05 FEB 2012
On Day 25, we attended our first -- and only -- wrestling tournament. It was quite an experience for all of us. Since I don't really understand how wrestling is scored, I stayed pretty lost the entire time I was there.
Showing posts with label black and white. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black and white. Show all posts
Saturday, May 19, 2012
2012 25/366: Mat 6
Day 25
On Day 25, we attended our first -- and only -- wrestling tournament. It was quite an experience for all of us. Since I don't really understand how wrestling is scored, I stayed pretty lost the entire time I was there.
On Day 25, we attended our first -- and only -- wrestling tournament. It was quite an experience for all of us. Since I don't really understand how wrestling is scored, I stayed pretty lost the entire time I was there.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
2012 009/366: Listen to the Rain
Day 9
It was the rainy night before a rainy Saturday. As my daughter and I came out of the grocery store and I pulled my hood up to protect my hair from the rain, I marveled at how much, when viewed against the parking lot lights, the rain resembled snow.
Wow, that was one helluva sentence! Let me try that again.
My daughter and I were at the store. We came outside. It was raining. It reminded me of snow. I took a picture.
The rain doesn't look like snow in the picture. Disappointing, that. I like it, anyway.
20 JAN 2012
It was the rainy night before a rainy Saturday. As my daughter and I came out of the grocery store and I pulled my hood up to protect my hair from the rain, I marveled at how much, when viewed against the parking lot lights, the rain resembled snow.
Wow, that was one helluva sentence! Let me try that again.
My daughter and I were at the store. We came outside. It was raining. It reminded me of snow. I took a picture.
The rain doesn't look like snow in the picture. Disappointing, that. I like it, anyway.
Monday, February 21, 2011
2011: 13/365 Sock it to Me
13 FEB 2011
Yes, the title's trite. Then again, so is the picture. It's another one of those failed experiments that had better results in my head. But the title, oh that title. I was having a Laugh-In moment as I looked at the picture, so naturally, that's the title that came to me.
Even though I'm too young to remember Laugh-In. Much, much, much too young. ;-)
I present to you my laundry basket after finishing a load of whites. Maybe I should clarify: after I finished washing a load of whites. The laundry basket isn't capable of doing that on its own, no matter how much I beg.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
2011: 8/365 Down the Drain
07 FEB 2011
We were still working on our rental house. In fact, work would continue on the interior through the week until our new tenants moved in on the weekend. This is the drain basket in the sink. Not as clean as I'd like, especially since it's brand new. Water spots tend to happen when you use a sink, though.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
2009: 336/365 Echo in the Water
02 DEC 2009
Echo in the Water. Quite the angsty teen title, is it not? I was looking for an alternative to the predictable Reflection, but everything seemed slightly cheesy. Which meant, of course, I had to go for the entire cheese wheel.
About the photo -- clearly it was a rainy day, and I took this shot in the parking lot at my local grocery store. I seem to spend a tremendous amount of time at my local grocery store, so it's only fitting I have photos from there. ANYHOO...as I returned my cart to the cart corral (because I'm a good girl and I always return my cart to the cart corral), I noticed the puddle and the partial reflection there. It looked interesting to me, so I shot it.
Since the only real color in the original shot was a couple brown leaves, I decided to go ahead and convert it to black & white. And since I was already converting it, why not go ahead and overdo it just a tad? Cheese wheel post title, cheese wheel conversion? There's a tremendous amount of contrast in the photo -- helped along by the Virtual Photographer 50's filter -- but that's what I like about it.
We all need a little cheese in our lives.
Friday, February 19, 2010
2010: Pop Top
2010 Day 25
"It's Day 25. What should I take a picture of?"
blink , blink
"The day's almost over. What should I shoot for Project 365?"
blink, blink
"Oh, look! A can!"
camera clicks
Converted to black and white with Virtual Photographer.
25 JAN 2010
"It's Day 25. What should I take a picture of?"
blink , blink
"The day's almost over. What should I shoot for Project 365?"
blink, blink
"Oh, look! A can!"
camera clicks
Converted to black and white with Virtual Photographer.
2010: Open for Business
2010 Day 23
Once upon a time, this itty bitty cell phone store was the police department for a small town. Eventually, the police department moved into a large building and this shop took over this tiny building. For some reason, this place has always fascinated me. Maybe because it's so tiny.
I've always wanted to photograph this little place, and I've often tried, but the pictures never came out very well. This time was no exception, but it's the only photo I got for Day 23.
In addition to my normal processing, I converted this photo to black and white using the Linen filter in Virtual Photographer.
23 JAN 2010
Once upon a time, this itty bitty cell phone store was the police department for a small town. Eventually, the police department moved into a large building and this shop took over this tiny building. For some reason, this place has always fascinated me. Maybe because it's so tiny.
I've always wanted to photograph this little place, and I've often tried, but the pictures never came out very well. This time was no exception, but it's the only photo I got for Day 23.
In addition to my normal processing, I converted this photo to black and white using the Linen filter in Virtual Photographer.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
2010: Big Ol' Letdown
2010 Day 8
For days, we'd been warned about an impending snowstorm. One to two inches, the forecasters said. Not a whole lot, but enough to have a little fun in. People rushed to the supermarkets, bought bread and milk. I got caught up in it all. No bread or milk, but I did make sure I would be able to prepare at least three days of meals...just in case.
The day arrived, and as the day wore on, I saw other locals on the internet reporting snow in their area. I watched as the weather radar indicated the snow coming closer and closer. And when the first flakes started to fall in my neighborhood, my son and I cheered. Then my son promptly put on his coat, hat and gloves and went outside to play in the snow.
It didn't last long. Look at the photo from the day after the "storm". The snow barely covered my yard, and in no time it was gone from my driveway. But my kids still got a day off school -- we didn't get much white stuff, but in the morning the roads were slick with ice.
Who wants to play in ice?
So much for snowmen.
08 JAN 2010
For days, we'd been warned about an impending snowstorm. One to two inches, the forecasters said. Not a whole lot, but enough to have a little fun in. People rushed to the supermarkets, bought bread and milk. I got caught up in it all. No bread or milk, but I did make sure I would be able to prepare at least three days of meals...just in case.
The day arrived, and as the day wore on, I saw other locals on the internet reporting snow in their area. I watched as the weather radar indicated the snow coming closer and closer. And when the first flakes started to fall in my neighborhood, my son and I cheered. Then my son promptly put on his coat, hat and gloves and went outside to play in the snow.
It didn't last long. Look at the photo from the day after the "storm". The snow barely covered my yard, and in no time it was gone from my driveway. But my kids still got a day off school -- we didn't get much white stuff, but in the morning the roads were slick with ice.
Who wants to play in ice?
So much for snowmen.
2010: Handychick
2010 Day 7
My washing machine had been making horrendous noises. I mean wince and wait for it to explode kinds of sounds. I mentioned it to my husband, who told me to call the repairman. But he also said that when he re-leveled the machine, the noises backed off a bit. So the next time I heard the sounds, I got up right next to my washer to try and figure out from where the noises came.
Once I pinpointed an area of origin, I did a little investigation, a little research, and decided to try and fix the machine myself before putting out the money for a repairman. That's my hand in the picture as I hold the tiny hose to drain my washer's pump.
It turns out I was successful! Bits of plastic had made their way to my pump filter and were rattling around like crazy during the spin cycle. Not only did I save money, but I gained a bit of self-confidence and won the right to do the I'm So Awesome happy dance whenever my husband walked into the room.
07 JAN 2010
My washing machine had been making horrendous noises. I mean wince and wait for it to explode kinds of sounds. I mentioned it to my husband, who told me to call the repairman. But he also said that when he re-leveled the machine, the noises backed off a bit. So the next time I heard the sounds, I got up right next to my washer to try and figure out from where the noises came.
Once I pinpointed an area of origin, I did a little investigation, a little research, and decided to try and fix the machine myself before putting out the money for a repairman. That's my hand in the picture as I hold the tiny hose to drain my washer's pump.
It turns out I was successful! Bits of plastic had made their way to my pump filter and were rattling around like crazy during the spin cycle. Not only did I save money, but I gained a bit of self-confidence and won the right to do the I'm So Awesome happy dance whenever my husband walked into the room.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Here Comes the Rain Again
Day 193
It's become a compulsion. If it's raining, I've got my camera pointed at it. I may have to find a way to wean myself off this one, though -- there are only so many ways you can shoot the rain.
This is the heavy rain and a couple leaves on my back patio. I like that I managed to capture a couple of the splashes.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, black and white adjustment layer using the neutral density filter, border addition.
12 JULY 09
It's become a compulsion. If it's raining, I've got my camera pointed at it. I may have to find a way to wean myself off this one, though -- there are only so many ways you can shoot the rain.
This is the heavy rain and a couple leaves on my back patio. I like that I managed to capture a couple of the splashes.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, black and white adjustment layer using the neutral density filter, border addition.
Down the Tube
Day 192
My daughter called this "the funky picture" when I asked her to choose between this photo and another for my Day 192 shot.
"I had to look at it a minute to figure out what it was," she said. "It's a straw!"
Indeed it is. From the drinker's perspective.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, conversion to black & white using the Anvil filter in Virtual Photographer, border addition.
11 JULY 09
My daughter called this "the funky picture" when I asked her to choose between this photo and another for my Day 192 shot.
"I had to look at it a minute to figure out what it was," she said. "It's a straw!"
Indeed it is. From the drinker's perspective.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, conversion to black & white using the Anvil filter in Virtual Photographer, border addition.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Today's Special
Day 181
There's a new restaurant serving Cajun-style and Southern food in the downtown district of my little town. You always know what their special of the day is; it's on a chalkboard next to the street. Right in front of the two cafe-style tables covered in white tablecloths that are also next to the street.
We haven't stopped in yet -- gotta watch that budget! -- but it's on our list.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, conversion to black & white using the Character filter in Virtual Photographer.
30 JUNE 09
There's a new restaurant serving Cajun-style and Southern food in the downtown district of my little town. You always know what their special of the day is; it's on a chalkboard next to the street. Right in front of the two cafe-style tables covered in white tablecloths that are also next to the street.
We haven't stopped in yet -- gotta watch that budget! -- but it's on our list.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, conversion to black & white using the Character filter in Virtual Photographer.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
In Close
Day 177
If my daughter insists on putting her feet up on the dashboard of my truck (while we're parked -- I would never let her do it while we're moving!), then I guess I'll just have to take photos of her shoes.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, black & white conversion using the Character filter in Virtual Photographer, and border addition.
26 JUNE 09
If my daughter insists on putting her feet up on the dashboard of my truck (while we're parked -- I would never let her do it while we're moving!), then I guess I'll just have to take photos of her shoes.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, black & white conversion using the Character filter in Virtual Photographer, and border addition.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Ugh.
Day 168
This was one of those uninspired days. I had no ideas, and none of my photos were working. This one is a great example. The concept looked much better in my head than the reality. I'll chalk this up to a falling flat on my face day and move on.
For this photo, I'm standing in my foyer shooting straight up at my 2nd floor landing railing.
Post-processing: noise reduction, cropping, sharpening, straightening, black & white conversion using Photoshop's green black & white filter, contrast boost, border addition.
17 JUNE 09
This was one of those uninspired days. I had no ideas, and none of my photos were working. This one is a great example. The concept looked much better in my head than the reality. I'll chalk this up to a falling flat on my face day and move on.
For this photo, I'm standing in my foyer shooting straight up at my 2nd floor landing railing.
Post-processing: noise reduction, cropping, sharpening, straightening, black & white conversion using Photoshop's green black & white filter, contrast boost, border addition.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Put Your Feet Up
Day 165
What is it about Chuck Taylors that makes them scream for black and white photography? I'm guessing it's the vintage styling, a look that's gone unchanged for so many years while still managing to be cool.
This is my daughter's foot up on the dirty dash of my truck in front of my dirty windshield. As soon as I started processing this photo I knew it would look so much better in black and white. And I was right.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, B&W conversion using Photoshop's Maximum Black black & white filter with just a couple custom tweaks, border addition.
14 JUNE 09
What is it about Chuck Taylors that makes them scream for black and white photography? I'm guessing it's the vintage styling, a look that's gone unchanged for so many years while still managing to be cool.
This is my daughter's foot up on the dirty dash of my truck in front of my dirty windshield. As soon as I started processing this photo I knew it would look so much better in black and white. And I was right.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, B&W conversion using Photoshop's Maximum Black black & white filter with just a couple custom tweaks, border addition.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Buckle
Day 153
I've been MIA lately -- keeping busy offline, but still taking those Project 365 photos! Now it's time to play a bit of catch-up. Okay, actually, a lot of catch-up.
This photo (with the horribly unimaginative title) was one of those last minute oh-my-gosh-I-forgot-to-take-a-picture photos. You know what I'm talking about. It's late, you're about to head off to Dreamland, and you suddenly realize you haven't touched your camera all day.
It's my son's belt, sitting on the end table next to me. This photo was done entirely by lamplight, since I'm not all too fond of using the little on-camera flash. I just bumped up the ISO (in this case, to 1600) and fired away.
Post-processing: Looking back at my psd file, it looks like all I did with this one was make a Shadows/Highlight adjustment and convert it to black & white. There also would have been some mild sharpening in ACR and the border addition.
02 JUNE 09
I've been MIA lately -- keeping busy offline, but still taking those Project 365 photos! Now it's time to play a bit of catch-up. Okay, actually, a lot of catch-up.
This photo (with the horribly unimaginative title) was one of those last minute oh-my-gosh-I-forgot-to-take-a-picture photos. You know what I'm talking about. It's late, you're about to head off to Dreamland, and you suddenly realize you haven't touched your camera all day.
It's my son's belt, sitting on the end table next to me. This photo was done entirely by lamplight, since I'm not all too fond of using the little on-camera flash. I just bumped up the ISO (in this case, to 1600) and fired away.
Post-processing: Looking back at my psd file, it looks like all I did with this one was make a Shadows/Highlight adjustment and convert it to black & white. There also would have been some mild sharpening in ACR and the border addition.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Drops on the Web
DAY 144
I woke up in the morning and went outside to greet the day.
Nice fantasy -- that's just not the way I do things. I did wake up. I probably stumbled around a while. Eventually, I did go outside. Probably to take photos of my porch railing. I keep photographing it, thinking that one day I'll use it as my Project 365 shot. It hasn't happened so far, but I keep trying.
Anyway, a spider or other web-weaving creature had spun a web in the corner of my railing. It had rained the night before, and the threads of the web still held droplets of rain. Of course, I had to try and get photos.
I know it seems like I've been on a black & white kick lately. That's not necessarily true -- it's just the last few photos I posted looked better (in my opinion) in black and white. With this photo, the conversion cut out the distraction in the shot posed by the red brick.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, black & white conversion using the blue filter in Photoshop, border addition.
24 MAY 09
I woke up in the morning and went outside to greet the day.
Nice fantasy -- that's just not the way I do things. I did wake up. I probably stumbled around a while. Eventually, I did go outside. Probably to take photos of my porch railing. I keep photographing it, thinking that one day I'll use it as my Project 365 shot. It hasn't happened so far, but I keep trying.
Anyway, a spider or other web-weaving creature had spun a web in the corner of my railing. It had rained the night before, and the threads of the web still held droplets of rain. Of course, I had to try and get photos.
I know it seems like I've been on a black & white kick lately. That's not necessarily true -- it's just the last few photos I posted looked better (in my opinion) in black and white. With this photo, the conversion cut out the distraction in the shot posed by the red brick.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, black & white conversion using the blue filter in Photoshop, border addition.
Mirror, Mirror
DAY 143
Project 365 has been a real learning experience for me. Sometimes the photos come easy, sometimes they're like pulling the teeth of an angry Tasmanian Devil. Day 143 was a Tasmanian Devil day. I couldn't find a single thing to shoot.
I finally settled on one of my fallback subjects, my truck. It was parked in my driveway, and despite the layer of dirt covering it, everything around it was still strongly reflected in the surfaces. When processing the photo, I did what I could to highlight those reflections. Look closely, you'll see part of my house, my driveway, and the woods next door.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, black & white conversion using the infrared filter in Photoshop, border addition.
23 MAY 09
Project 365 has been a real learning experience for me. Sometimes the photos come easy, sometimes they're like pulling the teeth of an angry Tasmanian Devil. Day 143 was a Tasmanian Devil day. I couldn't find a single thing to shoot.
I finally settled on one of my fallback subjects, my truck. It was parked in my driveway, and despite the layer of dirt covering it, everything around it was still strongly reflected in the surfaces. When processing the photo, I did what I could to highlight those reflections. Look closely, you'll see part of my house, my driveway, and the woods next door.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, black & white conversion using the infrared filter in Photoshop, border addition.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
"A weed is but an unloved flower."
DAY 135
The post title is a quote attributed to American author and poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. I stumbled across it on ThinkExist.com when looking for a clever post title. I thought it suited the photo.
We were out looking at more go karts. My husband had just bought another, and I was sitting in the truck, waiting for him to load it on the trailer. Next to the seller's truck were these flowering weeds. If you look closely, you'll see a dark blob near the bottom left -- that's a dandelion.
Anyway, I'm a girl, and girls love flowers. Even though these were weeds, I still thought they were pretty, and wanted to try and get a different photo of them. Instead of going in close as has been my habit lately, I decided to maintain distance and shoot from a lower angle.
I went with black & white for the picture because of the guy's truck. He was parked right behind my subject, and I couldn't get a good angle that didn't include at least the bottom of his vehicle. But it did seem to recede more in the black & white conversion. A little more tweaking in the PS black & white filter gave me that different look like was searching for.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, black & white conversion (with some custom tweaking in the Photoshop black & white filter), border addition.
15 MAY 09
The post title is a quote attributed to American author and poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. I stumbled across it on ThinkExist.com when looking for a clever post title. I thought it suited the photo.
We were out looking at more go karts. My husband had just bought another, and I was sitting in the truck, waiting for him to load it on the trailer. Next to the seller's truck were these flowering weeds. If you look closely, you'll see a dark blob near the bottom left -- that's a dandelion.
Anyway, I'm a girl, and girls love flowers. Even though these were weeds, I still thought they were pretty, and wanted to try and get a different photo of them. Instead of going in close as has been my habit lately, I decided to maintain distance and shoot from a lower angle.
I went with black & white for the picture because of the guy's truck. He was parked right behind my subject, and I couldn't get a good angle that didn't include at least the bottom of his vehicle. But it did seem to recede more in the black & white conversion. A little more tweaking in the PS black & white filter gave me that different look like was searching for.
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, curves adjustment, black & white conversion (with some custom tweaking in the Photoshop black & white filter), border addition.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Fading Away
DAY 133
On a prominent corner in a rural town in Georgia once stood a church. It was a pretty cool looking church, somewhat imposing in appearance, and very old. In fact, it had occupied that corner since 1907. But in recent years, it stood empty.
The congregation had outgrown the building years ago. They'd built a much larger facility a few miles up the road. The old building had been left to crumble and rot.
Am I being over-dramatic? Perhaps. After all, they did try to sell it. A giant for sale sign decorated that corner for quite a long time. Forever, it seemed. Unfortunately, nobody willing to spend the money to restore the beautiful old building stepped forward. The building languished.
Eventually, the owners decided the building wasn't worth saving. I can only assume they felt it'd be easier to sell the property without the old church sitting there. So the old church was demolished.
Part of the building still stands. The "newer" part, although I don't remember how "new" it really is. I might have read somewhere it was built in the 70s. Or was it the 60s? Shoot, I can't remember.
This is what's left. The footprint of the old church building was sodded over. Another sign stands, one that displays an artist's rendering of what a new and improved office complex would look like on that spot. Just what the little town needs. A new office building in the historic and picturesque downtown district.
They knocked down the 100-year-old church. Could the nearby 100-year-old homes be next on the chopping block?
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, black & white conversion, border addition.
13 MAY 09
On a prominent corner in a rural town in Georgia once stood a church. It was a pretty cool looking church, somewhat imposing in appearance, and very old. In fact, it had occupied that corner since 1907. But in recent years, it stood empty.
The congregation had outgrown the building years ago. They'd built a much larger facility a few miles up the road. The old building had been left to crumble and rot.
Am I being over-dramatic? Perhaps. After all, they did try to sell it. A giant for sale sign decorated that corner for quite a long time. Forever, it seemed. Unfortunately, nobody willing to spend the money to restore the beautiful old building stepped forward. The building languished.
Eventually, the owners decided the building wasn't worth saving. I can only assume they felt it'd be easier to sell the property without the old church sitting there. So the old church was demolished.
Part of the building still stands. The "newer" part, although I don't remember how "new" it really is. I might have read somewhere it was built in the 70s. Or was it the 60s? Shoot, I can't remember.
This is what's left. The footprint of the old church building was sodded over. Another sign stands, one that displays an artist's rendering of what a new and improved office complex would look like on that spot. Just what the little town needs. A new office building in the historic and picturesque downtown district.
They knocked down the 100-year-old church. Could the nearby 100-year-old homes be next on the chopping block?
Post-processing: noise reduction, sharpening, black & white conversion, border addition.
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