I Saw the Light, Lord, I Saw the Light

Any good Southern Baptists out there will recognize that hymn, I’m sure. :)

I’ve become very interested in trying to display the luminance and glow of cast light. Of course, that requires that I shoot pretty late in the evening or very early in the morning… and believe me, I don’t get up early very often, so I will have to play with light in the evenings.

This photo was taken sometime around 9:00pm shortly after shooting the Double Rainbow photo, and the clouds were still roiling about nicely. As I was going home, I saw the light on the front of this church and liked it. I set up my Gorilla Pod (that I’m loving) on a fire hydrant in the parking lot and took three bracketed shots for HDR. I love the purple and faded pink it caught in the clouds as well as the glow of the cast light.

I looked for a way to try to get to where the building on the left was secondary, rather than so predominant in the photo. I like the chapel building much better, but couldn’t get to it without walking across the property at night, so I stayed in the parking lot.

You might notice that there is light along the edge of the parking lot. It is from a lamp post light that I edited out because it was a distraction to the photo. Other than that, it’s all what was there.

Details... not as sharp as I’d like, but not bad.

“You’re Getting Sleepier…”

Aren’t these just the most mesmerizing eyes?! This is yet another reappearance of Mr. Tigger. He and his brother Milo are so photogenic, sometimes, I just can’t help but post them. :)

Might be spotty posting for the next few days. I’m off to the wilds of Minnesota. I hope to get some nice pics, but you never know. And who knows when I’ll get around to posting them.

Double Rainbow… All the Way… Full On!!

If any of you saw the “Double Rainbow” viral video of a couple of years ago, you’ll probably understand the title. (PLEASE watch his video to get an idea of what I’m about to reference in the rest of my post. I think you’ll get a kick out of it. :)

This is a probably the best shot I got of the double rainbow I saw yesterday, but I’m telling you, this does NOT do justice to the beautiful, glowing, vibrant colors I saw yesterday. It really was breathtaking.

I understand the awe the guy in the video experienced, and I thought of him as I filmed my own video (much shorter :). I was about to start doing an imitation of him, when people pulled up behind me and started taking photos of the scene as well. I didn’t want them to think I was a total lunatic, so I just gave the basic narration. :)

In my video, you’ll see that I had pulled back to try to get more of the whole arc in the shot, and because of that, I got the annoying fence in the foreground. For this shot, I stuck my camera lens through the tiny gap in the fence and took this photo. I was soaking wet, my camera was getting wet, and I had my hand up over my lens trying to shield it, but despite all of that, I pulled off a pretty decent shot.

What’s funny is that I had been driving around in the light rain for about 30 minutes, wishing the clouds would clear so I could find something, anything to take a photo of. As I turned the corner onto this road, I saw all these buses, parked for the summer. I thought it might make an interesting shot, so as I passed, I looked back over my shoulder to see if there was a place to park, and saw the amazing rainbow. Did a U-turn right there on the highway! (Safely, of course)

I do so enjoy those unexpected moments! Full on!!

Remember

Around Memorial Day, the City of Duluth always lines the streets with the names of those from Duluth who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. When I’m traveling to and from work during this time, I always try to pay attention to the names of those on the crosses. Most of the time, they’re going so fast I can’t really see that much.

I was stopped at the traffic light at Hwy. 120 and Buford a couple of days ago, and noticed these three crosses next to one another, kind of grouped alone from the others. I read the first name, then the second, then the third, and realized I was probably seeing three generations who had given everything.

I came back that afternoon and took the best picture I could, but with so much “stuff” in the background, I didn’t do them the justice I wanted to, but still felt it important to show this slice of one family’s sacrifice.

Thank you to all of our veterans who serve with honor.

Nice Day for a White Wedding

Decided to tool around town today, looking for something to shoot, and I stopped at an area near downtown Norcross. They have some quaint, old buildings (as most towns do), so I strolled along, just snapping away.

I finally wound up in a new park (less than two years old), and was walking around taking photos of kids playing in the fountain, people, old churches nearby… when suddenly, this wedding party appears from the other side of the park. They were headed to a gazebo to take some photos. I shot a few of them in the gazebo, but didn’t want to be an interloper, so I couldn’t get into position very well. I figured nothing would come of the photos I took.

I made a circuit of the park and was about to head back to my car when I saw that the wedding group was heading toward where I was. I took a position where the sun wouldn’t be a problem, got up high enough that others in the park weren’t in frame, and started snapping.

I really liked this shot of the bride and (I presume) her parents and flower girls walking along silently. At first I was disappointed with the shot because they weren’t looking up, but then I realized I liked it because they all look lost in thought (or maybe just trying to watch where they are walking? :) Her dress was so beautiful, especially the beadwork, as were the dresses of the attendants. And the men looked so handsome in black with the matching red accents.

I’m not sure what anyone else’s monitor is showing, but the reds are fire-engine red, and believe it or not, I did not mess with the colors on this image. Everything was just that vibrant.

So glad I stumbled onto this wedding party. Who enjoys serendipity? “I do!”

Details.

Might Make a Nice Jigsaw Puzzle

I drove up to the Suwanee city square tonight, just before sunset. What a nice little area.

Nothing much to say about it, except that it was a pleasant evening with some nice light coming through the tree leaves and falling on the building faces.

This one’s worth looking at the detail. I didn’t have it on a tripod, so there’s not quite as much clarity as it could be, but still… handheld, around 200 yards away from the building, fading light? Come on, give the camera its props! :)

Oh, Bury Me Not…

I’ve told everyone who might be in charge of my burial arrangements that I want to be cremated and my ashes buried beneath a gardenia bush.

I just realized that I’ve never specifically said where to plant the bush! Who knows? I might wind up in an interstate median. :)

These wonderful flowers are from my friend and co-worker, Connie. Thanks!

Break in the Clouds

On my way home, I was caught in a torrential rain. You know, the kind where the rain blows horizontally in sheets, the lightning flashes nearby and the sharp crack of thunder follows closely after, and you creep along in your car, hoping you (nor the other cars around you) don’t start to hydroplane.

Right before I pulled in to Sonic to grab dinner, the rain and wind stopped abruptly and the sun broke brightly through the clouds.

While I was waiting for my food, I realized the sun was creating a near glow on underside of the yellow umbrellas. I hoped the server would bring my food before the sun went back behind the clouds, and sure enough, she did. I pulled forward and fired off a few shots.

There’s really nothing special about this photo other than I liked the yellow glow and all of the other colors in the shot.

Larger version here. Details are not too sharp. This was a handheld bracketed shot.

I’m Just Floored

Today, Sandee and I worked on the floor of the studio/shed. It will be a studio once we get the walls in and put the pottery wheel inside. In the meantime, it’s been serving as a storage shed.

It took us about five hours to move out all of the stored stuff (and it was a LOT), lay down the floor, and then move the stuff back in. Needless to say, we were proud of how fast we got it done, but also tired. Sandee did the laying down of the slats part. I did most of the support stuff, but it was a system that worked well for us. And the floor looks great!

This studio was started by Sandee and several members of her family, and finished by some contractor friends. We’ll do the walls and whatever else needs to be done. The entire thing is about 16 x 24, but today, we layed down the flooring for only this room, which is 14 x 16.

This photo is Sandee laying down the last strip. I told her people would think I never did any work, since I’m always the one taking the photos! :)

Details here.

Cotton Candy on a Saturday Night

While out and about running errands today, I spotted this tiny carnival in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center. After our errands were over, I went back and took several photos. Since I knew I wouldn’t be there to take photos after dark, I liked that the sunset in the sky was turning pink and purple, making for a nice backdrop.

This photo was taken from about 16″ off the ground with my new Gorilla Pod. I just LOVE it! It was so easy to just pick up and move around from spot to spot very quickly.

And because I had the tripod, I was able to shoot bracketed photos for HDR. I will explain more about HDR later for those interested in it, but I’ll just say here that this photo is a composite of five images, exposed from darker to lighter. That’s why if you look closely at the detail, you will see movement in some of the people, because it took about one second to take the five images, and they were walking/moving. It results in an effect called ghosting. It can be fixed, but I didn’t mess with that part.

Anyway, I love the colors in this. And no, I didn’t get any cotton candy! :)