Mackinac Bridge

We traveled to lower Michigan for the weekend for Kerry's Grandpa's memorial service.  On our way over, I had to stop and try to get some cool photos of the Mackinac Bridge.  We stopped and had supper to give the sun a little more time to go down to get that better light for photographs.

 

Date: 05/20/2011
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S 18-200mm f/2.5-5.6 IS
Exposure: Program
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/250 sec
Aperture: F/11
Focal Length: 50mm

This was originally taken as a vertical photo, but I cropped it, since the trees below and the blank sky above did not add anything.  Did some minor spot removal - not sure at this point if it was dust or bugs, since they were having a big bug hatch.

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.

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!

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.