Day 69 - Milkbone

Today's assignment was to make a photograph of a beautiful simple shape, such as an egg. Utilize lighting and focus to make it sing. While we humans may not think this shape beautiful, it's a favourite for many K9's. In fact, it was rather tricky getting my pictures taken with the excited tails wagging around the table. I used my iPad Photo Soft Box once again. I actually used the red light but when processing, thought it looked better in antique - more natural. Once all the shooting was done Dexter and Sadie were given the photo subject to eat. Yummy.

Day 55 - 'Hi'-acinths

Peg needed some spring in the house so she picked up these Hyacinths at the local grocery store on Monday. They were closed tight but started opening yesterday. Seeing all the different flower pictures on fellow blog sites gave me the urge to take some of my own. I took this one this evening. I tried using the light from the room but it washed the colours out. I decided to go to my handy iPad and the Photo Softbox app. I set the colour to pink and found it intensified the colours. As a final touch I sprayed it with water. Who says spring doesn't start until March 21st?

Day 46 - Something Old

Today's assignment was to make a photograph of something old. Be sure to show us the character that age can give a subject. I considered doing a self-portrait for this one but I guess in the big scheme of things I may not be considered old. Well not that old anyway. Instead I chose Peg's grandmother's cup and saucer. Helene Marguerite Dozois (Giddings) or Nana, as she was known to her grandchildren, was born in Granby, Quebec on June 2nd, 1897. This tea cup was one of her wedding presents in 1926. It is a gold-leaf monogrammed Limoges tea cup from France. It was given to Peg as her grandmother's nickname was Peggy. When Peg was born, she looked so much like her grandmother that she was named Paula Elisabeth Giddings. Her initials spell Peg. The cup is a special reminder of her connection to the past.

Day 35 - Depth

Today's assignment was to create a photo today that gives a sense of depth or dimension. I procrastinated until the evening so I had to get out my iPad and use the handy Soft Box app. As I may have mentioned before, we have a collection of 'Willow Tree' angels. I played around with the positioning so I could show depth. The Angel of Patience (very useful with photography) is in the forefront while 'Heart and Soul' are in the back.

Canon XSi
Lens: 100 mm
Focal Length: 100
F/stop: 4.5
Exposure: 3 sec
ISO: 200

Day 20 - Ghost Change

Did some more playing with my macro and the Photo Soft Box Pro this evening. We have a little coin bowl we keep in the cupboard for when change is needed. I decided to take it out and see what I could get. The photo above is the result of setting the exposure time to 6 seconds and then throwing more coins into the container after about 2 seconds. The transparent coins are the ones that were thrown in after wards. I like playing with exposure this way and am always looking for new ways to do so. I'm open to suggestions if you have any.
Speaking of suggestions, thanks to all of you who gave me feedback on my signature. I have decided to change it but haven't time to really play with it. Hopefully, I'll get to that this weekend. For now I'm such using text on an overlay layer.

Canon XSi
Lens: 100 mm
Focal Length: 100
F/stop: 4
Exposure: 6 sec
ISO: 400

Day 16 - Spacey!!!!!

Shelley took the picture but I'm writing today. You may remember from a previous post how much Shelley despises cough syrup. In an effort to be helpful, I managed to find her syrup in pill form so she would not have to gag down the liquid stuff.
Well...the pills have worked however she has been very spacey all day. You know...lights on but nobody's home? So the picture of the day is fitting.
Here's hoping she's feeling better tomorrow. By the way, this is a picture of her iPad screen. She had the Photo Soft Box Pro open and the lights off.

Day 11 - Mexican Iguana

A friend and colleague of mine spent part of his Xmas holiday in Mexico. While he was there he picked up this cute, colourful, crafted iguana. I love the colours and patterns created with beads. I'm not a lizard fan but this guy's okay in my books.
To take the picture I took the Xmas cactus out of the living room so that the iguana would appear to be surrounded by greenery. I then turned off all the lights and used the Photo Soft Box app on my iPad. I was home alone so it was a bit tricky. I set up the tripod and then held the remote control in one hand and the iPad in the other. I held the iPad above the iguana and set it on yellow so it would appear as the iguana was sunning himself. See some things to improve but overall I'm happy with the shot. I really love my new app.

Canon XSi
Lens: 100 mm
Focal Length: 100
F/stop: 4
Exposure: 3 (Bulb)
ISO: 400

Day 359 - New iPad Photo Toy

Found a new app for the iPad. It's called Photo Soft Box Pro. It was on sale for 99 cents and so far I think it's money well spent. There are a variety of different lights and effects and it's very friendly to use. I used the red light (four rectangles, looks like a window) effect on this picture. I turned off the all the lights except the one on my iPad. I also needed to use the tripod because of slow shutter speed. I still have some tweeking to do as I find the red of the tomato isn't uniform but I think it'll be a handy tool.