13-NOV-2009
Day 317 - Me Through the Viewfinder
Lost for ideas tonight, this came out better than I'd expected. I might have to do a 52 of Us shot like this. Shooting through my 2.8 Rollei. A camera that pretty much acts as decoration even though I bought it to use. I think I still have some film in it too. I cropped it in LR and applied an 'Old' Preset, the scratches, however, are real and part of the viewfinder (not photoshopped in).
12-NOV-2009
Day 316 - Finger Party
In an effort to apply more of a "Loving Life" theme to the rest of my week, I have begun with a tiny step. My dog (or at least part of him) is investigating this incident. I had no idea who produced this piece of art until my 12-year-old confronted me while I was parading around with it on one hand and my Canon 40D perched precariously on the other (with flash). I think I have coughed enough to break part of my throat, at least that's what it feels like right now.
11-NOV-2009
Day 315 - Goodbye Beads
Possibly the last day that these bead will be on my bike. I got in on a group buy for a new seat and I have to ship this seat out tomorrow to make it in time. I picked up a loaner seat from a buddy with the same bike to help "get me through this period" while I wait for my seat to come back. I can't stop riding now, the weather is still nice ;-)
10-NOV-2009
Day 314 - A Drink
I was out sick from work yesterday and hating life. Today I went into work and hated life, then left early when it became apparent that I wouldn't make it into the evening. I came home, told the kids I would be upstairs sleeping, and basically passed out for an hour and a half. That nap has long since gone and I am ready for another. I had no ideas for my PaD today, had I seen the FGR theme earlier, I probably could have done something along the lines of Face Down Tuesday (I can think of many options in my state). I am drinking lots of water so this came to mind. It didn't take all that many photos to actually get the glass in frame either.
09-NOV-2009
Day 313 - Swingers
On my way back from my docotor's appointment, on the outskirts of town was this really cool scarecrow. They looked so real on my way to the doctor's, I figured that I had to pull over on the way back. They did a good job posing for the camera, I like their expressions.
08-NOV-2009
Day 312 - Paused
Coming back from picking up a bunch of frames for photos that I have finally printed through mPix (and getting a hair cut), I came across the bridge over the train yard to see this engine just sitting there all alone. I was able to take a bunch of photos of this guy. The sun is actually behind the engine, I had tried for some wider shots, but the flare from the 17-55 is just too much. Even tightening up to this required a lot of work on the highlights to the left. I prefer this composition over the tightest shot where I blocked out all sky.
07-NOV-2009
Day 311 - Reach the Sky
There is some construction going on just outside our development. It's been going on for about the past month, they are going to replace the bridge on the State Route and instead of closing down the road and causing mass confusion through Detours, they are either putting in a temporary bridge (or a new one) on the West side of the existing one. There are two homes pretty close to this bridge, one got a new driveway on a sideroad (in our development) as the construction crews parked a huge trailer in their main driveway. Anyway, this crane has been moving back and forth for the past few weeks placing steel bars and driving them into the ground. I can' t walk around while there are construction workers present, but there was no one there this afternoon so walked around with the camera. This photo doesn't really show how big the crane really is. It must be 50' tall.
06-NOV-2009
Day 310 - W's and V's
I saw a 'W' first then a buch of 'V's. This is the building that is attached to my daughter's Gymnastics Studio (it isn't her studio, she takes lessons there). The same studio that my son broke his arm at (so basically, we could very well own part of this building with the medical $$ that have been spent). It is an old train maintenance building, this piece was a factory, then part of it was for train maintenance and offices. It was a factory again, then became a bunch of shops and office space.
05-NOV-2009
Day 309 - Stay Warm
I broke down and finally got a heated liner this week. I've worn it the past few days and am still getting used to it. Right now, I have both the liner and my gloves on the same circuit. The jacket is much to warm for this arrangement. While I thought I needed to pick up another controller so that I can control the jacket and the gloves separately, I think I will try to throw a resistor inline to the jacket to allow me to run a higher heat setting to the gloves and not fry myself in the process. During the day, the jacket is warm and I am oblivious to the current draw. At night, my headlights actually pulse as the controller is PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) so the full current is drawn at an interval set by the controller.
04-NOV-2009
Day 308 - Talkin to Grandma
My son grabbed the phone this evening when he heard it was grandma (my mom). He was on the phone with her for about 10 minutes. Long enough for me to start up the MBP, eject my CF Card, grab my camera, find the 100mm f/2.8 Macro, mount it, grab my flash, mount that, and take a few shots. I was striving for an up close and tight shot. I wasn't striving for that annoying air on his face just off his fingertips. It looks like it is on my monitor, I have tried to remove it from my monitor three times already.
03-NOV-2009
Day 307 - Cast Off
My son got his cast removed today. I came home to see it on our kitchen table with no son attached to it. He was upstairs taking a shower and getting the "Smelly Arm" cleaned. The cast was cut in half and someone at the Dr's office must have taped it back together for him (I am sure the tape occupies a line item on the bill too). I was thinking of putting my flash inside the cast and have it firing out, however, this cast is tiny. There is no way I can get my 580EX-2 inside of it.
02-NOV-2009
Day 306 - Cali-Mi-Bration
OK, got my new monitor today! Technically it arrived Friday evening, but was shipped FedEx. I have NEVER had FedEx get anything to me when they were supposed to. No one was here (Duh!) so I get a silly looking call tag. They don't deliver on weekends, so I have to wait until today. So, I digress. I got the Dell 2209WA, a Budget Photography (IPS) monitor. Got it warmed up, then stuck the Spyder on it and got it all Cali-Mi-Brated. I am focusing on the Spyder 3 text only, not the screen (thus the OOF monitor). The monitor is nice and crisp. I will know more in a few weeks. It is a 1680 x 1050, replacing a 1600 x 1200. I am already missing that 150 dots on the bottom, but my old monitor was dying and I will take a working IPS over a failing TFT any day.