Abstract

- We picked up a new piece of art glass by Jeff Price recently. This image is a macro photo that is slightly out of focus and yes that was intentional on my part. By illuminating with an LED Litepanel and blurring the image slightly, the patterns and colors really jump out. Canon 40D, 1/500 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 200, 100mm macro lens.

Cooking With Gas

- I had an opportunity recently to photograph a house that is coming to market soon. I tried to capture some interesting details to go along with the interior views. This Thermador Professional gas range was one of those shots. This is some high end cooking! Canon 40D, 1/13 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens converted to B&W in Silver Efex Pro 2.

High Fly'n

- One of my eleven foot wing span delta kites. Seems whenever I'm at the beach I forget to bring the kite so I end up with a new one. Canon 40D, 1/250 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 200, zoom at 170mm focal length.

Sand Crab

- This is picture from a few years ago of a tiny sand crab on Hatteras Island North Carolina that never made it to the CIOPhoto blog. Canon 40D, 1/1250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, zoom at 400mm (the big gun).

QWERTY

- Got a cool new backlit keyboard for my PC from Deck. It's really a gaming keyboard but has the old style tactile feedback keys that I like. Each key is backlit by an individual LED and has a switch that produces the famous "IBM" keyboard feel and click. The key switches are rated for about 50 million key strokes - it should last me for a few years. Best of all, it comes with a skull key cap to place as you want. Canon 40D, 1/30 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 800, converted to black and white in Silver Efex Pro 2.

Brave Little Guy

- This little guy was not happy to have his picture made. He's only about an eighth of inch long and was sitting on a daylily leaf. He actually jumped on the LED Litepanel right after I took this picture. I managed to get him back on the leaf and about his way. Portrait photographers always want to get the "catch light" in the subject's eyes, I managed to get catch light in all four forward facing eyes. Canon 40D, 1/125 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro.

LEDs on Glass

- My grandson Robert likes to plays with these glass beads Cindy had left over from some project. He loads them into his dump trucks. As I was playing with him tonight I wondered if there was a photo in there. Using the LED Litepanel and the macro lens produced this image. It is certainly colorful. Canon 40D, 1/500 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.

Sunflower

- A mature sunflower is actually a "flower head" (also known as a "composite flower") of 1000-2000 florets, (small flowers) crowded together. Sunflowers are the subject of famous still life paintings by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. I really like this one called "Two Cut Sunflowers". Canon 40D, 1/1600 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 800, 50mm prime lens, overhead halogen spot supplemented by an LED Litepanel.

A Dandy Dandelion

- A dandy dandelion in black and white. Canon 40D, 1/640 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 400 100mm macro.

It's a NEW PC!

- Yep after six years of service I'm finally replacing my old XP computer. I'm building the new PC from the ground up to be photographer's killer machine. I thought seriously about building a "Hackintosh" but decided to stay with Windows. Got my inspiration for the new PC from the Image Science blog. The new PC specs:

Intel Core i7-920 processor
12 GB RAM
OCZ 240 GB SSD SATA II Windows System Disk
OCZ 120 GB SSD SATA III Lightroom and Photoshop Cache/Scratch Disk
WD 600 GB VeloRaptor, 10,000 RPM SATA III for programs and catalogs
WD 2 TB Caviar Black for data and photo files
Blu-ray writer & Lightscribe SuperMulti DVD burner
16x max. DVD-ROM
Windows 7 Pro

The photo is 12 GB of RAM installed, yes its a freaking beautiful sight. Canon 40D, 1/30 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, LED Litepanel for extra light.

Katydid

- I noticed this tiny katydid on one of my Stargazer lily blooms this evening. It was very small, about a 1/4 inch in length. The 100mm macro did a nice job of capturing the image. Canon 40D, 1/200 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro focused at 1:1, handheld with image stabilization on. A little extra light provided by an LED Litepanel.

Structure

- I guess this is "plant week" looking at the photos from the last few days. This black and white of hosta leaves is backlit by an LED Litepanel. It really shows the leaf structure. Canon 40D, 1/250 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 800, 100mm macro.

Trademark

- Jazz vocal legend Billie Holiday often wore a gardenia bloom in her hair. It was part of her trademark look to go with her trademark voice. Just look at this image and see if you can imagine the wonderful fragrance of the gardenia. This one is on a massive bush in my back yard that has hundreds of blooms on it. As soon as I step outside I'm greeted by this great scent of summer. Canon 40D, 1/640 sec @ f/10.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.

Big Splash

- Robert had a great time playing in the water today. Two hot tub sessions and one with the crazy squiggly sprinkler. I bet he sleeps good tonight, I know I will. Canon 40D, 1/2000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, 100mm lens.

Brick Red

- These cool glass blocks pick up the red brick wall behind. Look at the differing patterns in each block. Canon 40D, 1/250 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.

Lock-in-a-box

- Sherlock loves a box. Anytime you open one or leave one sitting around he'll be in it. This morning he decided this filing box was the perfect spot from which to keep an eye on his domain. Canon 40D, 1/30 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, 100mm lens.

Decoration Day

- Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, which was first observed by Freedmen in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865 to remember the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. Today Memorial Day is a time for us to remember and honor all of those who have fallen in the service of our freedom. Hampton National Cemetery was created in 1862 by the Union Army to bury Civil War dead. While most were Union casualties there are several hundred Confederate dead buried there as well. Today almost 30,000 veterans rest here from all conflicts of the past 150 years. The cemetery also holds the graves of 29 German sailors killed during the sinking of the U-85 just off Oregon Inlet North Carolina in April 1942. Canon 40D, 1/1600 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, 200mm focal length.

Glass Block

- Glass blocks have returned as an architectural detail. This block is picking up red from the brick wall opposite with green from trees located off to the right. The colors change as the light and your angle of view changes. The shapes and colors create a wonderful and always different view. Canon 40D, 1/1600 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 800, 100mm macro.

Tea Geeks

- Our son Michael is home this week and since he's a tea geek we visited the new Teavana store at MacArthur Center in Norfolk Virginia. This is a 50/50 blend of Jasmine Pearls & Strawberry Lemonade basically green tea and herbal tea. It makes a great summer iced tea which I'm enjoying while I do this blog post. Canon 40D, 1/160 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens with LED litepanel.

Mums the Word

- A bight green spider mum is part of a flower bouquet that has been in our den for about two weeks. I am amazed at long they have lasted. Canon 40D, 1/25 0sec @ F/4.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.