Day... ?

1/15/2011

"Old and New"

I took this photo outside of my best friend's house during my last visit to see her before heading back to Madison. A nice dichotomy.

Day 125

11/12/10

"Keys at Night"

A quick photo of my Macbook Pro's keyboard lit up at night.

Day 122

11/9/10

"Change we Can all Believe In"

A nice perspective shot of all the change in my change jar.

Day 94

10/12/10

"Dichotomy"

This is actually probably a new favorite photo I've taken. Another photo from right outside my apartment.

Day 78

9/26/10

"Lake Louie"

After a long night, I again had to find something to take a photo of in my apartment. One of my roommates has been collecting the boxes of 6 packs of... beverages, and hanging them on the wall. I thought I'd do something different with the point of view and depth of field. These are hanging on wall above a picture window, and weren't the easiest thing to photograph, but I still got the shot, and I thought it was interesting.

Click for a larger photo.

Day 73

9/21/10

"Hokusai"

Another bleak and dreary day and not much to see outside. I tried to find something to shoot inside artistically, but instead I turned to one of my favorite pieces of artwork that I have hanging on the wall in my bedroom. This piece, called "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," but better known as "The Wave" is by a famous Japanese ukiyo-e artist (wood-block prints) by the name of Hokusai, published circa 1830. This piece was one of his "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji" and for some reason really strikes me. Not my most artistic photo, but I thought I would share.

Day 70

9/18/10

"Ready to Climb"

I spent most of the day doing work (beyond the three hours spent at the Badger football game). One of these days I might just take my camera to the game, but I want to make sure its sunny with no chance of rain, and I don't want to be paranoid about it getting bumped all day either. Tonight I didn't have much time to get out, and it's been kind of overcast the last few days, so I decided to just take a picture of some of my climbing gear sitting on the back of my door, ready to be used whenever I have a chance. Sadly, with a mild injury and not a lot of time, it might be hanging there for a while.

Day 65

9/13/10

"College Culinary"

Its Monday Night Football, FINALLY! I bought myself two burgers and used everything at my disposal to make this piece of art. Its missing some greens, a tomato, and some onions, but I have enough to make another and finally top it off. It might not be the most exquisite of meals, but as a college student, I could get used to food like this.

Day 62

9/10/10

"Bikes to Infinity (Spokes to Infinity Redux)"

Okay, its almost a repeat of yesterdays photo, but its Ironman weekend and I'm going bike crazy! These beautiful bikes, all 6-7 that were on the rack, total over $20,000, with the one up close likely in the $8,000 - $10,000 range. I'd have to go back and look at the groupset and wheels. Beautiful bikes, beautiful geometry, and I just had to take a picture. The capitol in the background was a nice aesthetic bonus.

Click for a larger image.

Day 61

9/9/10

"Spokes to Infinity"

This is a photo I've been waiting to take until a day where I didn't really have much to shoot. I needed to grocery shop and then the Saints vs Vikings game was going to be on, so I took this quick between everything.

Day 60

9/8/10

"Stare Down"

Today was another kind of lackluster day for shooting. A lack of motivation didn't really leave me wanting to travel far for a shot. I returned the lens I bought Saturday. $200 was too much to spend for a lens I decided that I really wouldn't use much. As for something to photography, this metal badger was staring me down for a while, trying to start a fight, so I snapped a picture quick and ran away before I got torn into shreds. I was super impressed with the depth of field in this photo, though. I'm pretty happy with just the one lens at this point.

Day 49

8/28/10

"Light Reading"

Nothing too interesting to photograph today, so I decided to take a picture of what I was reading today for fun. A couple Foreign Affairs journals and some old text books on my favorite subjects.

Day 39

8/18/10

"Bouquet"

Today I went out with my grandparents to the Green Bay Farmers Market and wandered around shooting photos. Most of what I took were flowers and vegetables, and this is my best result. I don't have much more to say. Enjoy!

Day 36

8/15/10

"Up to the Crows Nest"

Today I had the opportunity to catch the end of the tall ship festival with my mom (my dad sat out because it cost money to go look at the ships, and I was reluctant to even go in the first place because I didn't like the idea of paying to get to look around and shoot pictures). We got to check out some interesting ships that were sailing through on their way to Chicago (don't ask me how Green Bay is on the way to Chicago). I took a lot of great photographs, with a lot of beautiful photos of the sky and the tall masts of the ships. Heres my pick for today, though I can't remember what ship this was on.

Click for a larger photo.

Day 34

8/13/10

"Light over Ephraim"

Today I moved back home to Green Bay for the week. One lease up and the other one not started, we had a long day of packing and moving, and on the way home I fell asleep in the car. I immediately went to bed, but woke up at 10:00 pm remembering that I hadn't taken my photo yet. I quick went downstairs and looked for something interesting to photograph, and since this lamp with an illustration of Ephraim was not only beautiful but by a comfy chair, it was my subject. Oh, and I just HAD to make this title a pun.

Day 19

7/29/10

"Petunias on Library Mall"

Today I kept with my work to try to use selective artistic focus (bokeh) on objects, particularly close up, where its most effective.  I had an idea to try to take photos of the beautiful flowers around campus, and while I was down at Library Mall with the fire dancers last night, these beautiful petunias were overshadowed by the fire and I totally didn't know. When I stumbled upon them today, it was just what I was looking for. Again, this would have been great with the prime lens I've been looking at. Someday, maybe soon.

Click for a larger photo.

Day 17

7/27/10

"Not Playing with a Full Deck"

Today, my goal was to try to play a little bit with bokeh. Bokeh, for those not in with photography terms is playing with focus to create an aesthetic blur. Higher end, higher aperture lenses will perform this aesthetic blur nicer than the lens that I have, one of my motivations to get a 35mm prime lens with a f/1.8. That, and the aperture allows pictures at much lower light levels with higher shutter speeds so there is less blur. But back to the picture, I just laid out a partial deck of cards and focused near the center, but closer to the 3 of diamonds, for no real reason. It was just the card where I was trying to focus.

So, mark me down for a Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 AF-S lens if anyone wants to buy me a present. That is on the list with a Nikkor 10-24mm AF-S and a Nikkor 70-300, or a 70-200 if  people are feeling really generous (at $2400, I would be surprised to have such wealthy and generous friends).

Day 14

7/24/10

"Bismillah"

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الحمد الله ربّ العلمين

الرحمن الرحيم

ملك يوم الدين

ايّاك نعبد و ايّاك نستعين

اهدنا الصّداط المستقيم

صراط الذين انعمت عليهم غير المغضوب عليهم و لا الضالين

Al-Fatihah is The Prologue to the Qur'an. Here I played a bit more with my focus, trying to get the first part of Al-Fatihah, Basmala (in the name of Allah) in the most focus of anything on the page. My first attempt at a more artsy shot, and a very important shot to me, as this is the first book I am reading in its entirety in Arabic.

مع سلام يا أصدقائي

Click for a larger photo.

Day 6

7/16/10

"The Post-Sending Recovery Drink"

I was tired after 9 hours at the climbing gym, and not very creative. My roommate was having a beer so I took the opportunity to snap this photo. Not my best thus far, but its something. Let me emphasize, this is not my beverage.