A Picture A Day » Still Life

June 30, 2008 – Final Countdown

carl — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:59:59 +0000

Nine pictures left on my year long Picture A Day project.

Strobist info about this shot: I worked to get the reflections on the buttons to look nice here. Hard flash (Vivitar 285HV) camera right at 1/16 power for the highlight. A 2×3′ sheet of white foamcore just above the timer for a soft light source. If you look on the buttons you can see exactly those reflections. I moved the flash around until I got the highlight where I wanted it. I got the Mac-like glassy button look I was going for. The background is smoky plexiglas over black matte board.

June 28, 2008 – F18 – Protecting America

carl — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 06:59:59 +0000

We went to the South Lake Tahoe airshow today. It’s a small airshow, but there were some interesting planes there.

Always on duty, this F18 kept busy protecting citizens and visitors alike.

June 27, 2008 – Yea, Me!

carl — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:59:59 +0000

My birthday is actually on the 28th, but we celebrated a day early this year so that we could be with all our friends at camp.

We’ve been going to Stanford Sierra Camp for 14 years now, and my birthday has fallen in that week every time. It’s the perfect way to be with friends and forget you’re getting older.

June 26, 2008 – Morning Warm Up

carl — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:59:59 +0000

7AM, and things are quite for the moment. It’s a beautiful day ahead, and the canoes won’t get much more rest.

June 20, 2008 – Ice Vase

carl — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:38:47 +0000

This is the top of a glass vase we have, lit a la "Light – Science & Magic" with white behind it and blue on each side. I then processed it in Lightroom to tint the bg blue also (probably could’ve just gel’d the flash). I like the cool icy look, probably because it was 100 degrees here today and we were working outside for part of it. Ugh.

June 7, 2008 – Ham Ceiling

carl — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:59:59 +0000

I’d love to retake this picture sometime because I think it could be great. I took this one quickly with my point and shoot, so it’s noisy and a bit blurry.

We had dinner with friends at the North Beach Restaurant in San Francisco. In the basement are a number of smaller dining rooms, one of which has dozens of aging hams hanging from the ceiling. If you were especially tall you’d bump your head on them.

May 28, 2008 – A Piece of My Photography History

carl — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:39:27 +0000

My Canon AE-1, which I used in high school, college, and many years beyond. The background is a projected slide that I took with this camera around 1973 at either Hollywood Park or Santa Anita Racetrack.

May 27, 2008 – Tomorrow’s Shot Will Be Great!

carl — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:33:32 +0000

I found my old Canon AE-1 camera in a box the other day. This camera was my constant companion in high school and college, and for many years after that.

I had a great concept for this shot, but fouled out when the projector bulb burnt out right before the first shot. Tomorrow I’m getting a new bulb (assuming one can be found) and will try again.

Here’s the idea: I went through a bunch of my old slides and picked a representative shot from my high school portfolio (around 1976). I’m projecting that as the background and then light painting the Canon in the foreground. It should be stunning!

Ahh, well, sometimes ideas need some time to come to fruition.

May 21, 2008 – Cherries

carl — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:59:59 +0000

I love summer. Fresh cherries – these are from the market, but they remind me of spending time with my cousins in Seattle when I was 13, sitting in a cherry tree eating them as we picked them.

May 12, 2008 – New MP3 Player

carl — Tue, 13 May 2008 04:58:31 +0000

My old Sansa mp3 player gave up the ghost, but I bought the extended warranty from Best Buy, and they gave me full credit for my 1.5 year old unit. I was able to get a newer, smaller, more storage-er (8G) version with a new extended warranty and still have $17 left over.

What?! Not an iPod?! Hey, I love Rhapsody. Basically, I just rent all my music now. For the cost of a new CD each month, I have full access to their entire library (as complete as iTunes). I can stream it online, and can carry around 8Gigs of it with me all the time.