Day 273

ISO100, 135mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec.

Day 273 - Practice

Just happened to walk out toward the soccer fields while the men's team was practicing.

I don't have a clue what they are doing on the field, but I did rather enjoy the challenge of anticipating the where the ball was going.

Haven't really figured out the Al Servo mode on my camera yet, only know that I can take some really crappy pictures in it. So, today I just left it with the one focus point.

Day 272

ISO 100, 45mm, f/9.0, 1/100 sec.

Day 272 - Still chasing

Still chasing the light, we took our most senior girly out for a sunset shot.

This is Foxy Roxy, she just turned 14 years old two weeks ago.

Day 271

ISO 100, 40mm, f/8.0, 1/100 sec.

Day 271 - I see the light

OK, so now I have this flashing wild hair up my butt.

Every year I do a greyhound calender. Hmmmm, this lighting thing is just so darn much fun, what if I do greyhounds at sunset?

Lesson #1: Models get paid to look straight at the camera and look beautiful. A paycheck means nothing to a greyhound and therefore, the greyhound can look wherever he damn well pleases.

Lesson #2: Instructors are paid handsomely to stand in front of a class, have the camera and the flash make beautiful music together and then go home snickering because they just made it look easy.

Lesson #3: Controlled lighting in a studio with multiple lights and all of the time in the world is nothing like a single uncontrolled light outside when the sun is going down at breakneck speed.

Welcome to my 271th day.

Day 270

ISO 100, 40mm, f/5.6, 2.0 sec., multi-flash-4hz

Day 270 - Spinning

My head is still spinning from yesterday's workshop.

One of the things I really wanted to try was the multi-flash. My original idea was to have the dogs walk across the frame, completely ineffective. Plan B was the greyhound spinner that hangs over our back patio.

I hand held my camera, programmed the flash for 4 bursts per second and the shutter speed for 2.0 seconds.

Day 269

ISO 100, 95mm, f/4.5, 1/80 sec.

Day 269 - Emma

Today was the speedlighting portion of the Canon Immersion series. It rocked.

Finally, some of the dots are connecting and I am beginning to understand lighting. Emma was one of three fabulous models.

Day 268

ISO100, 35mm, f/4.0, 1/1000 sec.

Day 268 - Saturday, in the Park

This week-end I am taking the Canon Immersion Workshops up in Portland. Today was great. Packed with information, I left the building at 6 pm exhausted. We didn't take many breaks, but this afternoon I slipped across the street to Waterfront Park and watched the kids playing in the fountain.

It was a most beautiful summer/fall day.

Day 267

ISO 200, 75mm, f/4.0, 1/100 sec.

Day 267 - Yesterday's tragedy is forever's sorrow

Winema High School, the high school program at Chemeketa, had just gotten out for the day. Three students where walking toward the bus stop when a car swerved out of control hitting all of them. A young man and a young woman have died and the other young man remains in critical condition at the hospital.

I wish peace and comfort for the families.

Day 266

ISO 100, 32mm, f/4.0, 1/6 sec.

Day 266 - The Days Are Getting Shorter

The lights are glowing on the leaves of trees earlier and earlier now. It probably won't be too much longer and I will leave for work in the dark and come home in the dark.

Sigh.

This hazelnut tree is just outside of the bathroom. We've always enjoyed the glow, now we just get to see it for a longer period of time.

Day 265

ISO 100, 67mm, f/4.0, 1/100 sec.

Day 265 - Almost

Summer is almost over and it's almost time for classes to start .

Welcome back fall term.

Day 264

ISO 100, 105mm, f/9.0, 1/40 sec.

Day 264 - Bugged

I love the spiders that gather in the fall. Their webs are so intricate and delicate. We will watch the same spider for days on end, building and re-building their web.

And then, without warning they are gone.

I had a heck of a time lighting this guy. I wanted to catch some of his web so I bounced the flash slightly to camera left hoping to light the web and not over expose him.

Day 263

ISO 100, 105mm, f/8.0, 1/100 sec.

Day 263 - Spittled Speckles

My greyhounds don't understand that when I get on the ground with the camera that doesn't mean crawl all over me play time.

Hoping to catch a lovely portrait of one of the fatheads I got down at their level.

Jillian promptly ran up to me in all of her excitement, coughing in my face.

Portrait time abruptly and prematurely ended. I couldn't see a bloody thing around all of her spittle.

Gotta love those doggies.

Day 262

ISO 100, 24mm, f/11, HDR 1/125, 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250/1/60, 1/30, 1/15 sec.

Day 262 - Boiling Over

I don't have a clue what we are looking at here. It's on the backside of a grain elevator. The rust looks like something may have boiled over?

Thanks to my friend Jeff (nope, still haven't read the manual), I discovered that in the custom functions I can program my camera to do a seven-shot HDR. It was quite windy and this is what I brought home hand-holding the camera.

Day 261

ISO 160, 105mm, f/8.0, 1/100 sec.

Day 261 - Oktoberdrench

Celebrating Oregon's rainy season.

A small town in the Willamette Valley, Mt. Angel has hosted the Bavarian tradition of Oktoberfest to celebrate harvest.

It was a true food-fest, don't think I have ever seen so many unique food vendors in one place.

Despite the rain, it was wall-to-wall people by the time we left.

Day 260

ISO 160, 24mm, f/4.0, HDR 1/4 sec., 1/15 sec., 1.o sec.

Day 260 - Bright Lights, Little City

'Twas sushi night followed by a quick trip up to the roof of the Liberty Parking Garage.

Welcome to Salem.

Day 259

ISO 100, 105mm, f/5.0, 1/40 sec.

Day 259 - Same Skies, Different Day

Gonna be a great week-end.

Day 258

ISO 100, 135mm, f/4.0, 1/13 sec.

Day 258 - One Fall Day

This morning we had a 20 percent chance of rain. It rained most of the afternoon.

After work we sat out on the patio drinking our coffee, watching the rain, watching the dogs.

This was the view from our patio.

Day 257

ISO 100, 55mm, f/22, 1/100 sec.

Day 257 - Blue and Gold

I was ready and I waited. For the last three nights the western skies have been fabulous shades of red, orange and pink.

Not tonight. Nope. It was blue and gold.

Day 256

ISO 100, 105mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec.

Day 256 - Lights, Camera, Action

Today was the big reveal at the Oregon School for the Deaf and Extreme Makeover.

In seven days a new dorm for the boys has been built and the ever popular haunted house Nightmare Factory has been remodeled.

I am completely impressed with how our community has come together to do this. I haven't been down into the haunted house since early last week, but the dorm is beautiful.

Kudos to the Extreme Makeover team and all of the volunteers.

Day 255

ISO 100, 200mm, f/6.3, 1/250 sec.

Day 255 - Reflecting on Fall

It was one of those incredibly beautiful fall mornings. With coffee in hand, we decided to hang out at the local duck pond, Craggett Creek Wetlands.

I don't think I have ever seen so the water so still, it reflected back at the ducks almost as if it were a mirror.


The nutria were out in full force. Often perceived as the "weed" of rodents, these guys spent their morning swimming, playing, eating and bathing.


I apparently didn't pose too much of a threat because this guy got up close and personal to check me out.

He sniffed, I snapped and then he wandered back into the pond.

Day 254

ISO 100, 105mm, f/10, 1/100 sec.

Day 254 - River Flight

We took an impromptu walk down at Minto Brown park this morning. I was amazed at the number of wild flowers in bloom.

I was equally amused by the geese as they would take-off and fly up the river.

Day 253

ISO 400, 24mm, f/8.0, 1/100 sec.

Day 253 - The Rowdiest Crowd

I returned to the Extreme Makeover Home Edition site today for a specific photograph. This is a group of Deaf volunteers that have gathered to volunteer at the School for the Deaf in Salem.

An incredibly neat group of people, they had no problems hamming it up for me.

Day 252

ISO 100. 105mm, f/22, 1/400 sec.

Day 252 - Sunset Ice

The sunset was really pretty tonight, blue and white, kind of icy.

Day 251

ISO 100, 200mm, f/7.1, 1/100 sec.

Day 251 - Salem's Extreme Makeover

Yup, little ol' Salem, Oregon is gonna be on prime time.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition began construction at Oregon's School for the Deaf this week.


Of course, it wouldn't be proper if I didn't do a little star gazing while I was over there.


But I have a confession. I don't watch TV and when a few of the stars paraded past me 2-3 times, I thought they were volunteers.


Eventually I connected the dots and snapped a few shots.


OK, so this guy has a bigger camera than I do.


Today was classified as an official hoot.

Day 250

ISO 200, 105mm, f/4.0, 1/100 sec.

Day 250 - Told you so!

When we woke up this morning, it had rained during the night. The first thing I noticed when I got onto the campus this morning after having been gone for a week was this maple tree.

There were more red leaves than green leaves.

Hate to say it, but I told you so yesterday. Summer is gone. We've been robbed, cheated on and lied to. It's an outrage.

Day 249

ISO 100, 93mm, f/4.0, 1/200 sec.

Such a fitting flower for what is unfortunately the last day of summer. Not that we really had summer to begin with.

Daily Shoot: Welcome the new week (and holiday in the US) by making a bright cheery photo outdoors and posting it today.

Day 248 - It's a bird, it's a plane

ISO 100, 168mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec.

Day 248 - It's a bird, it's a plane

Actually, I have no idea what is entertaining her.

With the exception of a quick trip to the store and a hair cut, I played with the doggies all day.

Day 247 - Leaving Las Vegas

ISO 1250, 24mm, f/4.0, 1/40 sec.

Day 247 - Leaving Las Vegas

Or, there is no place like home. I'll never deny that I had a fabulous time at Photoshop World, but it sure felt good to leave the twinkly lights behind.

ISO 500, 105mm, f/4.0, 1/6 sec.

and be on my way home.

ISO 100, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec.

My homecoming was a huge love fest of wagging tails, cold noses and wet sloppy kisses.

Day 246 - Waiting

ISO 1000, 58mm, f/4.0, 1/125 sec.

Day 246 - Waiting

I have reached the painful part of Photoshop World, waiting for shuttle and then the plane.

It's been a wonderful week. I've learned so much and am painfully aware of how much I still don't know and need to learn. Guess I'll just have to go back next year. :o)))

Two more hours before my plane takes off and then it's home to the fam. Woo Hoo!

Day 245 - Everything matters

ISO 400, 75mm, f/4.0, 1/60 sec.

Day 245 - Everything Matters

Today was a whirlwind, going the distance kind of day. I hit the classroom full speed ahead with Joe McNally at 8:15 am, managed to make it back to my room for about 30 minutes around 5 pm and back for the evening at 9:30 pm. I will be going home inspired and motivated more than I could have ever hoped for.

ISO 400, 47mm, f/4.0, 1/50sec.

Today, however, the instructors of NAPP really demonstrated how willing they are to go the distance.

The one thing I missed yesterday that bothered me more than anything else was the portfolio review. On a whim before I left my room this morning, I grabbed my portfolio. I stopped by the help desk, explained the situation and left my name and number.

Within two hours Helene Glassman called me back and told me where to meet her at 3:45. She met Laurie Excell at our rendezvous point and Laurie went off with me to review my portfolio. I can never thank them enough for taking the time to help me, and Laurie's review will be invaluable.

ISO 400, 96mm, f/4.0, 1/60 sec.

These three images were taken at Westcott's shootout, just one of the many booths on the Expo floor.

It's impossible to take everything in, but if you get the chance to go, I can honestly say it is all bang for your buck.

Day 244 - Rockin' the house

ISO 3200, 105mm, f/8.0, 1/125 sec.

Day 244 - Rockin' the House

Today was probably one of the most disappointing days I ever remember. Not because Photoshop World disappointed me, but because I woke up at 5 am sick. Probably food poisoning sick.

I missed the keynote, the classes I had selected, most importantly my portfolio review and the HDR field trip to the old strip. To say the least, I was devastated, but in no condition to be out and about.

By about 7:30 pm, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and went out for about an hour. I wanted to test a few of the outer limits on my camera. I would say it did pretty well.

ISO 10,000, 102 mm, f/8.0, 1/320 sec.

ISO 10,000, 105mm, f/8.0, 1/320 sec.