365 Photos: Week 46 Long Weekend in Seattle

April 2 – 8, 2013

Week 46 of the 365 Photo Project was the first time we took a trip out of town since mid January. That was the longest stretch on the ground in quite a while. We took a long weekend in Seattle that was timed around a meeting I had in Tacoma. But that was at the end of the week. Before getting on the place, I took some pictures at home in Anchorage.

You might recall from last week we were still digging out from some snow storms which hit us pretty hard. By Tuesday, April 2, much of it had melted off as you can see from this sunrise shot of the parking garage.

This was a gorgeous morning. I’ve since discovered since I took this picture that the sun needs to be about 4 degrees above the horizon to get these early morning gorgeous shots. The sun is coming up earlier and earlier these days. This was shot around 8:00 AM.

The snow did continue to melt. As you can see from the panoramic shot, there is some grass peeking out from under the snow. Spring and summer are coming slowly.

I had intended for this week to be the week of panoramic shots, but because of the Seattle trip, I didn’t make it. The iPhone is great for getting these shots, but the angles do get a little strange. Speaking of the snow, upon arrival in Seattle on Friday, the weather service issued a snow advisory for 14 inches of snow while we were gone! I was happy we were in Seattle.

I did try to carry the panoramic theme through the week with this shot from my living room.

This is the full 180 degrees of my house. Kind of a cool shot.

On Friday, we got on the airplane and flew to Seattle. We got there in the late afternoon / early evening. We decided to go to the top of the Renaissance for dinner and take in the gorgeous view of the Seattle Skyline.

I kicked myself for not bringing my DSLR, but the iPhone was good enough to get this shot.

On Saturday, we mainly walked around the town and shopped. It was raining something fierce, but didn’t deter us from having fun. I thought it would be fun to get a shot of Evan with an umbrella under the fountain at Seattle Center.

Just prior to getting this shot, Evan slipped and fell and really hurt his knee. He was a trooper to go through with this shot.

As we walked, and as the sun came out at one point, I got this shot.

I like the way the colors came out and the lines with the break up from the gray window boxes.

That evening, the rain came on in a big way, so we decided to stay in an order room service, which I had never done before. It was a great evening hanging in our hotel.

On Sunday, we did more walking around Pike’s Place, got brunch at the Icon Grill and did a little more shopping. We stopped in for a late afternoon cocktail at a bistro. The windows were large and the light was diffuse coming through. I decided to experiment and grab some images of Evan in the light.

These are some of my most favorite images. I love the quality of the light, the focus and everything is so fun. I even got a timed photo of both of us.

It might also be that we have both lost some weight, and as much as anything, I think we both look great.

Monday, Evan had to fly home, while I waited a couple more days for my meeting. I walked down to Pike’s Market and got some more great shots.

I kept two for the day because I felt I needed to include the above spring Tulips, which were simply beautiful.

As I walked around town, I tried to grab shots of the Space Needle from different angles. This one is the one I liked the best.

I sort of got lucky with this one. I didn’t realize how cool the green of the spring buds would work against the silhouette of the structure. This is another one of my most favorite images I have taken in the last year.

365 Photos: Week 45 The Week I Tried Panoramas

March 26 – April 1, 2013

I don’t remember quite how it came about.

I don’t recall if I upgraded my iPhone 4S so it could take panoramic shots or if I suddenly remembered that the upgrade would allow me to.  Either way, this was the week that I tried experimenting with panoramic shooting on my iPhone. That happened later in the week.  In the meantime, I was trying to get more interesting snow shots this week because we had so much of it.

When I was heading home on Tuesday, someone had been busy plowing snow to the end of the street.  I liked the way the light looked hitting this berms.

It was a little more dramatic looking than I was able to capture.

As I said we had a lot of snow, and it was still hanging around in force on Wednesday.

This bird house gives you a good idea of what we were up against.

And on Thursday, I tried using panorama for the first time in this project.

We attended the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra’s performance of the Magical Mystery Tour.  This shot was taken prior  to the show in the Atwood Concert Hall at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.

I am amazed at how easy it is to use this feature of the camera and the clarity of the shots.  It is pretty cool how well it works.  Sure there are some flaws in the shots, but I did this in 5 seconds.  Oh, and the concert was pretty great too.

The weekend arrived, and we invited friends over to play Rock Band.

Nothing special here, really.  But we had an AWESOME time playing rock band!

I experimented some more with the panoramic feature on the weekend.  Here is our back yard.

It’s pretty wild to see a flat image of something you can’t see like this.  Again, cool how easy this is to accomplish.  I’d tried stitching programs in the past, which was fun, but not this easy.

Sunday was Easter.  After lunch with the family, we took a walk in the woods.

Another panoramic shot from the hike.  I really like this shot.

I caught this one getting home from work.

More brich branches and blue sky.  I like this abstracted shot of the trees.  Leaves will be on them in about six weeks.  Summer does come slow.

More on that later.

365 Photos: Week 41 The Week I Started Shooting RAW

February 26 – March 4, 2013

Week 41 of the 365 Photo project saw more snow come to town just in time for the Iditarod.  It also saw the opening the our presentation of the Broadway hit show Dreamgirls.

It was also the week I started shooting RAW format images.

I didn’t start the week with this in mind, it just ended up that way.  More on this later.

The week begins with a backstage shot of a dressing rack for costumes on the production of Dreamgirls.

I got this with my iPhone 4S while checking out the crew after the show.  The show was stunning.  It is really one of the most powerful Broadway shows I’ve ever seen.

Wednesday I got a picture of our Christmas Cactus.

For some reason, it bloomed in December, but just a few blossoms.  Now, for whatever reason, it is showing a late winter blossom.  It seems to do this for some reason.

The next image is of the parking fairy artwork at the downtown Anchorage parking garage.

I like the way she is backlit at night.

The first of March saw fresh snow, again.  I decided to go for a walk to get some images so I wouldn’t be forced to get stuff from around the house.  I got some fun shots.

There is nothing quite like fresh snow.  The world is so quiet and white.  There was almost no texture to the show, just a sheet of white as far as the eye could see.  This is in the park behind our house.  I love the little enclosure that shields the picnic benches. I’ve shot this from multiple angles now.

On Saturday, we went down to observe the finish of the Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod.  I made an earlier post with some images. One of my favorite images was of the dogs when they were done.

I like the interplay of the sleeping dog with the alert dog on the left.  These dogs work hard and love to do what they do.

We like to make good food on Sundays when we can.  We tried a new recipe on this night, a quick cooking Coq au Vin.

I realize I’ve taken quite a few Sunday dinner images.  But I do love to eat.  The recipe came from Cooks Illustrated and was wonderful.  First time eating Coq au Vin.

Finally, I got this image of our Turtle Lamp to complete the week.

As I stated at the start this is the week I started working in the RAW format.  For some reason, while shooting the Iditarod I switched over to experiment with RAW.  And I like where it is taking me.  Photoshop Elements has a serviceable RAW set of tools.  I’m still learning, but the investment has been worth some great images. I like the flexibility with the photoshopping.  In particular, being able to adjust the white balance is huge!

If you have feedback on the image processing, I would love to hear.

365 Photos: Week 37 Grinding Each Day Out

January 29 – February 3, 2013

If it weren’t for the commitment to the 365 Photo Project, I’m not sure I would be taking pictures each day.  In fact, as I’ve been in the late 30s weeks, keeping myself going and inspired has proven to be difficult.

As I look back at this week’s worth of photos, I see some desperation.  A picture of my light fixture?  More food?  As I get through February, things do pick up, but these are the dog days of winter and the dog days of this project.

January 29, or Tuesday, saw me desperately looking for something at the end of my evening.  I found the light fixture in our TV room.

This was something of an experiment because I wanted to see how I would do with my 50mm opened wide.  This is how I did.

We had some snow in January, and I was trying to get some snow shots.  Unfortunately, the snow happens during my work day, and I find it hard to get out of my chair and go outside.  But I got this one of the new fallen snow in my parking lot.

 

Thursday saw some really strange fog roll into town.  I did work hard to find some interesting shots.  This one going down the road was most interesting because you couldn’t see a thing.

 

On Friday, we wanted a date night, so we went to one of our favorite places in Anchorage, Southside Bistro.

 

This was our rather awesome bottle of wine.  I shot this with my iPhone.

As January progressed, the light gradually came back to Alaska.  I like this Saturday shot of the light through our office window in our home.

This is probably my favorite picture for the week. Light is such a huge thing in Alaska. Little by little, we are regaining our daylight here in the great white north.  I like this time of year to remind me it will get light and winter will one day be over.

Sunday was the Super Bowl!

 

Evan made Halibut from the fish he caught this last summer!

Finally, people think we have fun and fabulous lives and we travel all the time.  Often, we just sit on our couch and watch TV.  This is to remind us we are at home frequently.

 

As I write this post, almost a month later, things have picked up with outdoor activities, but it has taken a commitment to this project to keep me going.  I can see why people peter out doing something like this.  But with the longer days and warmer temps, I think getting through to the end will be no problem.

 

365 Photos: Week 33 The New Year

January 1-7, 2013

The New Year got off to a quiet start. I have to admit, keeping up with the 365 Photo Project during week 33 became more a burden than a joy. Nearly all the images this week were taken at home in the later hours of the day. I don’t know why. Part of it could be the novelty of taking a picture a day has worn off a bit. But also, the cold weather, and the long dark days make it harder to get excited about taking a picture.

Although these images are dark, they do speak to my need for light in this dark time of year.

The first image of the week, the stairs, was taken after I had gotten into bed and remembered I needed to still get a shot. I shot this with my iPhone.

We spent the whole day watching movies and TV shows. That is our New Year’s tradition. Taking a picture was not a high priority for me.

It took us a while to get the tree down after the holidays. After the first, if the tree is still up, we don’t turn the lights on.

This was the sad Christmas tree as it was in January.

Thursday was another desperation shot. We got a NEST thermostat for Christmas. It’s awesome!

So it was new in the house, and I took a picture of that.  Again, this was not my week to be inspired.

The next shot is of a piece of artwork in our home.

It’s actually quite a lovely piece.  But again, you see I am shooting around the house.  Inspiration was still eluding me.

The wine bottle with Christmas lights was next.  At this point, I was also beginning to wonder if I will be able to even do this.

I was trying to find anything of interest to shoot.

Then there was the candle on Sunday.

I had read an article about surrounding yourself with pleasant smells for the new year. I found this mint peppercorn candle and liked it.  Shot with the 50mm lens, I am still working to get a sense of shooting in low light.

Finally, I shot outdoors for Monday.

The light was starting to come back here in Anchorage, and beautiful golden light of the sunset really was hitting the parking garage.  I didn’t do it justice with the iPhone.

Next week is New York City!

365 Photos: Week 30 The Week I shot Christmas Trees

December 11-17, 2012

With Christmas on the way, I decided to use the Christmas Tree theme for a week of 365 Photo Project. I’m working hard to get in the Christmas spirit. Also, for those of you following at home, I have skipped over a few weeks to get this week’s photo blog into the mix. I will go back and fill in. At the rate I am going to play catch up, I would be posting Christmas trees in January or February, and there is nothing more depressing that Christmas Trees in mid-January.

This time of year, there are Christmas trees everywhere. I do enjoy seeing the different takes on the holiday symbol. White lights are colored, or even single color non-white.  Is the tree themed with colors?  Are the decorations eclectic or simple? Tinsel? Garland? Both? Popcorn and cranberry garland?  Candy canes? There is a crazy amount of choice.  One thing you just don’t see much anymore is lit candles on a Christmas tree.

Growing up, we had real trees for awhile.  We would trek down to the Kiwana’s Tree sale at the Fairgrounds in Fairbanks, Alaska.  We would be bundled up and amble through the aisles of trees trying to find the right one.  Once selected, it would be wrapped in paper, and we would whisk it home quickly.  The tree couldn’t freeze because it would cause the needles to drop.

Once home, my parents would get it into its stand and unwrap it.  The WORST part was having to wait for the tree to fall.  I never understood this.  We were going to hang ornaments on it which would help it fall, but we always had to wait a day.  To be honest, I still don’t understand this.  But the smell was worth it.  There is nothing like the smell of a fresh pine tree in your home.

Then my mom would dig out the box of lights and we would go through each one looking for burned out ones. She would string the lights.  Not my dad.  Ever.  In fact, I don’t recall my dad ever hanging a single decoration on the tree. I guess it wasn’t his thing.

Eventually, the post Christmas mess of needles through the house gave way to artificial trees. They’re still nice, but don’t conjure up those memories of being bundled up to shop in a cold warehouse for the perfect tree.

As I shot this week, and because I was never sure where I would see a tree, I was shooting with my iPhone at times.  I still love the Gorilla Cam app.  The first tree was taken at the coffee shop in downtown Anchorage.  This is a pretty standard Christmas Tree.

The next tree is our tree. You can see we are pretty standard.

I am a multi-color guy. The ornaments are ones from when I was a kid. My mom used to buy one for us each year. I have a large number of Frosty Friends ornaments, that involve ice, an eskimo and some arctic animal. We have a rather eclectic group of ornaments from a glass pickle to a bird house from 1979, some hand crafted German piece to a Snoopy and Charlie Brown that my mom bought on a trip to New York City at Christmas time.

Part of the tradition of me and Evan putting up our tree is to argue whether or not the garland goes on before or after the ornaments. I’ve long since given up. I’m a garland goes last guy. Evan is a garland first guy. I love the tree topper which is a hat you might see on a snowman.  It’s very fun.  I do like how our tree looks in our living room window.

Since I seem to frequent coffee shops, the shot on December 13 is from another one.  I liked the little animals, so I went for detail instead of the full tree.

On Friday the 14th, my staff had the office Christmas party.  One of my crafty staff created this beautiful lit palm tree style Christmas tree outfitted with pink flamingo lights.

I really liked this Christmas Tree.  It is sitting in our office and might even hang out all year.  It would not be what I would consider a sad tree to have around in mid-January.

Saturday’s Christmas tree was taken at the family Christmas party at Uncle Buster and Aunt Cheryl’s.

We did the typical dirty Christmas gift exchange and generally had a fun time with the family.

Sunday’s Christmas tree was found in the parking lot of Fred Meyer.

Because winter being so dry up here in Alaska, you don’t often see this sight with a car and a tree.  It’s not good to let your Christmas tree freeze because the needles will fall off almost immediately. You will notice this is the only real tree of the bunch I took. In fact, come to think of it, I haven’t seen a real tree at all this month.

In Alaska, if you do have a Christmas tree, it is from out of state. Some brave souls do believe you can go out and cut a spruce tree. Usually, it’s a black spruce, which is the epitome of a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  Have a look at what I mean.

The last tree is our second tree.  We got this tree about three years ago or so.  It’s a nice accompaniment to the main tree in the living room.

So that is this week’s post for the 365 Photo Project.  I do have one more photo for the week.  It was out of theme, but this week saw 12/12/12 and I got one more photo at a prime moment.

I can’t say it is a particularly compelling image, but I like that I caught this moment that won’t happen for another 100 years.

Today, as I write this is the end of the world.  I think 12/12/12 at 12:12 was more exciting, frankly.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

365 Photos: Week 25 Shooting with the iPhone Week

November 6-12, 2012

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I decided to go with an intentional theme this week–The iPhone!

For some reason, I had been avoiding using my iPhone as a primary camera. I don’t know why. I think it is because it didn’t feel serious enough. I read all kinds of stories about how great an iPhone camera actually is. Usually everyone agrees that in daylight, the iPhone does an admirable job. For low light conditions and with a flash, I generally dislike the shots I get. To combat the low light, I usually use my GorillaCam app to steady it. The results are better. And I find the color to be much less vibrant than with my Canon T2i.

However, once you bring the images into  Photoshop, you can add a little color, fix the contrast a bit, and voila!  Some rather nice images. So here is my week with the iPhone.

The shooting week began on Tuesday with election day. We got up and voted early.  This is a shot I grabbed at the church where I voted.  I did find it a little strange that my polling place was in a church.  So much for the separation of church and state.

With the holidays beginning to get close, we started stocking up on wine. You get bonus points if you can identify the wines based on the labels from the top.

I found that with the iPhone, I tended to be less snooty about what I shot. In the past weeks of serious shooting, I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted “serious” images. It had to be a stirring, artistic image. The iPhone allowed me to feel more day to day, diary, documentary about my images. These were merely images from my day. In fact, I felt a little less pressure to be creative shooting with the iPhone.

This next image I grabbed as I was walking back to my car from the gym.  Notice how little snow we had back in early November.  This is Alaska, remember.

On Friday, I got home and hadn’t shot a thing. It was dark, and I couldn’t think of anything better than my front yard. Remember what I said last week about this getting harder. There is a little snow out there, but not much.  Usually by this time we have about a foot of snow out there.

With the holidays coming and my family coming down from Fairbanks to spend Thanksgiving with us, we end up doing a ton of house projects right before everyone arrives.  This weekend we decided to paint our upstairs hall. Evan spent most of the day taping and doing the trim. It looks very nice now.

Sunday, we had friends to dinner and I made spicy vodka penne pasta.  Would you like the recipe?  It’s quite good and very easy to make.  This was the beginning of a two week period where we spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing for the holidays.

Monday’s shot to end the week was of a parking garage in Anchorage. I like the lines of the garage and the brightness of the sky.  This was taken in the late morning.  Notice how low the sun is on the horizon this time of year.  And from here this date, we still have a month of daylight loss. We look forward to Solstice and December 21 like no one’s business up here in Alaska.

I learned a lot about shooting with an iPhone this week. The best part was learning that I can use it for this project. Sure I don’t feel like a “real” photographer when I use it, but it allows me some flexibility, and if nothing else, it allows for some creativity on how to get the best out of it as a photography tool.

Do you shoot regularly with iPhone? Do you process the images? Do you have a favorite iPhone camera app? Please share you experiences with the iPhone camera.

Next week I approach the halfway point.