Happy Thanksgiving Photo

Thanksgiving this year was fun and uneventful. The food was good as it always is. This was my first holiday as a married person... which means that we'll be doing Christmas this year with the inlaws. I'm excited about that. I spent a good majority of the time playing with the center piece. My younger cousin shot a couple of shots with my lensbaby. Then we called it a day. The best thing is the 4.5 days off that I had to play and lounge with the family before we pack up and head to the cold north for 2008.

Comments

In yet another attempt to get more comments on my photoblog, I've signed up at Photoblog Awards. Thanksgiving was good.

One Stone Eye

"One Stone Eye" is a very interesting photo blog. It is basically collection of reptiles and grasshoppers on antiques with a muted sepia tone. Though after a few clicks the amazment at the macro detail of the snakes, frogs and bugs starts to wear off, it still is an entertaining little web find. I'm guessing the photographer also works in leather, just seems like the type of thing he would do judging from these pictures.

Week in Review

I've decided to do a week in review. It'll mainly consist of tshirt designs and daily photo blogs.


The first photo blog that really stood out this week was "ON THE STREET OF HONG KONG"
This shooter posts exactly what you would think, pictures of things and people in Hong Kong. It is all a very stark black and white style. Some come across as fairly bland, but there are also mixed in some extremely striking images. The image of the old woman really jumped out at me with the shallow depth of field causing your eyes to be drawn to the sharp foreground. Its definitely worth a look. Mainly, you just have to wonder what is going on in these peoples minds in these shots... its a very close look into the streets leaving you to fill in the story of why this man took his shoes off to eat...


This Week's Challenge between Wander vs. Moalos vs. PhoDak:
Long Exposure
It didn't start off too well with Webe's camera and new "L" series lens getting lifted, but it was quite fun nonetheless for David and Myself. Justin came in late with an entry with his new camera. I do really enjoy shooting long exposure photography. Saying that, I don't actually do it very often. I'm not what you would call a patient person and this forces me against my nature of shoot quick and shoot some more. I will one day get one of those shots of the stars streaking across the night's sky for a 12 hour exposure, but for now here are the images from this week.

Upbeat Blogging

I was thinking this morning about my mood. I've got to say that blogging and a daily photo blog really can change your outlook on things. Now, I don't mean to say that doing this stuff again is a complete paradigm shift, but just a subtle tilt. For years people have been saying that journaling is therapeutic; instead of your thoughts being trapped all in your head, you can get them out on paper. A journal kept online adds a different dimension;
now there is the possibility of someone else reading your thoughts (though to be honest, I'm pretty sure that no one is reading this)... A reader makes you wonder how you will be viewed according to what you write. This gives reason for a little pause to filter a lot of the negative. This pause begins to slip further and further away from the typing and closer and closer to the actual experience. I find myself often filtering out the negative in my mind quicker than usual. This isn't to say that I've really ever been a negative person. In truth, I think I roll with life's surprises pretty well, but I have noticed just a little extra added boost with the blogging.

I've also gained an excitement for what photo to upload each day. There is something about being limited to just one picture that makes me think about the quality of the shot more. With my galleries, I can upload 20 good shots, but with my daily photo, I'm trying to limit myself to just one shot. Its just yet another way to get a different angle on a shoot. Along with this I get to make comments on each photo that I upload. I could do this with my galleries, but I don't really feel like, nor have the time to, comment on each shot. In short, I'm excited for another addition to my creative outlet to be able to shoot and write a little blurb each day... as for this written blog... I'm as active about it, but I did work in the word "blurb" into a real sentence.

Lensbaby review

The following is my review of the Lensbaby 2.0, if you don't like reading, click here to see the pictures I took with this lens the first day out with it. Or scroll to the bottom for links to buy the lenses.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens
I recently got two new lenses. One is your basic 50mm. Other than saying that this is one sharp piece of glass and the closest to the the human eye out there, there isn't a lot to say. Being able to shorten your depth of field down so far is pretty dang cool too.

Lensbaby
I'd like to send the rest of this entry talking about my other new lens the Lensbaby 2.0. From what I've read the quality difference between 1.0 and 2.0 is significant, while the only difference between 2.0 and 3.0 is a locking feature. Since this was an experiment lens for me, I thought I'd save myself the $100 and go with the 2.0.

I've got to say that right off the bat this is a pretty frustrating experience starting to shoot with one of these. I would have continued to be frustrated if I hadn't realized that I was trying to make the lens act like a normal lens. Once I decided that this lens works differently than most other lenses, I started to have a lot of fun.

Functionality
There is no metering, iris, or any communication between the lens and the camera at all... Soooooo, this means that you're shooting on full manual mode. The aperture is changed by switching a metal disc with a different size hole. I started wide open and that seemed to work fine. You focus by compressing or extending the lens. The effect of the Lensbaby is what some call a "sweet spot." Everything outside of the "sweet spot" is blurred in various ways. This spot can be adjusted by angling the accordion body of the lens so that the sweet spot isn't dead center all the time. The manual suggests using several fingers from each hand... While this works and is slightly more stable, I prefer for some shots the speed of controlling the lens completely with my left hand. Though I enjoyed the focus speed this way, while I was trying to shoot an ant, I never actually got a focused shot of the ant. So maybe they know what they're talking about with the fingers from both hands suggestion.

In the Field
Click Here to Launch the Gallery!
At this point I was at bishop's peak on a climbing trip. While the other two guys that I was with where setting a new route, I spent most of the morning shooting the trees and climbing gear.

Later that day, we bumped into a few old friends and snapped a few more shots. Then, as the sun was setting I screwed the macro X10 filter on there and started shooting flowers in my parent's back yard. I really like the macro filter and got some poster-worthy shots here.

A little note to all those who are saying, "that's no big deal, I could do that with photoshop" while this may be true, I would suggest that a lens like this will bring the creativity out of you naturally as you shoot, rather than trying to fake it in post.

All in the all, Lensbaby is not only well worth the money, bit also a fun lens.

Click here to see the Lensbaby and accessories on Amazon and check out the 50mm lenses.