Ryan's "Prime"

Taken with my favoritest lens (at least for crop sensors): the Nikon 35/1.8:



Once again I am falling back on black and white to cover for bad lighting conditions. I took this well after dark, lit only by floodlights.

This is a small segment of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Traveling Wall.

/rl

Mike's "Prime"

I don't really have a prime fixed lens for my current camera.  I have a couple off of my film camera that I did not take this weekend so I set the 18-55mm to 18mm and took a series of pictures at our farm.
I recall the fish eye picture Ryan took of his niece a couple weeks ago having a lot of depth of field to it, and thought playing with the shortest lens I had would be interesting.  In fact I played with it more the next day.  Each trip acquiring a few more ticks.  I would guess this is about a 30mm lens in the 35mm world?.

David's "Prime"

I chose the 30mm Sigma f1.4 as the prime lens as it gives me the closest field of view on my Nikon's DX sensor as a 50mm lens did on my old 35mm film camera.

This is a lamp fixture on the side of one of the buildings in the Santa Fe Railyard area.

Cory's Prime

I have two prime lenses, both from Canon: the 100mm 2.8 macro and the super-cheap 50mm 1.8. I chose the 50mm this week, as it is more of a general purpose lens than the other. During the week I took pictures of Maddy blowing bubbles, birds nesting on porches, and a concert at Ashley Pond. The first set was the best though, and here is a sample from it.

As a bonus, I took this picture in my favorite "shooting mode" for this lens: black and white with the contrast turned way up.

Next week: "Library"

"Prime Lens Week" due tomorrow. I won't put up the poll until Monday night or Tuesday due to the holiday weekend.

/rl

David's "Close"

A single white rose, shot using the new Tamron 18-270mm lens at 270mm. I'm about to travel around the UK for two weeks and rather than bring my usual backpack full of gear I'm traveling as light as possible. This lens will not be as sharp as my 70-200 f2.8 lens but at 1/3 the weight, and going all the way down to 18mm, will allow me to leave a lot behind.

Mike's "Close"

Sometimes when you close one door, you will find another one open.  Or was that a window?

Yes, I shot last weeks topic when I was down at Hot Shops last Sunday.  They have these big doors that have a weight and pulley system to keep them closed. 

Ryan's "Close"

How many blades do we really need for a close shave?



/rl

Cory's Close

I really don't know how this happened, but this fly clearly flew too close to the window.

Your interpretation of "Close" is due tomorrow

Next week is "Prime Lens Week". Toss out your zooms and show us your best photo with a prime lens. The subject is entirely up to you.

David - feel free to chime in on this topic if you want to clarify it.

/rl

David's "Illustration"

I decided to interpret this week's assignment a lot differently. I had the Casa Grande at the old Los Luceros ranch in northern New Mexico all to myself. The house furnishings are late 18th and early 19th century appliances and furniture - left in tact since it was last used as a residence. When I saw this stove I knew I had my image for the week. The text is taken from an actual Majestic print ad I found via Google's image search.

The photo I used can be seen in its original form here.

Ryan's "Illustration"

Nothing exciting this week. I just ran out of ideas.

I am working on a project to get a handle on 40+ sprinkler systems I am responsible for. In some cases the sprinkler tech drew illustrations inside the cover for the controllers.




I have been grabbing photos with my phone whenever I work on one that has a diagram. These photos will almost certainly come in handy at some point...

/rl

Mike's "Illustration"

I thought maybe I would need the help of an artist for this one, so I went down to the Hot Shops.  Since the definition of "Illustration" is looser than I often play this game, I figured any picture would do.

I have always liked this door.  It illustrates how welcome you are to come inside.

I did a new exercise this trip.  The only lens I took was a Nikkormat 50mm that is almost as old as I.  No flash but a tripod, and constrained myself to just those tools.  I find if forces me to think out the shots a little more.  I hind sight, the a wider angle would have been better.

You can to that here on a slow Sunday, and only the other photographers will ask you what you are doing.  Then you have to go look at their stuff, which is quite good.

Cory's Illustration

Most cars have their shifting pattern illustrated on the shifting lever itself. That makes it nice and easy to see where the lever should go for which gear. For some reason, the Beetle designers decided to put it on the ashtray instead. This makes the shifting pattern "the secret of the Beetle": if the ashtray is missing or replaced with a nonstandard one, you just have to guess where reverse is. Luckily, mine still has the illustration.

"Illustration" is due tomorrow

Next week we will do "Close". I don't know if that is the opposite of "far" or the opposite of "to open". Use your own discretion.

/rl

David's "Upside Down"

I saw the carnival pull into town around Monday and immediately knew where I was going to get this weeks photo from.

Ryan's "Upside down"

Mike obviously put thought and research into his photo.

I went for the low hanging fruit:



Yes, that's Maddy. She's upside down. In the words of Charlie Sheen: "Winning".

/rl

Cory's Upside Down

Taking a picture of yourself while hanging upside down makes your face look funny.

Mike's "Upside Down"

It was Jimi Hendrix who sang "My smile is just a frown turned upside down".  He also loved Fender guitars.  He also played them upside down.  Instead of using a left hand guitar, he took the Stratocaster style that you see on the left, and strung it backward, and played it upside down.

Maybe at first, it was all he had as an option, but the reversal of bass and treble strings being played with the opposite pickups gave him the sound that made him famous.  The guitar on the right is my 65 Fender Jaguar.  Jimi is only seen in one photo with a guitar like this, and though he holds it upside down, it is not strung backwards, so it was probably borrowed for the shoot.  Jimi did play it's cousin the Jazz Master on occasion.  He also borrowed a Fender Telecaster to play the famous son "Hey Joe".

Next week: "Illustration"

"uʍop ǝpısdn" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Ryan's "Drain"

This is a small portion of the Verdigre Creek, which drains much of the area where I hunt turkey.




/rl

Mike's "Drain"

If you have been to Zorinsky Lake recently, you will see that it has been "drained".  I looked all over to see if I could find the plug lying on shore, but could not.
A boy scout discovered a zebra mussel while collecting cans for his troop.  This is a Russian slug that has no predators in America, and can damage a lakes ecosystem.  Not unlike draining the lake.  

Cory's Drain

About a year ago I moved to what may be called "the south", which means that my house no longer has a basement. Instead it has a crawlspace that is full of dirt, spider webs, and pipes. Here are the drain pipes that normal people would hide under their basement floors, plainly visible for me to take pictures of.

Due tomorrow: "Drain"

,,uʍop ǝpısdn,, :ʞǝǝʍ ʇxǝu

/rl

Mike's "Knot"

I just walked around the house looking for knots tonight.  I never realized what a useful tool they are.  I found dog toys, blind pulls, garage door release, and of course shoes.
This is a loose knot tied at the end of a curtain swag in our dinning area.  Almost a half windsor.

Ryan's "Knot"

It's funny - when I was a Cub Scout I couldn't learn to tie knots to save my life. Years later I became interested in finding the most difficult way to traverse vertical stretches of rock and very quickly learned to tie a number of surprisingly useful knots.

I planned to break out the rope and show off a bit but ran out of time. Instead I found the one knot that I tie daily:



It's worth noting that this knot fails regularly. I wouldn't use it on the rocks.

/rl

Cory's Knot

I was working in replacing the gas gauge in the beetle yesterday when I ran into this knot of wires. Most of it is electrical, but some of it serves other purposes - the two thick black tubes carry air, and the thick black cable that runs from bottom-center into the silver disk at top-left is the speedometer cable. When I took this picture I was most interested in the little silver blob on the left that is missing a cable - that plugs into the back of the gas gauge itself, which at the time was sitting on my workbench. It turns out I needed to order a replacement for that silver blob.

"Knot" is due tomorrow

How about "Drain" for next week?

/rl

Ryan's "Fuzzy"

IOU one "Fuzzy".

/rl

David's "Fuzzy"

It's name isn't "Fuzzy" but this is one of the goats born a few weeks ago on the ranch. He feels pretty fuzzy.

Cory's Fuzzy

Lucky for Mike, I know where all of the bees are: on the plants in my front yard. It turns out bees are difficult to take pictures of - they crawl around on flowers, they fly unpredictably, the wind pushes their plants around, and they sting you. But I managed to take this picture of a fuzzy bee as it did its pollinating duty.

Mike's "Fuzzy"

I had fun with a shot like this last week, so I had to do it again.  Aside from the fuzz inside the flower pedals, the background of this picture is fuzzy compared to the parts that are in focus.
If there were bees, they would be fuzzy too.  Where are the bees?

"Fuzzy" due tomorrow!

Let's not not do "Knot" for next week.

/rl

David's "Best of 2011 Q1"

This was my alternative for the "abstract" theme week. Not my best shot of Q1 but it is a good one not seen here yet.

Ryan's "Best of Q1"

Another shot from Cory's part of the world - one of the Gilman Tunnels.




/rl

Mike's "Best of Q1"

I don't know if this is the best picture in Q1, but its the best picture I got of these darn pigeons so far.
They roost on the signs up the block from us, and there is a nice place to park and sneak up on them.  I have probably done this about four times now.  Oops.  They saw me.

Cory's Best Of

Back in March there was a SUPERMOON that just happened to rise soon after sunset. I risked bears and coyotes and rabbits to walk out to the end of one of the mesas to take a picture of it rising over the mountains, hoping that there would be enough sunlight left to give me both the moon and the mountain. Alas, there was not. Instead I got this ethereal fake sunrise picture. I think it is one of my favorite accidental shots I've done.

"Best of First Quarter 2011" due tomorrow

"Fuzzy" will be next week's topic.

/rl

David's "Paperclip"

I had to travel to Gallup to attend a funeral this week and this week's theme just popped up after I checked into room.

Cory's Paperclip

I had big plans of bending a paperclip into a fancy little stick figure for this week, but it turns out that's hard: after I got something that was kind of acceptable, I twisted too hard and his leg broke off. Some extra experimentation proved to me that I didn't want to pursue that idea anymore, and so I went for plan B: a paperclip closeup on a pretty background.

Ryan's "Paperclip"

Sometimes a paperclip won't cut it...



/rl

Mike's "Paperclip"

A friend of mine told me that a great way to break into your kids room if they have locked the door is to use a paperclip.
Oddly enough this seems to work!

"Paperclip" due Sunday!

I think it's time for "Best of 2011Q1". Post your best photo take from Jan 1 to March 31.

/rl

David's "Souvenir"

One of the first items I ever purchased from eBay, before it become just another retail outlet. I was born and raised in KC and the moon landing is one of the more significant events of my infancy.

Mike's "Souvenir"

I'm not very much into collecting or keeping "souvenirs".  Mostly because I am cheap.  Partly because I used to have a very good memory, and did not need a rock to remind me of some place I visited.
My mother likes to drag things back with her, you can see her Lucky Dogs, on the DandyPhotography page.  My wife, Sandra, as well.  This is a rock Sandra brought back from Brazil.  They seem to have a lot of this type of quartz there, and American money will buy a lot of it.

Cory's Souvenir

As Ryan noted, he and Kelcey were out here visiting last week. We visited lots of places while they were here, and the only souvenirs I came back with were pictures and dust. This "photo" is cheating a bit, but it is constructed from shots I took during the week while they were here.

Ryan's "Souvenir"

I spent much of the last week hanging out in New Mexico with Cory and his family. I didn't buy any souvenirs, but I did manage to grab this photo:



I'm not usually a fan of too much post processing, but I really like this one.

I think there's a photo of Hunter S. Thompson out there that looks very similar, but I can't find it.

The rest of the New Mexico set is here.

/rl

Next week: "Paperclip"

"Souvenir" is due tomorrow.

/rl

Mike's "Blurry"

I had forgotten to turn my flash on when I snapped the picture of this green Bob Ross character on Thursday.

I'm quite good at making blurry pictures like this one.  I do it all the time.  The competition this week is heavy, and full of imaginative shots that were no accident.  I can't wait to see more!

Ryan's "Blurry"

Why do people wear glasses? They make things blurry:



/rl

David's "Blurry"

I do most of my serious thinking in the shower, which is where this idea sprung from.

Cory's Blurry

Vroom vroom!

Next week: Souvenir

Next week: Souvenir
"Blurry" due tomorrow!

Ryan's "Absurd"

We did a little work on Quentin's car on Sunday. I'm pretty sure he thought some of it was a bit absurd.



The final tally came to a new timing belt, timing belt tensioner, timing belt damper, water pump, and fuel filter.

/rl

The way that my cat Lucy looks at me after all the love and care that I provide for her is ABSURD.  Ungrateful pussy.

Mike's "Absurd"

I guess this has always been a little absurd to me because I don't under stand what a giant gorilla has to do with Greek food, let along a whole yard for of the primates.

They also have a hamburger that is an absurd size for anyone to try and consume.

Thirdly, they only deal in cash.  They will not take your debit card, but they have a machine there that will for a surcharge.  that is just absurd.

Cory's Absurd

I enjoyed taking my "confusing" shot so much that I decided to do a second in the series. This one is slightly more subtle, but was still fun to do.

Next week: "Blurry"

"Absurd" due tomorrow.

/rl

David's "Food"

I ran out of time to take a good food picture this week but I did manage to bottle two cases of home brew chocolate porter and remembered a quote that appeared at the bottom of a bar tab earlier in the week: "Beer has food value but food has no beer value." That reminded me of this image I took last weekend while drinking another of my own brews.

My creativity really came out on this one. I don't know why but I thought it'd be funny to put my new puppies (Maggie) crap on a plate and make it look like food. I honestly don't really eat dog crap.

*Edited for wording... /rl

Ryan's "Food"

I'd hoped to take a photo similar to Mike's, but my trip to central Nebraska was interrupted when a tire equalized pressure with the atmosphere on the interstate.

Instead I went to the South Omaha Stockyards. In 1955 the stockyards surpassed Chicago's as the nations (and possibly the world's) largest stockyards. They held that distinction into the 1970s.

Today all that really remains is the Livestock Exchange Building, now broken up into apartments.



I know - not a great photo. Some weeks you've got it, some you don't.

/rl

Cory's Food

Lis got all fancy and made a pretty flourless chocolate cake last week, which turned out to match the week's topic perfectly.

Mike M's "Food"

Giant grain elevators exist in most small Midwestern towns.  Some of the grain is sold to make bread, cereal and fructose corn syrup, and some is sold to feed cattle.

Either way, if the grain does not end up in someones gas tank, it eventually ends up in my belly.

Next: "Absurd"

"Food" due tomorrow.

/rl