Frankfurt Bike 2

Frankfurt Bike 2, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

I knew that I could do a better job processing this photo given a bit more time. I thought about posting all the things I did differently with this picture from the one I posted a few days ago, but I think I'll not. Consider it one of those "spot the differences" games.

Main River

IMGP0448, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

I almost didn't post this picture to the blog, but I really like the composition. The execution is a little lacking, but I feel pretty good about the shot overall.

This was my first shot of the day, and it was pretty darn dark. Since I didn't have a tripod with me, I was shooting wide open, which means a small depth of field. The majority of the full size picture is the river, and the auto focus picked that as it's focal distance. If I had moved the focus out to infinity, I probably would have had a much better shot.

So I abused Unsharp Mask (I think I heard the pixels screaming) to at least produce a lovely thumbnail.

Paulskirche and the Commerzbank Tower

IMGP0466, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

One of the nice things about the rain, it keeps people off the street. I doubt there are many times of the day that this whole platz is clear like it was this morning.

I have another shot of this that is a little better in focus, but I like how the clouds have cleared around the cross at the top.

I also like the contrast of old and new in this photo. I wish the street to the right (out of frame) had been more attractive because I would have liked to have the Commerzbank building more toward the center of the frame.

Woolworth and Frankfurt

IMGP0475, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

I'll use this picture to get all my gripes, complaints and excuses out. Ok...I doubt this is the last excuse you'll hear for this batch of photos, but at least you won't hear the whole story again and again.

So I spent two days each in London and Frankfurt last week, and the weather was awful the entire time. That's not too far out of the ordinary for late winter in either location, but it still felt like bad luck.

Mostly it felt that way because there would be spectacular glimpses of sunlight in the middle of the day when I was busy with work. Also, work went past sundown about half the time anyway, so it would have been tough finding the time to take pictures even if the weather had been perfect. In fact, I'd probably be even more grumpy if the weather had been good because then it would have been work getting in the way.

The one day I was really able to get out and just think about taking pictures was the morning before my flight home. I got up and dressed at 5:30am so I could get into the city and then back to my hotel before 8:30 when I had to leave for the airport. I figured I'd have about an hour of daylight for shooting before I had to head home. My first step out the door of the hotel I noticed that it was darker than normal. Probably because it was raining steadily. Still I ventured out. This was the last shot of the morning, and you'll notice the other shots are noticeably darker (and blurrier).

This building was right next door to my hotel. I could see it from my room, but only from the side. From the front you can really start to see the International/Bauhaus style...and of course the big Woolworth sign. It tickled me so I stopped traffic two or three times to get this picture (I was in a rather wide median at a cross walk, but German drivers were so cautious they would stop on the off chance that I might suddenly dart into the street).

Frankfurt Bike

Frankfurt Bike, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

A quick little picture for my lovey. For two reasons. One, she likes pink. And two, to show her that I got back to my hotel in plenty of time to make my flight so she won't worry.

Frankfurt skyline

Frankfurt skyline, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

Not a very compelling picture, but the best I could do under the circumstances. It was hazy and overcast almost the entire time I was in Frankfurt. Luckily the cloud layer was high enough this night to get a peak at the skyline over the buildings. The streak is probably a plane and not a shooting star (the clouds were too low and the airport was too near for it to be anything else).

Elizabeth Still and Sparkling

Elizabeth Still and Sparkling, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

I drank this water the entire time I was in Frankfurt and it always reminded me of my wife.

Wally

IMGP0417, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

I had to do a little computer maintenance, which distracted me from posting, so here's a kitty picture to tide you over until I can get back to serious posting (expect something interesting when I return from London and Frankfurt).

Also, I entered the black and white picture of the government square building in the Boston Globe's monthly amateur photo contest. We'll see if I make the final cut (which honestly is a bit like making the line-up in tee-ball...pretty much everyone plays regardless of skill).

Still Photography...you're doing it wrong.

You know what the difference is between good photographers an great photographers? Great photographers don't show you their mistakes.

So keeping with my theme of constant improvement, there will be no photos published from my last attempt at still photography. It's not that they were so awful, but they were very uninspiring and boring and (most of all) incorrectly lit.

So the idea was to take some pictures of the irises and lilies that E got for Valentine's and for her Birthday. I thought I would try using multiple lighting sources to bring out the details (tricky since they were white flowers). So I gathered up all the lights and carefully positioned and pointed them loosely based on things I had read. So here's the list of things I did wrong:

Used lighting with different color temps
Subject too close to the background
Backlight too close to subject

Try as I might I wasn't able to tweak all of these things to produce an interesting picture. Luckily all of these are easily fixable, so I'll try again soon.

New uses for a backdrop

So yesterday E and I went looking for an inexpensive white sheet that I could use as a backdrop for shooting some flowers. After we got it home I washed it to get out all of the wrinkles and creases and spread it over a chair so it wouldn't get new creases before I used it today.

Well, Eddie and Wally thought it was a perfect backdrop for kittens to sleep on. Much cuteness followed:

Playing with B&W

This month's amateur contest is about black and white photography, so I've been playing around a bit with that. I thought this picture wound up being pretty dramatic and moody (especially when compared to the original).

Government Center at Night

Passing through Government Center this evening at just the right time. I thought the staircase was a very interesting detail that I had never seen before and you really only get to see at night. Took a handful of pictures and this is the one that worked the best.

Fading Flowers

I'm not a big fan of still life. If I have the opportunity to tinker with a picture I'll do just that until I get fed up and start thinking "take the picture already". Then later I'll wish that I had done even more tinkering.

Anyway, I took these pictures of some Tulips I got E for her Birthday (Happy Birthday E!). I liked the color contrast inside the red blooms and as E said, you don't often see pictures of tulips that are opened.

I don't completely understand studio lighting, but I wish I had a fill flash behind the flowers. It would have taken the shadows off the background and given a little glow to edges. Still I'm very please with this picture. Here's the color version which is solid, but not nearly as striking as the b/w.

Lots of snow

IMGP0340, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

It was supposed to be 2-4 inches. More like 12-14 by the time it was all done. Here are a couple of pictures of our "snow day".

Cold possibilities

IMGP0326, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

So the theme for this months Boston Globe amateur competition is "Cold" and this is the first, best picture I have taken on the subject. This was just outside on our patio after a snowstorm. It was supposed to be 3-5 inches, but was closer to 8. This is what was left of a small bush peeking through the blanket of snow.

Swaddled Wally

IMGP0334, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

While Wally is our wild child, unafraid of most things. He is, however, deathly afraid of being under blankets. So this is a most unusual photo of him swaddled up in E's jacket. Click through to the Flickr account to see some more pictures of the same.

Boston Harbor morning

IMGP0273, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

And if you don't naturally wake up to catch the sun, you can be forced to be awake because of your travel schedule.

The sun was rising over the harbor while I sat at the airport waiting for my flight out to Seattle. The sky was a dull, flat grey and not very exciting. That's why we have a crop tool.

Not show here are dozens of pictures of planes taking off silhouetted by a rising sun. The same optical mind-game that sometimes makes the moon to look really huge, also makes it look like the plane is filling the viewfinder. The planes were little tiny plane-like outlines against a very blah sky.

Seattle Skyline

IMGP0298, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

These are from my hotel room in Seattle, early Friday morning. Physically being on the West Coast while your body is on East Coast time really helps you capture the morning sun.

I had a lot of trouble getting the picture in sharp focus. I tried a lot of variations of bracing the camera against the metal railing and what not, but in the end I wound up laying prone on the concrete balcony with the camera sitting on the very edge (lens hanging over the lip).

These two photos also capture one of the few moments of sunlight I saw on my visit. In a few minutes it went right back to being cloudy, grey and rainy.

IMGP0258_d_l-hs

IMGP0258_d_l-hs, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

I had very low expectations for this picture, and it's honestly not one of my best. The composition is weak.

But it was a great exercise in exposure. Very bright mid-day sun and shadow on two very different colors of stone. Certainly not a pic for the ages, but lessons were learned.

Sleeping Chloe

IMGP0255, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

Or, Chloe at her best...

It isn't fair that the boys get all the pictures. It's just that they are a little more active than Chloe. This photo doesn't capture her like the other pictures really capture the boys, but it's a good start. And frankly if she wants a better picture she'll have to give me more. Work it girl....work it!