Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Going Green in the Doctors' Parking Garage

Note the sign. These spaces near the elevators are meant to be an incentive for physicians to decrease their carbon footprints. Well, at least there's a token Prius parked there.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday: Bridges

I took this photo with the new Holga 120N plastic camera I got for Christmas. It was taken with a tripod and the camera on bulb setting with a 5-10 sec exposure. The image was captured on Kodak Tri-X 400 film and developed in Diafine. One unwritten "rule" of photographing with toy cameras is that the image shouldn't be cropped, but I broke the rule and cropped out some street lights across the river. Normally, I embrace the dark corners of Holga photos, but in this case I made an exception. This foot bridge crosses what I believe is an old mill race.

Below is a view, more lightly cropped (note the vignetting in the corners), up the mill race toward the Michigan St. Bridge over the St. Joe River. This image is more about the reflections of the street lamps along the bridge, but there are a few shadows of trees, so I'm offering it as a shadow shot.

Click to enlarge either image.



Friday, December 25, 2009

Monochrome Weekend: Chinese Warrior

Statue outside Ho Ping House Chinese Restaurant

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Skywatch Friday Season 4, Episode 24

Tanning Salon
Desperate for any hint of color to counteract the perpetual gray overcast skies of northern Indiana winter, I took this picture of an empty tanning salon this morning.

Merry Christmas

My grandfather Lee received this postcard in 1910.


Detail showing the texture of the corduroy letters and the hand-painted border. Looks like the letters were painted after they were glued on the card. Click to enlarge.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday: Dad's Cornet

I pulled this old instrument out of the storeroom and experimented with off-camera flash. Converted to monochrome in Silver Efex Pro. I also liked the version below, processed with an "Antique Plate" filter in Efex Pro. Click to enlarge either image.




Monochrome Weekend: Lucy


A through-the-viewfinder (TTV) photo of our new dog from Pet Refuge. This was done by aiming a Nikon D90 digital SLR camera at the viewfinder of an old Argoflex 75 twin lens reflex camera, which in turn was aimed at the dog. The image was converted to monochrome with Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro. You can read more about TTV photography here.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Skywatch Friday Season 4, Episode 23

Statues of the Virgin Mary at Riverview Cemetery, South Bend, Indiana, at twilight

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Stereopticon

I never had a Viewmaster as a child, but I spent many hours looking at 3D images through this stereopticon, which I believe belonged originally to my maternal grandparents.


I have many pictures to go with this device, and I've just started scanning them. Here's a sample:

Before Marriage

After Marriage

I've put a few more on Flickr, and hope to add more over time. From those pictures that are dated and from the topics of others, it appears they are “fin de siècle” (Fr. "end of the century" [see also the previous post "French for Americans"]), taken in the late 19th or early 20th century.

It would be cool if there were a way to see these in 3D on the computer screen.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday #82

I noticed this interesting shadow on the wall this afternoon.


It was produced by the winter sun, low in the sky, passing through the pine trees south of the house, and then through this stained glass panel.


Friday, December 11, 2009

Monochrome Weekend: Sunset

Big Island Sunset
Big Island of Hawaii, January 2009

Nobel Peace Prize: A Study in Irony


And waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
Let's all cry, “Peace, freedom, and liberty!”

-William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene I

Skywatch Friday Season 4, Episode 22

St. Joseph River, Captured with a Holga 120CFN and Kodak Tri-X film

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday #81: Cat's Eyes

A glimpse of sunshine and four marbles from my childhood collection on the patio.

Monochrome Weekend: Remembrance

Double exposure of a Civil War monument, Battell Park, Mishawaka, Indiana. Acme (Diana clone) toy camera, Kodak Tri-X 400 film, developed in Diafine.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Skywatch Friday Season 4, Episode 21

Sunrise, Weld County, Colorado