Pretzel's Snack-A-Day (365 for 2014)

[Pretzel]

Day 40 - Retake

Now that I've realized one of the fatal flaws in my close-up shots, and tested to find the settings to overcome... I re-shot my fave shell from Florida, with a lot more of it in focus. As someone still fairly new to the art, I'll admit to the drive to shoot everything "wide-open" because it's "what the pros do", but in all actuality, the pros realize the reason behind all settings. I'm still not a pro, but I'm learning!



...and... I'll be back to more reading, liking and commenting once this huge project at work is over. Between it and working in family time, I've not been able to read the forums as much as I normally like to do!

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

Day 40 - Retake

Now that I've realized one of the fatal flaws in my close-up shots, and tested to find the settings to overcome... I re-shot my fave shell from Florida, with a lot more of it in focus. As someone still fairly new to the art, I'll admit to the drive to shoot everything "wide-open" because it's "what the pros do", but in all actuality, the pros realize the reason behind all settings. I'm still not a pro, but I'm learning!

View attachment 71989

...and... I'll be back to more reading, liking and commenting once this huge project at work is over. Between it and working in family time, I've not been able to read the forums as much as I normally like to do!

Much nicer. When I first started getting serious about photography back in the dark ages I studied the Group f/64 photographers. I think that still drives me to want all my photographs tact sharp and everything in focus.

 

[Pretzel]

Day 41 - My son RAWKS! (really, NOTE: "metal" hand signs!)

I lured my son in slowly... first, I set up the shot and let him "push the button" while I told him the effect I was going for (inspired by @wud and her shots), then I showed him the finished project and told him that I could get a MUCH better feel as he could assume the positions I can't (NOTE: the fat guy in pic 1) and move out a bit for a change in DOF, and... he put on his hoody. LOL He quickly let me know he prefers "pushing the button" to "striking the pose". I have control of the wireless network, though, so he patronizes me!





Just dabbling, tonight. Not a serious attempt at all. When it gets warmer, I'll be moving this outside and getting some cooler shots. Probably won't get close to the art that Wud produces, but for now, I'm just looking to better myself!

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

I have a hard time getting either on of my kids to let me take their picture. They grew up with a camera pointing at them from birth so I think they got tired of it. Son is coming up for the weekend and I am going to try to get some photos of the entire family.

Wish me luck

 

[Krs_2007]

@Pretzel, very cool. I need to explore this at some point

 

[Pretzel]

I have a hard time getting either on of my kids to let me take their picture. They grew up with a camera pointing at them from birth so I think they got tired of it. Son is coming up for the weekend and I am going to try to get some photos of the entire family.

Wish me luck

LUCK!? Just pull the "All I want is a few memories..." line. LOL

 

[Pretzel]

Worked a little shadow in my son's pic... does it add to his "floating" effect any, to compensate for the tough angle?

 

[Deezey]

Looks good man! I just did the PsCC thing and can't wait to get into photo manipulation.

With the tight angle, how would it look shooting up towards the subject?

 

[Pretzel]

I'm afraid to get too low so I don't lose body parts, but think I can get a little less DOF to add to the feel.

Might try to get slightly lower tomorrow night and see how it feels though.

 

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

I'm afraid to get too low so I don't lose body parts, but think I can get a little less DOF to add to the feel.

Might try to get slightly lower tomorrow night and see how it feels though.

A less busy background might help the effect also.

 

[Pretzel]

For sure, but it's too durn cold outside and blank walls aren't available without a lot of rearranging I didn't want to do.

 

[wud]

There you go, Pretzel! I forgot the tricky part - the shadows. They really make a huge difference for the shot. I work in daylight, so I have some real shadows to work with.. But very good for your first attempt!

 

[Pretzel]

365 project....

I did *NOT* forget to get a few pics yesterday, I just didn't have the drive to edit last night. I'm tellin' ya, this work project is eating my soul, so I spent the night mindlessly striving for victory in Civilization V while I watched the Olympics. I'll work on editing my version of "the money shot" tonight. (maybe) I'll DEFINITELY make sure to get my shots in for today, though, so if no edits, at least I'll be ready to play catch-up on editing next week, as the project is over and done with this weekend!

(BTW, this weekend is supposed to be in the mid 60's finally, and where do I get to be? Work... Karma must be gettin' me back for one of those "rebel" days in my teens??? LOL)

Stay tuned, Bat fans! Next week we'll be back to the same Bat time on the same Bat channel!

 

[Pretzel]

Day 42 - The "Money" Shot

Yup, it's been done, but my mind has been sooooooooo spent every night this week... anyway, here's something that you just don't see any more. The old bicentennial "silver" dollar. I've got a few of these in non-mint condition that I keep around the house, just so I can remember way back when you could actually tell you had a dollar or two in your pocket.



On a side note, it's tricky not to get an overexposed "shiny" when you're shooting coins close up! I actually had to take a few shots as I messed with flash angle and compensation.

 

[Pretzel]

Day 43 - Ahhhhh...

Weeks like these, and some days in particular, I'm glad that I am an adult... as some days cry out for a tasty adult beverage. Nothin' fancy here, other than reminding myself of the skills to get a good flash pattern in portrait mode with an on-camera speedlight and still not have that annoyingly blinding "SHINY" show up on your subject.



Building up to D-Day on this work thing... let's get to next Tuesday, please, so I can return to normal levels of hectic??

 

[Deezey]

Day 43 - Ahhhhh...

Weeks like these, and some days in particular, I'm glad that I am an adult... as some days cry out for a tasty adult beverage. Nothin' fancy here, other than reminding myself of the skills to get a good flash pattern in portrait mode with an on-camera speedlight and still not have that annoyingly blinding "SHINY" show up on your subject.

View attachment 72533

Building up to D-Day on this work thing... let's get to next Tuesday, please, so I can return to normal levels of hectic??

I liked the Cranb a rita one.

 

[Pretzel]

Day 44 - Tickling the plastic ivories...

Exhausted, and my son wouldn't agree to another "floating boy" attempt without a hassle (definitely not up to a hassle tonight), so I took a couple of shots of the keys of his electronic piano. He just got accepted to study with one of the two piano instructors in the state certified by The Royal Conservatory of Music, so we're a bit excited! He's definitely got the innate ability to play, so now we're going to instill the commitment.





It's a subject I think everyone likes to try for a shot, but it's just hard to catch the right look and feel... *sigh*

 

[Pretzel]

Day 45 - Sweets for the sweet.

Yes, you guessed it. My wife's favorite candy is pictured here. There's an inherent LOVE for peanut M&M's built into her core, so there are always some around. The first pic was just for amusement, as we had a "box" of M&M's, but when we opened it, there was a very plain black and white package of M&M's inside! I figured it would just be a box with candy inside, so this was... "interesting".



This second pic is my actual choice for my pic for the day, though. It's just a bag of Peanut M&M's (out of the bag above) in a very plain clear glass bowl, but shot from above with a full power flash from the SB-700 pointed straight at the subject with the included cheap plastic diffuser. Quite the full color "cool" effect though, yeah?



I did edit down the exposure and highlights on the actual candies a bit, as to get the reflection I wanted, the flash practically washed out the M&M's. In retrospect, for the perfect pic, I'd set up on a tripod and do some exposure bracketing, and layer mask (or use in-camera or external HDR, etc.), but I'm still happy with the result. Kit 18-55 VR at 26mm, ISO 200, 1/200, flash (SB-700) fired on iTTL with no exposure compensation.

 

[Pretzel]

Day 46 - Tough captures!

It's a nice day in the low 60's (FABULOUS after wind chills at -10 to -15 recently), and I got the bike out to shine it up and get it ready for a ride into work this afternoon, when I heard the sound I've been trained to react to: The song of a male cardinal. You see, cardinals are the wife's favorite bird, but they are EXTREMELY shy around here. I've been trying FOREVER to get her a nice clean shot of one. Well, I got a little closer today... still not amazing, as he was WAY up in the top of our hackberry tree, and the wind was blowing the branches around a LOT! Here's a couple after edits and cropping heavily.





Now, off to work... should get home around 1 a.m. tonight, and I get to sleep a bit before going back at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Have I mentioned how ready I am for this work project to be OVER!?

 

[Pretzel]

Day 47 - Get your motor runnin'...


...and head out on the highway! Well, I did, but just another short run. LONG day at work, D-Day of the project done. Now a week full of catch up so we can return back to normal. Whee. Here's a shot of my faithful steed right before she carried me to a day trapped inside the cube world.



I would have MUCH preferred a FULL day of riding on the rare 66 degree February day, but at least I got to ride to and from work.