Uploads from Athtart, tagged 52oftwentyeleven

DSC_5165 - Flame

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:22:34 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Less Is More (Minimal)
Week #49
Taken December 10, 2011
Title: Flame

Notes: Less is more... my alternate subject.. fire! :-)

DSC_5108 - Ergo Sum (Therefore, I am)

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:51:22 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Portrait (People/Self)
Week #48
Taken December 3, 2011
Title: Ergo Sum (Therefore, I am)

Notes: Ok, so this week's theme was working against me from the start. While I do like taking photos of people, I don't generally like to take "portraits", much less when the subject is myself. Add to that my avoidance of artificial light and flash and you have a good case for me to skip this week. Result? Embrace your "demons"… an indoor self-portrait using a tripod, two light stands and four artificial light sources. This shot was taken using my on camera flash as a commander and light source at 1/100 power, an SB800 flash at 1/20 power w/snoot at camera right, an SB600 behind my head at 1/20 power w/snoot for rim light, and another SB600 flash at 1/5 power on a low table (camera left - snootless). I experimented with different 'looks' but liked this one's gaze towards the heavens best. I must say I had lot of fun fooling around with this setup (Thanks, Peter!) I felt very "Strobist" ;-).

DSC_5033 - On Your Mark!

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:36:43 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Waiting (People in Queues)
Week #47
Taken November 26, 2011
Title: The Final Moment

Notes: This week's theme was spot on as I had to "wait" all week for my chosen subject to commence, namely the seventh annual Turkey Trot, a short 5K run starting at the Fred Benson Town Beach on Block Island. I took a number of shots of people milling around waiting but this one taken just a few seconds before the actual start caught the group of runners (all ages) anxiously awaiting the official word over the loud speakers. The red flag on the far right marks the actual starting line.

DSC_4912 - Golden Sunrise

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:53:35 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Mainly One Colour
Week #46
Taken November 19, 2011
Title: Golden Sunrise

Notes: Well, I was hoping for a nice eagle shot that I could somehow use for this week's theme, but they did not oblige me with any low 'fly bys' even though there were many out and about. And of course they are not really "one color" either ;-). However, the early morning fog and golden sunlight burnishing the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam afforded us some gorgeous views when we first arrived.The fog clung to the river and little islands nearby making bird photography problematic but scenic views were in abundance.

DSC_4877 - Forbidden Drive

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:45:25 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Processed Image (before & after)
Week #45
Taken November 12, 2011
Title: Forbidden Drive (really!)

Notes: This week's outing found us in the Wissahickon Valley Park, hiking along both sides of the river (creek?) both high on the ridge and down by the shore This scene was taken along the "Forbidden Drive", an ominous sounding name for a truly scenic pedestrian thoroughfare. Thusly named for not allowing any motor vehicles on it :-).The river is off to the left here. As for processing, it was done in Aperture, using selective dodging & burning, vignetting, cropping, selective sharpening, a partial sepia tone filter and.. I think that's it ;-). I really wanted to focus on the people strolling in the warm dappled sunlight, and to enhance the feeling of being surrounded by a lush, possibly magical, forest setting. See the original photo SOOC below.

DSC_4877 - Forbidden Drive (SOOC)

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 18:45:24 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Processed Image (before & after)
Week #45
Taken November 12, 2011
Title: Forbidden Drive (really!)

Notes:This is the preprocessed image for this week's theme.

DSC_4440 - The Path

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:33:22 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Landscape
Week #40
Taken October 8, 2011
Title: The Path

Notes: This week I found myself camping at Hickory Run State Park in PA. With many miles of wooded trails, sparkling lakes, rivers, and the nearby Lehigh Valley Gorge, there are many beautiful views and hopefully this photo will give you an idea of the beauty that these woods can provide, even on a simple trail.

DSC_5415 - Looking to Spring

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:41:46 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Looking to the Future.
Week #52
Taken December 31, 2011
Title: Looking to Spring

Notes: Woo Hoo! The 52nd week of our project. Glad I made it :-). And as we are "looking to the future" here is a bit of Nature that is also looking to the future, and waiting expectantly for the warmth of Spring... in fact there were quite a number of buds on many on the trees and other flora at the Morris Arboretum this weekend. The Christmas Train set was especially nice although photos of it did not really fit this week's theme.

DSC_5281 Merry Christmas

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:33:32 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Happy Holidays
Week #51
Taken December 23, 2011
Title: Merry Christmas

Notes: This was a busy week and with the theme of "Happy Holidays" a photo of the annual Christmas tree seemed in order. This was a double exposure combining a 1 second exposure with ambient light and without the star and some of the rooms lights, and then again with flash, a 1/30 sec exposure, and room lights and star "on". The result is that the star on the tree is not blown out and you can actually see the fire in the fireplace while still retaining some detail in the shadowy areas.

A Merry Merry Christmas to All! :-)

DSC_5214 - Barsoom

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:26:03 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: What is it??
Week #50
Taken December 17, 2011
Title: Barsoom

Notes: This week the holiday season influenced my choice of subject and I looked at many Christmas ornaments and related items. i even shot a flash through a marble chess board to see what transpired. The result is above, "Barsoom" after Edgar Rice Burroughs' name for the red planet Mars. However, this is not Mars, but rather one of our glass jeweled Christmas Tree ornaments, up fairly close.

DSC_5152 - Predator

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:21:59 -0800

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Less Is More (Minimal)
Week #49
Taken December 10, 2011
Title: Predator

Notes: Less is more...Hmm. Minimalistic..hmmm. Well, trying to not be typical, yet take a photo of a subject I adore and which inspires me... Arrow is an easy choice but somewhat hard to capture, in my opinion. Nevertheless he is always beautiful to behold in all he does. He moves like a lion in miniature and will meet your gaze with a direct an intelligent stare. So I shot him as he was watching birds on our deck with the afternoon sun shinning in upon him. Only a sliver of him. Just enough to see his countenance. The gaze of a predator... (the birds live by grace of glass) ;-)

IMG_1034 - Breakfast

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:09:51 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Food
Week #44
Taken November 5, 2011
Title: Breakfast

Notes: My alternate photo for this week's theme of "Food".

IMG_1044 - Forbidden Fruit

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:09:50 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Food
Week #44
Taken November 5, 2011
Title: Forbidden Fruit

Notes: Apples, of course! ;-) I really wasn't sure what object of "food" would end up being my subject this week, but these colorful apples from our local Fresh Market looked more delicious than my breakfast eggs (in my Alternates group), and other edible subjects. As usual I tried to use whatever naturally occurring objects and light I found available to me. ;-)

DSC_4693 - Jelly Belly

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:40:50 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Macros/Close Up
Week #43
Taken October 29, 2011
Title: Jelly Belly

Notes: This week we looked "inward" or at least I choose to look at every day objects far more "closely" than usual ;-). And with Halloween almost here and the idea of candy in my mind, these colorful "Jelly Belly" jelly beans were just the right subject. We have a dispenser that takes pennies and other change, but shooting through the clear glass globe wasn't working too well, so I emptied them in a pile on the table and used natural light from the porch, with some warmer incandescent light from above, to light them. Unfortunately many Jelly Bellies were 'lost' during this shoot ;-0.

DSC_4653 - The Pinnacle

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 15:08:37 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Words
Week #42
Taken October 22, 2011
Title: The Pinnacle

Notes: Pinnacle Rock is located in Lackawanna County, Pa and has some of the most spectacular views of the surrounding valley. It is also near Pulpit Rock another beautiful out cropping not too far away along the Appalachian Trail. This shot was taken around 10:38am after we had already made an early morning hike up to Pulpit. While I hate the graffiti that thoughtless kids sometimes paint on such rocks, this one was appropriate to the setting ;-).

A wonderful day and great hike!

DSC_4553 - l'Orange

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:09:46 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Abstract
Week #41
Taken October 15, 2011
Title: l'Orange

Notes: As usual I stubbornly resisted the urge to artificially create my subject and decided to use "nature" as my starting point... again ;-). This week we were exploring Lake Galena and encountered a pair of white geese grooming themselves on the shore, contorting themselves to reach every inch of their fluffy exterior. Not very abstract on the surface, but then I was looking for a starting 'shape" to explore in post processing and this goose just caught my eye. It is highly stylized to the point of abstraction along with several shifts in coloring, resulting in this final golden image.

DSC_4318 - Patience (8x12)

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:15:23 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Inspired By Book Or Movie
Week #39
Taken September 29, 2011
Title: Patience

Notes: Inspired by "A River Runs Through It". Well, ok, he is not actually fly fishing, but that's the movie this fisherman made me think about. The day was overcast with drifting fog that caused the people and shorelines to drift in an out of 'focus'. This shot was taken on the beach by the Coast Guard house at the mouth of New Harbor, Block Island. Certainly it was a peaceful afternoon, but such activities always require Patience ;-).

Addendum: I was running several classic fishing and ocean related stories through my head this week (Jaws, Perfect Storm, On Golden Pond, etc) to inspire me, and while visiting Block island I was constantly looking for related photographic opportunities. There were many people fishing from boats and shorelines, but this one called to me, with his calm demeanor and motionless stance. Besides, there were no single-minded harpoon wielding whale hunters available :-).

DSC_4318 - Patience (8x10)

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:02:09 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

DSC_4091 - Arrow Key Redux

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:15:20 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Low Key
Week #38
Taken September 24, 2011
Title: Arrow Key Redux

Notes: It is somehow appropriate that my subject for this week's theme is the same as it was for the past theme of "High Key". Arrow is a tough subject because of his dark face and glistening coat, but he is also a beautiful one, IMHO :-). His eyes are a striking blue that always inspire people to comment and as a 'people cat' he is always making eye contact with you. He meets a person's gaze, which is unusual for a feline. In this case I was able to catch him staring back at me as I tried to photograph him using a Petzl headlamp for illumination.

DSC_4025 - Season's End

nobody@flickr.com (Athtart) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 15:13:22 -0700

Athtart posted a photo:

52 of Twenty Eleven Project
Weekly Theme: Street Photography
Week #37
Taken September 13, 2011
Title: Season's End

Notes: Street Photography, contrary to its literal name of course, is usually composed of people, or at least people caught in the everyday tasks of being themselves. And we, the photographic voyeurs, must pick which moments out of time to share. This week's photo was appropriate as we are leaving my favorite island and heading back to "the real world" and will be missing the people and pace of life on Block Island. I do not know the subjects of the photo but they are typical of us all... big hugs, smiles, longing looks, kisses goodbye.. and those who help us make the journey, often aloof and indifferent to our comings and goings, just as this deck hand's back is to me and my photo ;-).... I also chose to let the color drain from the scene as we leave the island's colorful reality behind.