41. Sign - March 23-29, 2014
Byron-
After seeing Kevin's and Deron's photos, mine is very mundane. I like a couple of things about it. I like the design. The curved arrow makes me think of In-N-Out Burger. It is not only a retro looking sign it is an actual sign from back in the day. The rust gives that away. This is the first sign you see when traveling North on Hwy 169 just after crossing the Mississippi River. The Pierce Motel is still in business. I also enjoyed the colors involved. The sky was blue (for once) and it enhances the colors on the sign.
This was shot at ISO 200, f/10 @ 1/400 sec. My 18-55mm lens was set at 36mm.
After seeing Kevin's and Deron's photos, mine is very mundane. I like a couple of things about it. I like the design. The curved arrow makes me think of In-N-Out Burger. It is not only a retro looking sign it is an actual sign from back in the day. The rust gives that away. This is the first sign you see when traveling North on Hwy 169 just after crossing the Mississippi River. The Pierce Motel is still in business. I also enjoyed the colors involved. The sky was blue (for once) and it enhances the colors on the sign.
This was shot at ISO 200, f/10 @ 1/400 sec. My 18-55mm lens was set at 36mm.
Deron-
This is Chris and his dog, Echo near Olivera Street in Los Angeles. As you can see, Chris is having a rough go of it... I guess his sign says it all; he's in a walking boot, on crutches and has a wheelchair. I saw him a week earlier and wanted to take his picture then, but after I did my work and went back, he was gone. After hearing 'Sign' was our theme for the week, I was hoping to get back to LA and hopefully see Chris again, which I did on Monday. This kid has such a good attitude and said he holds that sign just to make people smile. After taking his photo, and giving him $5, I was leaving in my car, when I see Echo flying down the sidewalk with Chris, smiling ear to ear and holding Echo's leash, while riding in his wheelchair... Urban Iditarod! This turned out to be one of my favorite WPOTMs... Not a technically great shot, but it's raw and real. True life.
This is Chris and his dog, Echo near Olivera Street in Los Angeles. As you can see, Chris is having a rough go of it... I guess his sign says it all; he's in a walking boot, on crutches and has a wheelchair. I saw him a week earlier and wanted to take his picture then, but after I did my work and went back, he was gone. After hearing 'Sign' was our theme for the week, I was hoping to get back to LA and hopefully see Chris again, which I did on Monday. This kid has such a good attitude and said he holds that sign just to make people smile. After taking his photo, and giving him $5, I was leaving in my car, when I see Echo flying down the sidewalk with Chris, smiling ear to ear and holding Echo's leash, while riding in his wheelchair... Urban Iditarod! This turned out to be one of my favorite WPOTMs... Not a technically great shot, but it's raw and real. True life.
Paul-
“Sign.” This was a tough one for all the right reasons. It’s the first time since I joined the honorable photographic cognoscenti of the WPOTM group that I had a few (four) different images I liked almost equally for the theme. Which one to select? Usually it’s an easy choice, or there’s one particular image I am setting up. But rules are rules…there can be only one (he said, stealing a cheesy line from the Highlander movie franchise). So I went and saw psychic—who said she knew I was coming, of course—and was told the spirit realm wanted me to select this one. Go figure.
I was wandering around the eastern edge of downtown Lincoln scoping out older buildings that were either boarded up or vacant, and likely to stay that way. (There are more than a few.) This sign—which of course you will recognize immediately—was plastered to an old glass door riddled with spider web cracks, covered with strange looking stains, and discolored by I can only guess how many seasonal extremes. The building this door and its glass are grudgingly attached to what was at one time an automotive repair place. The garage doors are a dead giveaway, through the building looks quite a bit older than the cars it probably accommodated. It would be fun to do a little sleuthing to find out when it was built and for what purpose. For now, however, it’s an empty and hulking structure—and this sign speaks of better times, or at least more interesting ones.
It was neither a dark nor stormy night. A pale moon held sway over the sleeping city and it was only a light rain that tapped impatiently at the windows. Shuffling along the shadowed sidewalk that fronted tall buildings and shuttered storefronts a man, indifferent to weather or the hour, and whose memories were as tattered as the worn coat which engulfed him, pushed a creaking cart full of shapeless bundles. He muttered softly in a voice raw from too many cigarettes and too little good liquor. What few passersby there where—lovers and loners hurrying by on their own private errands—gave him wide berth and, in doing so, could not hear the litany of words he repeated over and over: “Olympus E500; 40-150mm lens at 40mm focal length; 1/500 sec. at f8; ISO 200; the camera is hand-held and is soaking up the late afternoon sun.”
“Sign.” This was a tough one for all the right reasons. It’s the first time since I joined the honorable photographic cognoscenti of the WPOTM group that I had a few (four) different images I liked almost equally for the theme. Which one to select? Usually it’s an easy choice, or there’s one particular image I am setting up. But rules are rules…there can be only one (he said, stealing a cheesy line from the Highlander movie franchise). So I went and saw psychic—who said she knew I was coming, of course—and was told the spirit realm wanted me to select this one. Go figure.
I was wandering around the eastern edge of downtown Lincoln scoping out older buildings that were either boarded up or vacant, and likely to stay that way. (There are more than a few.) This sign—which of course you will recognize immediately—was plastered to an old glass door riddled with spider web cracks, covered with strange looking stains, and discolored by I can only guess how many seasonal extremes. The building this door and its glass are grudgingly attached to what was at one time an automotive repair place. The garage doors are a dead giveaway, through the building looks quite a bit older than the cars it probably accommodated. It would be fun to do a little sleuthing to find out when it was built and for what purpose. For now, however, it’s an empty and hulking structure—and this sign speaks of better times, or at least more interesting ones.
It was neither a dark nor stormy night. A pale moon held sway over the sleeping city and it was only a light rain that tapped impatiently at the windows. Shuffling along the shadowed sidewalk that fronted tall buildings and shuttered storefronts a man, indifferent to weather or the hour, and whose memories were as tattered as the worn coat which engulfed him, pushed a creaking cart full of shapeless bundles. He muttered softly in a voice raw from too many cigarettes and too little good liquor. What few passersby there where—lovers and loners hurrying by on their own private errands—gave him wide berth and, in doing so, could not hear the litany of words he repeated over and over: “Olympus E500; 40-150mm lens at 40mm focal length; 1/500 sec. at f8; ISO 200; the camera is hand-held and is soaking up the late afternoon sun.”
Kevin-
I loved Byron’s Weekly Photo Of The Month SIGN theme. And I did consider many of the varied meanings of the word sign, from signatures to astrological signs, to peace signs. Then on Tuesday night, when I left a meeting of the CVDCC (Coachella Valley Desert Camera Club) and I discovered that a major wind storm had come to the Palm Springs area. At that point I knew immediately where I wanted to go and what I wanted to shoot. Seeing that the peak wind speeds would occur between 7:00 and 8:00 PM on Wednesday. I plotted a route that would take me up Highway 62, which is the road I ordinarily take to Joshua Tree National Park. But in this case I came immediately back down the road to capture this GUSTY WIND AREA AHEAD sign, with the wind turbines behind it.
Now my Nikon was firmly tripod mounted and triggered by a wireless remote. But still, about 50% of the 120 or so shots I took were very blurry as the wind was blowing the camera and tripod so hard. I immediately deleted the blurry images and was going to go with a shot where the wind was blowing and obscuring things, but the sign was sharp.
But while emailing about it with Ed LaCroix he convinced me to examine the blurry shots as well, talking about how the blur from the wind could make the words of the sign even more real, as the dust and debris practically obscures the wind turbines in the background. Ultimately, after carefully examining all the deleted files, I decided he was right. So I’m going with this image, as the unfortunately shaking tripod, camera and sign all magnify the power of the wind. This was a middle frame from a high-speed burst and was captured at 7:19 PM (about 20 minutes after sunset). Nikon D3s with my 70-200mm f/2.8 Nikkor zoomed to 200mm. ISO 800, 1/6 second at f/4. And yes, everyone who lives near Palm Springs, CA will be coughing and cleaning up this grit for days.
I loved Byron’s Weekly Photo Of The Month SIGN theme. And I did consider many of the varied meanings of the word sign, from signatures to astrological signs, to peace signs. Then on Tuesday night, when I left a meeting of the CVDCC (Coachella Valley Desert Camera Club) and I discovered that a major wind storm had come to the Palm Springs area. At that point I knew immediately where I wanted to go and what I wanted to shoot. Seeing that the peak wind speeds would occur between 7:00 and 8:00 PM on Wednesday. I plotted a route that would take me up Highway 62, which is the road I ordinarily take to Joshua Tree National Park. But in this case I came immediately back down the road to capture this GUSTY WIND AREA AHEAD sign, with the wind turbines behind it.
Now my Nikon was firmly tripod mounted and triggered by a wireless remote. But still, about 50% of the 120 or so shots I took were very blurry as the wind was blowing the camera and tripod so hard. I immediately deleted the blurry images and was going to go with a shot where the wind was blowing and obscuring things, but the sign was sharp.
But while emailing about it with Ed LaCroix he convinced me to examine the blurry shots as well, talking about how the blur from the wind could make the words of the sign even more real, as the dust and debris practically obscures the wind turbines in the background. Ultimately, after carefully examining all the deleted files, I decided he was right. So I’m going with this image, as the unfortunately shaking tripod, camera and sign all magnify the power of the wind. This was a middle frame from a high-speed burst and was captured at 7:19 PM (about 20 minutes after sunset). Nikon D3s with my 70-200mm f/2.8 Nikkor zoomed to 200mm. ISO 800, 1/6 second at f/4. And yes, everyone who lives near Palm Springs, CA will be coughing and cleaning up this grit for days.