An Antique Image of a Rose

Canon 20D, f5.6, 1/160, Nik Silver Efex Antique Plate II Filter with Curves and Levels adjustments

 This is an image of a rose I took that is blooming in my front yard. I love the effect the filter I used gave it. As I said the other day, I love these filters and the black and white effects they produce. I will be doing much more of it and sharing the images with you here.

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Round Two

This is the start of year two of one photo a day. Things will be changing on my weblog soon. I am hoping to have it all ready by the end of next week. Willie told me about these roses this afternoon in our front yard. He said I should go take a look. Well, I did and I liked what I saw. I seem to be on a black and white kick right now. I got some new filters called Efex Silver and there are a lot of options with buttons and whistles to play with. I have barely scratched the surface of the possibilities!

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Radio Flyer

I saw this and thought it would make a great photo for the weblog. I believe I was right! I really like the black and white. It shows all the texture and the vignette around the edges looks good too. I didn’t really do any planning to take this photo – sometimes those are the best, the spontaneous ones. Please let me know what you think of it!

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A Great Black and White Photograph

I had a very busy day today. Willie knew I was busy and when I got up this morning this leaf was on the kitchen counter. He said he found it outside and thought I might like to photograph it. Isn’t he a sweety? I got my camera out and took it outside on my front porch. I have taken many photos on that front porch, many leaves and flowers. It is a good location. I really like the black and white and the vignette around the edges. I used a shallow depth of field also.

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Does This Look Like Fun?

Isn’t this a great looking fountain? What is odd about it is it’s location. It is in the middle of the food court at Irvine Spectrum. In itself, that is not so odd. But the fact that children are allowed to put on swimming suits or run through naked is the really odd part of it. There are a lot of tables there for people to sit, have a bite to eat, and ignore their unruly children running and playing in the water. There are a few kids in this photo, although I don’t think you can see them!

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Entrance to the Gold Line

This is a rather unusual photo for me, but every time we go to Pasadena I see this entrance. It always looks very gold and coppery to me. I gave it this filter to make it look as I see it. It shows the mountains and hiking trails which are close by, along with the sun and the moon.  There are also some palm trees along with the San Gabriel River meandering through the mountains. It would have been good if some people had been walking around!

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Allen Ave Under the Overpass

I believe I told you I would bring something different to you today, and I truely believe I have. We were in Pasadena today and when we get off the freeway at Allen there is an entrance to the metro link gold line. I have been wanting to take a photograph of it for a long time. The one I am showing you today is of the freeway and metro underpass. The entrance is behind me. This photo I had not planned on taking until I turned around and saw it. There is a lot of texture and angles. I hope you will appreciate all that it shows.

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Some Very Special Ice

I  am very happy with the way this image came out. Does it look like ice melting in the summer heat? or does it look like a pile of uncut diamonds? Well, actually, it is neither – but I won’t tell you what it is. Try to guess and let me know what you come up with. I took this with my +4 macro filter with an aperture of 4.5. I converted it to black and white but that is pretty much what it looked like originally!

What could this be…?

We have all been pretty lazy today – not doing much. I looked at some new lynda.com videos, checked out my Twitter account, did some reading on Saturday’s PhotoWalk, watched the movie Caprica. It could be an interesting TV series. Then I watched my soap (AMC) while working on the computer. Willie is still not at 100%, plus he has to take his dad to the doctor in the morning, so we will not be going to San Pedro tomorrow. It will still be there on Monday! Took Kyla over to Larry and Shelley’s last night. She loves running around their grassy back yard!

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“I Think I Have Hit Rock Bottom”

That is what I said to Willie when he asked me how my photo came out today. I ordered a new tower last week and it arrived today. Actually, my computer guy Steve ordered it for me. I wanted him to build me one but he said it would be more affordable to order a custom configured one from Costco. It is an HP, as I am sure you can see. You can even see a little of me in the reflection! Maybe by Saturday I will start using it. I included the specifications.

My new HP Intel 2 Quad computer…

I did actually look at the Apples, which I would love to get, but it would have cost twice as much as this did. I am a PC person until I win the lottery! Steve has assured me I will be very happy with this and I will really see a big difference. We took Willie’s dad to dinner tonight for Mexican food. It was very good. Spoke briefly with Larry this evening, watched the Dodgers lose to the Mets, got my hair trimmed this morning, and that was my exciting day. The dogs got very excited when the big box from FedEx was delivered. Whatever box comes to this house, for some strange reason there are always a few dog biscuits in it!

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A Fountain of Crystal

I am very happy with this photograph. I took it with the Lensbaby and I believe I got it just right. I have the focal point where I wanted it, and that makes me happy! I also really like the black and white. It looks like beads of crystal to me shimmering in the sunshine. In actuality it is a water fountain behind the carousel at Fashion Island! I am very pleased with it. I hope you like it. Please let me know!

Beautiful beads of water shining like crystal…

The dogs got all cleaned up today at the groomers. They are all foo-foo and smell good! They were gone for three hours and it was so quiet around here. We went to the store and then came home to have lunch. We are going to have spareribs and potato salad tomorrow. It will be so good! We will need to stay home because of the dogs being such big scardy cats! Watched the movie Taken last night. I thought it was good. Probably watch Cadillac Records tonight. A friend said it was good – we will see. Have a fantastic 4th of July, wherever you are!

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5000 Views!

I think this is a big accomplishment for me. I hit 5000 at 12:28 P.M. this afternoon. It took 295 days. I know this is nothing to many of you, but I am very proud of myself. Thank you to all of you who have looked at my blog. Not much of a daily average, but I was just hoping I could get to 5000 by the end of my first year! I wonder where I will be at that time? Anyway, on to today’s photo.

My beautiful baby girl, Kyla…

I promise this is the last Lensbaby photo I will force on you until I get this perfected! I need to stop trying to get close-ups and take some more wide angle photos. Kyla was so good sitting and staying for me with Donnan running around! I just wish I could have gotten her to look right into the camera. She doesn’t seem to understand what I want! They both act like they don’t want their photos taken. They should be used to seeing me with a camera around my neck! Oh well, I like it!

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Late Afternoon Summer Sunshine

Now that it is officially summer, it is time to catch some images with sunshine as the main focus. The sun here is reflecting on an aluminum chair and it has created an unusual image. I got up from my computer chair this afternoon and looked over to see this unusual reflection. I went to grab my camera so I could take the photo before the sun moved too much. Willie was here and grabbed the tripod for me. I did need it to complete the shot.

Sunshine streaming…

What do you think of this image? Willie is not too keen on it! I try to look for unusual things to photograph. I think this one qualifies. I get unusual images like this when it is spontaneous and just happens. We do not have summer weather here yet (which is fine with me). It is still more like Spring – in the mid 70’s. Kyla and Donnan were shaking in their boots last night because of some fireworks. Kyla started it and she has transferred her fear to Donnan. What are we going to do on the 4th of July? Tomorrow I will give you the link to the wedding photos. I downloaded them on Zenfolio but I want the family to approve them first. Is that ok?

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A Very Abstract Photograph

I know what this is because I took the photo today, but I am a little confused at the outcome. I was playing around with my Lensbaby today, and I must say I am really enjoying it. I am still trying to find where that focal point is but I am beginning to think it has something to do with me wearing glasses and not being able to see well enough without them. That distance between my glasses and the viewfinder is just too much for this type of lens. I need to learn where the focal point is in relation to where it appears to be to me. Could get confusing!

Another Lensbaby attempt…

I guess this image is open to interpretation and I will not tell you what it actually is. Unless you would like to attempt a guess at it. I will give a prize (I don’t know what yet) to the first person who guesses what it is! I think someone will be able to (has to be exact)! Anyway, to change the subject, I was looking around Twitter today and found a link to this site, basically relating to how we  spend our time and what we do with it. I liked it and thought it was something most of us could take advantage of and learn from. Let me know what you think:  http://www.lyved.com/success/a-simple-exercise-that-tells-you-all-you-need-to-know/ It is a good challenge.  Anyone willing to go for it?

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Another Adorable Couple

Here is another cute couple from the wedding day, though not as cute as yesterday’s couple! They were walking in to another reception as I was outside getting some fresh air. I thought they were so cute that I took their photo. I like the black and white photo with the subtle brown tone and the white vignette. It is something rather different for me! They probably had their photo taken a lot that day!

A very sweet little couple..

It was a nice day today – a little breezy and then it cooled down this afternoon. Willie and I watched the movie Tropic Thunder this morning. I only got it from Netflix because I like Robert Downey Jr. It was rather different, if you haven’t seen it already. I do not think I would recommend it. We saw part of the Dodger game this afternoon and they beat the Phillies in extra innings. I worked on the wedding photos and trimmed them down from 1167 to 450. Still so much work! They are coming along good and that will be what I do probably all day tomorrow (and Monday too)! Have a good and safe Saturday night!

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More Urban Grunge

This is number three, or is it number four, in the series on urban grunge in Huntington Beach. How would you like this next to your house where the kids play?  There used to be a grammar school across the street and then it became Little League playing fields – now it is a Lowe’s. But there are still many houses around. I was out this morning taking some photos for class and came across this. Next I will photograph some of the old oil pumps. What a beautiful city Huntington Beach is!

A danger sign and barbed wire…

Willie is in Long Beach all day at Larry’s condo while some worker’s are making repairs. Nice of him to just sit there all day! I hope class is good and productive tonight. Tomorrow there is a Fine Art Open House at the school. There will be a lot of things on display from all the different classes: oil painting, digital arts, ceramics, photography, sculpture, etc. I have a class so I hope I get a chance to look around some. The weather is warming up – you can tell summer is on it’s way. Hope your week is going good. Please check back tomorrow for another new photo!

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Will It Return to the Earth?

This is a piece of farm equipment, probably from the early 1900’s that was used in the orchards and gardens at the Kellogg house (now Heritage House Museum) in Santa Ana. It is not too far from that Dodge I showed you two days ago. I got a comment from a fellow photographer who said I should try the Dodge in sepia. I decided to give this rusty piece some new color and life and I did some extra sharpening to make the rust stand out more. How do you think it worked?

I bet this was pulled by a mule or a horse at one time…

What do you think of my new theme? It seems that my images are showing a little bigger than with the old one. This particular theme was designed for journalists, but I like it’s simplicity- it works well for me. Today is a gorgeous day in Huntington Beach. The Dodger’s swept the Padre’s today, I spoke with Larry and we made our plans for Mother’s Day next week, and Willie is going to start dinner for us.  All is pretty good right now. Have a good week and please check back tomorrow!

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