the last point and shoot post was a lot of fun.  we focused on the people of the summer, now let's do a little reflection on the natural things. 

a lot of you liked the music so i'm going to continue that tradition. enjoy a wonderful ella fitzgerald remix!

 

ella fitzgerald - slap that bass (remix)

 

these are pictures that wrapped up the summer at the beach and random adventures around north and south carolina (georgia pictures next week).  frome cemeteries to oceans, awesome things are everywhere.  let's begin.

cemeteries:

  it's not a weird fascination, it's more of a family happening.  when i was a youngin' and it was take your son to work day... i was not thrilled.  i ended up in an office in a "memorial garden" (cemetery) and saw funerals.  oh well.  i don't think it messed me up too much.  well, i visited the places i knew so well and took a few pics.  the one on the left, i loved the framing of the memorial tower by the clouds and the somewhat unkempt and weedy brick path around it. 

call me the sentimental patriotic type but in college everytime i heard the national anthem and had the flag waving, i always teared up.  of the thirty or so pictures i took of the flags at the park, the action, background and flowers turned out the best in this one.   also, as i am watching the rutgers vs. unc game i am reminded of the seventh anniversary of 9/11.  a bit of a downer, but i'm glad this post can be somewhat patriotic.

 

flora:

by far the easiest thing to photograph... flowers.  i guess the hardest part is finding interesting enough flowers to photograph. 

this first photo was from a bored saturday in the neighborhood and an unsuspecting bumblebee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

again, i snuck up on this poor flower and got it good.  did a little bit of contrast work with curves because the colors were a bit washed out.  a simple but classic petal picture.

to the left, well... it's a plastic flower.  i just had to find a place to put the picture of the hummingbird. this guy and its red-throated brethren would hangout outside our window and come by and sip our sweet nectar.  weird fact... if you don't make the hummingbird juice with enough sugar, the poor bird will die because it gets full off of water and is not fully nourished. so don't say you never learn anything on my posts.

 

the beach:

i love the beach.  i most likely will retire to the beach and enjoy the magnificence that is the tides going in and out.  this first photo is not spectacular and the lighting could definitely be better but i do like the rust on the sides, the lonely, turned over beach chair and the questions of how long has that bucket been under there and why were they left to weather away?  moving on... if you give me a good consistent beach sunrise, you have me hooked.  this first pier picture was taken with minimal exposure and a bit of contrast adjustments to darken the pier.  a great radiance from the sun, the shades of yellow to orange and the flat line of the horizon puts a smile on my face. 

this next one may seem familiar. does it? it's the exact same picture as the first picture that started the article.  again, fun with photoshop but the first picture is fairly believable.  i do like the original, because of the underexposure, it creates an ambiguity of sun or moon. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

ah, and then my favorite.  the colors duke, the colors!  the most intriguing part of the picture is the difference in the sky above pier and below the pier.  great texture in the clouds.  that's about all of i've got. until next time.  take pictures and if you have some favorites, send them my way and we'll have some guest photographer appearances.

ok, start playing the billionaires song....... now.  the billionaires - the end of summer song

this entry is an ode to a summer of new friends, the beauty that is romance and a camera that has provided me way too many hours of entertainment.  those pictured in this entry, i apologize, the pictures were too great to be left unshared

contrast 

may it be the simple differences between colors or hours on photoshop playing with curves, it is fun when the natural contrast occurs.  With that said, none of these pictures have been altered in any way (some of the pros out there may say, "well obviously" in response to the quality but hey, I like 'em).  the first picture can be completely be credited to the timing of the picture.  early slalom runs  at 6 am with a camp director and an entry level zoom lens.  the spray of the slalom in conjunction with the low angle of the sun really made this magical.

the next picture is not a stressed out employee at the camp impaling himself, rather an extremely zealous boat driver that somehow was holding himself up on the mop.  oh adam... anyways, really liked the frame of the barn and the reflection of the frame on the freshly mopped concrete.  a solid, random friggin pic.   

vantage point 

tilting and changing the level of your camera to get that "artistic" shot is and isn't as complicated as it sounds.  i'm still not sure what separates good from great pictures without outside editing but these past 2 months have taught me about vastness. if you

are able to make something look never-ending or illustrate how normally substantial items can be dwarfed in comparison to greater objects, then it is well used.  i think in both of these pictures, the wide angle zoom (less than 20mm) create both of the types of vastness.  both pictures have sentimental values but they also utilize angles and some contrast to create unique pictures. kudos to the guest photographer of

portraits

definitely my favorite type of pictures.  so much expression, focus really comes into play, and they really capture memories.  let us begin.

a simple focus adjustment takes mo into a tarantino or spaghetti western (though a little softer with the  plastic gun, but hardcore none the less).  the playfulness of the water gun while still having the one eye squinting and completely blue background really makes for a fun picture.  just to let you know mo, we will always support this. 

the lake norman's island was not only a kayak destination, but also a place of relaxation for all the staff.  here i really like the genuine smile from dj and the feeling of comfort that the island brought us (and yes the kids, too).  the lighting could be better as the contrast around the left side is not as strong but it still is a fun and candid picture.

next, we have mister cannon.  yes nick cannon, everyone (a little on the kosher side these days but still wild'n out). moving on from the inside jokes, the random face extracted from a "hey nick!" captured his personality in a white framed nutshell.  needless to say the plastic, $5, reflective sunglasses really do help add to the personality. as another camp picture, the camper in the background (is that kous kous?) helps support the spontaneity of nick and the randomness of the summer.  i feel the need to get a pair of the random colored sunglasses.  cheers mister cannon. 

finally we have one of my favorite pictures of the summer.  it was not staged. it was on the fourth of july. it was for all intents and purposes, an accident but it was awesome.  may it be the memories associated with it, the beauty of the subject or the sheer randomness its a fun picture with infinite explanations for why she's making that face.  guesses for why she's surprised/scared/whatever add it to the comments.  i am actually struggling to remember why she made that face. oh well. thanks sonia, minh, and red wine for a great photo.

here's to a great summer. share some memories with us.  please join us for one more summer. the sun is bright, the sun is bright in my eyes.  its only as bright as the colors it shows. 

with the help of my ex-girlfriend's cat, i had a cat picture that is in need of a wonderful title and added commentary.  the top suggestion will be photo-shopped and re-posted by friday at midnight.  if it's any consolation, the cat's name is barack obama. cheers.

 

to preface this sub-blog, i am a beginning photographer who spent way too much time on photo shop while not actually trying to enhance pictures and then realized that a good camera is a lot of fun to play with. using my first d-slr, i will be going through my experiences and favorite pictures with the ART STAR family. the camera being used unless otherwise stated is a Sony alpha-200 with either a 18-70mm lens or a 75-300mm lens (if you really care... harumphh you will probably be a bit too snobby for my pictures anyways).

appropriately, the first picture is my actual first picture with my camera and i think it shows one of the finer things in my life, good ol' cj. a sweet dog with a bit of a crazy side. do you see it in his eyes? so here, i'm obviously oblivious to what is actually in the viewfinder (i.e. my knee/ toe and my mom sneaking around in the back) but it reminds me of a joke. so cj walks into a bar and the bartender looks at him and says, "why the long face?" true story. but as you will see throughout these posts dogs are incredible things to practice your photography with; unlike humans they never get tired of flashes or the attention from getting their picture taken. just behind dogs, little kids at camp are pretty fun and rarely get flustered by too many pictures (that sounds creepy, but it comes with the territory at camps).

lesson 2: apparently in pitch black, you can pick up cool pictures with long exposures. again, people out there are snickering, but this was pretty sweet to mr. photonoobie. this was taken from a porch at 11:30pm with a quarter moon and clear skies. a good ol' childhood story behind our lovely steam plant, i was convinced that it was actually a fairy castle and some sweet characters like peter pan chilled there on their weeks off from being at their disney world estate. a kid can dream right? i really enjoyed the light on the water and the nearer trees on the right obstructing the view.

lesson 3: filters= cool. i've got some blue pictures that just look creepy but there's nothing like a statue girl with a broken bonnet to photograph during a sunset. my dad later fixed the bonnet after he realized that it had been broken for almost six months.

ladies and gentlemen, that would be 3 of my first 500 or so pictures that i felt like sharing. next week i feel some forests, kids, and possibly some more dog pictures in the forecast. until then keep clickin'.