SPC - 'Skill' #3

My skill this week: I can count to ten!

Hey, it's harder than you'd think! I used the 10-second timer on my camera for this shot. Do you have any idea how many tries it took me to just get myself in the frame, let alone anywhere close to actually capturing the dunk?


(full disclosure: goal not at regulation height)

See other skillful folks HERE.

SPC - 'Skill' #2

I believe I have a skill for noticing things that others miss.

I enjoy finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. I enjoy finding beauty where others see none. I believe that photography has aided me in this. I see things through a viewfinder that I don't think I'd ever notice with my own eyes.

For example, there wasn't anything interesting in today's newspaper, but if there had been, I would have noticed it right away.


See what skills others are showing off over at Self Portrait Challenge.

Photo Friday - 'Spiral'

If this shot looks familiar to you, it's because you've been paying attention. Congratulations! It is very similar to the shot I used a few weeks ago for Photo Friday's theme, 'Minimalism.'

I revisited this location for a couple of reasons.

1.) The older shot (Primary Playground) needed the square crop to be effective.

2.) Low resolution (on the older shot). This is partly related to the crop mentioned in #1, but is also related to an older digital camera (which served me well, bless it) with only 3.1MP max which was used to take the photo.

Strangely, within a couple of weeks of taking the newer shot, I was contacted by a company about using Primary Playground in a book they were working on called Fantastic Plastic. Knowing that they would eventually ask for a high resolution copy for printing (that didn't exist), I referred them to my new shot, 'Revisited.' In passing, I also mentioned that only the yellow background in the photo is actually made of plastic, and that the red post and blue spiral are both made of metal -- just in case it made a difference for the subject of the book. It made a difference. They were glad that I mentioned this but informed me that the image would not be suitable for this publication. Oh well.

Fourth of July

Happy Anniversary of the day on which our country declared its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain!!

Hannah and I went to the fireworks display in Alexandria last night.

It was, I believe, the first public display of fireworks that Hannah ever attended -- strike that -- that Hannah ever stayed awake for.

It was also my first attempt to capture photos of these types of fireworks using proper techniques:




I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

SPC - 'Skill'

So for the month of July, participants at Self Portrait Challenge are allowed to put their clothes on again. The new theme is 'Skill.'

Occasionally, I notice other people on the road driving...and doing nothing else!! I think to myself, "What a Waste!" I think of all the other things they could be doing at the same time and I'm always amazed by their selfishness and lack of ingenuity. This is what is wrong with America! Sometimes I put my coffee down long enough to roll my window down and tell these ridiculous people what I really think of them -- for their own good of course.

Me?



Here I am, eating breakfast, talking on the phone, reading the morning paper, putting on my make-up, digging a hole (and filling it back in again), washing the laundry and planting corn -- oh, and operating an automobile, too -- commuting to work.

The very picture of efficiency.

Just like Rainman. I'm an excellent driver.

Find out what Skills others are demonstrating this month over at Self Portrait Challenge.

Photo Friday - 'The Great Outdoors'

SPC - 'Nude'

That's right. The theme for June over at Self Portrait Challenge is 'Nude.'

I've gotten a little off the pace with recent themes from SPC. The last theme that I posted every week was 'Pattern' back in August, 2007. Since then, I've posted at least one self portrait for every challenge, but haven't posted more than one in a month since I did three for 'Blue' in February.

It seems that I'm not the only one who's been slacking. It appears to me that weekly posting numbers at SPC have been down in recent months across the board (with a steadfast few being the exception).

So there I was thinking that with posting being down on the last couple of themes that Kathreen (the lady who created and still runs SPC) might pull out a no-brainer theme -- something easier for the masses. Perhaps something a little less -- challenging.

You know --

'straight-on mirror self portraits'

or

'arms-length self portraits'

or

'top-down shots of your feet.'

But no — Kath goes and kicks it up a notch.

Nude

How’s that for a challenge?


Here's another thing, though. For whatever reason, almost all of the regular contributors over at SPC are women. Besides myself, there have been maybe 2 or 3 other guys who have taken up the Self Portrait Challenge on a regular basis.

As I was considering whether or not to sit this month out altogether, I was reminded of the following scene from my favorite television show, Seinfeld:

Jerry, [seeing Elaine enter Monk's]: "Oh, great. Elaine. What is wrong with
my body?"
Elaine: "Chicken wing shoulder blades."
Jerry: "That's it?"
Elaine: "No, but that's one problem. Why?"
Jerry: "Well, I was walking around naked in front of Melissa the other day--"
Elaine: "Whoa! Walking around naked? Ahh... that is not a good look for a
man."
George: "Why not? It's a good look for a woman."
Elaine: "Well, the female body is a... work of art. The male body is
utilitarian, it's for gettin' around, like a jeep."
Jerry: "So you don't think it's attractive?"
Elaine: "It's hideous. The hair, the... the lumpiness. It's simian."
George: "Well, some women like it."
Elaine: "Hmm. Sickies."

Seinfeld -- The Apology

...and there you have it.

But despite all that, I decided to participate with at least one submission this month.

[full-out geek speak ahead]

Fortunately for me (and everybody else who's reading this), I got a new camera lens for the anniversary of the day on which I was born which we celebrated in late May. The new lens has a large aperture. In photography, this means a number of things.

The aperture of a lens is the size of the opening at the back end of the lens. It determines the amount of focused light that the lens allows through to the digital sensor or film. This means that large apertures allow for shooting in relatively low light without flash at shutter speeds that don't require a tripod. A major advantage in many settings.

The aperture of a lens also plays a part in controlling depth of field. Basically, depth of field is the amount of depth in the photo that has an acceptable level of focus. Very small apertures (f/22, f/36) will have a huge depth of field, that is, most of the entire frame of the photo will appear in focus, front to back. This is great for landscapes where you want as much detail to be seen as possible. Very large apertures (f/2.8, f/1.4) will have a very shallow depth of field. There will be a single plane with sharp focus and anything closer or further away from the lens will quickly blur to fuzzy shapes. This is often great for portraits or other single subject compositions where you want that single object, person, etc. to 'pop,' and the entire background consists of blurry colors and soft shapes. With these large apertures, you can easily get the tip of a person's nose in sharp focus, but the eyes are blurry (oops!), but when they are used correctly and carefully, you can also create very dramatic photographs with them.

There are other factors in play also (focal length, distance to subject, etc.). Hey, there's a reason why the concept is referred to as the Circle of Confusion.

[/geek speak]

I said all that for a couple of reasons.

1.) I believe in the photo below, you'll notice the effect of a shallow depth of field made possible by the large aperture. You'll see that the sharpest focus is on my eyes and everything else quickly blurs (please forgive a bit of camera shake).

and

2.) It ought to put the photo far enough down the page that it won't be seen without scrolling down a bit which should give anybody who just doesn't want to see the photo plenty of time to bail out.

:-)



See what others are doing with the theme here.

Photo Friday - 'Movement'

I was trying to take a picture of a mourning dove sitting on the rail of my deck. It moved. I got this instead. I kind of liked it.

Photo Friday -- 'Tools'

Controls for a pumper truck at the recent Factory Fire.

Factory Fire

A fire broke out around Midnight last night in a building near our house. I was in bed reading when I heard a firetruck go past and then a couple of explosions.

The building was referred to as 'the old National Tile building' in this article from the local paper. I believe the building contained several different companies.

Adjacent houses (not ours) were evacuated for a few hours. I don't know yet whether any of those houses were damaged or destroyed (**update below). The factory is a total loss though. It burned from one end to the other.

It's the same building that I used for this self portrait a while back.

I was really planning on going to bed 'early' tonight, too, cause I'd been up late the night before 'Flickering.'

Five Hours later, I'm off to catch a few 'Z's'

**********


Two aerial platforms here. One of the business signs can also be seen here: "CPR, Inc. - Alternators and Starters"


This was the view from our front window . The houses seen here were evacuated, but the residents were eventually allowed to return. There is another row of houses between these and the factory. Those are the ones I'm worried about.
**[UPDATE: Besides some warped vinyl siding and a couple of broken windows, there was minimal damage to any of the surrounding homes/structures. The AFD (and many supporting Departments) did a fantastic job of containing the fire to the factory property. The local paper did a story on this aspect here.]




This photo features a Pendleton FD engine supplying an aerial platform closer to the blaze.

And my favorite photo of the night:


Loads more photos at my Factory Fire Set on Flickr.