Random Thoughts

Photo A Day 2010 - 01/06/2010

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:38:51 GMT

Mmm...lunch with Stephanie at Moosehead today. Yummy.

:)

Photo A Day 2010 - 01/05/2010

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:36:52 GMT

Today is another 2009 director's cut edition...so to speak. This is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art but re-edited for black and white.

The Madonna in the center of the previous photograph.

NYC from the rooftop of the Met. Edited for a slightly edgy look.

Version 2 of NYC from the Met this time in monochrome.

Version 3 but this time in a vintage look.

And this is just for fun since it's grey, cold, and snowing here in Cleveland. NYC on Memorial Day Weekend 2009 was BEAUTIFUL!!

:)

Photo A Day 2010 - 01/04/2010

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:13:23 GMT

Everyone up north knows what this is.

Ahhh...winter...

Photo A Day 2010 - 01/03/2010

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:18:31 GMT

Today's the first day I'm doing a "going back in time" post using photos I've taken in the past. Most, like this post, will be coming from 2009.

The first is a lonely sea gull from Huntington Beach. In reality? That place is infested... But I tried to make it look more solitary.

Next are some remains of sandstone quarries at Bradly Woods Reservation.

Some prayer plaques called "ema" at Kamakura.

And a stone lanten from Kamakura.

:)

Photo A Day 2010 - 01/02/2010

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:44:26 GMT

Ahhh winter. Time for tea. I have real Japanese green tea but I also like Genmaicha that you can get from the West Side Market. It's Japanese green tea with roasted brown rice giving it a more nutty flavor

A B&W post processed version.

And another color version with a more pronounced edit in terms of curves.

:)

Photo A Day 2010 - 01/01/2010

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:43:25 GMT

Hi everyone. Not sure how many people follow my photos on Facebook or LiveJournal or my blog but suffice to say, I think there are quite a few of you and I'm very honored.

So. 2010 has come and it's another year of my battle with wanting to buy new cameras, new gear, new lenses, and itching to go someplace other than Ohio or Japan to take more photos to share. It's also a year for me to continue to try to improve my skills in both taking the photos and, these days just as important, editing the photos as well.

2009's photo a day project went very well. I did not miss a single day. There was ONE day that I took a screen shot as I was quite ill. But I had a post for every day of the year and in fact it's been a long time since I stuck with something for this long. However, I have to admit, it got a bit rough near the end. It's very hard to find good photos to take every single day. Or I should be more specific. It's hard to find inspired photos to take every single day. However, I think this year I have managed to improve quite a bit due to constantly forcing myself to do this. But for 2010, I don't want to just be taking photos for photos sake. So, I have made a decision.

I need to continue to make this a habit. I can't do a photo of the week as I will forget to do it... BUT, in 2009, without counting the major photo shoots like weddings and christenings, I currently have 16,842 sitting in my Lightroom 2 catalog (339GB if you're interested...). This is after some pruning... Needless to say there are TONS of photos in there that have never seen the light of day. So, for 2010, I will post every single day. But some days it will be a new photo taken that day. But on some other days it will be a photo or photos taken in 2009 that I am using to practice my post processing skills. Things like monochrome conversions, textures, different presets, different film styles, etc... This way I won't have to worry about WHAT to take and just focus on the post processing.

Deal? :)

Right on.

So. For January 1st of 2010, I have some shots from the Bradely Woods Metroparks where I went for a quick trip to see how it looks in the snow. Thank goodness my top of the line Canon L lenses are weather sealed and my camera itself is quite well protected too. The snow came and went but there were times when it was pretty nasty. Happy New Year everyone!!

(Click on the images for a bigger version)

It was snowing pretty hard when I got there. There were kids playing on the lake...I didn't think the ice was that thick but...oh well.

An example of some post process work. I liked this shot better in B&W since there wasn't much color to begin with.

A lonely bench overlooking the frozen lake.

More post processing.

Snowy swings.

Snowy swings version 2.

Another shot of a different section of the lake.

An example of a different type of post processing called exposure blending so I can get both the tree and the bright overcast sky all exposed correctly.

:)

New Years!

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:40:52 GMT

This year we had a little get together at Ben and Laurie's place. It was a small cozy group. It's actually nice :D

Anyway, here's a number of pics from last night. Some in color. Some in B&W. Click on the link to see the rest!

Ben's sauerkraut and pork with sausage...looks so happy.

Laurie's cheese plate.

And Laurie showing off her Hello Kitty ice pack.

...Tomoka getting annoyed as I snap away while she's talking to me...

Ben made hobo mimosas...a hobosa if you will. It's just...wrong...

I think Linda is looking at Dick Clark judging by that face...

But by the end of the night this is pretty much how we all felt. Ha.

Happy New Years everyone!

Project (by) 8pm - 12/31/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 07:40:03 GMT

Ahhh...the last photo of the day for 2009 :D

The fate of the photo of the day project for 2010 will be forthcoming. It's too late at night for me to deal with this. I will post this then go to sleep to have my hatsuyume or the first dream of the New Year. In Japan it's typically the dream you have the night of January 1st...sooo oh well. Maybe I can have 2 of them then. It's considered lucky if I dream of 3 particular things. In order of luck this is Mt. Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant. Yup. And eggplant. Mmmm... I wonder if it counts if I dream about baba ganoush...

Anyway, some snapshots from today's little get together at Ben and Laurie's. These are all pre-2010. A formal post with pics from that night will go up later once I dream about a hawk flying over Mt. Fuji carrying an eggplant...or something...

The obligatory food shot. Laurie made a very nice cheese plate!

Shaheen taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

Ben and Shaheen.

The guys.

And my sister and Laurie laughing it up.

More pics will be coming in a dedicated post. But on this note, I'm going to bed. Happy New Years everyone!!

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/30/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:21:30 GMT

The best camera is the one you have with you. In today's case it was my camera on my blackberry and my friend Shelly as a subject :)

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/29/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:18:01 GMT

Practicing different styles of digital editing. This is the original out of the camera with only basic editing.

Ignore the fact that the above photo is pretty crappy... I just needed a starting point and wine bottles make such great models :)

Next up, straight RAW editing. 100% clarity, adjusting vibrance, some curves, makes it look more "ad" like kinda. Exaggerates the contrasts and such.

Texture work and some RAW work using the original image.

Black and white and curves adjustment. All done in RAW.

Textures! I like this. More aged and old time-y and looks like it was printed on metal. Done with the above B&W version of the image. With this type of editing, the edges of the bottles get even softer than it already was giving a feeling of a shallower depth of field.

A form of sepia but with some reds showing through a tiny bit. Curves adjusted to bring out the black. Some lens correction as well. Most coloring done using split toning with a subtle difference in hue between the highlights and the shadows. All done in RAW.

Finally, my favorite. Used the above sepia shot as a base. Layered, I think, 4 different textures in Photoshop using various blending modes to get the effect I want. I know I do this type of editing a lot. For some reason I really like this "look"

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/28/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:54:01 GMT

2 days ago I was saying how it's weird to have December with no snow. Ha. Last night it started to snow and it's still snowing. Not as bad as back home in East Aurora but still, the plows are slow and it's too cold for salt. Fun times out there...

I wanted to post how it really looked in my backyard but I wanted to do some creative editing too so this is my "cold" version of today's photo :)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/27/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:41:43 GMT

Lazy Sunday. Spent it with my friend Michele who was in town for the holidays. We WERE going to go see U2 in 3D but with the Browns game AND the Cavs game, it'll have to be another time.

So we basically just lounged around to watch both games with quesadillas for dinner in between. But during the browns game I pulled out this little snack.

Trader Joe's has scallops wrapped in glazed bacon in their freezer section. And I gotta tell you. They are awesome. Michele came over today to hang out so I made a batch. Mmmmmm...can anything tast bad wrapped in bacon??

Here is the wine cabinet my sister and Dennis got me for Xmas. It's very nice. I didn't realize I had so much wine. Huh. The cabinet part has my wine opener and other stuff. I think I'll keep the 2 wine racks up top for some of the nicer wines. :)

It's a nice wine cabinet though it was a bit of a pain to put together. Thanks guys!!

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/26/2009 Part 2

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:56:59 GMT

Ok. I lied. One more. I happened to look out the window and saw the moon so I decided to take a shot :)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/26/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:41:23 GMT

Today's photo is very minimalist. Very little editing. Very little setup. I like to title this "THIS is Cleveland on 12/26?????" I'm not complaining of course. No snow. Blue skies. It's cold but beautiful out there. ...unfortunately the former Buffalonian and current Clevelander in me just keeps saying "...this just means we are due for a nasty blizzard soon..."

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/25/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:48:08 GMT

Well, it's Xmas. Or at least it was. It was a nice day. 9 pics from the day today :)

Went to my sister's for Xmas today. When I came in, as usual, The Christmas Story 24 hour marathon was on TBS. This is pretty much an American tradition now... I love this scene :) I remember seeing this in 5th or 6th grade. Never thought I'd still be watching it now and still enjoying it :)

Dennis made breakfast with pancakes as well as bacon and eggs and such.

Then we opened gifts. Here's Dennis trying on the new hat from Tomoka...

The aftermath of opening presents :)

This is one very comfy puppy.

By the afternoon, we started playing the new Super Mario Brothers Wii that I got them for Xmas. My sister giving World 1 a try as Forest looks on.

Dennis also tried as well. ...we never got past World 3...

Then Tomoka made dinner. A chicken rice veggie cheese casserole. Quite tasty.

Oh, and I finally...FINALLY...got a nice photo of their new puppy!!

:) Hope everyone had a good day.

Project (by) 8pm - 12/24/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:59:46 GMT

So. I've tried to ask via Facebook but so far no luck... Someone signed me up for at least a month, though I don't know for sure how long, to a wine of the month club! It was a hell of a surprise being woken up by the Fed Ex guy this morning! And the wines I got are some good good stuff. 2005 Cantina Del Mandrolisai Rosso from Italy and a 2007 Vasse River Verdelho from Australia.

All that was in the box was the two fliers in the photo and the wine. I wish the person who gave me this gift will come forward because I want to officially say "THANK YOU!!!" to them!!

Also today we went to my brother in law's parent's house for Christmas Eve dinner. His mom makes some great cookies. :)

:)

I must be pretty tired. I just had the last of the tiny tiny bit of 2006 Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon I had left and I'm already feeling a bit sleepy... Off to bed I think!

Project (by) 8pm - 12/23/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:39:04 GMT

I only took a photo from the parking garage at Crocker Park while doing some last minute shopping. It was a boring shot so I played around with it to make it look old. I wanted to give it the look of those "past and present" photos that you see now and again.

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/21/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:18:17 GMT

Ooops... I posted it on Facebook but forgot to post it on my blogs...

I suck at gift wrapping. I can do origami but I can't seem to figure out gift wrapping to save my life. Oh well. Part 1 of wrapping is done. Need to go get more wrapping paper for part 2 later.

On the plus side, the girls didn't care about the wrapping as they tore into it and they both loved the gifts I got them (Leapfrog and 3 books for the little one and an iPod charger / clock radio for the older one and books). So in the end it's all good :)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/22/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:14:50 GMT

Not much snow here in the west side. Just some white on the ground and it's mostly ice rather than snow. It's odd really since usually by now it's pretty white. Though I'm not one to really wish for a white Christmas. This is juuuust fine.

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/20/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:20:22 GMT

A photoshoot for a friend's nieces and nephew. Very cute and the girls eyes were amazing. This was not a Xmas themed one but more of a "brother / sister" shots that the parents might enjoy having it around.

It was pretty hard to get them to all look at me and smile...but I caught this one!

I then told them to make a funny face but only the youngest obliged :)

Big blue eyes!! While she was chomping on a big solid chocolate santa :)

She was more willing to pose for me once she got her cookie :)

I managed to catch him when he WASN'T making a funny face :)

One of the last shots of the session. Awwww.

I know most parents will take their kids to the studio for shots like this. And I'm sure these kids will end up in one too. But I think these sessions where I go to their house or someplace they are comfortable enough to run around and jump around on the couch gets them to relax more and I can catch more of who they are. They may not look professional. But I hope that for all the ones I've done so far, I managed to catch a glimpse of the kids in their natural state and caught it with the quality and eye of at least an amateur photographer :)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/19/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:59:33 GMT

Just a cute graffiti on a sign outside the West Side Market building. He looks very familiar though...and not sure why.

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/18/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:58:06 GMT

Baby Sabrina came to visit the office today. Very very cute. But first! Cupcakes!

Judie's new cupcake. The Reverse Peppermint Schtick. Mmmm. Damn good. Sold out in a day at Mojo's in Westlake :)

Just more cupcake pr0n. There's a cupcake resurgence going on these days. But these are gooooood unlike a few I've had.

Sabrina came to visit the office today (with mom of course and grandma). It's been a while since I last photographed her. She is very cute but had this very concerned look while sleeping for a while.

She decided to let us know how she REALLY feels about her dad. :)

Awwww.

And proud grandma too.

:D

Project (by) 8pm - 12/17/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:21:04 GMT

Picture time for my sister's dogs. Here's Forest getting more comfortable in that elf ear hat (note:...I am not in favor of dressing up dogs...poor dogs...).

More of Forest.

Bubba's first Xmas.

More Bubba.

The two of them hating life right now...

This is more what they are like :)

:D

Project (by) 8pm - 12/16/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:56:36 GMT

...9 pics today. The food shots are all behind the cut.

Went to Kan Zaman, a Middle Eastern place by the West Side Market for dinner. Last minute invite from Ioana :) Yum.

Alex came later and was more than happy posing for the camera.

Heidi after a full and yummy meal looking comfy.

I liked their bottle of olive oil.

And finally Alex working the hookah after dinner. Couldn't get the damn thing to light up for a while...

Mmmm...falafel and taboule...

Hummus! With meat!!!

Lentil soup with pita chips. Yummy.

Meat on a stick on a bed of rice. I mean really. How can you look at this and say no thank you?? :)

:)

Project (by) 8pm - 12/15/2009

herpdaddy@livejournal.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:12:08 GMT

Photoshoot for Mindy today. Kai was very very cute :)

Of course we had to do the big head shots for the older kids. Bella looking cute.

And Hilton goofing off.

:)

Ahhh...Xmas season...