When the Sun Goes Down

DAY 152

01 JUNE 09

I finished up a shopping trip just as the sun was going down. When these sky colors greeted me in the parking lot, I knew I had to get a shot. The foreground's not very pretty. The background's not very pretty. But I still think the sky is stunning.

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, border addition.

Home Sweet Scary

DAY 151

It's kind of scary/imposing in appearance, isn't it? It's the processing. Virtual Photographer (again) to be specific. The Film Noir filter.

It's my house. I'm standing in front of my front door looking straight up.

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, Virtual Photographer Film Noir filter, border addition.

All Boy

DAY 150

30 MAY 09

My first instinct was to title this photo "A Day at the Races" because that's where we were. Saturday evening at the local dirt track. But the more I looked at it, the more I realized that title wouldn't suit at all. Nothing about this shot says races, but everything about it says boy.

It's my son, dirty fingernails and all, waiting for the races to start. Aren't those sunglasses great?

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, levels adjustment, border addition.

A Dose of Pretty

DAY 149

29 MAY 09

Sometimes, I see something on a drive through my small town that makes me smile. Like these flowers brightening the corner outside the local Burger King.

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, slight curves adjustment, border addition.

Light the Way

DAY 148

28 MAY 09

A somewhat uninspired photo of parking lights against a cloudy sky. The scene looked kind of cool when I photographed it; not so cool when I originally processed. It was just kind of blah.

Thank goodness for Virtual Photographer! I ran it through the Hollywood filter, and suddenly, the photo looked interesting again. I think so, anyway (although I'm not crazy about that halo around the light in the foreground...).

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, Virtual Photographer Hollywood filter, border addition.

It's All in the Eyes

DAY 147

27 MAY 09

My plan had been to post semi-regular self-portraits. A way to chronicle my changes. My first self-portrait went up in February, and I figured it was time to post another.

Unfortunately, my weight loss quest hasn't gone as well as I'd hoped, and I just couldn't bring myself to take another photo of myself. I've lost weight, just not as much as I'd hoped. So I compromised (I seem to be doing a lot of that lately!) with a photo of just my eyes.

Post-processing: LOTS! A closeup of my aging skin isn't exactly a good thing. :-D Noise reduction, sharpening, gaussian blur to soften the skin, and I brightened my eyes using levels then added a border.

Pinned

DAY 146

26 MAY 09

It's The Board. At the martial arts school my children attend, this is where all the important stuff is posted. Upcoming tournaments. Belt test schedules. Newspaper articles.

In this photo, The Board is empty. The notice for the belt test that occurred just a few days before had already been removed. But I thought the pushpins looked kind of interesting. So I took a photo.

Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, shadows lift, border addition.