DAY 19, 10/02/2011

Apple picking day. One of my favorite parts of fall. I really took my time on this shot to make sure I had the apple firmly in focus. At first I was shooting with the aperture wide open, but narrowed it slightly to have reasonable depth of field. I only had 50mm and 35mm lenses with me, this probably would have worked with a wider angle lens as well.

DAY 18, 10/01/2011

We went to Grand Rapids, MI for ArtPrize. A really cool event where artists can exhibit their work throughout the city. I learned a few things on the trip. First: reclaimed media is popular these days. Second, the river going through Grand Rapids is named the Grand River and there are rapids where the city is located. It's apparently a good place for fishing as well.

DAY 17, 09/30/2011

My lonely car in an empty parking lot.

DAY 16, 09/29/2011

Solar panels were recently installed at work for a fleet of electrical vehicles. This morning had such a beautiful sky, I thought I might get a good refection from the panels. I had to boost the saturation (especially the blue channel) to get the the look I was going for, but I think it turned out well. 

50mm, f/7.1, 1/200, 200

DAY 15, 09/28/2011

Working late and solving Poisson's equation. I placed my camera on my desk (wish I had a wider angle for a more dynamic photo) and after a few iterations got this self portrait. It was a better idea in theory - and I'll probably revisit this at a later date with a different lens.

35mm, f/13, 0.6, 400

BONUS:
Since I missed Day 12 and the above picture was the intended photo for today, I'm adding this photo as a bonus. It was dark and raining when I left the office. The street light in the distance was shining through the water on the windshield and created a really cool dispersion of color. I really had to hold the camera still without a tripod, but I think it worked. Way more abstract than my typical stuff...

35mm, f/2.0, 1/80, 1600

DAY 14, 09/27/2011

There are a ton of Canadian geese where I work. I was waiting for a flying goose to land, but the rain was starting to fall heavier and these geese waddling away from caught my attention. I liked how the three were spaced with their vertical necks.

250mm, f/7.1, 1/400, 800

DAY 13, 09/26/2011

Another shot of Sugar the cat. Cats are can contort into some strange positions. The lighting was very low in the room.

35mm, f/2.0, 1/15, 800

DAY 11, 09/24/2011

I always love how the sunset reflects off the windows on the building. Especially when there are clouds stretching across the sky.

50mm, f/7.1, 1/30, 400

DAY 10, 9/23/2011

My niece visited this past weekend, and found her reflection in our lamps. I tried to get the best angle on this photo (without being in the reflection myself). She also moved constantly so it was a struggle to get the photo that I wanted. This is close.

50mm, f/7.1, 1/30, 400

DAY 9, 09/22/2011

There is as scarecrow watching over the garden plots at the office and I've been staking out a photo for a week. The light was amazing - about 10 minutes before I took this shot. I had to bump the ISO up uto 1600 to have a reasonable shutter speed. But still, I'm happy with this one. I may revisit this shot later.

50mm, f/40, 1/40, 1600

DAY 8, 09/21/2011

I'm always looking for new locations to photography Chicago. The Sears Tower is such a clear landmark and easy to see from so many vantage points. There is a park at 29th and Halsted at an old quarry that I've been interested in for a while. I liked the zig-zag of the walk ways, but I think I can improve the composition of the photo in terms of cropping better.

50mm, f/13, 1/100, 200

DAY 7, 09/20/2011

My birthday present from Tammy was a globe. So cool! This shot is the sun rise over North America, illuminated with the actual sun rise. Good morning. For this, I corrected the diopter and used manual focus. I played with a few different apertures to get the depth of field that I wanted.

50mm, f/2.0, 1/100, 200

DAY 6, 09/19/2011

I actually took this the previous day, but it's an example of finding something of interest without searching. Why is the cantaloupe stuck on the iron fence? Is it a warning for all other cantaloupes to stay away? We may never know.

50mm, f/6.3, 1/100, 200

DAY 5, 09/18/2011

Sugar is our new cat. She used to live a friend who has undertaken a brave new stage in her life, and Sugar needed a place to live, so Tammy and I are thrilled to have her. As far as being a subject of photo-shoots, Sugar couldn't care less, hence the apathatic stare. I definitely thought about the cardinal rule of photographing animals: make sure the predominate eye is in focus!

35mm, f/4.0, 1/60, 400

DAY 4

I missed yesterday's photo shoot (crazy day at the office). After the failed focus of the basil flower, I tried a similar shot today - of one of my favorite topics: food. Tammy and I used a Groupon to Leonidas. I learned two things this morning: (1) pay attention to details and (2) work on focusing to get a sharper subject. The chocolate (dark chocolate with orange ganache) of interest is not sharp - and the lettering "Leonidas" is facing away from the camera. Oh well. At least I turned the espresso cup to have the handle in the photo.


I'm shooting with a wide-open aperture, giving a very small depth-of-field. Next similar photo, I'll close the aperture slightly to have a little leeway in depth. Wishing for a macro lens.


50mm, f/1.8, 1/320, 400

DAY 2

I don't have a macro lens, but I like these types of photos. This year I hope to improve my ability to focus and utilize depth of field. The focus isn't very good in this photo. I really meant to have the flower (African basil) facing the camera be in sharp focus. Manual focus is something I need to work on.

50mm, f/1.8, 1/250, 400

DAY 1

The last several days have been fantastic sunrises. I arrived at work and pulled into my normal space, and noticed the incredible reflection of the sunrise in the window of the building. With the bicycle parked in the foreground, I was reminded that the interesting photo may not always be the most direct.

50mm, f/6.3, 1/60, 400