You're Gonna Need A Bigger Blog

Waking Up Early on the Feast of Stephen

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:32:00 +0000

Dougan Creek Confluence, December 26, 2009
Dougan Creek Campground, Washington
Nikon D80, Tokina 12-24mm (AT-X 124 II) f/4.0 @ f/22.0, 1/2s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.6

On Boxing Day (aka the Feast of St. Stephen), Erik and I got up early to look for photos at sunrise. We made a slight miscalculation in that the time given for sunrise is when the sun actually breaks the horizon, which is significantly after the best light. Regardless, we were down in the canyon and well hidden from direct light.

Dougan Falls is up the Washougal River from my parents' house. The campground is now closed, but it's a short, pretty drive up to the falls. Clambering around on the slime-covered rocks below the falls is treacherous even in warm weather, and the windy at-freezing temperatures we found on Saturday caused us to use much extra caution when moving our tripods along the icy river bank.

This scene is found downstream from Dougan Falls, where Dougan Creek meets the Washougal River. I abandoned Erik for a while and clambered through the brush, looking for a better angle up river towards the falls. To my surprise I found Dougan Creek. You never know what you're going to find on St. Stephen's Day. (No old men gathering firewood, though.)

Deck the Phones

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Here's a holiday treat for you folks. I took a few of my photos from winters past and cropped them into photos sized for use as a smart phone background image. The size is 320x480, the right size for my Palm Pre (and coincidentally the iPhone).

I'll dispense with the full image statistics this time. Suffice to say they were all taken with my D80 and processed with Lightroom. The first two were from December 2008, the last one is from December 2007. If memory serves, first and last were taken with the 50mm and the center one was the wide end of the 18-200mm.

I'm not wholly satisfied with the middle one; I think it's a bit too blue. I might fix that before I use it on my phone. Right now I've got the first one as the background on my Pre, and the ringtone is a cute little intro to "Jingle Bells" from a Mormon Tabernacle Choir album.

'Tis the season.

Spotlight on Green

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:22:00 +0000

Posing Lizard, July 1, 2009
Kiahuna Plantation Resort, Po'ipu, Hawaii
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/5.6, 1/500s, ISO 400
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.5

Ah, Hawai'i. I'm not through with you yet. I still have many photos of you in my catalog left to develop and publish.

This little guy wasn't camera shy. We found him while walking around the gardens at our resort, Kiahuna Plantation. The wife's sharp eyes caught him first, nestled in the leaves of a bush. I'm sure he's some sort of common lizard that Hawaiian residents sick the cats onto, but for us he was quite charming.

She Wears a Striped Hat

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:31:00 +0000

Street Corner in Paradise, October 16, 2009
Avalon, California
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/4.0, 1/1000s, ISO 400
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.5

Last month when we were in California the wife, her mother and I took a boat out of San Pedro to Santa Catalina Island. We didn't feel the need to rent a cart or pay for a tour, so we stuck with our feet and prowled through the alleys and shops of tiny little Avalon.

The house on the hill also tickled my photographic senses the last time I was on Catalina, some 15 years ago. I remember taking a photo of it with the medium format camera that I had borrowed from the high school photo lab. I recall that one didn't turn out well. It seems my photographic skills have improved over the past decade and a half, which pleases me.

Hiding From the Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:46:00 +0000

Bikes for Boats, November 18, 2009
Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Tokina 12-24mm (AT-X 124 II) f/4.0 @ f/8.0, 1/15s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4, Camera Landscape Profile

The camera club at work was recently invigorated by the discovery of new members who had been surreptitiously running their own secret camera club. (OK, truth is that we simply didn't know about each other until chance eavesdropping in the kitchen brought us together.) We've started going on photo walks again, and there are even contests. This week's theme is "color"; that's a bit of a challenge in gray, rainy Seattle during the fall and winter months.

My submission to the contest is above. You can view submissions from all of the club on Flickr.

With the Soft Side of the Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:24:00 +0000

What Flash?, August 22, 2009
Seattle, Washington
Taken with Palm Pre
Unadjusted

I am so going to take crap for posting this photo.

This is the very first photo I took with my new Palm Pre. Since I wasn't aware that it had one, I had no chance to warn the wife that the flash was going to go off. Haven't played much with the phone's camera since then, though it seems more limited than the one on my old phone. Here's hoping Palm gets off their butts and makes some proper camera controls.

(Side bar: some of you probably wonder why I bought a Pre instead of an iPhone, especially now that the newest version of the Apple gadget has focus control. Suffice it to say that I had my reasons, and if you want to know more you know how to contact me.)

Speaking of my old phone, I just spent half the evening retrieving all the photos off it and arranging them nicely into my gallery. They are now available for your viewing pleasure. Farewell, little Samsung ACH-930, you were a decent handset.

Walk This

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:30:00 +0000

Elliott Bay Sunset, July 18, 2009
Seattle and Elliott Bay, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 @ f/5.6, 1/100s, ISO 400
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4, Camera Landscape Profile

Yes, it's been a while since I posted. After the Hawaii trip and a short jaunt down to Southern California I had some other business to attend to, and since then I've been settling back into routine.

One of the bits of business was the 2nd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk. A co-worker and I decided that since the Big A sponsors this event, as employees we should represent by leading one of the walks. So we did. Tina did all of the real work, I just helped by suggesting routes and then using my 6'2" frame to head up the camera parade while she brought up the back end.

It was quite fun, though I didn't take many photos. We started the walk at Kerry Park, the source for all postcards of Seattle. We looped through the neighborhood and stopped at the foot of the Queen Anne retail district. Those of us so inclined had pizza and beer and conversation, then hoofed it back over to Kerry Park to catch the sunset. The end result was this panorama.

Not my best work, no. But not bad for an impromptu, slightly drunk, hand-held pano.

Roadside Attraction

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:21:00 +0000

Red Dirt Falls, July 5, 2009
Waimea Canyon Drive, Kaua'i, Hawaii
Nikon D80, Tokina 12-24mm (AT-X 124 II) f/4.0 @ f/16.0, 1/4s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4, ACR 4.4 Profile

Back at home now. We really didn't want to leave Kaua'i. Sure, we wanted to see our kitties (who have been terribly affectionate and purry), but whatever magic is in the Hawaiian islands seems to have taken hold of us. Yes, we discussed the practicality of moving to Kaua'i several times. No, I don't think we were serious. Yet.

This photo was an awesome opportunity that we caught on the drive up to Waimea Canyon. (Ignore any bunk you hear about Mark Twain's "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" quote. He never set foot on Kaua'i.) This slash of dark red cut through the otherwise brown and green roadside landscape. There weren't any signs or much room to park, but stopping the car was mandatory.

This shot was almost a blessing. A couple of days before we had driven to two different waterfalls on the island, only to be disappointed by low waterflow and poor sightlines. Despite dragging my tripod to them I didn't take a single photo. Now, here at this little natural wonder, I was glad that I had brought the tripod all the way from Seattle. To get the optimal shot I had to set up in soft soil on the side of a hill. It was slippery and difficult to get the perspective I wanted, and maintaining my body position was painful for my feet. But I got my Hawaiian waterfall shot, so I'm happy.

FYI - I processed this photo on the flight back home, cramped up in an economy seat with a 17" laptop. I don't recommend this as a regular work environment.

Pointy Things

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:08:00 +0000

Cathedrals, July 2, 2009
Na Pali Coast State Park, Kaua'i, Hawaii
Nikon D80, Tokina 12-24mm (AT-X 124 II) f/4.0 @ f/8.0, 1/160s, ISO 400
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4, Camera Landscape Profile

Here, as promised are pointy things. Enjoy.

More specifically, these are the Cathedrals formations on the Na Pali cliffs of Kaua'i. We saw them from a catamaran (not unlike the one in the lower right of the photo), which took us around the western side of the island for snorkeling, dinner, a sunset, and a hell of a lot of fun.

I had to whip this out quick, as tonight is our last night on the island and I really ought to be packing. Tomorrow we make the sad, sad trek back to our regular lives.

Fresh Fish Foto

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Bluespine Unicornfish, July 4, 2009
Po'ipu Beach Park, Po'ipu, Hawaii
Canon PowerShot SD700 IS
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4

E. None of the above.

Since only one of you (and I'm tickling her toes right now) responded to the last post's poll, the results will be postponed. Instead I bring you this tasty tidbit straight from the ocean.

Snorkeling is tons of fun. Especially when you have an inexpensive underwater camera case and lots of fish swimming around you. I even spied a humuhumunukunukuapua'a, but he was a bit camera shy. These unicornfish were plentiful, and tended to stay in one place long enough for me to get good shots.

Incidentally, Happy Fourth of July from our 50th State.

Island Life

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:54:00 +0000

Island Life, June 30, 2009
Kiahuna Plantation Resort, Po'ipu, Hawaii
Nikon D80, Tokina 12-24mm (AT-X 124 II) f/4.0 @ f/11.0, 1/80s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4, Camera Landscape Profile

Ah, you can feel the warm, tropical breeze blowing around you, can't you? You can feel that, right? It's tickling my ankles right now.

Here the wife is kicking back with one of her favorite hobbies, but still playing model for me. Until my intervention she had been sitting about ten feet to the right, in a less photogenic spot. Such a sweet girl.

Two bits of trivia about this photo. One, notice the moon between the fronds of the palm tree. Two, the building in the background is not really tilted like that. When shooting at extremely wide angles, straight lines have a habit of distorting, and I have not yet invested in perspective correction software.

A few more days left in the islands, and lots more photos to share. What would you like to see next? Vote by leaving a comment for one of the following:

A. My brief encounter with a tropical insurance agent.
B. One more reason why I am NOT a professional photographer.
C. Yet another super-wide angle photo in which I let the sky dominate the image.
D. Pointy things.

Island Wife

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:41:00 +0000

Island Wife, June 29, 2009
Koko Marina, Honolulu, Hawaii
Nikon D80, Tokina 12-24mm (AT-X 124 II) f/4.0 @ f/4.0, 1/250s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4, Camera D2X Mode 2 Profile

The wife very generously puts up with my hobbies. With a smile, even.

The islands are beautiful. We completed our three-day sojourn on O'ahu, and have now retired to the beaches of Po'ipu for the remainder of our holiday.

For our last night in Honolulu the wife let me indulge in another of my hobbies: we went to Kona Brewing's Koko Marina Pub. I would have much rather gone to Kona's brewery, but alas, we were on the wrong island. The food was good and the beer was excellent (though a little less hoppy than my northwest palate is accustomed to), but the service sucked. Also, the cab ride was ridiculously expensive. Taxis cost $3.20 a mile in Honolulu; I'll let you work out the cost between Koko Marina and our hotel at Waikiki.

Today is a different day, a different island. I've already got my eye on the two breweries here on Kaua'i, and this time I've got a rental car. I've also got some good shots from this evening's sunset that I wanted to share, but it's late enough already. Maybe tomorrow I'll work them up for you.

Until then, aloha.

Soccer shots

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:49:00 +0000

The wife and I are headed to Hawai'i for 10 days on Saturday. I'm looking forward to some time to relax, but I'm also excited about photo opportunities. Balance, Tim, balance.

I'll probably be posting from the islands, but until then here's a few shots from that soccer game. I whipped these out on the request of The Big A's HR department, which wants to use the soccer team in an internal promotion. It was at least a motivator to shiny up the photos. I just hope I'm not running afoul of the photographer's release I signed by posting them here; the sentence with the word "exclusive" was a little murky.

Sam Power 2, June 8, 2009
Georgetown Playfield, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 1/640s, ISO 1600
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Camera Vivid profile

Yes, you have seen this one before. I spent some more time tweaking the colors. I've tried to go for the desaturated/high-contrast/grany-athletic-shot look. In Lightroom I used the settings for this photo as the basis for the others (since they all had the same nasty noise problem), and that worked out pretty well. Then I touched up the skin on each of them with a little color and that really helped.

Into the Turn, June 8, 2009
Georgetown Playfield, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 1/500s, ISO 1600
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Camera Vivid profile

Dish It Down, June 8, 2009
Georgetown Playfield, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 1/500s, ISO 1600
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Camera Vivid profile

Patience On the Ball, June 8, 2009
Georgetown Playfield, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 1/500s, ISO 1600
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Camera Vivid profile

Jon On the Run, June 8, 2009
Georgetown Playfield, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 1/250s, ISO 3200
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and Adobe Photoshop CS4, Camera Vivid profile

This photo required a bit more tweaking than the others. Our badass subject here, Jonathan, is an employee but the two guys in the background are not. HR requires model releases for the photos, which technically isn't a problem but is a pain to arrange. So Photoshop lent a hand with a bit of masking and blurring. Not my best work, but if you don't look to hard it works.

Breaking News

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Remember this post? It has bloomed:

The Boston Globe: Visitors to website Sporcle learn geography and other subjects - and have fun

Dreams do come true, kiddies.

Double Dose

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:30:00 +0000

Sam Power, June 8, 2009
Georgetown Playfield, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 1/640s, ISO 1600
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Camera D2X Mode 2 profile

Another shot from last week's game. ISO is lower so the noise isn't as bad. Still bad, though. I went for the high contrast look here. Not bad, except his skin tones are starting to bleed red, and it's a bit tricky to clean it up with the noise. Good enough for now.

Two Bridge View, June 15, 2009
Aurora and Fremont Bridges, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Tokina 12-24mm (AT-X 124 II) f/4.0@ f/11.0, 1/25s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, ACR 4.4 profile

There was a little extra cash burning a hole in my pocket, so I did what any good photographer does: I bought a new lens. Specifically, the Tokina AT-X 124 AF Pro DX II. This is the newer version of Tokina's 12-24 with the built-in focus motor and better coatings on the glass. I chose it over the competition because A) it was in my price range, and B) it goes up to 24mm, which the Sigma 10-20 does not. I find that I like that length quite a bit, and I even considered the Nikon 24mm prime as an alternative. But I also wanted to get the extreme wide end, so as a DX/APS-C format shooter, my choice was made.

This was taken on my first jaunt out with the lens, wandering along the canal side of my office. Not a spectacular photo, but decent. I'll need to work with the lens a bit more to figure out the sharpness and chromatic aberration behavior, but it's promising so far.

Baseline Shot

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Brick House vs. Woo-Deux, June 8, 2009
Georgetown Playfield, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 1/250s, ISO 3200
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and Adobe Photoshop CS4, ACR 4.4 profile

I haven't been playing soccer lately due to a badly sprained ankle. Last week I finally went to one of my team's soccer games, but I brought my camera instead of my cleats. My teammate Daniel is in the Harvard t-shirt, doin' his thing. Can't remember what exactly happened next, but no doubt Daniel hammered the ball to somewhere. (Ultimately we won, 2-1.) I've got a couple other exposures from this game that I like; might post those later in the week.

Exposure was a bit tricky; it was late and the sun had sunk behind the trees, so I had the ISO cranked all the way up. Ideally I'd be shooting wide open and with a faster shutter speed but I wanted to stay at the sharper apertures of this lens. Kinda pointless in the end since the noise blows out all the detail anyway. I tried the trick in Photoshop where you sharpen the Lightness channel in LAB mode, and that helped a little.

I tried this as black and white but I couldn't find a mix that made this look good. The contrast is just too low to make it interesting. Leaving the color in lets the image pop a little bit more.

Next week I hope to start playing again.

The Perfect Lens for Being Drunk

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:59:00 +0000

The Space Needle After Half a Bottle of Wine, June 5, 2009
The Space Needle, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Lensbaby Composer @ f/2.8, 1/80s, ISO 800
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, ACR 4.4 profile

For our fifth anniversary the wife and I dined at SkyCity, the revolving restaurant at the Space Needle. Absolutely the best views in Seattle, especially at sunset. The food was not as spectacular; it was good but be clear that the significant prices are justified (just barely) by the view, not the food quality. Savvy shoppers will sign up for the SkyCity e-mail list, which netted us a free entree and a bottle of wine. The wife doesn't drink wine (well; the wife doesn't drink wine well), so it was up to me to absorb the value of our freebie.

After tottering back down to ground level, while we waited for the valet to bring the car (yes folks, the wife drove) I broke out the camera with Lensbaby mounted. I teetered underneath the tower and pointed upwards. I'm pleased with the results.

The tweaking in Lightroom was pretty extensive. I debated whether or not to try to kill the color cast on the outer ring, but decided that the shot looked boring in black and white. Maybe I could play with the color balancing for the grayscale conversion and get interesting tones. I'd have to be careful, as the high ISO tends to cause noise to pop out easily. That is one benefit to using the Lensbaby: all the blurring tends to mitigate the noise.

Charred and Pointy

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Hot Tools, May 9, 2009
Art by Fire, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 @ f/8, 1/125s, ISO 400
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Adobe Standard profile

The wife has a new hobby, glass blowing. In fact, right now she's at her first formal class at Art by Fire. I took this shot a few weeks ago when she was doing a one-off class there during the monthly Ballard artwalk. I warmed up the image quite a bit by enhancing the white balance and adding a little bit of split toning. I thought about going black and white, which would let the split tone really come out, but I decided to leave the original colors in without desaturating.

I've slacked a little bit when it comes to the blog and processing my photos. Haven't been shooting much, either, which is usually what drives me to post new photos. Not that I don't have lots of old ones I can work on. I'll endeavor to be better about posting, and in any case I've got a big trip coming up at the end of the month that should generate a ton of images.

Photorturnity

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:32:00 +0000

Sporcle Guys, May 14, 2009
Derek Pharr and Matthew Ramme, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 @ f/8, 1/200s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, ACR 4.4 profile

Let me introduce you to Sporcle.com. It is awesome. You will lose much free time there.

Sporcle is the product of one of my soccer teammates and a couple of his buddies. Today I got an e-mail from Matt asking if I owned a "real camera". (No, Matt, my camera exists in a plane of existence between this one and the next, and you can only use it when you submit to the will of the spoon that does not bend.) The Boston Globe writing a story on the site and requested a photo to go with it. Matt wanted something better than a point-and-shoot snapshot, hence the call to me.

We found a shady spot around the corner from my house (since my currently sprained ankle limits my travel), I set up the ol' SB-800 flash on my tripod-cum-lightstand with the LumiQuest Softbox III, and we snapped away. A little tweaking in Lightroom and here you go. Not bad for a one-light shot, methinks. Though I would have preferred a taller stand to highlight the hair a little, and a second light or reflector to fill the shadows on the left side.

Although nothing is guaranteed, I'm pretty psyched to think that a photo of mine might be in print. Even if it is only in Boston. Thanks to Matt for remembering that I'm a photo geek, and thanks to David Hobby for his numerous tips on how to not suck at this sort of thing.

Follow the Tracks

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Sat, 02 May 2009 04:51:00 +0000

Sharp Tracks, April 25, 2009
Train Bridge, Vancouver, Washington
Nikon D80, Lensbaby Composer @ f/?, 1/500s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Camera D2X Mode 2 profile

This is the first shot with the Lensbaby that I really like. I think it looks better in a bigger view where you can get a closer look at the detail in the tracks and the view down the bridge, so please do click on the photo to see the larger version. It's not perfect; I'd like the interior of the Bridge to be sharper, but I'm still learning with the 'baby.

Plot: Twist

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:46:00 +0000

I found this far too amusing:
http://www.postmodernbarney.com/2009/04/uncomfortable-plot-summaries/

Thanks to Mr. Neil for the link.

I didn't even read the whole list, it's much too long. But I couldn't help but create a few of my own. Hitchcock is sorely underrepresented on the list so I focused on some of his better known works:

Strangers on a Train: Gay man tries to help a tennis player marry his girlfriend.
Rear Window: Despondent cripple projects his fantasies onto neighbors.
North by Northwest: Businessman finds a new career while on vacation.
The Trouble With Harry: Town conspires to hide murder.
The Birds: Socialite is frightened by wildlife.
Psycho: Son grieving for his mother is harassed by out-of-towners.

This exercise is not unlike those re-cut movie trailers in which the meaning of the plot is twisted. (ex.: "The Shining") Here, an economy of words and simplification of just one element of the plot seem to do the trick.

Here's a couple of bonus synopses for you:

Young Frankenstein: Man falls in love with his surgeon's fiancée.
Jaws: New guy in town prevents collapse of the local industry.

Insert Parenting Pun Here

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:53:00 +0000

Baby Bridge Belly, April 22, 2009
Aurora Bridge, Seattle, Washington
Nikon D80, Lensbaby Composer @ f/2.0, 1/320s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Camera D2X Mode 2 profile

For a moment, your indulgence in pun is required.

Last night, after 6 hours of gestating on Craigslist, I became the proud papa of a slightly used Lensbaby Composer.

Since most folks that read this blog aren't hip-deep in the photography swamp like myself, a little clarification may help. A Lensbaby is a special effect camera lens that allows the lens elements to be moved off-axis. This results in exaggerated streaking, blurring, or distortion around the area of focus (the "sweet spot"). Among other neat effects you can get the "toy train town" look, where real-world views appear to be miniaturized. (Here's a random example from Flickr.) There's a little bit of that look in the shot above, if you look directly at the in-focus cross beams. Keep in mind I've only had it for a day. Check out the Lensbaby gallery for an idea of what it can do in the right hands.

Lensbabies have been incredibly popular for the past few years. They can be just a toy, something fun to fiddle around with, or they can be used for serious photography. Until I learn to take advantage of its capabilities, my Lensbaby will remain in the toy category, but I'm looking forward to playing with it.

Oooo, also, today I received my tripod and head. The Gitzo GT2531 and Really Right Stuff BH-40. Cooler (and more expensive) than the Lensbaby, though much harder to see through. It's been just over one year that I've been saving for this support system; my anticipation and decision making process for it was obsessive. Now I can retire the cruddy old tripod I got in high school that has sand in the leg locks, is falling apart, and never came up to more than half my height anyway. The new tripod is 21st century carbon fiber, magnesium alloy, and anodized aluminum. Very neat and shiny, and an important tool in my photographic arsenal.

Two fat new photo toys in 24 hours. I better get out shooting. Let this be a lesson to you, kids: don't get into photography. It'll drain your bank account and ruin your life.

Photographic Goldmine

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:04:00 +0000

White River Crevasse, April 17, 2009
White River Falls State Park, Oregon
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @ f/16.0, 20mm, 1/2s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, ACR 4.4 profile

Decaying Powerhouse, April 17, 2009
White River Falls State Park, Oregon
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @ f/18.0, 18mm, 1/2s, ISO 400
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Adobe Standard profile

Today was my last away from civilization and schedules, so I had limited options on where to end my photo safari. I picked White River Falls State Park off the map purely by name and location. At first the park doesn't look like much: some picnic tables on a grassy field and the White River beyond. But walk down the trail and, hoo boy! This place is a photographic gold mine. Besides the falls themselves there's the decrepit old powerhouse (from the decaying, graffiti-ed generators inside, that's my assumption) and the pipes, rusting metal, and other debris from a forgotten age. This is definitely worth a second visit, preferable early in the morning when the sun will be hitting the falls just right.

Evening Sun Two-Fer

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:09:00 +0000

Crooked River Reflection, April 15, 2009
Smith Rock State Park, Oregon
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 36mm, 1/200s, ISO 400
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, Adobe Standard profile

Inverted Sunset, April 16, 2009
Painted Hills Unit, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon
Nikon D80, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 @ f/8.0, 48mm, 1/15s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, ACR 4.4 profile

You get a double-shot today because the Internet in my hotel room in Bend went on the fritz last night. After the long, late drive back to civilization this evening I relocated at 11 PM with a beer, Girl Scout cookies, and my computer setup (17" MacBook, hard drive, Wacom tablet, power brick, etc.) to the lobby of the hotel, where there's wi-fi. (Really? Just in the lobby? WTF, Bend Inn & Suites. This hotel is worth a post unto itself. And I opted to pay for the second night. Oy.)

I realize there's an disconcerting gap in saturation between these two photos. The Smith Rock one is kind of begging for it with those really satiny blues in the reflection in the Crooked River. (BTW, I don't think that particular rock is THE Smith Rock.) With the Painted Hills shot I'm trying to keep the colors realistic- the natural colors of the rock are amazing enough without enhancement.

Now that we know what makes these photos different, what do they have in common? They were both taken in late afternoon (or evening, depending on when you take your tea), a deliberate attempt to put myself in a photogenic location when the light was favorable. It worked to a degree; see exhibits A and B, above. These photos also were both taken with the handy but sharpness-challenged Nikkor 18-200 with a polarizer. The lens is OK at f/8 on the wide end (again, see exhibits A & B). The polarizer is bloody fantastic in these conditions, as long as you're pointing AWAY from the sun. Lessons learned.

Light (and) Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:44:00 +0000

Intermittent Rain, April 14, 2009
Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
Nikon D80, Nikkor 35mm f/2.0 @ f/11.0, 0.6s, ISO 100
Developed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3, ACR 4.4 profile

After shooting at Silver Falls for a couple of hours I started the drive back to civilization. As Highway 214 broke above the crest of the park's valleys I could see brightness behind the trees, a warm light spreading across the evening sky. When I rounded the corner at the park gate I yanked the steering wheel over and parked at the overlook. The glowing Spring sun had lit up the intermittently drizzling clouds like a monoblock behind a softbox. Shadows of rain draped down as tendrils of their mother clouds, reaching deep into the foothills of the Cascades like the roots of a thirsty young plant.

I grumbled a little as I dragged out the tripod again.