March 19, 2008
Toothbrushing Illustration How-to
I recently published a life-hacker style post about my toothbrushing routine on another blog. I decided it would help to have an illustration, and figured, I’m a photographer, I should be able to provide just what I need.
I visualized what I wanted in my mind, and then thought about how to achieve that image. I decided a shot of me, toothbrush in hand, mouth full of toothpaste, grimacing into the bathroom mirror would be just the shot.
But mirrors are notoriously reflective, making it very difficult to get shot of one without also seeing the camera, off camera flashes, etc. And bathrooms tend to be lacking in spaciousness. Not to mention that the shot I was visualizing shows me face on, looking directly into the mirror, something like the picture below:
Continue reading “Toothbrushing Illustration How-to”
Posted by Mark in: Canon | Equipment | Flash | Lenses | Photos | Photoshop | Tips-n-Tricks | Tutorials | Comments (1)
August 12, 2006
Arizona Poppies
A close up of the yellow flowers from the previous entry. We typically get wildflowers in the spring in the desert. The beauty of the display depends upon how much winter rain we receive. The rains this summer have brought out a beautiful display of these Arizona Poppies. You can even see them covering the side of mountains with their brilliant yellow petals.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
August 11, 2006
Trail Head
This trail head is made more inviting by the green plants and yellow flowers along its border. It leads to a stream that you’d think would be cool and refreshing, but instead is warm and a bit muddy. The warmth comes from the desert heat, the mud because when it rains the stream becomes a muddy torrent that closes the road into/out of the park.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
August 10, 2006
The Green Desert
We’ve continued to receive rain since the flooding, and the desert has transformed from brown to green—so much so that you can see the green on the mountains. This is Catalina State Park, north of Tucson, which has received almost twice the amount of rain as it normally does by this time of year. Note the gray clouds ready to drop more rain on the mountains.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
August 09, 2006
Cartwheeling
The Geico stunt plane pilot tumbled his plane through the sky for much of his show. He must have had quite a headache from pulling all those Gs - both positive and negative.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
August 04, 2006
T-birds
The Air Force Thunderbirds from an airshow in Tucson last spring.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
August 03, 2006
August 02, 2006
August 01, 2006
Flood, part 1
In October of 1983 Tucson had several days of rainfall. The washes and normally dry rivers filled beyond flood stages, damaging bridges and several homes and apartment complexes. 10 years later we had a similar event, and even more damage in monetary terms. This past weekend we had a large amount of rain dropped on the nearby mountain ranges, which drained into these washes and rivers. Due to structural improvements on the banks and to bridges, we had less damage, even though the amount of water that came through was greater than either of the previous flood events.
The image above shows one of the washes flowing bank to bank, looking north to the Catalina Mountains.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
July 18, 2006
July 17, 2006
July 14, 2006
July 13, 2006
July 12, 2006
July 11, 2006
Sabino Canyon Cactus
1/800, f3.6, 18mm, iso 100
This image is a bit soft - should have stopped down and decreased the shutter speed - and I cropped the prickly pear in the foreground too close, but I still like how it turned out.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
July 07, 2006
Sabino Canyon Nursery Tree
1/160, f8, 21mm, iso 100
It is not uncommon to see a relatively young (no arms yet) saguaro cactus growing right next to a Palo Verde or Mesquite tree in the Sonoran Desert. These trees are called nurse trees because they provide shelter to the slow growing saguaro as it matures. A healthy saquaro can live to be 150 years or more, outliving its nurse, which is why you don’t see this relationship with larger saguaros.
This nurse tree, a Mesquite, seems to be running a nursery with 6 saguaro cactus under her branches.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
July 06, 2006
Sabino Canyon Saguaro Forest
1/80, f6.4, 18mm, iso 100
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
July 05, 2006
Sabino Canyon Clouds
1/125, f9, 18mm, iso 100
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
July 04, 2006
Sabino Canyon Sunset
This image was taken on New Year’s Day, 2006. We had a great hike, and cool weather - but not at all cold. The sunset was spectacular, and I had a fun time capturing it.
1/125, f4.9, 80mm, iso 400
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Canon | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos
July 03, 2006
Sabino Canyon in Black and White
This conversion was done in iPhoto using the Adjust HUD to control saturation and add a slight blue tint by changing the white balance temperature.
1/200, f/2.8, 54mm, iso 100
Continue reading “Sabino Canyon in Black and White”
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Canon | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos | iPhoto
March 14, 2006
A Digital Photographer's Worst Nightmare
If you are shooting film, you have to protect that film. You make sure it is completely rewound before removing it from the camera. You worry about sending it through the X-ray machine at the airport. You dread someone opening the door of the darkroom while you are developing, and you pray that you don’t have the “new guy” processing your precious prints at the lab.
As a digital photographer I am blissfully unconcerned about those issues. But I have my own fears to face. Hard drive failure and no back-ups (note to self, make sure my back-ups are up to date), losing a CF card, or having a CF card go south.
That last one hit me last night.
Continue reading “A Digital Photographer's Worst Nightmare”
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Canon | Digital Rebel/XT | Photos | Software | Comments (14)
March 10, 2006
One Third - Photo a day number 10
One Third - Photo a day number 10
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
Playing off the idea of being one third done with the 30 day photo challenge and the “rule of thirds.”
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Canon | Digital Rebel/XT | Photo a Day Challenge | Photos | Comments (0)
March 09, 2006
Crate - Photo a day number 9
Crate - Photo a day number 9
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
I like this one for a number of reasons - the lines, the texture, the light, the juxtaposition of the organic lines with the geometric lines, the color.
But I am biased since I took the photo. What do you think?
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Canon | Digital Rebel/XT | Photo a Day Challenge | Photos | Comments (2)
March 08, 2006
Street light - Photo a day number 8
Street light - Photo a day number 8
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
I used the flash to “control” the shutter speed and get just the light from the street light instead of blowing that light out and seeing the rest of the parking lot.
Posted by Mark in: Flash | Photo a Day Challenge | Photos
March 07, 2006
U of A from Above - Photo a day number 7
U of A from Above Photo a day number 7
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
Taken out the 8th floor window of the Education building on the U of A campus.
Posted by Mark in: Photo a Day Challenge | Photos | Comments (1)
March 06, 2006
Testing the Apple Remote - Photo a day number 6
Testing the Apple Remote - Photo a day number 6
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
A screen capture in support of an article on iBlog: Beyond the Front Row with the Apple Remote.
Posted by Mark in: Photo a Day Challenge | Photos
March 05, 2006
String of lights - Photo a day number 5
String of lights - Photo a day number 5
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
A string of lights in the courtyard of the Tucson Museum of Art.
Posted by Mark in: 300d/350d | Digital Rebel/XT | Photo a Day Challenge | Photos
March 04, 2006
New toy - Photo a Day number 4
New toy - Photo a Day number 4
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
9 rack dehydrator with temperature control - already at work making granola and other treats!
Posted by Mark in: Photo a Day Challenge | Photos
March 03, 2006
Morning Commute - Photo a Day number 3
Morning Commute - Photo a Day number 3
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
Sorry for the view up my nostrils. This was taken with the keychain cam on the way to work this morning, and enhanced with Picasa. I’m pretty impressed with what it can do given an admittedly limited amount of information to start with.
Posted by Mark in: Photo a Day Challenge | Photos | Picasa | Software
March 02, 2006
Emergency - Photo a Day number 2
Emergency - Photo a Day number 2
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
My second image for the challenge. Still using the 640x480 pixel keychain camera. It only interfaces with Windows, so I am playing around with Picasa for editing.
This one used “I’m Feeling Lucky” in the Basic Fixes tab, a small saturation boost and an application of “Warmify” in Effects, followed by some Soft Focus.
I like how it turned out, given the quality of the original image.
Posted by Mark in: Photo a Day Challenge | Photos | Picasa | Software
March 01, 2006
Photo a day, number 1
Photo a day, number 1
Originally uploaded by gnuhaus.
So I’ve taken the challenge. Here is my first photo, taken with a 0.3 megapixel camera on a cloudy day at the University of Arizona.
I know this is Low End DSLR, but I ride my bike to work and carrying all that equipment is a bit too much (since I’m already carrying my laptop, change of clothes, and lunch).
I’ll get some DSLR shots in on the weekends…
Posted by Mark in: Photo a Day Challenge | Photos
February 27, 2006
30 Day Photo Challenge
John Koontz sent me an email this weekend that I just got around to reading:
“I came across your blog today and thought you and your readers might be interested in a photography challenge we’ve started. We’re trying to take and post a photo every day for 30 days. We’d love it if you can join us. All the info can be found here.”
Sounds like it might be fun. I might join in starting on March 1.
Posted by Mark in: Photos
