365.161 june showers on silk flowers

After failing to capture the groovy clouds on the way home—from the window of the speeding Golf—I was gazing blankly off into space, trying to come up with an idea for a shot to make, when I noticed it was raining a bit.

Nice.

And then I noticed the pretty reflection of the fake flowers in the wet concrete edge of the fountain.

And then it stopped raining, so outside we went.

I got about 20 really good shots of the inside of a fogged up L37c filter, wiped off the filter, and snapped this one, just as the rain started up again.

So all was not lost, and I did come up with an idea for a shot, which I’ve added to the shot list for another day when I missed the shot and can’t think of anything to shoot… (of course, I didn’t even think to check the shot list today, so I don’t know what makes me think I’ll remember to check it in the future, but who knows…)

D7000. Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 ai. ISO800, 1/20th (AP mode), f/8, -2EV (leftover from yesterday: RESET THE CAMERA JAMES!!!!!), and not as much processing in Aperture as you might think, though there was some: levels adjustments, exposure/contrast/black point/vibrancy/saturation/definition all given nudges in one direction or another, but not to an unreasonable level, or even one worth mentioning.

365.160 I need a shower

On the way home today, I remembered the large rocks that adorn the courtyard of the set of apartments that shares the parking lot with us, and decided that they might make a nice landscape for these two little cowbows.

But I forgot one thing…

I got home, changed out of my work clothes, deliberated on focal length, attached the nifty 50, wandered over to the other side, set the figures up, plopped down on the ground and started shooting.

That’s when I remembered: the Others allow their dogs to relive themselves on the fake grass that covers most of the ground…

I didn’t find any wet spots, but I did recognize the smell.

And now I’m in need of a rare afternoon shower.

Thanks, Others, for taking such pride in your living situation.

D7000. Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 G. ISO100, 1/640th (AP mode), f/5.6. Slight desaturation and pump of vibrancy to give a sense of high desert light in Aperture, though I don’t know if I really captured it or not.

365.159 Object Lesson

Let this be an object lesson to you:

When you have total control over your subject (as in the case of these two little Elastin cowboys) and virtually all the time you want to take to try out various lenses and focal lengths, at least pretend to try and get yourself in position to get a shot that you’re happy with.

Case in point: this little picture here.

Too much headroom. Too little foreground. These issues are related, unsurprisingly: the concrete planter box is slightly visible in the lower right.

I couldn’t get much lower, couldn’t move the subjects up or back, and this was one of the better possible spots in the little courtyard outside.

But there is a  wide world out there, and lots more places I could’ve taken them, if not for the agoraphobia that crept up on me at the last minute, though nothing that really looks much like the landscape I picture these fellows hanging out in…

Oh well…

D7000. Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 Zomb-E Series. ISO800, 1/125th, f/3.5. Minimal processing in Aperture.

365.158 the showdown

I’m suddenly feeling too out of it two say much about this little Elastolin cowboy, so…

I will say that I’m not particularly happy with this shot, or with the subject, or with the title, and I’m beginning to tire of this 365 project. I expect this last bit will pass in a day or two, but I feel that I’ve been phoning it in for the past several days.

Oh well.

D7000. Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 Zomb-E Series. ISO400, 1/50th (AP mode), f/3.5. Extensive processing in Aperture to add a bit of drama.

365.157 L’Empire des lumières

I count 5 different light sources here… and they play together so interestingly.

I’ve submitted at least one similar shot for the 365, but I don’t really care.

I still have a problem getting everything lined up and square, but I think it’s not a problem of the camera, but of the architecture itself, which I sort of suspected already, due to the placement of the support at the top of the stairs: it’s off-center compared to the fountain and the light at the top. But today, when I drug a chair over, and clambered up onto it to get a different vantage point, I realized that the tree and planter on the right are closer than the one on the left. This is imperceptible at ground level, but readily apparent when standing on a chair.

I also tried something new with this shot: I ran it through Topaz Labs DeNoise plugin for Aperture… Is it a bit too smooth? Yes. Is there some loss of detail? Yes, but it’s minor, and the picture is about the color first, and secondarily about the apartment owner’s view toward energy conservation, and there wasn’t a huge amount of detail in it anyway: it was shot with an iPhone 4 in low light.

I may yet get out and shoot some more today, but who knows. I may just take it easy. And I’ve been tapped to help momma with a bunch of chores, and have some of my own to do, so I’m glad I got this done earlier, rather than later.

iPhone 4. ProCamera App. Slight straightening in Aperture, and a trip through Topaz Labs DeNoise plugin.

365.156 QQ @ 31

Yes, it’s another iPhone photo, taken while researching corporate locations at work via Gmaps. I spend quite a bit of time on Gmaps and the GSV (street view) every day, trying to track down known locations for various corporations. (Yes, my job is wildly exciting like that…) Whenever I see something neat, I snap 1-10 photos of it with Hipstamatic, and I usually randomize between shots, though lately I’ve been using some recipes I found in the great Hipstamatic shoot from last week.

Now the internet is back up, and I could avoid being lazy and make a nice macro shot or something with the d7000, but I can’t be bothered to today: I’m wiped out, the apartment is a wreck, and I’ve got to relate the story of getting the internet working again…

So I returned the modem that didn’t work yesterday, and traded it in for $60 off the $100 dollar modem the tier 2 tech guy told me would work.

I brought the new modem home, shot the guy an email, and unboxed the new modem.

I must say, it’s quite a bit uglier and more (bleak) futuristic than the previous model.

So I was unboxing, and I noticed that the included power supply was provided by a completely different manufacturer…

So I decided to try the new power supply with the old modem, just for grins while I was waiting for the tech guy to call me back. Lo and behold, it worked!

So now, I foresee a trip to RS, and yet another trip to giant electronics store in my future… or maybe I’ll just box up the fancy new modem and hold on to it for awhile… Naw. I’d rather have the credit at Fry’s, and I sorta like the RS, though I may order a proper replacement power supply and wait a bit before returning the new modem, since I have 30 days…. That’s probably what I’ll do, though I will be sleeping on it first: I’m wiped.

iPhone 4. Hipstamatic. Americana Lens, Blanko Film.

And if you like arial maps and crop formations as much as I do, run a Gmap search for “County Road QQ and County Road 31 near Yuma CO,” zoom out a bit, and start scrolling  West… Beauty awaits.

365.155 country roads, take me home

(originally posted to Google + via iPhone under the heading “this is not my 365 shot, but it’s the best I can do at present.”)

So I woke up this morning to find that last night’s electrical storm killed my modem. Oh well.

But the highway was beautiful and I got some neat shots of wobbling taillights and reflections. So win, maybe.

After work, I went to giant electronics store and purchased a modem from my interwebs provider’s approved devices list, brought it home, and got on the phone with tech support.

Level 1: unplug the modem and turn off your computer; plug the modem in and wait for all the lights to come on; turn your computer on and you’re ready to go! Did this work? [of course not, it’s a new modem!]

Level 2: nice lady got the mac address and model number, hit some buttons, and expected everything would work.

Except it didn’t.

30 minutes later…

Level 3: very friendly gentleman had no idea what was going on, except that they always have huge problems with this particular modem (the one from the approved devices list) and if I wanted to roll down to the office, he’d hook me up with their modem for $2.50 per month, or I could hang in the line while he tried to get it hooked up.

I decided to wait.

2 hours later, I’ve been advised to return the modem (from the approved devices list) and get a different modem that they have no problems with (but is not on the approved devices list).

Hooray.

tl;dr due to technical issues, you get this iPhone pic instead of the groovy pic I made this morning.

iPhone 4, Hipstamatic. John S lens, Cano Cafenol film. Rephotographed from the GSV (Google Street View).