Daily Photo

I have discovered the 365 Project, and for now, I am going to be posting my daily photos there instead of here. I have a couple more days preloaded here, so I'll let them run out, but then all of my new pictures will be here: http://365project.org/staceyb/365 We'll see how that works out! Perhaps there will be outings where I still want to share multiple pictures, and then I may return here for that purpose.

I will be aiming not just to post a picture every day, but to take that picture on the day it is posted. Wish me luck, and please come visit!

Citadel Plants

The goal was to take a photo of the plants in the Citadel. I just wasn't feeling excited by anything. So I changed my point of view! Still not my fave ever, but an interesting shot.

A Day in the Life of the World

If you were not already aware, today is a special day for photographers, professional and amateur alike, around the world! Here's the link and description they've provided:

http://www.aday.org/

Photograph on May 15th!

You have one day to join thousands around the world in using the power of photography to create, share and compare perspectives on daily life! Don't miss it! You can upload your images until May 22nd.

Brick and Shadow: Challenge Brick

Another thing I've been reading about is the power of side lighting. In my head, I always equated shadows with bad, but the pictures they use as examples are really stunning. So I thought I would try it.

It's very true that without the shadows on this stone brick, you lose most of the texture, and you don't get to see how rough and beautiful it is. I have to remember not to always shoot only in full light or full shade. 1/640 sec exposure, 4 aperture, ISO 80, 5mm focal length, macro on

Challenge Brick, take 3

Here's a 2-in-1 so I don't bore everyone to tears with a million days of bricks. Today, painted brick!

The paint here is cracking and peeling in really interesting ways - it looks almost like eyes and a nose. I also like the way the 2 colours work together. 1/320 sec exposure, 4 aperture, ISO 80, 5mm focal length, macro on

I admit it! This doesn't look like brick. You'll just have to take my word for it that that cracking paint is on brick. And looking very cool with the texture of the brick underneath and the cracking on top combined. 1/200 sec exposure, 4 aperture, ISO 80, 5mm focal length, macro on

Day 2: Challenge Brick

I got in close! Actually the problem here was that I was so close, I was blocking the light. So I had to tilt the camera a bit in order to shoot above the shadow. It makes for a bit of an odd picture. Perhaps at another time of day the problem would have been less - or maybe I should have used a zoom to get close, instead.

1/250 sec exposure, 4 aperture, ISO 80, 5mm focal length, macro on

Challenge: Brick

The last time I undertook a challenge, I called it Challenge Blue. Here, here, here, here, and here. Bonus here. This time I took up Challenge Brick. I work at the edge of downtown, and there are some beautiful older buildings around. I've been admiring the variety of bricks for a while, and now I will share some of them with you!

I took this picture. An old, broken wall. Very cool, in my humble opinion. But the picture doesn't really do anything for me. And then I thought, all the stuff I've been reading, they keep saying GET CLOSER! 1/160 sec exposure, 4 aperture, ISO 80, 5mm focal length

So I did. What do you think? I love it. I think it's a much better picture. Way more interesting, less cluttered. 1/160 sec exposure, 4 aperture, ISO 80, 5mm focal length You can see the settings are identical to the previous photo. I moved me to improve the picture. I didn't even use macro setting.

I'm taking tomorrow off and then posting some other images. Challenge Brick will continue next week!

Shiny, wavy, pattern

I think this object is pretty cool in "real life". And I think it makes for a great photo too!

The pattern is the repeating waves in the metal. I've thought that was neat since the first time I saw it, but with all the warped and partial reflections on the curves, I think it's even more interesting! And looking at the bottom of the waves, you can almost wonder if they are bending in towards the camera, or away from it.

So, what do you think the object is?

Auto white balance, 0 exposure bias, ISO 800, aperture 4.5 and 1/160 exposure length, no flash.

DPS: Weekly challenge

The Digital Photography School apparently does a weekly challenge, and this week's challenge is...

Patterns

They refer to this post from a couple of days earlier as the inspiration for the subject. Those are some pretty awesome pictures!! If you don't want to share your images with all of DPS (they tell you how in the post), feel free to share them with the tiny group that is me, by commenting here!

One extra for Challenge Blue

I took this picture for Challenge Blue. Initially, it didn't make the cut for pictures to be posted, but I keep coming back to it, because there's just something about it.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what it is about this picture that grabs me. Maybe it's something raw about having an emergency button on this "rough" basement wall - yes, it's all painted white, but there are lines for .. power?, cut outs for access doors, and electrical boxes all over the place. Things that would normally be hidden, are acceptable in the tunnels under the city. And then there's this sharp blue - bold, clean, clear that just stands out against all the white. (As it should, for an emergency button!)

30 Day Challenge - What is it?

I've mentioned the 30 Day Photo Challenge several times as I've posted some of my pictures. I thought it was about time to explain more!

Here is the original challenge I undertook: Anyone Up For A Challenge?

Then I redid it for myself, taking some of their items, replacing some with new ones of my own, and changing around the order. I don't much like taking pictures of people, and I found the original had too many of ... me. So I added architecture, plants and animals, etc. In all the challenges I undertake, I only use pictures taken for that challenge. I won't grow or learn anything by just looking back through old pictures, even if I have something perfect!

My version:

1. pretty pattern
2. in my bag
3. something old
4. bird
5. favourite colour
6. something I made
7. clouds
8. what I ate
9. animal
10. something new
11. a smile
12. texture
13. trees/foliage
14. something fun
15. what I wore
16. something purchased
17. what I read
18. doorway
19. motion
20. shoes
21. from a distance
22. a building
23. childhood memory
24. sunrise/sunset
25. technology
26. in the kitchen
27. close-up
28. black and white
29. unusual angle
30. faceless self-portrait

There are many other challenges out there, so here's a few, if the one above doesn't suit you. You can also set your own! My only suggestion is that if you make your own, write it down in advance.

• zoom in on gratitude
• The White Peach Blog - 30 Day Photo Challenge
• Daily Dog Challenge (I mentioned this one a few days ago, but it's worth repeating.)
• Photo Challenge: Pictures by the alphabet
• 52 Week Challenge Each week was assigned an adjective, one per week. This link is for the 2011 list, and there was also a challenge in 2010 based on a weekly topic. Although it's too late to post to the Flickr group, that doesn't mean you can't take the ideas and run with them on your own!
• Nikon D300 Challenge
• Shutter Foundation

One other that I have thought of, inspired by the Pictures by the alphabet challenge would be to take pictures of the alphabet - in unusual ways. Finding an S in curly architectural features, for example. Do you have any other links to or ideas for challenges?

Final Day: Colour Challenge Blue

This picture didn't end up the way I had in mind, but I think I like it better!

This almost accomplished by accident what I was trying to do with the pushpin, of fore- and backgrounds out of focus, and something else sharp. But what I really like about this one is the ridges of shadow. They add so much depth to the table cloth.

Colour Challenge Blue - not-quite-successful

Here's an image that didn't quite work as planned. Because as I've mentioned before, you can learn a lot from failures.

The intention here was to have the blue pushpin in focus, and the fore- and backgrounds out of focus. Well, the foreground actually is out of focus, which is a success, but the background is sharper than the pin, so that didn't go quite right. I was using the manual focus option on my not-DSLR camera, so it's not as precise as true manual focus. Plus, I was actually shooting up the side of a wall, so the positioning of me and the camera were also working against me. I still like the idea though, and I will continue to work on using the manual focus to get exactly the look I'm trying for - this is closer than I would have come letting the camera look after the focus.

Continuation of Challenge Blue

A friend of mine often comes with me if I'm doing a photo challenge over a lunch hour. I definitely enjoy the company and the help finding appropriate subjects! She spotted this gem.

Taking this picture actually had an added dimension of difficulty - the fish tank is part of a wall that divides the children's library from the entrace to the main library. I felt the need to try very hard to ensure there were no children in the shot, behind the glass, in addition to hopefully getting the fish in focus - and I succeeded! He almost looks like he's staring out at the camera. I've seen plenty of blue-tinted fish before, but this guy really stands out. I may go over there before the library opens one day (so no risk of appearing creepy!) and see what other shots I can get of the fish - maybe using colour accent to really make a fish or a plant stand out.

Second day of Challenge Blue

A friend spotted this one for me.

This is actually the same friend who picked the colour for this challenge. I walked up to her and said "Pick a colour!" "Blue! ... Why?" I knew she'd answer first and ask why second, which is what I wanted. I'm just glad she didn't say puce or something equally difficult to find.

There is an incredible amount of blue and blue-grey in this stairwell, so there were quite a few options of what to do. However, since I was at work I couldn't spend TOO long goofing around with angles and such. This is another picture that I may play with cropping and such once I have my proper computer back up and running. or I might just go back and try taking more pictures on a lunch break one day.

The blue challenge

Part of my challenge with this blog is to stretch myself in to looking at the world in different ways. Therefore, my next challenge was a colour - blue!

For this picture I used a Scene setting on the camera called "Color Accent". It picks out a specific colour I choose, and the rest is done in greys. It really makes the one colour pop! It's a fun little feature to play with, although I can see getting a lot of "failed" pictures if you used it for too many things.