My Amateur Art & Photo Blog

Summer is in the air along the Mystic River as is evidenced by these Geese whom seem to think I have some food for them as I take this picture. Not today, sorry. Animals - Geese on the Mystic River  Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  color enhanced in p ost processing.

Living and working in the Boston area it really wasn't much of a challenge to find something to photography that exemplified the 'history' assignment. The Old State House  near Fanieul Hall in Boston is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the area. History -  Old State House, Boston Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  cropped for aspect and color enhanced in p ost processing.

A C appuccino  in the North End of Boston tastes as good as it would in Italy, or so I imagine. Food - C appuccino   Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite , No post processing.

I was given a rude reminder that it is still very much the early days of Spring in the Boston area the other day while on a photo walk the sunshowers catching me off guard. Trellis pattern Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite , No post processing.

I'm not sure I would want this hanging on the wall in my living room but this large framed art work from the Central Americas certainly caught my attention today at the Natural History Museum in Harvard Sq. Art - Central American Painting Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  no p ost processing.

You know Spring has well and truly sprung in Boston when you see the Tulips on the Rose Kennedy Greenway flowering(?) Flowers - Rose Kennedy Greenway Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  no p ost processing.

I can't think of a better image to meet the assignment of being 'unreal'. Unreal is exactly how it felt to have our City, Boston, attacked by terrorists and see the chaos that they brought to the neighboring towns and cities over the coming days. It's a unreality I hope never returns to our shores.  Unreal - The Boston Marathon This Year Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  cropped for zoom in p ost processing.

In the most unlikely of places was shot a photo for an assignment entitled 'Landscape'. This was taken in the center of London. Hyde Park to be precise at sunset providing I think you will agree a rural landscape in an urban setting. Landscape - Hyde Park, London at dusk   Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  no p ost processing.

Although the   Canon PowerShot SX 230HS   has been out for few months I still see from my Google stats that a lot of people are wanting to know how good the zoom on this little P&S really is. Well I had the opportunity in downtown Boston the other day to try and hopefully answer that. Zoom - Custom House While passing by the Marriott Custom House Hotel I thought a wide angle shot of this towering building would best capture the vastness of it's height with the overcast skies behind adding some interest. However, having the option to zoom in on the face of the buildings clock using the x14 zoom of the SX 230HS was a option that I can also very much appreciate. Of course I'm sure any DSLR with a half decent zoom lens would have this shot beaten hands down with less noise but as most photographers can appreciate I don't like lugging a large DSLR body and 300mm lens everywhere I go. So in conclusion, I think there will always be a place fo...

The temperatures in Boston yesterday were very spring like but not a lot of people downtown seemed to notice, the Boston Waterfront was abandoned during my afternoon photo walk. Panoramic of the Boston Waterfront  3 shots taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  handheld in program mode, flash did not fire, combined in to one frame and tone adjusted in post processing.

One of the major advantages of Daylight Savings is of course the extra hours of sunlight in the evening. I decided to take advantage of that, grabbed my camera and head out on a  local bus to anywhere and see what  opportunities  present themselves. Transport - MBTA Bus This was shot on a local area bus heading in to Boston on the evening of March 26th. I had to wait a couple of stops for the bus to empty before taking this shot of the empty seats in front of me. Taken with t he  Pentax SMCP-M 50mm f2  mounted to my Pentax k200d DLSR.

South Station in Boston at night is definitely quieter than during peak hours, this shot taken on my way home was rather easy to snap without having to wait too long for cars or people to get out of the way. This was taken in the Camera's night scene mode where it quickly snaps 3 shots and combines them in to one 'low noise' composite, I think it did a good job but you definitely compromise some on sharpness in this mode, especially as I was hand holding the camera at the time. Night Shot- South Station Deserted T aken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS , no post processing.

You never know when you'll find that subject to meet one of your photography assignments and today was especially true. Walking back from drinks after work this evening to South Station I completely forgot the  Boston Fire Museum was right there, so peaked through the front window and snapped this shot. Retro  - The Old  Boston Fire Museum While on vacation in London I found a second subject that was a contender for the Retro assignment, this old British Sports car was certainly retro too. T aken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS , color enhanced in post processing.

Trees on a Cambridge street cast long shadows in the late day sun of spring. Shadows - A tree lined Cambridge street Taken  with t he  Pentax SMCP-M 50mm f2  mounted to my Pentax k200d DLSR. A second contender for shadows is this shot taken with my Canon P&S of the trees of the Mystic River casting shadows on the snow during the Winter months, but I preferred the above shot myself.

It is definitely not very Spring like outside, but with my new (used) lens arriving in the mail today I couldn't resist posting another topic from my list of 52 projects for the year. The  Pentax SMCP-M 50mm f2 is my first foray in to a full manual lens, manual Aperture ring setting and manual focusing. I'm no stranger to MF but having to actual the aperture manually is new to me and my K200d too, at first it refused to accept the lens until a setting deep in the Camera's menu to allow the mounting of none 'A' setting lens allowed me to continue. The attached image is from my first batch of 'playing' with the lens in Aperture priority mode, the first thing I noticed was the center spot metering (not full frame) and the lack of a camera's ability to adjust for flash firing were the most surprising. So for now I'm going to be avoiding the flash and trying the Sensitivity priority mode to keep the ISO down, the camera was insisting and setting ISO ...

It wouldn't be a photography blog without the cliched 'Still Life' with some vegetables in the scene. Vegetables - Still Life Taken with the Pentax K200d with the 'new to me'  Pentax SMCP-M 50mm f2 lens I purchased from an amazon seller . Nice lens but MF means being more skilled at reading the viewfinder. No p ost processing.

With that 'almost Spring' feeling in the air a photograph walk was in order this afternoon and with shot of these Train Tracks not to far from where I live knock another topic off of my photography goals for this year. Train Tracks Taken handheld with my the Pentax K200d and  a  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens  attached with no flash. Taken on 'Landscape' mode with on body stabilization turned on. P ost processing to increase contrast and convert to B&W. Note: Using a  can of compressed air for cleaning a camara sensor probably would have some cringing but a very short burst of air before heading out for the day seems to have done the trick and a no longer have to do any post processing to remove those stubborn dust spots for the bottom right corner of all my shots. Bonus!

It may be Spring in the Boston area now but try telling that to the trees that line out streets. While out for a walk earlier today I thought this frost bitten tree exemplified the cold spring air and would benefit from being a B&W shot. Black & White - Frost Bitten Tree Taken handheld with my the Pentax K200d and  a  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens  attached with no flash. Taken on 'Landscape' mode with on body stabilization turned on. Converted to B&W in post processing.

Well it seems to have been an eternity since I had any time or motivation to post anything to my very neglected photo blog but here I am. So my plan going forward for the rest of the year is to pick from the subjects I chose in January in any order, no pressure, no timeline, just hopefully some fun and good photography is the end result. Water Refractions Water Droplet Being inspired by water droplet photography I had seen on pinterest earlier this year I tried to mimic the setup with my the Pentax K200d and  my  Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens  attached to a tripod with manual release cable, off camera ligh ting from the  Newer LED light .   A pre-focused the Macro lens manually aiming at the top of the water line in the glass and attempted to drop water on to it from a water dropper while shooting off over 120 shots all together. Unfortunately none of the actual water droplets were in focus when making their big splash or I had missed precis...

I chose this scene for my Holiday season blog post because as I stood there taking it it felt like I was in a Christmas card from the olden days. As serene as the scene was I couldn't wait to get back in side to the warmth of the fire. I can almost smell that burning wood now. The Holiday Season - River and Snow Scene in Maine Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  contrast increased in p ost processing.

As I write this it's the tail end of summer when I look back at this photo taken in February, I can hardly believe how cold it is when it's so hot and humid here now. I guess in a few short weeks we could all be out there again with our snow shovels. Snow - Boston Common Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  no p ost processing.

The Celtics were victorious with a 97-84 win the Friday night we saw them playing the Orlando Magic at the TD Garden. Sports Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld from what seemed like a different zip code to court, but it was fun all the same .  No post processing.

New buildings are popping up every day in the South Bosto area. A good sign the economy is rebounding but not such a good sign if you need to park anywhere as the number of parking lots spaces gets increasingly rare in the area. Industrial - Construction Site Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite ,  handheld,  no p ost processing.

I start off my photography project for this year with the goal of capturing an image (or images) of Ice. This seemed like a good topic to start with because of the frigid temperatures in the Boston area this holiday season. Icicles On Back Porch Taken with the Pentax K200d with the  Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL lens  , shot with MF. No flash was fired. P ost processing to remove dust spot and some color correction.

Are you looking for inspirational ideas for your photos for this year? Well, here are the broad topics that I'm hoping to stick to for each week of my photography project for this year. I hope they give you some ideas for your own project, I'd love to see your own shots too if you wanted to follow along with me!   Rules: I have set myself the goal of capturing one (or more) shots over the course of the week following that week's theme and posting them in a timely manner is very important of course ;)  I reserve the right to amend the topics if weather or circumstances prevent me from fulfilling the requirement of that week's topic, but I hope to stick to this closely as I possibly can!   Note: I've decided to pick from this list any assignment I want over the course of the year and as many as I want in a given week or day but to end up at the end of the year having at least 1 photo matching each topic/assignment, wish me luck! Assignment 1 Ice Assignment ...

Happy New Year 2013 A new year, a new goal. Last year's a photo a day project fizzled out towards the end of the year, this year I'm going to attempt several projects, a photo a week project, a 'good' photo, not just a photo of something taken on my phone because I need a photo for that day. Also as side projects to my photography interests I'm thinking of starting a 'French Word of the Day' blog to keep up my French studies and also over the Christmas holidays my brother-in-law inspired me to learn chess. I've always known the basic moves but never really studied the tactics or played for anything or than a few times in my life, so I may post the occasional chess related rant or article as I aim to improve my skills. Note: Image above acquired on Google image search, it's not my own, I forget where. If it's yours and you want credit let me know and due credit will be given, thanks.

And that's all she wrote, as they say. That's it the end of my 365 photo project and despite missing a few days this month due to reasons I won't go in to here for the most part I have really enjoyed the project and having the determination to continue taking shots day in and day out and also being made to give them a description if some what brief I found to be helpful in my creative process. I have no idea how long Google will keep blogspot going but I can only imagine looking back at fondness in a few years time over these shots and I hope if you were following along you enjoyed the journey too. I have  thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments.

New Year's Eve It's been way too long since my last post, having missed several days I became uninspired to continue and with the goal of the reaching the end of the year so close I am sure I will be kicking myself one day, however we end the year with a photo of the News trucks gathering in Copley Square earlier today for the New Year's Eve revelers. Taken with the  LG Optimus Elite , No post processing.

Winter Freeze Christmas in Maine is even colder than Massachusetts apparently! That probably won't come as much of a shock to most of you, and as evidenced by the frost on this tree it certainly was true this holiday season. Taken with the  Canon PowerShot SX230HS  handheld, flash did not fire, tone adjusted in post processing.