Posts

Showing posts from October, 2012

305/365 Photo Project - Boston Lives!

Image
Boston Lives! Back to work today and I was happy to see that Boston had survived the worst Sandy had thrown at it, which of course was nothing when compared to what NY has suffered. Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite  converted to B&W in post processing which I think makes the clouds look more scary for Halloween.

304/365 Photo Project - After The Storm

Image
After The Storm The sun was still there and rose again after the storm that was Sandy passed through our area. The winds made me think the roof or our home wasn't going to be there when I checked this morning but thankfully it was, however there were hundreds of others in the North East who weren't as lucky. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in landscape mode, flash did not fire. No post processing .

303/365 Photo Project - Last Train

Image
Last Train With the MBTA cancellation all public transportation as of 2pm today this could be the last train in or out of Boston. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in landscape mode, flash did not fire. Tone adjusted in post processing .

302/365 Photo Project - The Oncoming Storm

Image
The Oncoming Storm This scene of a local area mill was rather bland, converting it to infrared B&W in post processing makes the skies seem more mean than they were and I think is more inline with how everyone on the eastern seaboard feels today with  hurricane Sandy fast approaching. Taken with the Pentax K200d with the  Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens  , in MF with p ost processing as described above.

Free November 2012 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper

Image
Boston Skyline - Desktop Size (1024 by 768) Get your free November 2012 Monthly Desktop Calendar Wallpaper. Simply click one of the above images to get the full size version and right click to save it to your picture directory (depending on your browser). Once saved locally you can set it as your desktop background. For instructions on how change your desktop background on a Mac or a PC click  here  or  here .

301/365 Photo Project - Nathan Tufts Park

Image
Nathan Tufts Park The leaves weren't being swept around much by any breeze in Nathan Tufts Park, Somerville this afternoon. This serene scene is perhaps the calm before the literal storm as Sandy heads quickly towards the north east. Sunday promises to get a lot more windy unfortunately. I like that the mid afternoon sun was overhead casting a harsh shadow with the trees. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in landscape mode to try to give some selective focusing and depth to the frame, flash did not fire. No post processing .

300/365 Photo Project - Fountain

Image
Fountain This fountain in Boston's Post Office Square is the subject for today's photo. This area is a the number one destination during the summer months for the hard working people of the Financial District, today it was a little less so with the summer temperatures being long gone. Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite  no posting processing.

299/365 Photo Project - Mr Thomas Sables

Image
Mr Thomas Sables With Halloween just around the corner I thought that this area cemetery made a good setting for today's photo. Taken with the Pentax K200d, handheld with MF using my  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens , cropped for aspect in post processing. 

298/365 Photo Project - Boston At Dawn

Image
Boston At Dawn I couldn't resist standing up on the busy red line train on the way in to Boston this morning and capture the suns light shining on the John Hancock Tower. Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite  from the Longfellow bridge with glass reflections removed in post processing where necessary.

297/365 Photo Project - Mums

Image
Mums It may seem ironic to post a photo of Mums on my Dad's birthday but there it is. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in portrait mode to try to give some selective focusing and depth to the frame, flash did not fire. No post processing .

296/365 Photo Project - Holy Hedera

Image
Holy Hedera The sun catching the changing color of the leaves of this ivy I thought looked interested against the wall of this neighborhood church. Note: Hedera is the latin name for Ivy, and yes I had to look that up. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in landscape mode, flash did not fire. Cropped for aspect in p ost processing to avoid overhead cables showing, their shadow can still be seen in the shot.

295/365 Photo Project - You Don't See That Everyday

Image
You Don't See That Everyday Today was the Regatta on the Charles and I had taken many a shot of the sportsmen and women on the water of which I was sure one of them would be a prime candidate for Today's photo. However those plans went out the window  when I saw this Mini Cooper travelling down the Charles river. I think you will agree this isn't something you see everyday, at least not in the Boston area?! Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in landscape mode, flash did not fire. Cropped for aspect in p ost processing.

294/365 Photo Project - Coming In To Land

Image
Coming In To Land One of the cool things of living in the Boston area is the close proximity of Logan Airport for going places but also for chances to catch some great shots of planes coming in to land, or taking off, if that's your thing. Approaching from the north through the over cast Boston skies this plane appeared to navigate between the clouds. I like how the clouds frame the shot of this small jumbo jet. I wonder where they were flying in from. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in shutter priority mode 1/1250, flash did not fire. P ost processing for color correction to give the clouds a little more pop.

293/365 Photo Project - Window On My World

Image
Window On My World This has felt like my world for the past few weeks, wet and dreary, being tied down to a desk  and only this window to remind me there is an outside world. Is there some sun light I see perhaps breaking through those rain soaked clouds? I sure hope so. Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite  with no post processing necessary.

292/365 Photo Project - Book Stand

Image
Book Stand Although I feel like I'm finally getting over the flu I am still very busy at work and again I'm left wondering the various rooms of our home this evening looking for something, anything to catch my creative (or lack their of) eye. I was trying to selectively focus on the middle books on this shelf and with my P&Ss portrait mode I was hoping the depth of field would blue out the books closest too and farthest from the lens, unfortunately the implementation wasn't as good as the idea and I don't have the energy to mess around with this in post processing to 'fake' that effect nor do I like using that more post processing normally anyways. Note to self once I'm 100% again I need to get out and about on photography walks and tours that I know go on the area again, it really does help to mingle with like minded amateurs. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in portrait mode, flash did not fire. No p ost processing.

291/365 Photo Project - Japanese Andromeda

Image
Japanese Andromeda Staying close to home again with today's shot of this Japanese Andromeda in our front yard that is still showing signs of new life. In fact it seems to be thriving in the very erratic, warm and humid fall Boston weather that we have been getting of late. Shot from the front room of our home towards the street. Opting for portrait mode on my P&S I focused on one of the new buds and was pleased that the SX230 was able to blur out the background, something normally I would only aim to achieve on my Pentax DSLR. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in portrait mode, flash did not fire. P ost processing for tone correction only.

290/365 Photo Project - Dental Molding

Image
Dental Molding Having been sick and extremely busy at work I feel I like I am phoning it in with today's photograph of some the crown molding work around our living room.  This was one of the features however that sold us on our house which we thought has great character. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in portrait mode, flash did not fire. P ost processing for aspect and tone correction.

289/365 Photo Project - Look Right

Image
Look Right Sometimes there's a photograph to be made in places when you least expect them, as in today when the sun was shining and this scene presented itself when I looked to the right. There was only one chance to get this as trees were lining the side of the road either side of this stretch of water and there was no time to check composition or focus, just line up the camera evenly with the horizon and shoot. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in landscape mode, flash did not fire. P ost processing for aspect, tone correction and removal of some dirt spots that were on the car window.

288/365 Photo Project - Raindrops

Image
Raindrops Rain returned to the Boston area today to ruin what up until then had been a very fine fall weekend. After the storm I took the camera out to the yard to capture these raindrops on the flower stems of this gaura plant. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in macro mode, flash did not fire. P ost processing only for cropping to get as close as possible without showing too much noise, I could have cropped closer but this was a  compromise  of detail and noise.

287/365 Photo Project - Fall Colors

Image
Fall Colors While heading out for a trek through the Mohawk Trail (rt2) in Massachusetts today to do some leaf peeping I was caught at this light on rt117 and snapped this shot. Apparently a lot of other people in MA had the same idea of making good use of this sunny day. Taken with the Pentax K200d with the  Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens  ,no post processing.

286/365 Photo Project - Still Life

Image
Still Life I thought this scene in my wife's crafts room was ideal to help test the depth of field of the kit Pentax lens. Taken with the Pentax K200d with the  Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens  , in MF with the sweet spot of focus centered on the little blue flower pot. A dust spot removed from the lower left of this image in post processing.

285/365 Photo Project - Self Headshot

Image
Self Headshot Today I felt like taking a self portrait, how do you like it? Taken with the Pentax K200d with the  Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens  , a dust spot removed in post processing.

284/365 Photo Project - Frustration

Image
Frustration Today was one of those days, one of those days when you could just pull your hair out. I wanted to capture that in today's blog post. Hand holding my camera in my left hand (P&S cam, my DSLR is too heavy to attempt to hold one handed) I shot at my right hand in various poses of angst. First clenched, reaching for the skies, the bird and this shot. This one came out the most dramatic I think (and most in focus!). Converting it to B&W in post processing seemed to sum up my day nicely. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in kids&pet mode, flash did not fire. P ost processing as described above.

283/365 Photo Project - Where's The Sun?

Image
Where's The Sun? The sunrise in Boston is getting later and later these days and at 7 o'clock this morning as I took this shot of the  Financial  District I was left wondering where indeed was the sun. Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite , no post processing.

282/365 Photo Project - Mystic River Ivy

Image
Ivy On The Mystic River This Ivy on the Mystic River caught my eye this afternoon during a very short photo walk, it was just too darn cold to be out there too long today! Taken with the Pentax K200d, handheld with MF using my  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens , contrast adjusted post processing to increase the area in shadow. 

281/365 Photo Project - Run Squirrel Run

Image
Run Squirrel Run This little guy ran out in front of me while in Medford Square earlier this afternoon and I had just enough time to grab my camera and capture him before he was gone, running across the road and thankfully avoiding all traffic.   Taken with the Pentax K200d, handheld with MF using my  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens , tone adjusted and cropped for square in post processing. 

280/365 Photo Project - Sign Of Fall

Image
Sign Of Fall I was hanging out in our back yard hammock today taking advantage of what might be one of the last warm days of the year when I noticed this sign of fall laying next to me. I like how the fall colors of the life are contrasted against the white rope of the hammock which in itself is  contrasted  against the out of focus background of the yard. I don't like the 'purple fringing' that my macro lens shows around the edges of the hammock rope. Taken with the Pentax K200d, handheld with MF using my  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens , tone adjusted in post processing. 

279/365 Photo Project - What Is This Blue Thing?

Image
What Is This Blue Thing? What with the terrible grey skies in the Boston area of late you could be forgiven for asking what is this blue thing hanging high above our heads today. It certainly was a very pleasant surprise to see the sun and blue skies returning this afternoon while driving the I93. With the long holiday weekend the traffic was surprisingly light too, thankfully. Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite , cut for aspect with no post processing.

278/365 Photo Project - Beer Light Tent

Image
Beer Light Tent I had totally forgot that before moving house earlier this year that I had purchased a light tent on amazon . What's a light tent/cube you ask?, check the link on amazon for details.  Anyways, I thought I had the perfect excuse to dust it off and take this historic photo. Yep, it's my last Sam Summer of year, I have finally ran out of the beers I stocked up on a few months back. Oh well until next year, cheers! Taken with the Pentax K200d, handheld with MF I selectively focused the sweet spot on Samual Adams himself using my  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens , contrast adjusted in post processing. Lit from above no flash fired.

277/365 Photo Project - Grey Skies

Image
Grey Skies With the arrival of fall and the miserable weather in the Boston area it is becoming increasingly difficult to find blue skies and fluffy clouds on the horizons to make for interesting landscape photographs. So today we will have to make to with this shot of the dismally depressing sky land as viewed from the attic of my home. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  in landscape mode with  no post processing.

Free October 2012 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper

Image
Desktop Size (1024 by 768) Get your free October 2012 Monthly Desktop Calendar Wallpaper. Simply click one of the above images to get the full size version and right click to save it to your picture directory (depending on your browser). Once saved locally you can set it as your desktop background. For instructions on how change your desktop background on a Mac or a PC click  here  or  here .

276/365 Photo Project - Water

Image
Water What with the rain coming down from above, humidity in the air, the water of the harbor splashing below and the fountain shooting up water in to the air the title 'water' seems apt for today's photo taken outside the Cambridge Galleria Mall. Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite , no post processing.

275/365 Photo Project - Spikes

Image
Spikes Still feeling less than 100% this evening meant trying to get back to taking photos but not going far from home. This Spikey house plant in our dining room to the rescue. If in doubt bring out the macro lens and try to capture the  miniature  world of plants. Taken with the Pentax K200d, handheld with MF attached to my  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens , no post processing.

365 Photo Project - Everything September

Image
The first thing you may notice about 'Everything September' is a number of missing posts from the last few days of the month. Unfortunately due to an untimely operative procedure, nothing major thankfully, this was enough to knock me out of a commission for a few days and blow my chances of getting a photo for every day of this year. I will not let this stop my enthusiasm for this blog and will continue hopefully uninterrupted through the rest of the year. Looking back at these photos I am thankful that there was a number of events going on in the area that allowed me to explore my photography skills, but even without those events Boston is a great city to get out and explore and find something of interest.