Night time

I'm finding myself fascinated by night photography right now. The end result is completely different than what you see at the time, revealing a whole new world. This is another image from the La Jolla shoot.

Patience

Sometimes patience is what you need to get the right image. Take this one for example. It is a 10 minute exposure, during which I was checking my watch every 30 seconds or so and thinking "is it time yet!" I'm glad I waited. Ending the exposure early would have resulted in a dark image with little contrast.

This was shot durung what was the "biggest full moon of the year". I was out shooting that night, and did not take a single picture of the moon. I figure that everyone is going to have that shot (especially when it was low on the horizon, although the colors at sunset were incredible). Instead I decided to use it as the world's largest nighttime light source. I will be coming back to this theme (night shots) over and over.

A different look

I was looking at this photo on the blog, and decided I wanted to try it as a black and white photo. That's actually what I envisioned when I first took it, but haven't gotten around to playing with it. This is the first attempt for this image, so I may work on it some more. I guess that would be a bit of a warning that this one could come back to haunt us more than once.

The calendar moves on...

Here are the past few day's photos. I may be a little late in posting sometimes, but I will try to catch up. I'm trying to abide by the spirit of the assignment, which is to keep creating new images, rather than the letter of the assignment (365 posts).

Indecision

Sometimes it's hard to settle on one image. Take these two for example. They both appeal to me in certain ways, and not in others. I like the runner in the top one, and the sun in the bottom one. I also like the fact that the sign is not in the bottom one, but I couldn't get an angle where I could get the pine tree on the side without having it there. Good thing about this is that I don't have to choose. I can put both images out there for consideration.

Studio on a budget

I put the first image up to show how I shoot my "studio" shots. I don't have thousands of dollars for equipment, and I'm trying not to show it in my photography. It's more about vision and simplicity than about tons of gear. It can be a little challenging to get the vision out of my head and into the camera, and sometimes it changes mid-shoot, but that is the fun.

Weekend

Here are the photos from a rainy weekend. Enjoy.

Thank you to my newest follower, Kevin L. Glad to have you on board.

The reason I'm doing this...

The reason I'm doing my Photo a Day assignment, especially since I've been shooting for over 20 years now, is to explore and learn a bit. I'm not deluding myself by thinking that every image I create this year is going to be a groundbreaking masterpiece. Many times I'll be coming back to a particular idea in order to refine it (like I mentioned yesterday). That is the reason for the project. I want to be able to look back after a year, and see growth and development as an artist. Or at least not to see repetitiveness or stagnation.

I know that some images will instantly jump out as "winners", while some may undergo many changes during the year and still not quite live up to what I had envisioned. I'm just trying to make more winners than not.

Thanks to Yves Rossy for doubling my number of followers-I'm up to two!

Inspiration is all around

This photo, my official first Photo a Day, is proof that if I look hard enough I can find inspiration all around. I look at this fence every day, but when I really LOOK at it, I see it in different ways. It becomes more than just a fence. It becomes patterns and texture.

I promise to try and not get all "preachy" about my photography. Sometimes I take an image because it has special meaning to me (like the statue), sometimes because it strikes a chord in me, and sometimes I just wander around clicking away hoping to get lucky. Most of the time it's a little bit of all of those put together.

Wandering

One of my favorite ways to pass time is to just wander and see what I can find, or what I can see. Especially in a place I've never been before, I can usually find something to catch my eye, or something that I can use later. In the case of the sign, I found several images from the one sign, including this one.

The statue had a special meaning for me, because it made me think of my grandfather, who was a sailor in WWII. Every time I look at it, I think of him and the sacrifice he made for our country. I wish I had told him I was proud of him for that, but I think he knows.

Nature

I do a lot of camping and backpacking, and many of my images come from that. I've always felt very comfortable in nature, since that is where I can get away from the cell phone, the broken-down machines, the constant calls, etc. Instead, I can go to where I find new sights, and new insights.

Planes

I've always been an aviation fanatic. In fact, I've already declared that my "expensive retirement hobby" is going to be getting my private pilot's license. But that's not for many years. Until then, I'll still be faithfully attending our local airshow every year, where the Blue Angels regularly perform, along with plenty of other civilian and military acts. And I will most certainly keep photographing them. And yes, that is a plane landing on a platform on top of a moving van!