whatipic

Suddenly, it’s (last) summer

While winding down from this nice long (and hot!!) holiday weekend here in the USA, I thought I would look back and see what I was shooting around the same time last year. I was in the midst of my 365 project then so I was taking photos like crazy. I wasn’t working at the time so it was easy enough to go out and take photos but, since I wasn’t working, I had limited funds so I couldn’t stray too far from home. I don’t have anything new from this weekend so I thought it would be a good idea to share some older pics since a lot of my subscribers joined in the later half of the year. I know it is difficult to view older posts in a blog format and I don’t expect anybody to do so and since I don’t have a gallery set up yet (hopefully soon), I’m making it easier for you.

Anyhow, one of the first photos I came across was one of my favorites from last year – “Chicken People”.

Continuing with some from the city:

Some plants:

A few from my peeking into windows at antique stores:

Finally some animals, including the stray cats at the local fairgrounds:

Tags: photography, fine art, 365 project, Pentax, photos, photo, digital, color, Pittsburgh, summer, archives, 2011

A rocky start

Just a few more black and white images to share with you. These were all taken around a campground and the subjects are basically non-subjects. Hey, I can only shoot what’s in front of me. For some reason I am really liking the black and white images I have been getting with the Lumix camera lately. I don’t know what it is, maybe they just remind me of 35mm or something. On top of that I have been trying to explore the Topaz B&W Effects plugin a little deeper for my conversions and I think I’m starting to get a feel for how it works. It offers a lot of adjustments which are almost endless and quite touchy – a minute adjustment can make a big change in the look of the image. It takes a little bit of practice to get the feel for how each slider works. I usually stay fairly conservative when I use Nik Silver Efex for my B&W conversions but the Topaz makes me want to push the envelope a little more. That’s not always a good thing, but you don’t know how far you can go until you at least try. By the way, there is a bit of a puzzle built into this post…see if you can figure it out!

Tags: black and white, digital, fine art, GX1, Lumix, nature, Nik Silver efex, photo, photography, photos, Topaz, Topaz B&W Effects

Buildings and angles in black and white

While walking around in Wheeling, West Virginia the other day, I snapped a number of photos of the local architecture. Most of my shots were from ground level while looking up. Not exactly the best way to do architectural studies. Be that as it may, I wasn’t equipped with a telephoto to zoom in on the details from afar or a wide-angle to get the whole building in without tilting, so I just embraced what I could do this time around. Wheeling is abundant with plenty of old structures in various states of repair or ruin. In other words, my ideal place!! Some of the architecture is stunning and from a time when no detail was too small. My wife remarked how it’s a shame that new buildings aren’t built to such elaborate and ornate detail. Nowadays it’s just concrete block and glass.

I didn’t capture too many of the ornate buildings in this series but I shall return to the city and make a point in shooting more of the buildings and details. I have a telephoto and wide-angle coming for my GX1 which will help me be able to vary my compositions and grab more details from the limited street side vantage points. So…stay tuned!

Tags: abstract, architecture, black and white, fine art, Lumix, Lumix GX1, old, photo, photography, photos, West Virginia, Wheeling

Feelin’ goofy

There was a carnival in my town this weekend which, of course, I did not attend. I had other things to do and really have no need to go to a parking lot carnival, at least a local one. If I came across one in another town and had nothing better to do, I might consider it. A carnival is a colorful place and can offer some good photo opportunities. I especially like how everything still has a vintage feel to it, especially the signs and logos on the rides and attractions. But carnivals are also full of people and I usually don’t shoot people photos. It’s just not my thing. A picture of a kid eating cotton candy just doesn’t appeal to me. If I had the opportunity I would rather take photos at the carnival early in the morning before it opens. I could still capture the color and feel without dealing with the public and probably have better light to boot.

Okay, now on to the photos. I was in the area of the carnival today and it was almost completely torn down. There were a few rides left that still hadn’t moved out and I thought they looked pretty colorful. I liked the dragons and tried a few shots from different angles but I couldn’t get a good shot without the overhead power lines in it. You get that sometimes when shooting in parking lots! My wife wanted me to shoot the monkey ride because of the vintage look. So, a little bright color for a change. Enjoy!

Tags: carnival, color, fine art, GX1, Lumix, Pennsylvania, photo, photography, photos, rides, vintage

A round of rust

How about a series of rusty pipe photos? I know, I know….you can calm down now. Be patient and you’ll be able to view this wonderful series as soon as you are done reading. I took these photos last month when I was just testing out the Lumix GX1 camera and never did anything with them. I don’t know why – I mean, seriously, the subject matter is so exciting. I am clueless why they went unseen. So I thought I would put them together in a short series and share them with the world. You can already feel the warmth, can’t you? Enjoy!

Tags: abstract, digital, fine art, Lumix GX1, M43, metal, photo, photography, photos, pipes, rust, texture

Finally, a sign……..(and another sign)

Today I drove through a town that I haven’t been to before. A small, nice looking town that looked like it had a lot of photo possibilities within it but, unfortunately, I didn’t have the time today to explore. It’s a few hours away from where I live so I may return on my own time some day. After spotting numerous photo ops all day long while I was working and not being able to shoot them due to road and time constraints, I was glad to finally spot something that I could easily shoot while on my way back home. These signs in an alley next to an antique store popped out at me as I drove through town and I was able to park on the street nearby and grab a few shots. The compositions aren’t that great because it’s difficult to compose with so many elements in the frame and I realized that I MUST get a viewfinder for the Lumix GX1 because I never can see all of the details in a shot when using the LCD only. Regardless, I thought they looked kind of cool and figured I would share them here.

Tags: color, fine art, Lumix GX1, old, Pennsylvania, photo, photography, photos, signs, urban

Thank you subscribers

I just want to take the time to thank everyone who has subscribed to my blog. It really means a lot to me that you care enough to want to know what I post and take the time to visit often. Trying to get this blog off the ground gets a little easier when I know folks are interested in my work. So, thanks!

I still have a few photos from Miami that I’m working on but I promise not to bore anybody with too many of them. But I thought this one warranted a posting. It’s a scene of a building that’s being remodeled/demolished that I came across while walking around South Beach. Yes, with all of the interesting art deco architecture in the area, I’m still shooting old worn out stuff. Old habits I guess . The only problem was that I shot it in harsh midday sun, so it wasn’t ideal lighting. To counteract the contrasty light, I added a little diffused glow during processing which softened the image a little. Hope you like it!

Miami Ruins

Tags: abstract, fine art, GX1, Lumix, Miami, orton effect, photo, photography, photos, urban

Scoolhouse(s) rock

I’m not even sure if these buildings were ever schoolhouses, but I came up with a catchy post title and I’m sticking with it! These are just a couple of old rural buildings I came across during my travels and I thought they looked interesting. I basically shot them from the road so I didn’t get to put much effort into the compositions, so I just focused on documenting them. They obviously were great candidates for a warm black and white treatment, which I performed with Topaz B&W Effects.

Tags: black and white, buildings, DA17-70mm, digital, fine art, GX1, K20D, Lumix, old, Pennsylvania, Pentax, photo, photography, photos, rural

Purple palm trees!

I thought I would post a nice colorful photo for this weekend. A night-time street scene on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. I would think a thousand other tourists have a similar shot, but nobody I saw walking by with cameras bothered to point it in the same direction. It’s not often that I make the attempt at an after dark photo, mostly because where I live it doesn’t look any better after dark, so why bother? But how can one resist the vibrant South Beach color? I had a tiny tabletop tripod with me but it lost a set screw so it wasn’t working too well, so I set the unit on a wall and steadied it with hand pressure for the 2.5 second exposure. Fortunately the wall was in the right place!

Tags: color, digital, fine art, Florida, GX1, Lumix, Miami, Ocean Drive, photo, photography, photos, south beach, travel, urban

Outside the Monastery

Just continuing my series on the Ancient Spanish Monastery in Miami. The exterior shots, in my opinion, aren’t as dramatic as the interior shots from my previous post, but I thought someone might like them. I used the same gear ( I had to….it was all I had ) for all of the shots. Again I did some black and white versions which can be seen here. The processing was fairly straightforward on all of these, RAW processed with ACR and contrast, curves, and sharpening, with the exception of the second shot where I used Topaz Adjust for a warmer tone and added grain and vignette.