Sunrise over Farmington

The other day I took my camera in to work because I was going straight from work to a Christmas program for the kids. As I was driving, a beautiful sunrise came up over the hills of Farmington. So, I rolled down my car window, navigated by sense of smell, and started snapping photos. I'd like to do more nature photography; however, its not easy to get out. I like the colors in this one, but it would have been better if there were some foreground in it, I think.

Family Christmas Pagent

Here are some photos of our family Christmas pagent. I may put some more up later, but I really like the kids as the wisemen in these photos, especially Daniel.

New Lens

Okay, so I was going to start out this post by apologizing for not having posted recently, but since I am apparently the only person that ever checks this blog with any real frequency, I will spare myself the whole throat-clearing apologetic preamble. Anyway, I got a totally awesome new lens (or is it "lense," I'm never sure) for Christmas. Basically, I can take photos of skin pores from across the street. Well, not quite that much magnification, but still very cool. Here are some shots I made with the new lens. The first one is a shot of a globe willow tree in our back yard. It was my wife that actually suggested the shot. I hung outside my upstairs bedroom window trying to find an angle that would not include the neighbor's trampoline. Unfortunately, despite my contortions, you can still see the shadow of the tramp in the upper right corner. I also lost the full shape of the globe which is what really would have made the photo nice. Considered jumping the back fence and moving the neighbor's trampoline, but they have two dogs, and although just pups, I don't care much for dogs, or explaining to neighbors for that matter. The second shot is a little bird's nest that I was able to zoom in on. I'll get some Christmas photos up soon, too. (By the way, I just checked and apparently "lense" is not even a real word, although I think it does work in the plural somehow. Still don't you think plain old "lens" looks like it's missing a letter?)

Big Photos on Blogger

As you can see below, I've figured out how to put big photos onto my blog. This photo was actually taken by my wife on our little point and click, but I thought I'd put it in anyway to show how ridiculous I am. Yes that's my twenty-two day old daughter hanging from my neck in a sling while I try to figure out how to adjust the apertaure on my camera.

Okay, here's how you do it (the big photos not the sling or the apertaure).

• First, you've got to download a new template. The problem with the Blogger templates is that the posting width is very narrow. You want to find a template that has a wide post column. I found some free templates prepared especially for photo blogs at http://www.ourblogtemplates.com/. I'm not sure I'm in love with this new template, so I may keep shopping, but it will do for now. Oh, and one drawback on choosing a new template, some of them, like the one I am currently using, doesn't make it easy for you to have your profile accessable to your blog guests (there's probably a way to get it in there, but it's too late tonight for me to figure it out). So, if you're really concerned that people know your favorite books, movies, and your "sign" a new template may not be the thing for you. Whatever site you download the new template from should have instructions on how to incorporate it in to blogger. It is actually pretty easy. Here are the instructions I followed: (1) download template and save it on your computer, (2) in blogger, go to Layout > Template > Edit HTML page, (3) choose the file you downloaded from the "Browse" button and then press the "Upload" button, (4) when it asks you to delete widget say yes (this is where you lose your profile and other fancy things you may have on the side of your current blog), and (5) view (and clean up) your new blog.
• Second, store your photos in an online image hosting service. I uploaded my images on to http://www.photobucket.com/. I think http://www.flickr.com/ works as well, but I have never tried it. Both sites are free. Photobucket appears to have image editing software that may even be more robust than Picasa. I haven't had time to use it very much, but it looked like there was a lot of stuff there.
• Third, copy the information in the "HTML for websites and blogs." It gives you full size and and thumbnail options. Go with the full size since that is the whole point of this exercise.
• Fourth, in the Blogger Create Post panel, click the "Edit HTML" in the text Editor and Paste in the HTML you copied from Photobucket or Flickr.
• Fifth, these next two steps will be easier if you have some experience with HTML. In order to keep your photo from being too big, you want to go in an set the width. You do this by going to the HTML you pasted in toward the end of all the computer gibberish but before the final ">" type "width="700px". That will tell the computer how many pixels wide you want the image displayed. You can set the height as well, but that may mess up the proportions, so best just do to width.
• Sixth, to prevent the image from hanging off to one side or the other, you want to tell the computer to center the image. You do this by finding the very first "<" and right before that type: "<" then the word "center" then another one of these ">". Then find the very last ">" and right after that type < /center >, only don't put in any spaces. (Sorry about all the "type this, then this, then another one of these," and "leave out the spaces" nonsense, I'm just not smart enough to show you how to do it without the computer interpreting it as actual HTML code.)

  Ta da. There you have it. Not that hard really. May require some additional tweaking after the fact, but at least we're getting closer. Enough blog business. Let's get back to photography.

Picasa

Okay, I downloaded some new free software -- google/blogger affiliated Picasa. It's not Photoshop, but compared to the free software (PictureProject) that came with my Nikon camera it makes a world of difference. For example, compare the photo of Daniel at the left with the same photo below. On the one below, the strong back lighting put Daniel's face in shadow, which came out particularly dark when I uploaded to Blogger. With Picasa, I was able to add some fill light and bring Daniel's face out a little more, which is nice because I really like the tongue on this photo. So, for all you poor/cheap photographers out there, Picasa is definately a step up from PictureProject. (Note: all you can do in PictureProject is crop, take out redeye, and make albums. Lot's more can be done in Picasa, especially the latest version).

Colors

Okay, so I was up late last night uploading the post below. When I get to the office this morning, the colors on the photos look way different than they did at home (i.e., not as good, darker, etc.). The blue in Hannah's eyes in the first photo is completely lost. Is it blogger, my monitor, late night bleary eyes, all of the above, I don't know...turn out the lights and I'll glow. I don't think it's the monitor because when I open the photo outside of blogger, it looks good. Also, is there a way to get photos on my blog to be larger? I would like that. If anyone knows, share the secret. Otherwise, I will look it up an let you know.

First Snow

We got the first real snow of the year last Saturday, and of course the kids wanted to go outside and play. So, I followed them with my camera and got some great shots, including one of my all time favorite photos of my daughter Hannah. No cropping or anything on this one, just pure photographic serendipity. Here's another one of Hannah that I really like. Here's one of Daniel the cheeky snow eater. I really like the white background on this one. Again, no cropping -- this is just the way I shot it. You may not be able to see it on this smaller version, but there was a little piece of bluethread on Daniel's chin in this one. I realize all you Photoshop-spases out there could get rid of that imperfection and probably put a snowflake on his nose and a reflection of raindeer in his eyes, but whatever; I'm just doing my best here with what I've got. One last one of Daniel. This is after we came inside and were drinking hot chocolate. It's the tongue. Okay, so what I've learned is that I've been too distracted so far monkeying around with camera settings, etc. I mean, I'm just trying to learn how to use a tool better, so its okay, but at the end of the day, it is the subject matter that matters. Is this blog starting to sound like the final scene of a Dougie Howser, M.D. episode? Maybe the better question is, does anyone besides me remember Dougie Howser, M.D.?

Low-key images

Thought I'd try some low-key shots today. I switched to spot-metering and concentrated the exposure reading on the light values that still retain subject detail. I wanted to shift mid-tones into shadow areas. Here are some of the better ones. Still not as good as I had hoped, but at least, for the first time, I actually messed around with the settings on my camera and got close to the results I wanted. Would have been better if my son Benjamin hadn't been wearing a yellow shirt, but I am starting to learn that, although good sports and generally indulgent, the rest of my family isn't necessarily as enthusiastic about my new hobby as I am. Fair enough.

Snap'n with a Tripod

The return of my tripod was refreshingly easy yesterday. I left work five minutes early and it only took two minutes to exchange for a tripod with all the parts. When I left the store there was an amazing sunset. Would post a photo, but didn't have my camera with me. Note to self, always have camera with you.

Last night I messed around with slow shutter speeds. Mounted my camera on the new tripod and started taking photos of running water. Unfortunately, the only waterfalls I could arrange came out of the tap or containers I poured into the sink. I wasn't able to get any "silky curtain" photos like you see in magazines, etc. -- maybe because I wasn't shooting the right kind of water, maybe because I really am clueless about how to work my camera, or maybe (likely) both. However, by going to macro and cropping a little I did get some close up shots that I liked (see new heading for this blog). Monkeyed around with the flash a little as well. I figured out how to turn it on when not in auto mode. For some reason I had this idea that using a flash is bad or amateur or something. But apparently it is necessary as there appear to be certain limits beyond which you cannot compensate with just shutter speed and aperture adjustment (at least with my lens; I wonder if a better lens would make a difference)-- especially in a dark house at night (which is were I will be doing most of my practice until spring).


Last thing, this photo was not taken last night, but I'll post it anyway. It's little Mary's hand holding my wife's finger. I like how the index finger is in sharp focus and the rest of the photo is a little blurred. I wish I could say I did that on purpose, but right now photography for me is like my golf game, a few lucky shots mixed in with lots of failed attempts. Oh, need to do something about editing software as well. Not sure I'm ready to pop for full-blown Photoshop, but I can't even put in black and white in the free software from Nikon that came with the camera. I can do it on the camera itself, but not on computer. Hum. I think this photo would be better in black and white, maybe.

Tripod Woes

So yesterday I went to the store to buy a tripod for my camera. I've been reading a lot about photography and apparently a tripod is like super important. So I got one. Later than night after the kids were in bed and my wife was playing board games, I set up a still life scene and pulled out my brand new tripod. After a few minutes of trying to figure the dumb thing out I realized that the mounting piece (the little bit with the screw that attaches to the camera) was missing. Also misssing was the carrying case. So now I have to go back to the store today and try to get a replacement. Deep joy. Anyway, that's why there are no new photos today. I could have posted one of the blurry ones (hand held at slow shutter speed), but I won't.

Getting Started

I realize, of course, that every Sam, Dick, and Harry with a finger, at least one functioning eye, and a digital SLR camera thinks that they are Ansel Adams. Well, I'm no different. I got a camera and a tripod and I've started clicking. After nearly filling up my memory card with mostly overexposed, poorly metered photos I realized, I gott'a do something with all these images, so, ta da...welcome to my awesome blog.

My first subject was my daughter, Mary, born December 1, 2008. Funny thing is, my favorite photo of her was actually taken by my wife (or possibly mother-in-law). I cropped the photo though, so, you know, I should get some credit I think. Isn't it strange that people start out small enough to fit in a bathroom sink.

Okay, one more photo of Mary. This one I actually took.