365 Photos: Week 22 On the Road Again

October 16-22, 2012

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Week 22 had me on the road again in Boise, ID, Spokane WA, and finally back home to Anchorage. I was traveling for a conference to Boise with Arts Northwest, and I stopped in Spokane to see Jersey Boys. I scout Broadway shows to bring to Anchorage, and Spokane was close by to Anchorage, relatively speaking.

I loved being in the Pacific Northwest for fall. It was so beautiful. The trees. The leaves. The blue skies. It was gorgeous. I got to do a little leaf peeping along Boise’s green belt. It was fabulous.

Since I’ve been doing the 365 Photo Project, when I am staying in hotels, I usually try to get a safety shot from the window at the surrounding cityscape. With the 365 Photo Project, I feel better when I know I have a safety shot for the day, especially when I am working all day and creative moments of photography don’t present themselves.

Tuesday was a surprise shot that I got with my iPhone. I wanted to know the story of how the Redbox machine got beat up. This was more of a diary shot.

I like humor in photography. The Redbox was for humor, and Wednesday was a shot at humor. The city of Boise really likes its library! I loved the use of the exclamation point. I once heard a wise man say that you are only allowed three exclamation points in your WHOLE life. Boise is down to two. Well played, however, Boise. Well played.

On Facebook, someone thought we should go further with the exclamation point.  Performing Arts Center! City Hall! DMV!

Thursday afforded me a chance to walk around Boise. I took a bunch of pictures. The red tree was stunning. I shot it from many angles to get it right. I loved the colors.  We don’t get the red in the trees in Alaska, so this red tree was stunning to me.  I shot it from many angles, and felt this was the best.

The yellow leaf also gave me some fun contrast. Nothing new here, but it forced me to stretch a bit.

I am over indulging for Friday. I’ve never been to Spokane before, so finding one image for the day was tough. This is the first time I’ve done three in a day.

The first is the falls, which are pretty iconic to Spokane. I felt like my day there needed to have one shot of the falls. I walked all over trying to see the different angles. I think this pretty much captures it.

The second was more arty. I liked these wheels and the wall and square windows.

The last was just for fun. There was this cool spiral art piece that was broken down into squares with the story of the falls and coyote. I liked the words Fat and Happy. Public art can be fun!

I like airplanes. When in an airport, I photograph them. An airport shot often becomes a safety shot. I didn’t really shoot otherwise that day. I liked flying on Horizon Air because it got me out on the tarmac which afforded me better shots.

Week 22 saw the sun setting earlier. On Sunday. The sun was setting at 6:30. I wanted to try to get something to show the time shifting. I’m finding that I will have to be shooting earlier in the day or get used to the idea of pulling out the flash.

The final shot of the week was of the decaying day lilly in front of our house. At the time of this shot, we’d had snow, but not the sticking kind. This flower is in a shaded area of the driveway, so the snow was hanging on because there is no direct sunlight. Fall passed quickly, now winter is coming to Alaska.

365 Photos: Week 21 Shorter Cooler Days

October 9-15, 2012

Week 21 saw the days in Alaska making the turn to shorter and cooler. I began to see that the 365 Photo Project was going to get more challenging. Week 23 really saw that come true, but that is yet to come.

Week 21 saw some of my favorite shots so far in this project.  Northern lights, frost on leaves, sunsets, and fog.  It was a beautiful transition week in Anchorage.

The week began with a little visitor at work. Her mom was in volunteering for us, and this little one roamed through the offices. It was very cute. She and I told stories, and she did a drawing of me. Kids are very fun to photograph, when they want to cooperate. I love the “can I see?” right after taking a picture. Kids these days! They don’t know it used to take a week to see a photo.

On Wednesday, I have two photos. One from the morning and one from the evening. Truly, I like the sunset over Cook Inlet better, but I love both these shots. There were low clouds or fog hanging around that morning. I took a bunch of shots to try to get the Atwood building just right. A 50mm lens is hard to work with when trying to shoot buildings from real close.

The other picture was taken at sunset, obviously.  We were having an private home concert with a men’s vocal group named New York Polyphony.  This was a rare clear night and I couldn’t help but shoot some sunset shots. The colors were amazing that night and the clear sky was unreal. This was a long exposure shot. I really like the colors and the trees against the sky.  That’s one of the many volcanoes in the region.  I can’t remember the name of it.

Thursday was a long work day with no deliberate chance to shoot.  We took our niece and nephew to see Shrek.  On the ride home, I captured Kallie in the back seat of the car as she was texting.  I like the light in the dark with this image.

On Friday, the Northern Lights were out in force.  When I lived in Fairbanks, it was a rather common sight to see.  Further south in Anchorage, it is a little more rare.  Reading Facebook that night was fun because everyone was so excited.  And the lights seemed to be out all over the state form all the posts I read.  I posted about the experience with more of those shots. It was cold, but well worth it for the shots I got.  They were my first aurora shots, and hopefully not my last.

I was up early on Saturday and shooting the frost covered morning.  I love the look of frost on leaves and grass, especially on a sunny morning.  Once again, I found it hard to choose just one image.  I think I like the brown leaves more.

Sunday saw me traveling again.  I flew to Boise for the Arts Northwest Conference.  It was quite a haul to get there.  Because of a security concern, the airport was closed, and I missed my first flight out.  This shot was taken on an exceedingly rainy evening in Seattle.

The last shot of the week was taken in Boise.  It was so nice to be in a place with fall!  Colorful leaves and warm temperatures made for a lovely week in the city of trees.

Autumn Photography

I was walking around the green belt of Boise, ID yesterday, I was reminded how beautiful autumn is. This might sound weird, but in Alaska, our autumn is not nearly as pretty as other parts of the world. Sure, we have snow capped peaks and gorgeous scenery. But we have boring fall.

I thought of this great article as I was taking shots. I found the histogram tip very good. In fact, the histogram tip has been one of the best tips I’ve picked up. Watch out for the blinkies!

Also, the day was slightly overcast. There was some blue, but I think the high clouds helped to keep the hard shadows at bay. I really like the above shot. You can’t get anything like this in Alaska.

And after this, I am seriously considering a ND filter. It would have helped with some of the water shots I was trying. Could close the lens down enough for the brightness yesterday.

Do you have other fall shooting tips?