D61: Mom's favorite

My mom's favorite candy, Rocky Road from See's candy.

Manual:  Read pages  28 and 29 installing and removing the CF card.

Images:  Viewed images by food photographer Matt Armendariz

D60: Xmas Tree upclose

Went to the Jelly Belly factory to check out  the Christmas tree decorations.  Tried the zoom effect on the tree.

Manual: Read page 27 "Mounting and detaching a lens"

Images:  Viewed Xmas images on flickr.

D59: Snowmen Social

Went to Sonoma with my friend Cheryl. Never seen this many snowman in one place. It was like a party for snowmen, bring your own snow. :-)

Manual:   Read page 26 "Using a household power outlet"

Images:  Studied images in Michael Grecco's book "Lighting and Dramatic the Portrait"

D58: Apple a Day Vs. One a Day

 So does a vitamin a day keep the doctor away?

Manual:  Read page 24 and 25 "Installing and removing the battery"


Images:  Viewed images by Canadian photographer Alyce Taylor

D57: I am Blessed

  I decided to spend the day in silence (as much as possible) just reflecting on my life and all the blessings I have received.  I took a walk along the Emeryville waterfront watching the sunset.  I thought of all the things I'm truly thankful for:

My Health
My Family
Good Friends
My Freedom
This sunset 
This Life

I am truly blessed. 

Manual:  Read page 21, 22 and 23 "Getting Started and Recharging the Battery'

Images:  Viewed the Thanksgiving images on  Flickr using keyword "Thanksgiving"

D56: Melts in your mouth

Spent most of the evening taking images of Thanksgiving Day dinner preparations .  Too many to choose from so I went with something easy for my picture of the day.

Manual:   Read page 48 "Self timer operation"

Images:  Viewed images by New York  photographer Markus Hartel.   Interesting images.

D55: Ready for my closeup

Went for a stroll in the park today and came upon a bed of recently planted flowers.   I had my macro lens in my bag so I decided to take some close ups. Can't recall the name of the flower.

Manual:  Read page 40 "Setting the date and time"

Images:  Viewed images by New York photographer Dave Beckerman   Nice images of  New York.   I really like his "Still Life" and "Central Park" series. 

D54: View from across the Pond

Driving along highway 29 in Vallejo I notice this pool of water and the reflection from the apartment building.  I thought it would make a nice picture of the day.

Manual:  Read page 175 "One shot AF for still pictures"


Images:  View images by Richard Avedon online.  His prints are on exhibit at SFMOMA.  I want to go see it before it leaves.

D53: Day 53

Tried my hand at light painting.

Manual:  Read page 42 "Cleaning the CMOS sensor".

Images:  I'm in the process of designing  my website so I've been looking out several different websites for inspiration and ideas.  Today I check out Bruce Deboer site.  I like his lifestyle images.

D52: Dancing with Fire

Went to a photography meetup tonight over at Dolores park.  Great turnout of photographers.  I got some great shots of the city, and a man with a bubble making contraption.  The main attraction was of course the fire dancers from The Temple of Poi.  Had an awesome time.

Manual: Read page 27 "Mounting and Detaching a Lens".

Images: Very long day.  viewed images on flickr explore.

D51: Seashells

Went by my friend Karen's house this morning to practice product and macro shots.  We a shot a few different items.  This was my favorite. 

Manual:  Read page 44 "Dioptric Adjustments".

Images:  Viewed images  by John Reiter .  Read about him on Scott Kelby's blog.  Amazing landscape and nature photography.  He has the incredible honor of having two his images hanging in the Smithsonian Museum.

D50: Fire in the Sky

The sky showed her colors tonight.  Just as the sun dipped below the hills, the sky lit up and turned a fiery red.  I like the cloud curl just at the point where the sun disappear.   Sweet!

Manual: Read page 43 and 44 "Cleaning CMOS sensor. 

Images: Watch the documentary  "Thin" by photographer Lauren Greenfield.   The documentary is about 4 young girls struggling with anorexia. Very moving.  Check out her website if you want to read more about it. 

D49: Tower Bridge

I went up to Sacramento for a night shoot.  very cold.  Below is a picture of the Tower Bridge near Old Sac.

Manual:  Read page 77 and 78 "selecting the AF point".


Images:  Viewed images by Senior Portrait Photographer James Schmelzer.

D48: Shadow Art

I was laying across the bed thinking about what I wanted to shoot for my picture of the day. I look across the room and notice my tripod shadow on the wall.  I thought Mmmmm  shadow puppets, then I thought of something even better.

Manual:  Read pages 70 and 71 "File numbering methods'.


Images:  Viewed images of my contacts on flickr.

D47: Light Dinner

Went to a Smugmug meetup tonight to hear a talk by local photographer Sam Harnack on  photographing seniors.  Busy day, so I didn't have time to go out and shoot my picture of the day.  Met up with my friend Karen and we grab a quick bite to eat before the meetup.  My picture of the day is my dinner which consists of a half Mediterranean veggie sandwich on tomato bread, bowl of vegetable soup and kettle chips.

Manual: Read page 67 "Setting the color space". 


Images: Went to hear a talk by photographer Sam Harnack on how to photography Seniors.  I viewed more of his images at his website.  Pretty impressive.

D46: Shrimp and Chips

A quick dinner tonight.  Shrimp and Chips with a glass of cranberry juice. 

Manual:  Read pages 63 and 64 "Setting the color temperature and white balance correction".

Images:  Viewed images by Mike Jones . I first saw this guy images on flickr.  Interesting collection of portraits and landscape images. He travels around the country in his mobile home taking photographing different places.

D45: Bay Bridge from The Embarcadero

My friend Jean was in town for the weekend and I met up with and another friend, Jennifer for coffee. I later walk along the Embarcadero and took some images of the bay bridge. I never really photographed it from this angle.  Had great time. 

Manual:  Read the page 71 "Setting White Balance".  play around with different white balance settings.  Shot the image above in Tungsten mode.

Images: View more images by Photographer Jim Patterson.

D44: Save the light

If you're driving or walking around Emeryville Ca,  you will notice a black stick figure on a yellow background, painted on the traffic utility boxes around town. It's the same character commonly seen on road signs, except the character is doing things not seen on road signs.  On one box the character is juggling three balls, another box shows the character inside a bubble.  The idea is the brain child of local artist Seyed Alavi and students from Emeryville high school. There are 23 different drawings.   Below is one of my favorites.  If you would like to see the rest click here

Manual:  Read page 161 "Program line".  Not much to read

Images:  Viewed images by Jim Patterson .   Amazing underwater and landscape images.

D43: Sunset

Today I sat an watch the sun slip below the horizon.  The perfect ending to a beautiful day.  I am blessed.

Manual: Read Page 160 "Shooting Combinations"

Images: Viewed images by food photographer Michael Ray

D42: Milk and Cookies

My product shot.   Couldn't come up with a good concept so I stuck to a simple setup.

Manual: Read page 148 "Register Camera Settings".

Images: Just received the new issue of vegetarian times.  Besides the great recipes and the articles it also has awesome food images.  Viewed images in the magazine and check out a few on their website.  Great resource for food images.

D41: Taco Salad

Ingredients:

Romaine Lettuce
Soy Veggie Crumbles
Sharp Cheddar and Mozzarella Cheese
Roma Tomatoes
Salsa
Sour Cream

Manual:   Read page 136 and 137 "Setting the trimming"  Learn something new.  Didn't know you could do this in camera.

Images: Viewed images by Hark Lee .    This guy has some amazing landscape images of the San Francisco bay area.  The titles he chooses for his images are so fitting.  Beautiful work.

D40: Old School, New School

  My how the times have change. When I was in school, Cd players was the hot item for listening to music.  Today, Ipods and and mp3 players are the new toys to own.  Or better yet, you can download your music to your cell phone.  Technology just keeps getting better.

Manual:  Read pages 140 and 141 "Print ordering".

Images: Viewed images by Vincent Laforet  Canon shooter.  Check out his short films shot with the Canon 5d Mk II. 

D39: 3 leaf clover

Went to Muir woods this morning with my friend Karen. Fall colors were in bloom.  The air was cold and crisp.  Did a  little hiking and took some images of the leaves, moss and dew drops. Had a great time. Thanks Karen for  the tips and techniques using a flash and cto's.   Below is one of my favorite images.

Manual:  Read Page 120 "Formating a CF card".

Images:  View images by Zack Arias, Atlanta base editorial photographer.  He has two websites;  portraits and Music.   Very interesting portraits.  Check him out. 

D38: PB & A

My Favorite snack. Fuji apple with Chunky peanut butter.  Granny Smith will do also.

Manual: Read page 117 and 118 "Protecting Images" and "Erasing Images".  I think I read these pages already.

Images: View images by Jason Hooker,  a member of the Tasra365 group on flicker.  Check out his images.  Two of my favorites are  title "sage" and "pills".   

D37: The making of a Grill Cheese Sandwich

Had a craving for a grill cheese sandwich

Ingredients:

cheese
Bread
elite cuisine
butter (optional)

Manual:   Page 116 "Viewing the images on a TV".

Images:  Viewed images by Tyler Stableford . He was the guest blogger on Scott Kelby site on Wednesday.  Very inspiring post.  Click here  if you want to read it.

D36: Discarded

Found these on my daily walk today. They were sitting near some bushes in the parking lot at Target. They could have used them for pumpkin pie or even better pumpkin soup.

Manual: Read page 109 and 110 "Histogram" and "Index Display"

Images:  View images by John Zinn, landscape photographer from Pennsylvania. Nice images of Pittsburg and he has a beautiful image of Roan Mountain title "Roan Sunset".

D35: Mother and Child

I was helping a friend tend to her garden when I notice these pairs.  Reminds me of a mother and child.

Manual:  Read page 106 and 107 "Setting the LCD brightness. and "Image Playback"  nothing new

Images:  Viewed images by Terri Campell,  food photographer based in Cincinnati.  His images are mouth watering.  May not want to view on an empty stomach.

D34: Taco Tuesday

Taco Tuesday at Rubios.  Easy dinner.  We went to yogurtland for dessert. I got the Taro and Mango yogurt w/chopped nuts, pineapple and blackberries. I would have taken a picture of the yogurt but it was gone before I made it home.

Manual: Read pages 84 and 85, "P program AE" I can't remember the last time I used this setting.


Images: Viewed images by Cole Weston.  I like his landscape and abstract photos. If you visit the site, you also get to view images by his children who follow in his footsteps.  All of the images are inspiring.

D33: Jumping the Broom

"Jumping the Broom" is a symbol of sweeping away the old and welcoming the new, or a symbol of new beginnings.

Below is an image of my friend Tracy wedding broom.

Manual:  Read page 86 and 87 "Tv  Shutter-Priority AE"

Images:  View images by Mikael Wardhana  This guy does amazing work. I've a fan of his work since he was at RMIT.

D32: Didn't find my frog

Spent the day strolling around Santa Barbara.  The weather was really nice and the crowds were not that bad. I checked out the arts and craft show and tour the Old Mission Santa Barbara.  Ended the day sitting on the beach watching the sunset. I took this image in front of the mission.  Didn't find my frog but there were some goldfish. 

Manual: Read page 33 and 34 "Menu Operations".

Images:  Check out local photographers exhibits in Santa Barbara.