Star Trails

Hmm, hope you can see this on your monitors. So HDR seems to be the rage at the moment in some areas of cyber photo land, and while I haven't had the chance to try it out for real, I used the HDR option to stack two long exposure night shots to see what would happen

I got my star trails. Yah! I also got noise. Hoorah for noise ninja! Anyways, as you can see, I have no clue what I'm doing. I have a friend who will be trying out more of this stuff with me sometime next year, so let hope we have good weather!

If your in the east, happy non-white holidays!

30 second exposure up in the country. no ND filter (on my wish list). The sun ahd basically gone down when I took this. Little bit of PP to bring up the water and enhance the sky

Now, who wants to help me remeber the names of all the components of a splicesome?

Fishy!

My lab professor is one fo the co-teachers of a course I'm taking in the fall. It's basically an intensive lab course that will cover things like data collection and statsitcal analysis and stuff. It should be a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to it.

For this course, they felt that it would be nice to have pictures of the fishes that would be used in one of the labs, so they asked me to come and shoot the fishies in their aquariums. I splurged and got a circular polarizer for this to try and reduce the reflections. It made a huge difference, and I now have a kick ass polarizer and step up rings for all my favorite lenses.

Anyways, here is a picture :-D

The End of the Road

Well, it's a little earlier than I said, but I think it's time for me to hang up my shoes and pronounce the end of my PAD. I may post occasionally, but don't hold your breath. I've ended up with some end of the summer projects, and I'm finding posting a PAD not nearly as enjoyable as it once was.

I've learnt a heck of a lot posting, experimenting with PP techniques, and checking out everyone elses PAD projects, and I intend to keep persuing those who are still going.

Kudos to those who are still going!

I figure 7 1/2 months out of 12 isn't to shabby!

Until the next time,
Cheers!

226:

Old shot I recently got around to processing for stock. It's a sunset in Charleston, SC from a year ago.

225: Vitamin E

Vitamin E pills and bottle. I used to take it because they said VItamin E would help accelerate muscle repair or something like that. Then, several years later, another study said that to much Vitamin E was really bad for you. I eat fairly well, and I take a multi-vitamin, so I've stopped taking the extra vitamin E. I'm glad I've finally been able to do something with the leftovers!

The capsules also are very good for deep moisturizing. I would occasionally get nasty dry skin splits in the winter (especially when dancing bare foot a lot) and popping one of these and putting it on seemed to help...

224: Spider

I

will

make

a

little

lead

in

because

I know

some people

can't stand

spiders...

So this was a hairy spider my boyfriend found and caught for me.

I have a confession to make. I went against all ethics on shooting bugs and decided to stick it in the freezer to chill it so it would be sluggish. My boyfriend had told me it was a fast guy. Unfortunately, it worked a little to well. So, for those of you who think I was un-ethical and should be reprimended for what I did, have at me. I apologize.

I did put the spider back outside so it could be put back into the cycle of life somehow.

That being said, I REALLY wish I had one of those kick-butt macro lenses, or reversing rings or extension tubes or something as he had very cool eyes and stuff.

Click for a larger and hairier view

223: Stock Shot

Another stock shot.

222: Doofus

I'm jsut being a doofus...

221: John and a chair

This is John, the guy who too the me and a chair shot. We had lots of fun doing this!! You've seen him before when I've posted stuff from the studio shoots!

220: Me and a Chair

FINALLY! This is the one shot I've been wanting to do for a really long time.

This is a continuation of my mainly unsuccesful project to take pictures of me in chairs in different places.

I had my friend, John, help me out with this. We had tons of fun doing this, and we just may go back because we tried to do slow shutter stuff but they were to blurry without a tripod

219: Stock Shot

Well, this would have been a stock shot, but Blogger doesn't like me again :-(

Edit: Ok. Blogger likes me

I've recently decided to try my hand at stock photography. I've also decided to go straight for macro stock. Basically (in a nutshell), microstock is where images get sold royalty free for 1-10 dollars, and you make about 20 cents a download. Macrostock is where pictures go for much more (sometimes thousands) and the photographer makes more money per download.

So, there was a request for a bottle of club soda. However, you aren't allowed to have anything trademarked on it, so I added my own swank CS where a big 'ol trademarked logo normally was!

And just a side note, I'm going to be stopping uploading a picture a day starting in September when I go back to school. I will still post occasionally, but Blogger has been giving me problems at least once a week, and I've got a busy semester ahead.

218: Summer Rain

Ahhh summer. I was waiting for the bus and it was a classic summer rain. As you can see, the sun is shining on the lower field at McGill as it is being inundated with summer rain. The rain didn't last long at all. I got about three shots before the bus showed up and by the time I put my camera away it was over. Click the picture for a larger shower.

217: Jackie and Mel

Jackie is also working in the lab I am volunteering in, and you've already met Mel. We were just having lots of fun!

216: Melanie and Villie

This is Melanie and Villie. They are both working in the lab I am volunteering in, and we all have lots of fun!

215: Family

My boyfriend, myself, my dad, and his wife on a hike we went on when they were visiting Montreal in July. I felt bad because I said it was just going to be like a steep walk. It was a small hike, but we all enjoyed ourselves and had a great time. Taken with my tripod and my very cool remote!

214: Stupid Biters

As we all know, summer brings fabulous things. Beers on a terrace, lazy weekends hanging out and reading, sunny days, long evenings, and other little luxuries. They also bring silly things like mosquitos and blackflies! So, one got in our apartment, and bit someone (most likely me since they always seem to go for me and not my boyfriend). It was buzzing around, so I smacked it on the wall. Blech

213: Soccer

I apologize for the gap. I tried to fill in yesterday, and Blogger was being unco-operative, so I gave up. I am lazy this morning, so I've decided to skip the weekend.

My apologies


I shot my boyfriend's soccer game again a week or two ago, and have finally gone through and converted and sorted the pictures. Can I just mention how much I love my 4gig compact flash card?!!? I can now shoot RAW to my heart's content! I love it!!!

Minimal PP on this one. Some quick RAW stuff and then a resize and save for web.

So the jungle gym has been a huge hit, for kids and adults alike!

209: Liam III

My friend's adorable little boy! Everytime I see him he's changed so much. It's amazing how fast kids grow up!

I'll see everybody on Monday!

208: Cheers!

Hmmm. One has to wonder if the jungle gym was made for the kids or the adults...

207: Different view

Another view so you can see the slide and everything. you can see the chairs we hauled up on the second level to toast or success building the thing!

206: Climbing Wall

Climbing wall of the jungle gym we made. There is foam padding on top of the two left slats now, as we realized lots of skin would get scraped there if it was left uncovered

205: Jungle Gym

Hmm, I've managed to mess up my numbers again. Back on track (i hope)

Didn't think it could be done, but after a few days, lots of over engineering, lots of power tools (which I got to use, too!!) and lots of grunting and groaning, this rustic jungle gym was built.

It's very solid, and the test runs by my friend's children give it an A-OK!


In case you can't really see, there is a slide, a climbing wall, a hanging rope, a swing, a space for a baby swing, a ladder, and a platform.

Fun Fun Fun!!

203: Rafting

High on finishing the jungle gym, the boys take a ride down the river!

202: Butterfly

This butterfly had a fantastic feast on the flower. Anyone know the name of the butterfly or the flower?

201: Bug

These bugs are all over the place up in the country. They are very nice with their huge antennae. This guy crawled up on my boyfriends knuckles, and had a nice little photo shoot before he decided to fly away.

200: Butterfly of the Night

Did you know you can give a moth red eye?

Picture is flipped since the moth seemed to enjoy the bottom of the edge of my plate.

Couldn't get a nice shot without flash, so this is done with flash

199: Spider

BIG HONKIN' SPIDER

198: Flowers (and spiderwebs)

Pretty flower! Karen or JP, can you help me identify it?

197: Flowers (again)

More flowers. What can I say

196: Lunch Time

If you have kids, I'm sure you've seen this a million times. Watching kids cracks me up, as long as they aren't hurling the food towards you! My friend's toddler feeding himself some healthy veggies (pureed of course!). Be sure and eat your veggies!

195: Cheeeeeze

My friend's adorable kid!! Say cheese everyone!

I know the focus isn't perfect, but he's one of those kids who usually makes a funny face when you ask him to smile, so I said give me a real smile and he gave me this!

194: Look out Below!

I know this happens all the time, but it's still very impressive watching huge pains of glass be hoisted in the air with a crane, cable, and enormous suction cups. It was a blustery day, too. Silly me didn't get the camera out when the glass was blowing in the wind, but you can still see how high it was lifted!

193: Growth

More plants

Thanks to Karen and JP for identifying that cool flower from yesterday! I really appreciate it, and now I know who to turn to if I need flower ids!

192: Untitled

Not sure what these are, but they looked cool!

191: Flora

Look Ma! Bokeh!

190: Fungus III

The last of the fungi!

189: Fungus II

So this one is a bit more colorful than the previous one. We were all convinced that the brighter the colour, the more poisonous they would be

There is a place here where you can take mushrooms and they will identify them for you. I think I may look them up and see if they accept pictures. I'd be curious to know what kind these are

188: Fungus I

So this weekend, my dad and his wife came up to the country with us. We were fortunate to have spectacular weather, and we took a hike to a nice view point yesterday.

Because we've had such a wet spring, we saw a pretty neat assortment of fungi. This 'shroom was the most mundane of the bunch...

187: Lwamunda Eggs

I've been volunteer- ing in a biology lab this summer at McGill, and it's been a lot of fun. The people working in the lab are great fun, incredibly helpful, and I've been learning lots of stuff!

When I decided to go back to school, I was sure I wasn't going to enjoy the lab part. I had visions of those sterile labs with terrible lighting that you see on television, with everyone working in utter silence and never talking to each other. I am (happily) completely wrong! I'm sure those labs exist somewhere, but the one I'm volunteering in is great!

I'm helping a grad student with her research right now. She's studying the effects of oxygen gradients on the breeding habits of fish. This is the oversimplyfied version! I'm weighing each egg from each brood, photographing them, and then using a computer program to measure dimensions and calculate volume. This is one of the photographs I've taken.

Cool stuff!!

186: Flower

A friend of mine planted some climbing vines in the country, and when I last went up, he asked how they were doing. One of the had flowered, so I snapped a shot to preserve in case none of the others flowered.

Here you go, Joel!

185: Another New Friend

I don't know how my grass- hopper friend will get along with this friend though...

184: My New Friend

This is my new friend.

183: Bzzzzzzz

So this buzzer was happy as a clam in all the flowers a friend of ours planted earlier this spring (Thanks Lianne!)

However, I have no idea what it is. It's got a huge probiscis though, the kind that curls. Any idea what this is?

It's also big! Seemed to be almost twice the body length of a honey bee!

It was nice to be back out in the country again. What wasn't nice was that the blackflies are still around since it's been such a soggy spring and summer

182: Hibiscus

More practice flower shots. Not much else to say.

Happy Canada Day!

Going out of town tomorrow. Will be back soon enough

181: Plant

Fun with colours and DOF. A plant in the park I went to yersterday.

180: Practice flower

So techinically, this is an outake, but my one possible entry if my other idea doesn't pan out will not be posted until I decide what I'm going to do.

Just some flowers on a tree in a park near my place. Nothing more, nothing less.

Well, there is a leaf in there.

179: Toadstool

Another one a day late and a dollar short. I actually have an excuse. We had a power outage that was supposedly due to a fallen tree. It was out for about 8 or 9 hours. They said that they needed to cut more trees down and that was the problem. I think they were at the local pub knocking back a few and then they took their sweet time to fix it.

Anyways, during the outage, I went for a walk to take some practice flower shots. I found this little mushroom all by its lonesome self. Had a hard time getting the shot as I couldn't lay in the grass since it was wet. Still, I needed a little frog or fairy or something!

Bonus picture:
You may recognize the cat from my terrible excuse of an 'art' photo a while back. Here (s)he is being a nice cat!

178: Future Pesto

I know, I blew out the sky, but I'm lazy. I'm running out of things to take pictures of, and it was raining when I left the house this morning so I didn't take my camera

Every year, we grow basil in some boxes at our place. My boyfriend uses it in sandwichs, we put it in salads, and then I periodically make pesto with it. I prefer homemade because I find the commercial stuff usually has an unecessary amount of olive oil in it.

To make pesto, all you need is basil, pine nuts, romano and/or parmesan chees, olive oil, and garlic. My secret is I use a whole head (!) of garlic, but I roast it. Cut the top of the garlic head off, drizzle a bit of olive oil, sprinkle some pepper and dried oregono on it, wrap it in foil, and bake for about 30 minutes at about 350 F. Let it cool, and then the garlic will be all nice and buttery-like so you can just squeeze the cloves out.

Anyways, that's all you need for pesto! You can also do fun things like throw in sun dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil - drained, or dried, but re-hydrated), other herbs, or if you want to get really fancy, can replace the basil with things like arugula (rocket for you Brits and Aussies) or flat leaf parsley. The possiblities are endless! Happy cooking!