In the minutes before the start of a sailboat race, things can look a little chaotic. The challenge is to cross the start line (not visible in this photo) after the starting gun goes off, not before. Before the race, then, you might have boats that are going in opposite or seemingly random directions.All of this happened in slow motion on the nearly calm day Deb and I were in Gig Harbor, Washington, a few years ago.The dull, cloudy day is made to look a little brighter due to some Photoshop magic. A tutorial is in the works for those who might be interested in knowing the technique.
Slowly Going Nowhere
Somebody once said that a good definition of sailing was "slowly going nowhere at great expense." These boats were photographed leaving Gig Harbor in Washington state on a nearly windless day and they were certainly moving at a deliberate pace.Though it was a generally gray (a typical western Washington) day, the boats in this Saturday regatta were still photogenic.
Juxtaposition
in Architecture, Travel
How about something from the 20th century, the 18th century and the 1st century in the same photo? If you travel to places like Segovia, Spain, that's not hard to come by.The Roman aqueduct that dominates that photo is the oldest structure seen here, though it is in amazingly good shape - especially since only gravity holds this structure up. That's right, there's no cement!So the question is: If the aqueduct is made of carefully carved and aligned stacked stone, how do the build the arches? In other words, since the last stone in the arch to go in is the one at the stop (the keystone) how do they keep the other stones in place before placing it?
Return To La Sagrada Familia
in Architecture, Europe, Travel
The other day I was changing the desktop on my Mac and I came across this photo, which was featured in a post from almost exactly two years ago. I won't go into the details on this famous Barcelona landmark since the earlier post does that already.The one thing that is striking about the architecture of cathedral is its diversity, which I think was a Gaudi trademark. The square, block-like design of these figures is remarkably different from the kind of detail you see in the earlier post.I would love to go back to Barcelona to see what progress has been made since I was there is 2004. In fact, I'd love to go back to Barcelona for any reason, as it was one of my favorite places in Europe.
Arches Gone Wild!
in Architecture, Europe, Travel
Today's post features a detail photo of some of the stone work in the Cathedral in Seville, Spain. Why "Wild" in the title? As you will see in Monday's post, the Roman arch was round and utilitarian. A thousand years later someone in western Europe decided to enhance the look a little. And the so-called "Gothic" arch was invented. It's main feature is that it is somewhat pointed at the top. The other feature is that medieval stone masons, without the benefit of sophisticated math and computer modeling, were able to make whole ceilings out of arched stone. And while they were at it, the dressed up the stone with elaborate carvings.The carvings add nothing structural to the arch. But they do look nice!
The Man In the Mirror
in people
Playing with my iPhone at the Zubke's house.
Emily
in people, Photography
This is a photo that I took a few years ago and used as a retouching demonstration for my Studio Photography class. It takes about 20 minutes per portrait to do the things I think need to be done, though I have Photoshop actions and filters that would do some of the same things in seconds. But while I think automation is generally good, the personal, discretionary touch of the photographer is usually better.A general retouching philosophy of mine is to avoid the temptation to "Photoshop" a photo too much. I told my students that I think that when the retouching is finished, the "real person" should remain. Skin texture, teeth color, beauty marks and scars are part of who we are. This photo of Emily is a fairly low resolution copy, but I think the an 8x10 print of this picture would reveal the "real" Emily.Canon 5dII 1/640s f/3.5 ISO400 135mm Canon 70-200 2.8 Lens
The Old Farm - Another View
Ansel Adams is to Yosemite as Shephard is to The Old Farm. I'm no Ansel Adams, of course, but like Adams, I keep returning to the same subject over and over again trying to get the perfect photo. And I'm still looking for it. . .Here are some previous attempts:The Old Farm At SunriseEarly Morning FarmsteadAbandoned
Manipulation of Another Kind
In yesterday's post, taken yesterday morning, I was commenting on how manipulative HDR photos could be. Later in the day, I was taking a few photos of some fancy gourds my wife bought at the farmers' market on Saturday and I realized that these gourds must be the product of manipulation, too.I think some geneticist somewhere sprinkled his/her magic mutation powder on regular gourd seeds to see what would happen. And this green, white and yellow thing is one of the products.I think that software manipulation of photos is much less insidious. Just imagine what would happen if the geneticist dusted you or your children with his/her special powder. . .(PS: My friend, Jim, inspired this post because of a comment he made on my Facebook page. Thanks, Jim.)
The Old Farm At Sunrise (HDR)
in HDR, South Dakota
This farm has been pictured several times in this blog. Today, I went there before sunrise thinking that maybe I would get something different. I had it in my head that I would try doing something with High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography.Thus, I set up my camera on a tripod and exposed first for the sky and then for the farm and foreground. When I got back home, I used the HDR function in Photoshop CS5 to merge the two photos together. And this is what I got.It is certainly altered (or enhanced) reality. I'm not sure I like it because I am a fan of photos that are "real." But I also like to experiment and play.(Here's what the two photos looked like before they were merged.)
Electrified (iPhoneography)
I was down in the cosmetology department of the school I teach in last week to talk about a project that will involve my photography students and I noticed a vestige of a bygone era. So while I was waiting to speak, I took a few photos of this multi-tentacled device standing in the corner.What is it? I'm guessing people of my generation will know. It is an electric curling machine. Today, of course, it has been replaced by the hand-held curling iron.Several years ago, in a unit on the Scientific Revolution, I asked my students to list the most important inventions of all time. In all seriousness one girl listed hair spray and the hand-held curling iron as #1 and #2. Little did she know what people in the 50s and 60s used. (Incidentally, the student listed the wheel and the printing press as #3 and #4!)
Window Seat (iPhoneography)
in people, Photography
When I travel, I am as captivated by looking at the scenery as any other tourist. But if the situation allows it, I also like to take photos of people looking at the scenery. I guess I'm a bit of a voyeur in that sense.In this case, I was on a plane flying over the Grand Canyon on an amazingly clear day. I must have taken 50 photos with my iPhone before I noticed a young girl in the window seat ahead of me who was also captivated by what we were seeing 30,000 feet below us.And so I snapped this photo.