Friday, December 30, 2005

Elements of Design


In general, diagnal dominant lines in photos make for more interesting pictures, so with some everyday objects, like a set of metal blinds such as the ones above, some interest can be added by simply tilting the camera angle. The pull string running the opposite direction also helps, too, I think.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

How Sweet It Is


The enormous pile of holiday food we got at our office is starting to dwindle down.. There's just some plain popcorn, a basket of fruit that's looking less appealing every day and a few sugar cookies, like the one above. Up close, the sugar crystals look enormous. That's gotta be good for the teeth.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

What time you got?


My office roommate has a binary clock that he got for Christmas. He had to explain to me how to read the thing ... in the above photo, it's 1:19:47 P.M. Does anyone else know how this works? It's actually pretty neat once you learn how.

Yet even more sky


Okay, I'm renewing my efforts to start photographing something every day to post here. It may end up being something on my desk a lot of days, but as an early New Year's resolution, I'm going to try to work on this blog more.

Here's yet another in the sky series from my morning commute to work. This shot was pure luck. I just held the camera up and snapped a shot through my windshield.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Your Bright Baby Blues


Sorry I haven't posted much lately, but I've been pretty busy between my regular job, holiday stuff, personal stuff I'd rather not even think about and some occasional Christmas photos ... one of which is here. This was from a recent shoot, and it's not really a planned shot. The little girl was just kind of running around the studio space and I happened to catch her looking right at me.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Christmas Beads and others


More fun with the little Macro camera... The first one is a clear plastic tube of Christmas beads. I like the way you can see the camera reflection in every one of them.









Friday, November 18, 2005

Yet even more clouds


By unpopular demand, here are yet even more sky pictures. There was a cool cloud pattern this morning just as the sun was coming up.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Colorful Sunset


I shot this the other day and kinda forgot about until I was going through the images on my memory card. The sky was really colorful (I think it was this past Friday) and I shot this from my car on the way home from work. One of these days maybe I'll have the time to actually stop and get out and take a photo. For a shot through the windshield, though, it didn't turn out half bad.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Ghouls and Goblins ... and a Sumo Wrestler



I know it's a bit late to be posting Halloween pics, but I thought I'd share a few of these. Our church, Gregoryville Christian Church, recently had a costume party, and I took photos of all the kids that came. I shot them against a white backdrop, but then my wife thought it would be a good idea to spruce up the backgrounds a little by dropping things in. Here are just a couple. To see all the photos from that day click here.

Friday, November 11, 2005

I just added site meter

I just added a site meter to this blog to see how little traffic I get. :-)
Maybe I'll be surprised. I would probably help if I posted more often.

Friday, November 04, 2005

More fall colors

The trees around here are really peaking right now. I really need to get out one day and get some good shots. For now, here's some shots of trees in the park that's across the street from my office. We're on the 5th floor, so the high vantage point looks pretty interesting. Guess it will have to do for now. Maybe I'll make it out some this weekend.


Monday, October 24, 2005

A walk in the park

Got a few moments today to take a walk around Central Park in Ashland which is across the street from my office building, and snapped these shots of the fall scenery. It had just rained, so all the dampness really made the colors vivid. The very last shot in the group is a photo of my office building.










Saturday, October 22, 2005

Not so itsy bitsy spider


Found this guy crawling on the outside of my house the other day. I'm not sure what it is about our house and garage, but it seems to be a haven for spiders. Of course, they look much bigger when the camera is practically touching them.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Full moon at dusk

Here's a photo I took earlier this evening that actually combines two different shots into one, and is a good example of how the camera sees things differently than the human eye. The moon is tricky to shoot, because although it doesn't cast lots of light, it's really just reflected sunlight, so to get the detail from the craters, you need a pretty fast shutter speed. However, the evening sky isn't nearly as bright, so if you shoot a high shutter speed, the sky simply turns dark. I took the same photo twice, exposing once for the sky colors and a second with a faster shutter speed to get the moon detail, then used Photoshop to paste the "good" moon into the photo with the "good" sky. The end result is how the eye perceived the moon shining brightly during the sunset.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Another from today


Today was one of those days where it was cloudy and misty all day, which kept lots of moisture and rain drops on the plants in my yards. Here's a close-up shot of beads of water on some rosebuds.

Signs of Fall


Some of the trees in Northeast Kentucky are already starting to change. Fall has to be a favorite time of year for most photographers. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to get out and get some better photos this year.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Morning Perch

Every morning on my way to work I see these birds perched on the cross atop the steeple of Wilson Creek Baptist Church just outside of Grayson. I always tell myself I should stop and try to get a photo of them, but I'm usually already running late. This morning, I was a little early, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The sunrise wasn't as colorful as other mornings, but it still didn't turn out half bad.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Bug-eyed

A praying mantis that was sitting in my driveway Sunday afternoon. Up close, it has a sort of scary, alien look to it, don't you think.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

What's this No. 10

Here's another, and this is a pretty common item. Do you know what this is? Post your guesses in the comments section.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Crosses at Grayson

This photo was actually taken a couple of years ago with a 35mm film camera and I just happened to come across it the other day. The processing date on the back is Jan. 29, 2003. It's a set of crosses on a hill in my hometown of Grayson, Ky., that are visible from I-64. They're in a different position now, as the entire hill is being razed to make a big flat piece of land that's more attractive to businesses that might locate there. Earlier this year, the crosses were taken down at one time, and put up again a few weeks later, but the hill is probably about half the size now than it was when this photo was taken. I have some closer shots of them, but I really like the way the clouds look in this one shot with a really wide angled lens.

Friday, September 23, 2005

What's this No. 9


Can you guess what this is? It's not a real common thing, so I'm not sure how difficult this one will be. Post your guesses by clicking the comments link below.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

What's this No. 8


Here's another one. This isn't a common item, so I'm guessing it will be easy if you've seen one and difficult if you haven't. Post your guesses in the comments link below.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Hello Kitty

My mother-in-law lives on a farm in Greenup County, and there's never a shortage of good stuff to photograph during a visit there. We spent some time there Sunday, and here's just one of the shots I got of a kitten hiding in a bunch of hostas, poking its head out to see if anyone was around.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Yay! ... it's Mac & Fish Day

On our daughter's school lunch calendar last week, we noticed that the Friday entreé was Mac & Fish. We really weren't sure what that meant. Was it like Mac & Cheese with fish instead of cheese? We were a little anxious to find out. Turns out, it was just fish (fried, we think) with mac & cheese for the side. I'd never heard of referred to as mac & fish before, but the phrase has become the new punchline to lots of jokes around our house now.

What's this No. 7


Okay, I went on a spree over the holiday weekend and have mystery pics for days now. Here's the first of them. Post your guesses in the comments section below.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Thursday, September 01, 2005

What's this No. 5

As per Brad's request for more mystery photos, do you know what this is? Post your guesses in the comments section. For more (and better) mystery photos, see Rick Lee's blog.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Red Sky at Night...

Here's a shot from a few evenings ago just after a rain storm. The sky had this really weird color, and it took me a few tries to get the exposure right, but, this is pretty much how it looked.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Happy 1st Birthday


I can't believe it's been a year already since our son was born. He woke up in a good mood on his birthday this morning. Happy Birthday Reece.

Shadow Writing


The building we work in has a restaurant on the first level, and every morning I pass this cool shadow the letters on the window cast onto the wall. This morning, I finally remembered to take a photo while I had my camera with me. It's kind of a neat effect how the shadow is tilted from the angle of the sunlight.

Monday, August 22, 2005

New Church Building

Our church (Gregoryville Christian in Grayson, Ky.) is in the process of relocating into a new building that is getting close to completion. Earlier this evening, I finally got a chance to stop by and snap a few photos. We're currently in a little white country church building with a sanctuary that seats just over 100, and our attendance has steadily climbed over the past few years. This past Sunday, we had an average crowd of 196, so the extra space will definitely be welcome.


What's this No. 4

One of these days I'll get around to posting some regular photos again ... things have just been a little hectic lately. Meanwhile, here's another mystery photo (a la Rick Lee). Post your guesses by clicking the comments link below.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

What's this No. 3

I started not to even put this one up because I thought it was too obvious, but then I started showing it to people around my office and they were stumped, so I thought I'd give it a try. Post your guesses in the comments link below.

Friday, August 19, 2005

What's this No. 2


Okay, my first attempt was way too easy. This one may be as well. Like I said, it's hard for me to judge since I already know what these things are. Again, this is just an idea I'm stealing from Rick Lee so I hope he doesn't mind. Post your guesses in the comments section.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Revenge of the Mud People

So my daughter the other day asks if she and her cousin could go out and play in the mud. I'm thinking they're going to make some mud pies or something like that. "Sure, just change your clothes," I tell her.

A few minutes later, here's what I go outside to find. It took a water hose, a bath and then a shower to get all the mud out of their hair.

If it wouldn't have been so funny, I would have been furious. But, hey, I told them they could go play. My daughter is the one in the orange.

Do you know what this is?


Being a copycat from photographer Rick Lee, here's a close-up photo to see if you can guess what it is. Post your guesses in the comments section. I so enjoy trying to guess Rick's daily post, I thought I'd try one myself.