More Flowers

Had a good week. The weather is hot but very little rain. I’ve been walking late evenings rather than mid-afternoon, just to avoid the mid-day sun.

The Weekly Assignment was shooting from the hip, no viewfinder. I tried to take some photos of some oleanders peaking over a fence, but couldn’t get the shot I wanted (usually too much fence).

I used the view finder to take this week’s photo.

The DPS photo for the week was taken within the rules and can be found here.

I did learn a little from this assignment. I was pretty sure the auto-focus would work. It did, very few blurry photos. But, it didn’t always focus where I thought it should.

Odds & Ends

The weekly photo is up. It is one of the batch I took last Sunday. I liked the color contrasts. Particularly the drive belt.

I also posted the cat photo for the DPS contest.

Have been doing my daily walk early evening when it is a little cooler. I took the camera along to try a long shadow shot. But the sun was playing hide and seek, so I didn't get the shot I wanted. I've still got a week or so to get it.

And, I got a clean bill of health from my doctor. The growth they removed two weeks ago is nothing special. And my eyelid is healing well.

Road Trip, of sorts

Went to lunch with our friends today. When we got back to their house, I asked if he had an old Edison phonograph. Yup, sure do!

The photos are a little dark but PSP cleans them up. Got one with a cat that may be my assignment picture for next week. Haven't uploaded the shots to Flickr yet, that's next.

After Dark

Sometimes the second time is better. I went to UT on Sunday, slightly after sunset, and got a few pictures I liked. So, Monday night I went to downtown Round Rock after it had gotten dark (around 9:15 pm). Surprised how deserted the streets get.

They have white lights around the trees and some of the buildings. The assignment is night photography, so I suppose the lights made it easier.

Took my tripod. Used the night portrait mode (no flash) on the camera. Used the timer function and turn DR-O off.

It appears the night portrait mode uses ISO 800 as the setting. When I look at the 100% pixels I can see a little graininess, but I suspect it would show in a normal print.

Took about 30 shots. I got four or five shots that I like. Makes it hard to choose. I'll update this post with my choice Wednesday.

Update: My DPS choice is now up. I have also updated the weekly photo page.

Night Photography

Went down to UT tonight to take some photos at the LBJ library and the UT Tower.

We went at 8pm but it didn't really get dark until 9pm. Haven't analyzed all the pictures yet. Some look ok, others are out of focus or blurred. Most likely because I didn't always use the autotimer.

One lesson learned is that pebble surfaced sidewalk are sharp on your knee. I need to bring a pad or something so I can kneel behind the tripod.

I've got a photo I can use for the assignment, but want to do better. I've got another 9 days to go out and shoot at night to get something I really like. Thinking of going to downtown Round Rock tomorrow night.

Late This Week

I'm a little late posting the weekly photo this week. But I have an excuse.

I had a minor growth in one eye-lid and had it removed on Friday. The problem is that they patched the eye for a day. My right eye is the one that actually works well. So, with that patched, couldn't even type or read.

Got to wondering if I could take any pictures using the Auto Focus (since I couldn't see through the view finder). It works, I took a self portrait of sorts. That's this week's photo.

Better Photos

I've posted the photo for the week. I've decided that rather than reduce the image size to 27% of the original, I'll upload the original to Flickr. Then post a medium link on the Weekly Photo page.

That should save me some bandwidth, not that it's an issue. Then if someone wants to see a larger version they can jump over to Flickr. That's the convention over at DPS.

I was taking pictures for the Converging Lines assignment. Next to the Mays Street bridge was a small patch of Indian Blankets. Not much wind so got a good isolated flower.