6132. Color - December 20-26, 2015
Byron-
There is a restaurant in Anoke called Casa Rios. It is really good. In fact it's my new "go-to" place for Mexican food. On the way there the Anoka dam caught my eye. It dresses up the old mighty Mississip! (at that point it would still be considered the young Mississip) (another need for parenthesis- I choose to spell the name of the river that way because it seems like that's what fur traders, lumber men and flour millers would call it). Back to present day, I waited for the Sun (old Sol) to set so there would be a good balance between the lights and the surrounding area. When I looked at the image on my computer I notice the texture of the water. Before the dam it is very calm and glassy smooth. After the dam it is angry. It reminds me of the water in "the Wreck of the Hesperus". I decided to include the painting "the Wreck of the Hesperus" for you to compare and contrast.
Anyway, the camera was mounted on a monopod and I leaned it against a railing. Keep in mind it was drizzling and about 33 degrees. The railing was wet and cold. I'll put myself in peril like this to get the picture. The ISO was 100, shutter speed was .5 seconds, the aperture was f5.6. The EV was set to -.5. I shot some at a shutter speed of 2 seconds but that made the water look too silky and nondescript. I was going for realism, tan your hide. Sorry, I shouldn't get upset during my submission.
There is a restaurant in Anoke called Casa Rios. It is really good. In fact it's my new "go-to" place for Mexican food. On the way there the Anoka dam caught my eye. It dresses up the old mighty Mississip! (at that point it would still be considered the young Mississip) (another need for parenthesis- I choose to spell the name of the river that way because it seems like that's what fur traders, lumber men and flour millers would call it). Back to present day, I waited for the Sun (old Sol) to set so there would be a good balance between the lights and the surrounding area. When I looked at the image on my computer I notice the texture of the water. Before the dam it is very calm and glassy smooth. After the dam it is angry. It reminds me of the water in "the Wreck of the Hesperus". I decided to include the painting "the Wreck of the Hesperus" for you to compare and contrast.
Anyway, the camera was mounted on a monopod and I leaned it against a railing. Keep in mind it was drizzling and about 33 degrees. The railing was wet and cold. I'll put myself in peril like this to get the picture. The ISO was 100, shutter speed was .5 seconds, the aperture was f5.6. The EV was set to -.5. I shot some at a shutter speed of 2 seconds but that made the water look too silky and nondescript. I was going for realism, tan your hide. Sorry, I shouldn't get upset during my submission.
Deron-
WATCH KATE COLOR
My 'color' has no color. I decided to go nonconformist. 'Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail'.
What you see here is my sweet niece, Kate, coloring in her 'Frozen the Movie' coloring book. Yes, the Christmas tree was lit up, but my main focus was not the blues, yellows, greens and reds of the bulbs or the colorful markers on the table. My main focus was the act of coloring... To color.
Since I traveled to Colorado for Christmas and space in my bag was an issue, I had to shoot this one on my cell phone, which I am disappointed in, but all is well.
Oh, and don't mind my ghostly image in the reflection of the window.
WATCH KATE COLOR
My 'color' has no color. I decided to go nonconformist. 'Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail'.
What you see here is my sweet niece, Kate, coloring in her 'Frozen the Movie' coloring book. Yes, the Christmas tree was lit up, but my main focus was not the blues, yellows, greens and reds of the bulbs or the colorful markers on the table. My main focus was the act of coloring... To color.
Since I traveled to Colorado for Christmas and space in my bag was an issue, I had to shoot this one on my cell phone, which I am disappointed in, but all is well.
Oh, and don't mind my ghostly image in the reflection of the window.
Kevin-
This is the second time we have done COLOR as a theme, and I had high hopes and expectations. Since this was the week that Michelle and I flew to Palm Springs I thought perhaps there would be great colors in a sunrise shot in Joshua Tree National Park. Or perhaps we would drive by Candy Cane Lane in Cathedral City and I would capture a just after sunset shot of all the Christmas lights with the sky and clouds glowing in the background. Or possibly a repeat visit to the RoboLights exhibit at that same time of day. But then things like illness intervened and I realized I would have to make due with a created shot.
Since I was shooting a glass with ice anyway I started to play around with colored gels on the lights. Blue for the strobe on the left, red for the strobe on the right, green for the strobe below and orange for the strobe on the background. Then I got red, green, blue and yellow food coloring to make colored ice cubes, and filled the glass the ice and fizzy water.
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted. 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor lens. ISO 200. Shutter speed of 1/250th of a second (flash sync) at f/8.
This is the second time we have done COLOR as a theme, and I had high hopes and expectations. Since this was the week that Michelle and I flew to Palm Springs I thought perhaps there would be great colors in a sunrise shot in Joshua Tree National Park. Or perhaps we would drive by Candy Cane Lane in Cathedral City and I would capture a just after sunset shot of all the Christmas lights with the sky and clouds glowing in the background. Or possibly a repeat visit to the RoboLights exhibit at that same time of day. But then things like illness intervened and I realized I would have to make due with a created shot.
Since I was shooting a glass with ice anyway I started to play around with colored gels on the lights. Blue for the strobe on the left, red for the strobe on the right, green for the strobe below and orange for the strobe on the background. Then I got red, green, blue and yellow food coloring to make colored ice cubes, and filled the glass the ice and fizzy water.
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted. 105mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor lens. ISO 200. Shutter speed of 1/250th of a second (flash sync) at f/8.
Paul-
My first thought after hearing the theme for this week’s WPOTM was to promise myself to steer well clear of anything that smacked of the Christmas-related imagery. Not for religious reasons, of course. Primarily it was because it was so tempting and comparatively easy to find some kind of festive display positively hemorrhaging vivid color…and being content to work with that. This is not an indictment—veiled or otherwise—to any of you who may have seen this week’s theme and (understandably so) as a wonderful opportunity to capture something holiday related and produce a terrific piece of work. I just didn’t want to do something that personally didn’t feel like much of a challenge or lacked something visually interesting that went beyond the obvious.
Crap, I’m digging a deeper hole here, aren’t I? Well, you know where I live.
So, in the spirit of hypocrisy, I did pretty much what I had intended not to do. Still, I hope I have thrown enough contrasting or unexpected elements into the composition to warrant a nod or two.
As in some previous weeks, I shot two pictures I really liked. But, as different characters in the Highlander movie franchise say (and too often) says: “There can be only one.” So, this email has the attached photo I would like to submit. The ornaments are hanging from the business end of a retired Catapillar road grader. It is a permanent installation right outside the front door of the Department of Roads and is heavily decorated this time of year. Last Sunday I walked around the yellow beast to the side not facing the street—where there were no strings of lights—and took my shots there. After I was done, I walked back to the parking lot where there was a Ford Explorer parked next to my car. The two people inside had been watching me taking pictures. They were Department of Roads employees, had seen me as they were driving by, and wanted to know what was doing on the property. They weren’t smiling. Apparently, holiday lights on the Cat have been stolen in past years. After I politely explained what I was doing and why, they relaxed a little and drove off. I decided doing the same right away was probably a good idea.
Our story so far: 18-55mm lens set at 31mm; aperture priority; center-weighted averaging; ISO 1600; 1/100 sec.; f/22; +1/3EV; camera is tripod-mounted.
My first thought after hearing the theme for this week’s WPOTM was to promise myself to steer well clear of anything that smacked of the Christmas-related imagery. Not for religious reasons, of course. Primarily it was because it was so tempting and comparatively easy to find some kind of festive display positively hemorrhaging vivid color…and being content to work with that. This is not an indictment—veiled or otherwise—to any of you who may have seen this week’s theme and (understandably so) as a wonderful opportunity to capture something holiday related and produce a terrific piece of work. I just didn’t want to do something that personally didn’t feel like much of a challenge or lacked something visually interesting that went beyond the obvious.
Crap, I’m digging a deeper hole here, aren’t I? Well, you know where I live.
So, in the spirit of hypocrisy, I did pretty much what I had intended not to do. Still, I hope I have thrown enough contrasting or unexpected elements into the composition to warrant a nod or two.
As in some previous weeks, I shot two pictures I really liked. But, as different characters in the Highlander movie franchise say (and too often) says: “There can be only one.” So, this email has the attached photo I would like to submit. The ornaments are hanging from the business end of a retired Catapillar road grader. It is a permanent installation right outside the front door of the Department of Roads and is heavily decorated this time of year. Last Sunday I walked around the yellow beast to the side not facing the street—where there were no strings of lights—and took my shots there. After I was done, I walked back to the parking lot where there was a Ford Explorer parked next to my car. The two people inside had been watching me taking pictures. They were Department of Roads employees, had seen me as they were driving by, and wanted to know what was doing on the property. They weren’t smiling. Apparently, holiday lights on the Cat have been stolen in past years. After I politely explained what I was doing and why, they relaxed a little and drove off. I decided doing the same right away was probably a good idea.
Our story so far: 18-55mm lens set at 31mm; aperture priority; center-weighted averaging; ISO 1600; 1/100 sec.; f/22; +1/3EV; camera is tripod-mounted.
Jerry-
After squeezing out all that spritz cookie dough two weeks ago I had to bake and decorate at least a few of them (raw dough can be hazardous to your health). With Byron's topic choice of "Color" a close up of my cookies became an easy target for my camera.
I held the SB700 flash over the top and low to bring out the rows of dough and give some zap to the colorful sugar sprinkles. The camera was the D750 with 105 Micro, 1/200 @ f40, ISO 400.
After squeezing out all that spritz cookie dough two weeks ago I had to bake and decorate at least a few of them (raw dough can be hazardous to your health). With Byron's topic choice of "Color" a close up of my cookies became an easy target for my camera.
I held the SB700 flash over the top and low to bring out the rows of dough and give some zap to the colorful sugar sprinkles. The camera was the D750 with 105 Micro, 1/200 @ f40, ISO 400.
Don-
Ah, Christmas night and I have now consumed over a bottle of wine and I will attempt to explain the picture. I took this picture Christmas Eve with the moon just coming over the house. I have one programmable LED light over the door giving me the purple light. One light at the entrance of the courtyard set to red. And then you see the multicolored (red & green) snowflakes which are actually from the Laser Light things I purchased at Walgreen's. Anyway after about thirty pictures of changing colors I decided on this purple/red & moon combination. This picture is cropped, leveled, sharpened and that's all. Taken with a D810 Nikon, 24-70mm f2.8 lens set to 42mm. Exposure is 20 sec., f11, Aperture Priority With no flash of course. It took me a couple of hours to warm up after this shot.
Merry Christmas
Ah, Christmas night and I have now consumed over a bottle of wine and I will attempt to explain the picture. I took this picture Christmas Eve with the moon just coming over the house. I have one programmable LED light over the door giving me the purple light. One light at the entrance of the courtyard set to red. And then you see the multicolored (red & green) snowflakes which are actually from the Laser Light things I purchased at Walgreen's. Anyway after about thirty pictures of changing colors I decided on this purple/red & moon combination. This picture is cropped, leveled, sharpened and that's all. Taken with a D810 Nikon, 24-70mm f2.8 lens set to 42mm. Exposure is 20 sec., f11, Aperture Priority With no flash of course. It took me a couple of hours to warm up after this shot.
Merry Christmas