as a mirror!  It created awesome reflections of the gazebo and tree!

Date: 04/24/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/160 sec
Aperture: F/5.0
Focal Length: 105mm

I did not do any post editing in Photoshop.  This is the JPEG that came out in my RAW+JPEG format.

Eagle's Perch

We were over to my wife's parents for the weekend.  I brought the camera and gear hoping to get out at some point to snap some photos.  Saturday was dreary, not a good day.  This morning however, was a big change.  I woke up, starting going down the stairs, looked out the window at the landing, and right back up I went to find the camera.

This eagle has a nest about a mile away, but likes to sit up in the tree across the street from Kerry's parents to scope out the pond and the open fields.

Date: 04/24/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/200 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 350mm

I cropped a bit in Photoshop, but that is all I did for post-processing.  

Ripples of Snow

I will admit, the photo did not turn out like I wanted.  The sun was setting this evening with awesome colors reflecting in the snow.  I hee-hawed around for a while,since I was pressed with time trying to get my homework done before we leave for Easter, and quickly realized I was running out of time.  I ran out, setup the tripod, snapped a few shots, and hoped for the best.  I'm a little disappointed in the results, but again, learned a great lesson about waiting and rushing....

Date: 04/20/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/320 sec
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 50mm

Photoshop involved a crop.... that was it so at least I got the color balance right in my rush....

Thundersnow

April 19, 2011 - Wisconsin gets hit by a snowstorm predicted to drop 8-12 inches.  The snow is wet and heavy, sticking to everything it touches.  This was the first time ever where as I was shoveling, I got to watch lighting and hear thunder almost constatntly.

Our potted plants were put out two weekends ago, because the calendar said Spring.  The snow stuck to the stems from last years dead stems.

 

Date: 04/19/2011

Camera: Canon EOS 40D

Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Exposure: Manual

ISO: 100

Shutter: 0.8 sec

Aperture: F/16

Focal Length: 100mm

Post processing in Photoshop just involved cropping. 

Flooded Farm Field

Down our street is a flooded farm field that I have noticed ducks, geese, and a few cranes flocking to the water each night.  After supper, I drove down and snapped several shots out the car window (some of the birds flew away with just me driving by and slowing down).

 

Date: 04/17/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 640
Shutter: 1/400 sec
Aperture: F/7.1
Focal Length: 400mm

I cropped the RAW file for this JPEG, zoomed in a little to make the ducks the focus.  

Full Moon

Today is a two photo day.  While taking the photo of the breaking storm, I turned around to see the break in clouds had the full moon out!  I knew it was not going to last long, since more clouds were fast approaching.  I switched lenses and started snapping.  A minute after this photo, clouds rolled in and ruined the opporutnity.

 

Date: 04/16/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/80 sec
Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 400mm

Little post-processing on this photo.  Just a square crop of the moon. 

Breaking Storm

It's April in Wisconsin.  This means snow is a real possibility, and, unfortunately, we experienced it today.  Well, after spending all day cooped up doing homework, I noticed the snow stopped and you could actually see sunlight.  A quick walk outside and I was back in grabbing the camera, lenses, and tripod.

 

Date: 04/16/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/50 sec
Aperture: F/5.0
Focal Length: 18mm

When I got home, I did a bit more Photoshoping than I normally do.  It started with a crop, since this was actually taken as a vertical photo.  After straightening the horizon, I then applied gradient filters twice.  Once to darken the sky and lighten the ground, and then another one at the bottom of the ground to lighten the farm/house and the bottom skyline.

Lego Indy

I wanted to get a photo of the day today, so I decided to try get an image of the Lego Indy that is on a magnet on my filing cabinet (Lego Indy is from our Florida Trip from Lego Land in Disney!). 

Date: 04/15/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Aperture
ISO: 200
Shutter: 10 sec
Aperture: F/16
Focal Length: 100mm

I wasn't thrilled with the photo.  I need to find a way to better light objects I want to photograph.  Holding flashlights or positioning with lights from the room is less than ideal.  Minor white-balance in Photoshop.

Grass in the Sun

Up to this point, the photo of the day, was always posted the day I took it.  I'm taking an exception to this photo and posting!  I entered the Ice Age Trail Alliance photo contest back in February.  The end of March I found out two of my photos made it to the final round of voting that happened on 4/9.  On 4/12, I got an email stating my "Grass in the Sun" photo won in the Flora and Fauna Category !!! (http://www.iceagetrail.org/photo-contest)

 

Photo of day for: 04/12/2011
Taken: 10/31/2010
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Landscape Mode
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/400 sec
Aperture: F/11
Focal Length: 18mm

The photo was taken in JPEG.  I remember I did some tweaking in Photoshop, but not a ton - mainly cropping and some lightening of the grass.

Orange Rye and Wheat Bread

My wife cooked up some bread this weekend.  After flooding the house with the awesome smell of baking bread, I got to eat some when it was still warm, which is always a great treat!!  Two days later, I finally found time to photograph the bread for her to use in her blog.  Notice the pieces missing  :)

Date: 04/11/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/60 sec
Aperture: F/4.0
Focal Length: 100mm
Flashed used (to light the left side of the loaf)

Not much in the way of post editing.  White balance was good - the only issue was some slight cropping of the right side to get rid of empty space, and the top to eliminate the blurry lettering of the knife manufacturer.

Grandma's Helper

Today, Dakota was helping Grandma with dishes.  Great photo opportunity since it was right in-front of the window in the kitchen.

Date: 04/09/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Program
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/100 sec
Aperture: F/2.8
Focal Length: 100mm

Again, I'm using RAW+JPEG.  I quickly run through the JPEG right in Windows to delete files that are blurry or not good.  Then I open up the RAW in Photoshop and in this case, just adjusted whitebalance.  No cropping or any other tricks!

In a Child's Eye

My brother and sister-in-law came down to my parents for the weekend.  We of course went up for dinner and the evening of entertainment by Dakota and Mason!

 

Date: 04/08/2011

Camera: Canon EOS 40D

Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Exposure: Program

ISO: 800

Shutter: 1/30 sec

Aperture: F/2.8

Focal Length: 100mm 

Again, I take pictures to learn.  I found out tonight, the Macro lens is NOT (I repeat NOT) for taking pictures of moving children.  Focus takes way to long, that as soon as it is in focus, they have moved and the pictures was a blur.

The good news, is that Dakota finally settled down when it was time for her "buba" in Grandma's arms.  She was still enough then for me to use the macro, and get a picture of her eye (singular, I couldn't bump up the aperture to get a better field of depth, without decreasing the shutter to the point where everything was blurry).  I could see a light reflecting, but it really wasn't until I got home and pulled the photo open that you can make out the entire dinning room light in her eye.  I didn't realize I was still in ISO 800, but the photo looked clean regardless....

In photoshop I cropped the eye closer (since I had blurry face to both left and right of the eye), and tweaked the white-balance since I took it in RAW.

Moon

The moon was nothing more than a sliver tonight, and I wanted to see what a 400mm zoom really could do.

 

Date: 04/06/2011

Camera: Canon EOS 40D

Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM

Exposure: Manual

ISO: 800

Shutter: 1/160 sec

Aperture: F/5.6
Focal Length: 400mm 

I was thrilled with the lens!!  I took the pics in RAW+JPG format.  I have been trying to get into using RAW more, but I have the bad habit of picking up my camera and just firing away (and since I was just in JPG mode, I forget about the RAW).  Once downloaded I quickly scanned through the JPG files, deleted the bad files, and then played in Photoshop RAW editor to set White-balance and crop out the black around the moon.

I really was blown away by the detail of the moon that was picked up!  I'm looking forward to a full moon and hopefully a clear night to try it again.  Maybe I do need to look at that 2X extender...... 0:)

Heart from Rings

I finally stopped reading about photography tonight (and dreaming about new camera bodies and lenses) and decided to actually take some photos with the equipment I have.

Date: 04/05/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1.3 sec
Aperture: F/8
Focal Length: 100mm

The idea of this photo came from one of my numerous books on photography that I have been adding to the piles over the past couple of years.  I wanted to see if how easy it would be to duplicate the double hearts based on our wedding rings.

I learned several valuable lessons including the need to find ways to hold light sources better.  I had a flashlight balanced on a box with napkins.  It only rolled off about a half-dozen times before I got it all to stay in place for the photo.  I'm thinking I need to find a lamp with the movable arms (like the one we have in our bedroom), but smaller......


My disappointment with the photo - I wanted to find a way to put some sparkle into the diamond.   Well, between that and my knowledge that I used an old dictionary instead of a Bible turned to a page to capture some meaningful scripture verse by the rings.  These are opportunities to improve on next time.