Two weeks and I am still going strong on this ‘photo of the day’ thing! They say after 21 days it becomes a habit!
After attending the Holgas and Coffee workshop this past weekend, I saw something that caught my eye at Art From Scrap. I photographed it with the Holga, but we haven’t gotten those images back yet because of the developing process. I don’t even know if the image came out.
Now that is sad – am I so used to digital? Has the ‘instant gratification’ bug gotten hold of me? I am a professional photographer, should I not know that the image was absolutely correct? One would think . . . but one was/is playing with 2 variables that are complete unknowns on this one: the first was shooting with a Holga camera, whose shutter was sticky and is notorious for light leaks, and the second is developing film in coffee.
So back I went – there was a pinwheel wired (and duct taped) to the fence around the parking area to Art From Scrap. We didn’t have pinwheels like this when I was growing up – or if there was, we never got one.
Am I reliving my childhood? Does it even work? With all the string caught around it, probably not! Does that matter? Not at all. It is about the possibilities, it is about the color, it is about the shapes, and it is about what it once could do . . .
TODAY’S IMAGE
 pinwheels camera type: Canon EOS 10D
lens type: Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3, 59mm
exposure: 1/3200s @ f/5.0
ISO: ISO 200
post-production: Lightroom 2.0
location: Santa Barbara, CA – on the corner of Garden and Cota Streets, Art From Scrap
Around the corner and down the street . . . there is this arched gate that I love . . .
Every time I drive past it, I tell myself that one day I am going to photograph the gate – I just love the style of it. Today was the day. And there just happened to be a parking spot right in front of it. Talk about knee-jerk driving! Fortunately, there was no one behind me and I made the last minute decision to pull over, get out and take the picture.
I did do a little post production in Photoshop on these 2 images – it is an action that I created to add an outline to the details as well as quite a bit of saturation. I will let you be the judge as to whether you like the effect or not . . .
TODAY’S IMAGES
 around the corner and down the street  there is this arched gate that I love camera type: Canon EOS 10D
lens type: Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3, 28mm
exposure: 1/160s @ f/6.3
ISO: ISO 200
post-production: Lightroom 2.0
location: Santa Barbara, CA – Garden Street
Okay, just so you know – I may have processed this image in Lightroom, but I didn’t change the color of the door, nor did I liquefy the bar – this is real life! From the quirkiness of the tips of the bar to the coloring of the door – we haven’t seen the end of this building – it will be the subject of many of my days.
I could photograph everything in one day, BUT . . . I decided to explore something new each time I park across the street from it.
You guessed it – it is part of the Cota Street Condos, and I literally stand there and stare at this building and see something different every time. One of these days I am going to research the architect’s name! These condos look like something from the Flintstones!
TODAY’S IMAGE
 barred and quirky camera type: Canon EOS 10D
lens type: Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3, 109mm
exposure: 1/320s @ f/5.6
ISO: ISO 400
post-production: Lightroom 2.0
location: Santa Barbara, CA – Cota Street Condos
What can I say about today’s photo? The pot attracted me? The shape of the succulent attracted me? The shadows attracted me? the debris on the side of the flower pot attracted me?
I am thinking e) all of the above . . .
You have to admit, sometimes you just don’t know why something draws you in or why you take a picture of a particular subject! I didn’t go looking for the shape and I didn’t go looking for the plant – it just happened on the way to the market! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
And I just know you are going to ask what type of plant this is, aren’t you! Drat – I think it is of the aloe variety, but that is all I can say at this point . . . again, my story and I am sticking to it!
TODAY’S IMAGE
 shape, shadow, and succulent camera type: Canon EOS 10D
lens type: Canon EF24-70mm, 40mm
exposure: 1/250s @ f/8
ISO: ISO 200
post-production: Lightroom 2.0
location: Santa Barbara, CA – Cinco Amigos
Today was a little different. I was shooting Luke and Brittany’s wedding in LA and figured I would post an image from their wedding, or not post at all because of writing about them. But at the end of the day, while waiting for the images from my cards to download onto Art’s computer, I saw these hats in the dining area of the Springfield Banquet Center, where Luke and Britany’s reception was held.
I love hats! And I love people wearing hats! AND I wish I could wear them – but ya know, some people just don’t look good in them – I am one of those people. And we aren’t even going to mention the whole ‘hat hair’ syndrome – cause I get it – bad!
But they were calling to me – I am your photo of the day! The sad thing was there was no light at all in this room and I didn’t have a tripod. So, I opened up the aperture to it’s max at f/2.8 and boosted the ISO to 1600! Heaven only knows how I managed to keep things still at 1/6s! Actually, you can see that I didn’t in the second image – but that’s okay with me. White balance on the other hand was a bit more difficult. I could have converted this image to Black & White or Sepia tone, which I did as a virtual copy in Lightroom, but for posting purposes, I really wanted to show the effects of shooting in low light at a high ISO. I don’t think it’s too bad – feel free to add any comments.
TODAY’S IMAGE
 I love hats !  even floppy hats ! camera type: Canon EOS 5D
lens type: Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM, 57mm and 50mm
exposure: 1/6s @ f/2.8
ISO: ISO 1600
post-production: Lightroom 2.0
location: Fullerton, CA – Springfield Banquet Center
June 12th, 2009 | Category: Events, Workshops The first part of the evenings events were primarily in wait for darkness to fall – you can’t get good intense fire light with the sun still above the horizon.
Christy Carr of Calumet, and hostess of this event had lined up a wonderful array of performers: several models in Renaissance costumes, jugglers and dancers. Really, I think they were more for our entertainment, as we waited for the fire to begin! But me, being with camera, seized the opportunity – not only to play with the Lensbaby 3G, but also focus on a few of the performers.
I started the evening shooting with a Lensbaby 3G, which has this wonderful way of adding blur to your images where ever you want to put it, depending on where your sweet focus is and the amount of distortion you apply to the lens.
Just a few images of the jugglers – Nick and Jay. Nick Burlett, also a photographer, suggested we shoot him from a low angle. At one point I was lying on my back shooting up – he forgot to tell us the hazards of shooting from that position, especially when he started doing the fancy tricks and dropping balls!
And then there was Miceala Goldy. I loved her costume. The corset she was wearing was actually part of her wedding gown that she had dyed and now uses as part of her Reanaissance reinactments. What a great way to reuse such an expensive purchase – most of us stuff our dresses in a closet or cedar chest/hope chest – and there they sit for 20-30 years!
Ah, h, h, the ballerina . . . my favorite part of the evening and this wasn’t even the reason I registered and participated in this event! Meka Richards is the ballerina in the following images. The costuming was great, but Meka’s personality was so o o o much fun and her movements so o o o on purpose, I couldn’t stop photographing. It was like there was a huge magnet that kept attracting me towards her, the ballerina, the dance.
Did I have a great evening? You bet I did!
This is a space for visual effects only.
Sometimes you just have to look up!
And sometimes you have to move around a bit to keep the sun from flaring everything in your image!
And sometimes you have to wonder what made you look up in the first place! I think it is like stopping and smelling the roses – sometimes, you just have to do it. But what triggers your brain or your intuition to cause you to stop at that very moment? I know the people around me thought I was weird! And the passing cars certainly thought I was crazy, but it didn’t matter. I saw what I saw – the great thing is, I captured what I saw – both in my minds eye and my camera’s eye and they aren’t always on the same page !
TODAY’S IMAGE
 looking up ! camera type: Canon EOS 10D
lens type: Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3, 28mm
exposure: 1/2000s @ f/6.3
ISO: ISO 200
post-production: Lightroom 2.0
location: Santa Barbara, CA – Garden Street
June 10th, 2009 | Category: Events This is a space for visual effects only.
Here are some of the images from the event. What an exciting night AND what a learning experience! The images in this gallery were created with flash units both on and off camera and long exposure times.
This is a space for visual effects only.
Thought I might break the pattern of flowers and rain. Today it is Easter in June!
Seriously, I stumbled along this little egg on the side of a driveway as I was walking down Garden Street – and couldn’t resist the temptation to photograph it – good thing it wasn’t real and just forgotten!
TODAY’S IMAGE
 Easter in June! camera type: Canon EOS 10D
lens type: Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3, 119mm
exposure: 1/1000s @ f/6.3
ISO: ISO 200
post-production: Lightroom 2.0
location: Santa Barbara, CA – Garden Street
More rain. More flowers. More purple. More photos from my neighbors front yard. Nuff said.
okay, a little bit more said . . . I never expected to stop the rain in the first image! When I first downloaded these images, I panicked! Thought I had some major dust on my sensor – that is such a devastating feeling – especially long pieces like the ones you see here! Thank goodness it was rain!
TODAY’S IMAGE
 rainy days are here again  same bush of flowers, different perspective  same ole, same ole camera type: Canon EOS 5D
lens type: Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM, 70mm
exposure: 1/320s @ f/5.0
ISO: ISO 400
post-production: Lightroom 2.0 for cropping and vignettes
location: Santa Barbara, CA – Cinco Amigos
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