Dog Days

Great class thanks Jerry

Eye in the Sky

Find It?

Sun Dial

Fireballs

Week 7

This is the sea of hope

Ice

One more. Enjoy the rest of the summer, everyone!

This is the last post of the class! This was a blast. I made tuns of the pics from Wadsworth. Oly prob wa a did them a few days ago and now I cant find them because so many of us did them. Does any one know if we can look them up by our name some how?

Well any way this is what I did tonight

Ships passing, Oasis, Paradise

I am watching over you...

Can you use your imagination?????

Surreal Painting-Circles

This is my attempt at a surreal painting. It's titled "Circles" for obvious reasons. I enjoyed varying the colors and filling the frame. Enjoy!

Thank you Jerry

THANK YOU Jerry!!!!!!

This class was GREAT!!!!

Enjoy your Summer!!!!!

Muahhhzzzz to all!!

Zuehailie Gardner

I ENJOYED this Class!!!

I enjoyed and appreciate taking this course. In the near future I plan to attend another digital photography classe for more experience. I learned how to use different photo programs, make my photos brighter, colorful, enhance them, make them softer and work other functions on my camera. My classmates took many very cool, neat, interesting, and creative shots. Hopefully I can stay in touch with some of my classmates and share new and awesome

photos. Good Luck with everyones future courses!! It was a pleasure being in this course, sharing my photos and my opionion with you all.

Sincerely,

Zuehailie Gardner

Ok, two more

I have to more portraits that I think are better than the last. They are of both my daughters and believe me it was no easy feat to get these pictures! Lastly, I never posted my macro pictures. I'm partial to fruit! Yummy!

I really enjoyed this class and viewing and recieving comments from everyone. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer.

Tulani

I never even knew what macro was for until I took this class. I always saw the option on my camera and never understood until I saw what the pictures looked like. I haven't quite gotten the complete hang of it, but I will continue working on it well after this class ends. I took the class to be a better photographer but we all ended up sharing pieces of ourselves. To those who wish my husband well, thank you! Most people have given us nothing but grief about the decision, and seeing your comments makes it all worht it. I have enjoyed seeing your vacation pictures or pictures of your dogs. It has all been worthwhile and I feel I got so much more than what I signed up for in this class. Enjoy the rest of the summer and just know that this is one of the best classes I've had because of all of you and your contributions!

Before & After

So before taking this class, I would have thought this was a pretty good picture of my son (first picture).

Now.......well.......I think not! Why?? Flashed used (you can see the shadow). The background is all cluttered taking away from the focal point. It needs cropping!! The smile looks a little forced.

So what do I consider a good portrait of my son now???? See below....natural light from the window he is next to - not flash; cropped to really bring your attention to the subject and not the surroundings. Although not a relaxed face, this truly is a "natural" smirk for him that comes quite naturally to him (scary thought! LOL!). I think this one really brings attention to the glimmer in his eyes!

THANK YOU JERRY!!!!

To Jerry and all my classmates...I have had a BLAST working with you "virtually" over the past several weeks!! I will truly miss the class...I can feel the withdrawl symptoms already!! So many of you have been so much fun and I really looked forward to your comments on my pictures every week!

Every year my husband and I throw a BIG end of summer celebration at our house/yard. Usually around Labor Day, but this year may be the weekend following. I am extending an invitation for all of you to attend (with or without your cameras!). I'll send out an invite via campus cruiser email, but if you have a different email address you would like me to use email me at themehans@optonline.net

Drop me a line anytime!

Best regards,

Michele

"By The Sea In Sepia"#3

I thought it would be neat to try this in black and white or Sepia. I took these photos at West Haven Beach I had a ball trying to find the perfect shot. I'm working on it though!

Macros Image "Revision" "New Image"

"By The Sea"#2 Revised

Assignment: "By The Sea" #1

Dahlia

I asked someone in my neighborhood if I could photograph some of his flowers. He grows beautiful dahlias, and they happen to be one of my favorites.

Portraits

Here are pictures of my youngest daughter and husband. I'm surprised that I captured a still moment of my daughter. I was pleasantly surprised when I veiwed the pics. My husband didn't even know I was taking the pictures so I definitely caught him at an honest moment.

SUREAL - JUSTICE

Sometimes it feels as though Justice is blind and/or slow.

These images show how sometimes Justice seems distorted and slow, however, justice moving through time is not measured the same way as through eternity, and in the end it is just!

It's been quite a journey, I've learned a great deal.

Thank you all!

This is my favorite creation so far......so who else remembers the song "99 Red Luft Balloons"....from back in the 80's!!!!

"Down town" Shapes, Reflections, Light and patterns #2

"Down town" Shapes, Reflections, Light and patterns #1

A Little Editing

I can state categorically that each and every image that we elevate beyond the level of an amateur snapshot needs editing in order to make it stronger. All good photography involves quite a bit more than just pushing the button... Tom posted a good image by window light of his dad and dog... Just a minute of editing was all it took to make the image work much better... I cropped away the excess space, and blurred and darkened the background just a little... see the improvement?

The two main elements to better photography then are seeing and set-up, followed by editing to bring it all together.

Macros Image "Revised" #2

I tried to find something unique so I photographed inside a bowl of marbles capturing not only the light but also the various rays of color that seemed to bounced off the glass.

Surrealism ~ Serenity

Hey all,

This is my relaxing touch to surrealism. More posted to fotothing soon.


I want to thank everyone and Jerry for a very rewarding mod. I learned much about digital photography and became really comfortable with my digital camera (finally).

Best of luck and have a great summer.

~Rich

Macros#1 CAUSE AND AFFECT

Saturday night a friend and I were shooting the breeze, talking outside. The time was about fiften til midnight. Suddenly, a strong stench smothered the air and we ran into the house. The over whelming smell was? You got it! That's right! A skunk!. This lead to yet another topic that lasted well into the weee hours of the morning. That subject was of course about life, procreation as well as the truths and myths of evolution. Today, I saw a butterfly. Many questions I had on Saturday night were answered instantaneously.

Portrait

My two awsome models were my dad and my dog. Over the years they have bonded so well together..The two of them would be lost without each other. Hope you enjoy.

Surreal

I call this one "Party at my Place." This was really fun when you get used to using the program. I will have some others on fotothing.It was a pleasure being in the class with everyone and I wish you all the best of luck. Thank you Jerry, this was fun. I learned a some great things about taking pictures with my digital camera that I will definitely carry with me for all my future photographing endeavors! Adrienne

For yours eyes only...

Greetings -

Hope you all had a great weekend. I know this picture of me has nothing to do with last weeks assignment however I thought it would be cool to post. I was trying to photogaph me and this was the result of the pic. Part of my face was cut off - I still thinks it a good one because it zones in on my eyes....

Week 6

Muggsie hanging out with his boy.

Week 6

Bella being Bella LAZY

Week 6 Portraits

My Daughter and Muggsie
sharing a moment

Sacrificial Models

Although my co-worker Kathy said she hates pictures, she graciously allowed me to shoot this at the office.

It's was a real nice thing for her to do, as she states, "I hate photographs."

Thanks Kathy!


What I would give to get my son Joey to smile in a photo! He has such a winning smile, but refuses to display it in pictures.

I really can't complain too much, after all he allowed me to take the shot.

In Memory of My Dad

I uploaded some pix of my mom to fotothing and wished I could also do that with my dad. He passed away in 2006. So I took his formal Army Portrait...CT 87th Infantry Division for WWII and placed it by a window and took a picture of that. He served in a few campaigns over in Europe and saw many battles.

My husband, son and I along with my brothers (2), sisters (2), their spouses, kids (5 in all) and my mom are all heading to Washington DC in a few weeks to have his ashes inurned at Arlington National Cemetary. It will be quite an emotional trip.

You can be sure I'll be bringing my camera and we are extending the trip a few days to see some sights. I'll be sure to post some pix to fotothing....if you are interested in seeing them (even though our class will be over, I'm going to maintain that account).

And here's a pix of my mom too....

And in case any of you are wondering...because many people ask...yes they had me quite late in life and my parents are old enough to be my grandparents...and that has always been a wonderful gift! 16 years span between my oldest brother and me (yep, I'm the baby).

WATER IS LIFE

Without water there is no life!

Preserving what we have gives us hope for our future generations.

This picture depicts both the effects of what can become if we do not

take care of what we have and of the hope of what can be seen over the

horizon in search of the life that exists when there is a clean supply of water.

MY LAST POST "THEY WERE ONCE A SCHOOL"

Hi Everyone, This is my last post as I leave for vacation early tomorrow. Just want to say it was a real pleasure viewing your pics, which were all really good and I wish you all the best. Jerry, thank you for a very enjoyable elective...I learned not only how my camera works but how to shoot a dynamite picture by correct placement of the lighting, filling the picture and getting on the same level as my subject. Thanks again. Rainman

Week 6 and Week 7: Portraits and Surrealism

Hello. These are some of my portraits as well my surrealist composition. The portraits are of my parents, a kitten named "Bella", and my friend Teague. Teague looks very mysterious. I had an idea of how I wanted my surrealist work to look, but it didn't really work out.

OUR WORLD FACES TIME

Our world faces the test of time as we hold the key

to a brighter future in our own hands!

Macros

Hi everyone, here are two macros that I recently uploaded to fotothing.

I can honestly say I really enjoyed the "How to fry an egg" assignment because I used my husband as my subject. We just moved right by the river so he actually likes to look out and think. It was easy to get a couple of really great shots of him just being himself. The first couple of shots were definitely silly ones because I had to explain what I was trying to capture. He was very patient while I moved him around and while taking tons of pictures. These two are my favorites hands down. I feel they capture the essence of what I see in him everyday. Plus, it was made more special by the fact that he's enlisting in the military this month and will be gone soon. So the more pictures I have of him, the better for me....

More Portraits ...

This is a photo of my nephew, he is very photogentic and loves to take pictures. Can't you tell?

Portraits

This photo was taken over this past weekend at the beach/lake, photo is of my niece Cheryl. What makes this photo original is the fact that she didn't even know that I was taking it. BTW this was taken in PA - A few famliy members and myself went away for a long weekend, hope you like it...I do.. :-)

Fire & Ice

Do you ever feel like you are riding that fine line between fire and ice! Trying not to burn up from the stress of life but not wanting to get too cold either???????????????????????

Attempt #1....we'll see what other stuff I can come up.....stay tuned to fotothing! "Same bat time, same bat station, same bat channel" (for those of you who remember that show)!

I've had a blast today putting together the final assignment. I've included one of the one's I worked on today. More will be posted on fotothing. I call this one State of Confusion. I really didn't have a plan going into this one. I think the end result symbolized some of my confusion as to what to identify. I thought it came out interesting. Sometimes not knowing and just doing results in some unique outcomes. Hope you enjoy this assignment as much as I did.

Contrast Shades of Light Photo #2 Lake Whitney

Contrast of Shades and Light Photo #1Eli Whitney Museum

I took this picture today as I drove around the city wondering if there was anything mystical or breath taking in my surroundings. I thought about being in Vermont or Maine as well as how it made me feel. Then I remembered there always has been one very special place my dad and I visited quite frequently as a child; "The Eli Whitney Museum". Here is the first photo. The next one is as followed:

Flowers in June

I could not imagine this picture taken out of my friends flower pot in her front yard would come out like this. The closeness of this photo really allows the flower to be admired for its natural beauty.

"All About Me" Self Portrait

As I approach the latter days of my pregnancy sometimes I go through changes where in which I don't feel as pretty on certain days or I may be bogged down with daily activities however; I have always felt blessed and assured to have such a loving family and husband to remind me of how appreciative they are. They always tell me I am beautiful. When my husband and my children say such a simplistic phrase as "You are Beautiful", it gives me such an awesome feeling ! I took this passege from Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman. I read this poem to myself a few times out of the year. It gives me a sassy boost. When your feeling bogged down with the strains of daily living and the various stages of conception through birth as well as motherhood read this poem in its entirety. Look in the mirror. Own it! Recieve it and believe it! Smile. Put your best foot forward!! Go about your day!

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's sizeBut when I start to tell them,They think I'm telling lies.I say,It's in the reach of my armsThe span of my hips,The stride of my step,The curl of my lips.I'm a womanPhenomenally.Phenomenal woman,That's me.I walk into a roomJust as cool as you please,And to a man,The fellows stand orFall down on their knees.Then they swarm around me,A hive of honey bees.I say,It's the fire in my eyes,And the flash of my teeth,The swing in my waist,And the joy in my feet.I'm a womanPhenomenally.Phenomenal woman,That's me.Men themselves have wonderedWhat they see in me.They try so muchBut they can't touchMy inner mystery.When I try to show themThey say they still can't see.I say,It's in the arch of my back,The sun of my smile,The ride of my breasts,The grace of my style.I'm a womanPhenomenally.Phenomenal woman,That's me.Now you understandJust why my head's not bowed.I don't shout or jump aboutOr have to talk real loud.When you see me passingIt ought to make you proud.I say,It's in the click of my heels,The bend of my hair,the palm of my hand,The need of my care,'Cause I'm a womanPhenomenally.Phenomenal woman,That's me.

I call this rendition "a good place to loose your marbles"

I'm not sure why but the disney movie Alice in Wonderland was my inspiration. I loved the twisted geometrics of the background and it just took off from there. The spiraling clock symbolizes eternity, and the lack of the need for time. As you can see my marbles are being dropped from a container up into the air? or maybe it's down? You're going to be here for a while so I left a plate of fruit for your duration - can you find it? The only way home is through the castle, goodluck!

Sorry that I haven't been posting pics or blogs but I moved and everything got lost and jumbled. I lost my memory card with all the pics I was going to post so I'm starting from scratch. I will be posting 5 pics to fotothing everyday if you are interested. I have looked at some of your pictures and I see I have my work cut out for me. I have a lot of catching up to do so this blog won't be long. Just know I've enjoyed what I've seen and read so far and keep up the great work with the pictures!

My friend's seven year old daughter was excited to help me with this assignment. This assignment was definately like frying an egg. I took many of pictures deleting those that had too much light. Trying to find the right angle while working with what was left with the daylight. This was definatley harder than it sounded.

Let me tell you a seven year old that loves the camera is hard to catch without showing emotion as she's full of life and want's to be a model. See some more posted on photothing.

A few of gods small works in detale

Messing with lighting and Portrait

BORN FREE

This last week is pretty neat. I call this BORN FREE... The scales of justice with the wild life free and people in a cage. I hope it invokes thought.

Sunnyside Up!!

So here's my initial attempt at frying my eggs....I think they are sunnyside up! I know Jerry was emphasizing a relaxed model, but I couldn't resist posting the smiling face of my son...these are a perfect reflection of his personality...the almost devilish smirk in the b&w and the full smile sepia. Do you believe I had to pay him cold hard cash to pose....he's quite a negotiator.

The first one is my hubby...he's willing to work on a bartering system. LOL!!!

I'm meeting up with my mom later this week to take some pix of her also. Would like to have multi-generations for this assignment....my family ranges from 2 (nephew) to 80 (my mom)...I'm going to take this assignment as an opportunity to do a whole "show" of my family. Keep an eye on my fotothing account for more.

Are you the apple of my eye, or the eye of my apple?

I was singing a song to my daughter with the line "apple of my eye" and she posed the question to me, "Am I the apple of your eye or the eye of your apple?" I thought it was funny, and it inspired my art work.

My beautiful grandniece Natalia.

Unfortunately there was not enough light inside the house to get a good shot, without using the flash.

I tried to capture the variation of light/shadow.

Window Light portrait - Little Sis

These photos are of my little sister during her unexpected photo shoot as a first time model during a visit to my mom's house in MA this weekend. I used a white sheet as a reflector, but could have used something that was a little more reflective now that I look at the pictures. Jerry, you were right. This is a lot harder than it looks! Let me know what you all think.

~Adrienne

The Digital Portrait -- My friend Jess

A portrait of my friend Jess. Taken on an overcast day with minimal light.

More added to fotothing soon.

~Rich

 

Gracie stopped over for some treats and another of my granddaughter.

Week 6, The Digital Portrait

My two special models are my two grandchildren and these were taken on the 4th.

How to Fry An Egg

Okay folks... here is a simple portrait project for this week...I call this "How To Fry An Egg" because everyone thinks they know how to fry an egg but so many get it wrong... You know, runny egg whites on top, crispy bottoms, broken yolks... you get the idea...

Here is a demo shot I did in class one day using nothing more than a 3 mp digital camera and window light... This is simple and basic...

1. Don't point your camera into the light... that is like having the heat up too high... the bottom will burn...

2. Allow light to fall across the face from a window source of light... no flash, artificial light, etc.

3. Move in and fill the frame (just like every other project this mod) See how I cropped the top of her head? See the placement of the head and body in the frame from a design point of view?

4. Take you time... usually your model will hide their nervousness with a smiley mask... that's fake! Wait them out... let the face relax.. create something that is timeless.

5. Use the zoom on your camera for a moderated telephoto... that way the face is properly proportioned without features getting distorted.

6. If you use a pet, you will be held to the same standards! They are harder since they don't take directions as well as people.

7. See how her face is turned toward the light and her eyes move back to engage the camera?

Now go cook up a perfect egg.....

This one fill the sky!

More shots from the Savin Rock Fireworks!

Savin Rock Fireworks

These were taken on July 3rd from the roof of my front porch. It relly took a while to get used to timing the shots because of the delay. You have to anticipate about 2 seconds before the explosion in order to catch the burst. I did not use a timer or a tripod.

Week 5: Macro Project

I'm posting these a couple of days late, I've been laid up with a cold. Taking these photos helped me get back on my feet. Back to work tommorow...

Here comes the rain....

Hi Everyone -

I caught this picture 2 days ago before the rain/thunder storm... Hope you all have a great 4th of July...

Sherry

While looking at flowers, I ran across this plant, I call it patches. I liked the various light and dark colors, as well as the little white flower in the midst.

Up Close

Since i love to hike. I thought i would be a great idea to take a few close up's of i thought would be a good fit.

Out Sailing

The 4th is coming! I'll be out on a sailing trip to Block Island starting tomorrow, for the week-end... I'll try to check fotothing and the blog from the library...

Happy shooting... Why not try some fireworks?

Remember to fill the frame!

dolphin

Here's one of the latest images I have uploaded to fotothing. I was fortunate to be at SeaWorld with some of the goals of this class in mind, and, amazingly, the dolphins seemed to be enjoying the camera as much as I was.

The Last of Macro & God

These were taken at two different times during the same day.

The Bleeding Hart flower shot was taken in the early am about 5:30-6:00.

The one with the bee wasp was taken in the late afternoon around 6:00pm.

Flower edited

Jerry is this better

Misc. Macro

So I think like many others mentioned on the blog, I was looking all week for things to photograph up close. Here are some things I shot, and of course the others are on fotothing. Have a good night all!

I found myself looking for objects every where I went all week looking for things to shoot. This first picture is of a lilly in my front flower bed. I was waiting for it to open all week. I think I was able to capture good lighting on this one.

This second picture is of an elephant ear. I've been raising this plant all season. I think the rain drops add to all the textures in this leaf.

I've learned if I intend to take many more macro pictures, I'll need to update my powershot from a 450 to a 750. I can get in close and get a clear picture on my viewer, however the shutter is very delayed and causes a lot of shake making some of the macro shots blurry. Unfortunately after lengthy reading of my manual, there isn't a way to increase the shutter speed. Anyone have any suggestions?

Summer rain.

Macro 2.0 - The Art of Being

This is a tag off of a new t-shirt of mine.

I used my job's scanner which helped grasp the full texture of the tag and fiber of the string.

Week 5 close up

Pretty violet

Week 5 Close up

Looks like a spider web

Around the Milford Green

Wish there was a bee in this flower

Was at a friend's house today for his graduation party (Albertus Magnus Class of 2008)! Found some photo ops at his party for our assignment. Felt a little ironic - homework at a graduation party!! LOL!! If it wasn't for taking this class, I don't think I would have even taken the time to notice the opportunity for this picture (the bee above).

Below picture......basketball anyone???

Portrait!

Jessica Sandler took this class last summer and she just wrote to tell me she is still uploading to Fotothing and enjoying working on the projects from Photo 1.... She said I could share this with you...

Hi Jerry! I uploaded a new series of Ryan by the window picture and wanted
to share with you. I think this will become our summer time tradition!
Thank you for the inspiration!

Hope all is well...

Miss photography class!!!

Jessica Sandler

Here is one of her recent pieces....

Notice how she is using light well (remember every assignment is all about how light works) See how light falls across Ryan's face?... As you work on your portrait assignment, take your time, allow the subject to calm down, see light fall on the face, consider a b and w or sepia conversion, simplify your background, and did I say take your time??? :-)

Pets are really much harder to do as they don't follow directions so well... This portrait would be even stronger if Jess waited 1 second more for Ryan's mouth to relax.... Notice that soft indirect window light makes this work so well... direct sun will always blow out the skin tones and make the shadows too dark....

Macro at it's best.....

I am pleased to introduce our cat Ozzy - he is a Lilac Point Himalayin. I am so pleased with this photo, I keep turning the camera on just to look at it. So let me tell you how this was taken. Ozzy was laying on the couch (as he does everyday) with a picture window in back of him, there was some light coming through.... I knew I wanted to take a picture of him and thought this would be the perfect opportunity. My boyfriend held him and his face firmly as I snapped away and this was the result of what transpired. The second shot is of a flower bush that we have on the side of our house, thought the colors in this were pretty and it was a nice shot to post. Hope you all like these shots as much as me.

Sherry

Week 4 one more

I thought this one was cool

Week 4 Shadows

Some from outside.
I thought all the fence pics were boring.

Shadows Week 4

Just a few around the house.

Starburst of colors.

2 busy bees in the early morning sun.

Details, details, details (or more formally known as, the macro project.)

Hey everyone --

These two shows were taken Friday at a friend's house in Stamford before heading to Shea Stadium to see the Yanks destroy the Mets.

This egg just so happened to be sitting on an old, dirty, lawn chair on the back porch. I like the way the dirt on the chair blended nicely with the color of the egg.





The second of a Spalding baseball mitt. Play ball!


~Rich

Jail Weed

Did you ever think a weed can be so interesting and

cool looking up close?

Hello Everyone,

Everyone is taking very imaginative and great photos. I enjoy getting close and taking these Macro pictures as well and wanted to invite a few of our smaller friends. So I got as close as I could without scaring them away and took these around my home. Please check Fotothing as well.

Shadows

Shadows from the railing on my back porch onto the deck.

~Digital Portraits~
I know I'm ahead a week, but I will be away on vacation in Virginia Beach next week.


My model of course is my American Eskimo ~Dixie Nakita~
She was named this because she came from the south, (Dixie)
and because in Sioux Indian - Nakita means wandering white wolf.
She was a stray that adopted us.


These pictures were taken at her level off of my kitchen floor by our slider glass window. The only white object that I could get to stay steady enough was a bag of styrafoam plates - which you can see in the background here. They reflected some light, enough to gleam through her fur.


As you can see, it's about nap time for her and these are the most quiet looks
she will ever show. She's usually a bounding ball of white fur, even at her ripe old age of 10.

The locals here in our home town have various names for her:
Barrel (slightly over weight in the past - and when she runs you can imagine the waddle)
Polar (this picture shows her abomidable snowman heritage)
Dixie Dog (Affectionately)
Digger (gardens are not safe in our neighborhood)
Boom Boom (afraid of lightning, she'll run for cover and "boom, boom" through everything until she's safe)

Something a little different from another perspective!

Dixie dog in the pond again!


Hey Jerry, Dixie wanted to make her formal aquaintance with you and show you how happy she would be to "doggy sit" your pond in your yard. This is how she "doggy sits" a pond (not very lady-like might I add). Every once and a while a frog or turtle might become victim as one of her play things, but she's an avid fisher and can dive like a white submarine to get the bass.

She was soooo happy to hear of a brand new play place that she wanted to show you her "Northford Famous" country-girl smile. All of our friends get a kick out of her funny faces.

After our vigorous tromp through the pond, Dixie and I went garden jumping at our neighbors place. I believe this is an onion blossom. So pretty for something that is so smelly.

We couldn't pass up this gorgeous daisy in the twilight sun.

Macro-Wk 5

Right in our own backyard, or is it our front? This was taken on our Albertus Campus. I've been walking by the arrangement for several weeks admiring them, little did I know I would be taking a picture for our class.

In fact, I asked our teacher how do we take close ups without losing the integrity? Macro - beautiful answer!

Mushroom Anyone?

Never thought I would ever be taking

a picture of a mushroom.

Drops of Rain

This was taken after a passing shower early in the AM.

She Sells Seashells By The Seashore

This collection of seashells I hade in one of my planters

seemed like something different and interesting to capture.

Roses are very delicate. these roses are approximately 4 days old. there has been so much rain, the roses are rebelling. This is as upclose as I could get.

Raindrops on the petals

Its incredible to see those rain drops way down there, only by getting really close can you see the drops

Orangeburst

Amazing what you can find in your own backyard. When you use

macro it is like entering into a whole new dimension

A Petunia

For those who prefer Petunias

Inside a Lilly

Here is a flower for all the ladies in the class.

If this is "Pet Week" allow me to introduce my daughter & son-in-laws pet "Phife". He is a very friendly Visla who was quite perplexed about a camera in his face.

If I wasn't so darned tired...I'd see if that kitty below wanted to come out and play. I promise I won't eat the kitty, just play with it a little!

My Eyes Adore You

If I could only get my paws on that damn parakeet below!

I will be taking more macro shots for this week's assignment, but I thought I would start it out with my little friend Paulie's portrait I took not too long ago. Not a great model as he doesn't have a very long attention span, doesn't stay still very long and tries to chew on the camera... but I was able to sneak in a few good ones. Adrienne

Week 4 A Big Fat Shadow

Week 4 light and shadow

lights in a ceiling fixture and the shadow from the lights

Shadows and Light

Here are two pics. from around the house. The first picture is of the hallway light. The ridges on the glass give a nice effect. The second picture is underneath the deck at my cousin's house. I was taking pictures of an old shed on her property and ended up underneath the deck. I decided to use black and white for the shadows and lights photos to really bring out the contrasts between the lights and shadows. More on fotothing.

Part #2 Reflections in the Window

part 2# of my blog...

Shadows of Clouds - Before the Rain

Hi All -

I was able to capture a few good shots this evening. The first one was taken minutes before the rain/storm hit Meriden. The second shot is a reflection taken off of my car window shortly after the storm... here comes the blue skies.....

Throughout the week I have been checking blogger and I muty say there are some pretty amazing shots. Great job to you all... especialy with the weather not cooperating - timing.....

Have a great night.
Sherry

Light and Shadow

The cats are from across the street they aways end up in my driveway for some reason!

And what is a light project with out a sunset! This was taken form my condo in Ft Myers Memorial day weekend

Sorry every one I am falling a bit behind this week. I am posting my Water pics tonight

Ridge Road, Hamden, because it was a partially cloudy evening, the lighting on the shrubs really caught my attention.

Hi Everyone! These are a couple of the pic's I captured this week. The first one is a shot of my grill. The shadow gives the illusion that the metal is bent. However, this is a flat shelf. I thought the light on some of the raindrops added a dramatic touch. There were some additional shadows within the drops themself.

The second picture was almost a candid picture of two girls rehearsing some sort of skit. Maybe a sun dance since we haven't seen much in the past week? I caught them on my way out to lunch today. They saw me approaching last minute with the camera, however I think I caught a good a scene. Even though their body is pictured, it shows how some shadows are decieving depending on the direction of the light. The closest shadow appears to show her hand close to her side, however looking at her actual stance, her arms are straight out. Pretty interesting I thought. See some more pics on fotothing.

Shadows & Light

Here we go....a mix of photos for this week's them...more on fotothing. I think my favorite is the photo of our family walk the other night. That's me (holding my son's webkinz), hubby and #1 son in the middle of our walk. Saw our shadows on the street and stopped them on the sidewalk to snap this one off. At least the neighbors already know we are a bit nuts, so they didn't even question what or why we were doing. :))

Light & Shadows Revenge

Just when you thought it was over!

The Revenge of Light & Shadows

Light and Shadows - 2

Some addtional photos I took for the Light and Shadows assignment. Played around with them in Picasa. Thought I would share. - Adrienne

Light and Shadows

So when in Key West last month, this class was starting. I knew that this was going to be one of our assignments, having previewed the syllabus. So some of these shots are from Key West, or the way home rather. We stopped on Rt. 1 in Islamorada at the "Artist's Village." A little collection of shops with art ranging from Pottery to Paintings. They had a courtyard, sometimes cafe, and we were waiting for some of the other girls and hanging out. So this is the product of that wait/ boredom/ random act of creativity. And the sign was in Key West in the Marina. It was this cool sign that told you the distance to all these far away places. Cool huh? And it was just sitting there under the light.... go figure. And of course, to see the others, please go to fotothing. - Adrienne

Ridge Road Hamden

This was shot on a cloudy day, yet the variation of light and color still came through.

Light & Shadows - Week 4

A lovely evening in Hamden.

Neon Morning

Not sure about this one but there was something about

it that caught my eye.

Maybe it was the shadow of the tree coming at me

to the center of the picture.

I am very sorry i am late turning in my water pictures... I had to fly out to Atlanta for a week of training.. I went for a hike in the West Hartford Reservoir and took several.. The pictures that i took have a great mixture of shadow and light..

Light & Shadows

This was taken in the early am sunlight

when the shadows are long and there is

plenty of empty benches.

Tall Grass

This was taken at about 5:30 am when nobody was watching me.

I thought it might be a cool idea to have the 75 foot creature wave to the class.

Good Morning Everyone. I was given a new Canon, SD750 and I downloaded Picassa so I experimented with some new pics. You may see different versions of the same picture on photothing. Hope you enjoy them. Most were taken early this a.m. so I could attemp to capture the morning light.

A warm day

Took these just before mowing the lawn last week.

Since we're showing off our spring chicken's - How do you like my brand new triplets? Hewey, Dewey & Louie say hello!

All of these pictures are from different places that I've been to this week. I was a little worried that I wouldn't get this assignment right, so I just kept taking pictures of shadows with light.

Above was taken on Monday night during that amazing down pour. My husband and I were just nominated as a part of the board of deacons in our church and this was at our first official meeting. The old windows in our church are not stain glassed - just ripple glass. These colors were the natural colors coming through the window just before the storm came.

Ever get this feeling on your way to work? I do every day, this is the hallway that I walk through, at the end somewhere is the offices that I work at.

Another beautiful church window, I won't lie - this one is stained glass.

I had to drop my car off at a repair shop in Waterbury on Wednesday, this creepy tree was in the back lot - just posing for its picture.

Week 4: Shadows and Light

I wanted to photograph shadows from the trees and power lines across my road, shadows of trees crossing my lawn, and shadows of each blade of grass crossing each other when you stuck the camera right down into the turf: couldn't get the shots. Got photos of my road, lawn, and a green blur (maybe I should post these failures onto Fotothing?). I had more success with clear, solid patterns on cement, wood and rock. And my leg.
Got kind of excited by White's "Equivalence" theory, tried to get pics where you couldn't instantly identify the subject, to see if I could create some sort of "Equivalence" between the picture and some private memory/emotion/mental state. Had the day off today, couldn't ask for better weather. Great bright sunlight for shadows.

The Baby

One of the 1st pictures I posted on 5/29 was of a Dove sitting on a nest. Here is the result of her sitting.

Raindrops on the River

Well, this assignment required that the photos be taken by the sea. Unfortunately, I don't live close to the sea so I set out to go to the Connecticut River to take my photos. When I arrived the clouds started to get heavy and black and just as I was about to get out my car, a monsoon rain started, so I took a photo of the raindrops falling on my windshield and on the river

Ripples Galore

This close up photo of the water activity from the river captures the orientation of each ripple

Water Ripple

Since I do not live close to a beach, I had to take my picture at the river. This photo captures a ripple as it approaches the bank of the river where there are several types of rocks and debris

Visit to the Beach

Diving

Hello to everyone. I’m in Digital Photography II -- I took Digital Photography I last summer -- and I’m currently working on taking a variety of water-themed photographs…I guess this coincides with all of your beach photos. :) This is one of the latest images I have uploaded to fotothing that I took at a zoo. I’m rmleary on fotothing, by the way, and, in addition to the recent images I have been taking for Digital Photography II, I have some of the images I took for Digital Photography I still there as well. I look forward to seeing how this class progresses. I’ve seen a ton of well thought-out and creative photographs posted here already. -- Rachael

By the Sea

The day at the beach was fun. On Thursday evening I took a trip and visited Seaside Park with my friend Jess. Even though I was raised in Bridgeport and it had been many years since I last walked the sand of Seaside Park, but I remembered the park well and I think the park in a way too because I was graced with a beautiful sunset and some truly amazing scenes.

The first is of a horseshoe crab submerging through water. There were quite a few of them at one edge of the beach and I was lucky enough to get some cool shots of them. I really like this shot for way the water ripples around the shell.

The second is of a small piece of wood and a seashell.

My third shot is of a piece of wood that had been stranded on the beach.

I will be posting some more to my fotothing shortly.

Sea Shells - Life Guards Chair

Hi All -

I thought it would be a perfect night to take a ride to the beach - so that is what I did. These shots were taken from West Haven beach... I am posting my 2 favorite shots of the day/night.. I was not pleased with the outcome of the others,therefore more to follow...

Look what you can find at the beach...

It was hard to pick out which ones to post to the blog....check out my fotothing account to see more (themehans).

The first is one of the walkway entrances at Walnut Beach in Milford. The 2nd is a "floating brick"...actually a square sponge my son kept throwing into LI Sound...he was having fun watching it rush back to shore...caught this great shot of it "riding a wave" back in! Hang 10 Dude!

Considering the weather hasn't been the best the last few days, I took advantage of what turned out to be a beautiful evening. Since I'm inland and own a gas guzzler, I thought I would venture to a park a few towns over. There is always something beautiful to capture at this park. These were taken at Hubbard Park in Meriden. I was able to get there afterwork and catch what I think is the best part of the day's light. More photo's are posted on photothing.

Water Photos

This was a day at West Haven beach.

What time is it?

Lighthouse Park
Friday approximately 7:30 a.m. It was a warm bright morning!

Cooling on a Warm Summer Day

Lake Whitney - Hamden
Although it was hot that day, the breeze and scene was quite cooling.

What is this?

Lake Whitney - Treadwell Avenue. Taken this morning, although it was cloudy, this shot was quite a surprise.

A Day at the Lake

The photos were taken at Bear Town State Forrest in The Bershires (where I grew up; visiting this weekend). This is also where I discovered to use my color accent option on my camera yesterday! I knew it existed and had tried it before, but with little success. Sometimes (and this is just my opinion!!) it can be quite tacky, but these came our pretty cool I thought. Hard to beleive that is the water in some of the shots. And of course there are more on fotothing. Hope everyone is having a good week so far.

A few from Witek Park

Bridge of Sighs

Happy Fathers day to all the fathers in our photo class.

The goose is too good for the gander!

This was a must take while I was sitting down taking a break from the heat.

A Perfect Day at Your Favorite Spot

Talk about picking the perfect day to take off from work

and going to your favorite fishing spot.

AND ITS FRIDAY!

Long Summer Days

Just sit back and enjoy what we tend to ignore and take for granted!

A Kodak Moment

Friday was the best day of the year and I was off from work which gave me the opportunity to take this picture. To me this was a real "Kodak moment".

Relaxing on a beautiful day.

This next set was taken along the West Haven shoreline. I have lived in W.H. for 36 years and this was the 1st time I actually took the time to really view its shoreline.

This was at a beach in Milford. I took it for the shadow of the sign but mostly for the clouds. The 2nd shot was also in Milford as the tide was coming in.

Week 3: By The Sea

I took some photos along the Housatonic River between Southbury and Newtown/Sandy Hook (last November) and I thought I'd post a couple. I live in Litchfield County, pretty far from the sea... There were beautiful birds there at the time, swan, mallard ducks, but I spooked them before I could get any photos. There are remains of a huge, old, abandoned brick railroad bridge/embankment along the road (not the bridge seen in the photo, which is relatively old as well), some photos of which I'll post on fotothing. I tried to find ancient debris along the bridge and road to focus on, and found these cool old "Ramsey Guard Rails" to keep people on the road. Wonder if that co. is still around...

Sorry, I had a few more that had to be seen.

Today my husband and I took a relaxing ride to East Haven, Momaguin Beach. A place, when I was younger I can remember spending many exciting summers with my friends. A place I haven't been back to since those all too long ago teenage years. As I paced the beach I could remember the way this place made me feel, the salty mist in the air and a gentle breeze that balanced all the chaos of a teenagers life. I tried to grab that essence in some of these pictures, especially the beauty that surprises a person and almost takes their breath away. Enjoy!

Objects

Good Evening All -

Today I took a differant spin on my photo shooting, yesterday I strolled down Whitney Ave along Lake Whitney - tonight I strolled in my house taking pictures.. LOL.. Some of the objects I took pictures of were lighting, vases and flowers...

I also took a picture of the ceiling in the train station on the way home today..

Hope you all have a good night...

Sherry

Downtown building - "shapeology"

Downtown and Shapes week 2

This was a picture of a church door in my hometown. I thought this showed the best light as the reflections of the nearby trees and the last of the sunlight of the day.

I went down town and found some nice shots. I like the one of the fence. You can really see the sun hitting it

Reflections Part #2

Hi Again -

Here is part #2 you are going to love this one, if you only knew how it was taken you would appreaciate it even more...

Reflections

Hi All -

These photos were taken today at a beautiful remote place located on Whitney Ave in New Haven. I was pleased with most of the shots however after downloading them into my PC I noticed what I did wrong and what the imperfections were. Live and learn... Hope you all are enjoying yourselves..... Chao......

Here is another picture from the Derby green.

I like the Red doors with arch.

Do not try this at home...

So I'm doubled up on courses now and need to squeeze in homework where I can...this was sort of a city walk, but more like a city-drive. Taken from my car...not while in motion! This is the first time I was hoping to hit all red lights on my commute to/from work today. Thus the caption "do not try this at home....this was done by a trained unprofessional"..Ha ha ha! More are posted to my fotothing account. It was fun seeing what I could find from behind the wheel, although I'm sure the other motorists thought I had a screw loose! But wait...I do!

Also on Fotothing

Jerry,
I lightened the archway with my image editing from Kodak. Do you think it looks better?

I went to the Derby green and took some pictures

of random things that caught my eye.

I grew up in a small town called Portland CT. When most people would ask where I grew up and I would tell them, “I grew up in Portland”. The first words out of everyone would be, “oh, Portland Oregon?” he, or she would say “Portland Maine?” No, none of the above and I would say Portland CT...Most people have never heard of Portland CT. Well, enough about me and let me tell you a little about the pictures that I took. I took some photos of buildings that were built of Brownstone, which was mined in Portland CT. Most of Wesleyan College was built from the brownstone that was taken from the Portland Quarries. I hope everyone enjoys the photos...

Above are the columns of Downtown New Havens old Post Office

Above is a statue located on the steps of the New Haven Court House

A very ferocious lion that protects Chapel St. from a light post

A side of a statue on the Court House steps

This is a church located in Southington. The light was glimmering just enough tonight off the front of the church to show reflections in the windows. I love the different sizes of the windows and the neutral stone as the backdrop. There are more pictures of the valley posted on photothing.

Downtown New Haven - Chapel Street

I've been on Chapel Street thousands of times, this was the first time I noticed this beautiful entrance.

It beautifully reflects the building across the street as well as adds a little class in the block as it sits next to the Family Dollar Store.

Downtown New Haven - "Gold building"

This building is located on Church Street. I've been fascinated with it since 1980 when I first moved to Connecticut.

On a sunny day, as it reflects the sun, it looks gold; hence I've named it the "Gold Building."

Milford Historical Society

Took a walk to the Milford Historical Society Buildings this evening. The buildings are really old (didnt catch the dates, but should have!) and interesting. The architecture is so much different than today's modern houses.
Here are some of the shots, there are more now posted to fotothing. Good night!

A Barrel and Blue

Hello Everyone-

This image was taken in Ireland in a small town near the Bunratty Castle in County Shannon (April/May 2008). The other backpackers I was traveling with were jet lagged, so I decided to make use of everyone elses "down time". I took a walk past the castle, found a small gate leading to what seemed to be a little pathway. It took me into a quaint little town, with hardly anyone around. I found herb gardens, and tool sheds, chickens, and of course pubs. When I saw this cottage though, the blue just struck me. I thought of trying to capture the entire cottage, but was so drawn to just this section of it. A barrel and the blue.

lk08

"When Irish eyes are smiling, Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring. In the lilt of Irish laughter You can hear the angels sing. When Irish hearts are happy, All the world seems bright and gay. And when Irish eyes are smiling, Sure, they steal your heart away"

Back To Square One

A different perspective in downtown New Haven.

What is due by Tuesday June 9th?

Assignment: Downtown

Photograph shapes, reflections, light and pattern in an urban or town environment paying particular attention to the shapes you select in the frame and the quality of light on the subject.

Avoid being far away or showing a whole building. Always shoot with natural light. Never use flash in this class... get in close, fill the frame.

Generally avoid having the sky in your picture... Move in! Fill the frame! look for details... where is the focal point? Where is the light? Find geometry and follow the light.... Mid day is much harder to shoot in than evening light or early morning light....

Yesterday was family day at the FDNY training facility on Randall's Island. It was a very busy day and I wasn't able to get as many photographs of the buildings and architecture as I would have liked (most were of the men and their activities) but here are a few I was able to get. Although it doesn't apply to this week's assignment, I put in some of the "probies."

- Adrienne

Week 2 - The shapes, reflections, light and patterns of Milford

Good afternoon all. On Saturday morning I took a trip to Milford Green located in the center of town. It was a nice warm day, with a craft and food fair which meant for a lot of people and hopefully some good photography. I chose the center because there are a quite a few historic houses, buildings and landmarks. I was fortunate enough to take shots of landmarks that I have grown fond of over the years from living in Milford.

My first photo is of a little sandwich / soup restaurant called Liquid Lunch. What I like about Liquid Lunch (besides their food) is the building itself. The building stands out from the others in the area because of the structure's texture and contemporary look. The texture of the building resembles that of a house in Sante Fe, New Mexico with a textured beige adobe look. The light reflecting in the window makes it seem that there is a white or curtain covering it from the inside.

My second photo is of bell monument. I liked the stone structure holding bell for its shape and for the monument blended in with the rest of Milford's green. I was also very pleased with the contour of the bell, wooden beam and stone monument's shadows on the ground. Their merging shadows made for a very interesting shot.

On a side note I was at a very busy outing with people everyone, but I noticed that with about 99% of my photos (about 50) I managed to escape the people. Something I wasn't even trying to do.

Additional photos being posted to my fotothing account.

~Rich

Week 2-buildings

So I've been looking at buildings alot lately and found a few interesting ones to photograph. I find that I like old churches and schools the best. They seem to have the best architecture to me. The second picture is Beecher Magnet school in New Haven. It was recently updated and I photgraphed where the new and old building meet. The first picture is a church in Hamden that I drive by everyday on my way to work. Hope you like them. I have more on fotothing.

http://www.fotothing.com/tulanip/

Week 2 City Walk

Took a walk/drive through downtown Waterbury and found some neat places... just happened upon some kind of police procession. Ate at Mary's diner. I must have taken 30 photos, these are my favorite 5, I'll upload some more on Fotothing over the next few days.

The Library

I thought it appropriate to be in B&W given the age and condition of the library.

Real or Reflection?

This was taken in West Haven and looks like a window reflecting upon itself, but is actually 2 separate windows.

Windows

Early morning light on a new building.

Building Within Itself

A different approach.

3 Buildings in 1

The building is made in tinted glass. Creating a mirror effect that makes objects around it reflect off of it. This image is very interesting because it has different reflections depending on the angle, side, or distance you look at it. It's pretty cool to see three buildings in one!

Stuck in Time

How many structures are in this picture?

This was taken at ??

I am not telling you yet!

Sundown in New Haven CT

This looked to be a great reflective picture. You tell me!

Timeless

It is eight o clock, do you know where your friends are?

Floyd's Fish