Eye Candy

This was taken through the front window of an enticing shop on Pike Street in Seattle.

Ambulanza

This is what a Venetian ambulance looks like. The pilot races down the Grand Canal, weaving through gondola traffic. And he looks cool and poised in his Italian sunglasses. . .

Bling!!!

As some of you know, I teach photography and English at Lake Area Technical institute. Yesterday, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, our school was named "A Finalist With Distinction" in the first ever Aspen Institute "Prize For Community College Excellence."Though LATI didn't win the grand prize (Valencia Community College of Orlando, Fl. did) we were tied with three other colleges for second place. That's not bad for a small technical school in a small town in a sparsely populated state!I know it's crass to talk about money, but in addition to the nice glass trophy, our school also won $100,000. I wanted to pile stacks of cash around the trophy but decided instead to go with something simple and uncluttered.Can't get enough of this story? Check out these links:KELO TVAspen Institute LATI Story

Pelekes Beach, Corfu (Greece)

This little beach is tucked in against the fairly steep western central banks of the Greek island of Corfu. Corfu doesn't match the stereotypic view the of Greek islands. It isn't real glitzy. Whitewashed buildings are not the norm. And the place isn't over run by tourists. It's a wonderful destination.

Another Universe

There's nothing like a macro photo to give you a look at a little universe that could easily be overlooked.

Tropical Dreams

This one dates back to 2002 and was taken somewhere south of Cancun, Mexico. I'm thinking of getting some kind of semi-opaque version of this to stick to the window I look out when I am working on my photos. Why not turn our back yard into an inviting tropical pool, palm trees and all? And you are all invited!Canon 1D 1/250s f/8.0 ISO250 34mm

A View From the Eye

It's the London Eye, of course. This is a shot I took several years ago on a trip with students that took us to London, Paris and Rome. The Thames looks really brown in this photo, but some of that is due to the HDR and contrast process I applied to this photo.Canon 5D 1/200s f/10.0 ISO250 24mm

Conveyance (Variation)

In the three years that I've been posting to this blog, I try not to post the same photo twice. However, I'm reposting yesterday's photo again, but this time with a different look.Why am I doing this? In part because I want to show the kind of impact color and black and white can make on a scene. I guess I'm also show the kind of power the digital photographer has these days in manipulated photos through fairly simple processes - such as what I've done.

Conveyance

Ljubljana, Slovenia, is a picturesque town that a photographer could easily get lost in. There are things someone like me, from a small town in a rural state, never sees - such as rustic looking painted bicycles.However, I do believe that if someone came to Watertown from Slovenia to photograph our town, they would find strange and photogenic things that we would probably ignore.Giant cowboys might be an example. . . .

Reindeer & Bokeh

This is the same tree as I used last year for my "Procession" post. But this year a reindeer dropped in to pose regally. And, yes, there is nice bokeh in the background.

Manipulated Reality

This was done as part of a teaching demonstration yesterday and while I have already posted a variation of this photo (click), I thought I'd post the doctored photo.Everything thing you see here is "real" and existed in the original photo. The difference between my original post and this one is that there is software that will amplify and adjust the various bits of information, including color, contrast and sharpness. My own take on a photo like this is that it is interesting but that it isn't lasting art. Frankly, the first one may not be either.

Split Harbor (HDR)

This is not a true, layered HDR photo. Instead, I made it using Nik Software's Color Efex Pro 4.0 and Nik Efex HDR. It creates a bit of a surreal effect, I think.Are you a photography student wanting to know more about the process that leads to photos like this? Here's a tutorial I created this morning fresh off the video "press."