Black & White Challenge

 A couple weeks ago my friend Mark called me out on Facebook to a Black & White 5-Day Challenge. We named a few other friends and members of our photography club to join us as well.

Apparently I wasn't given all the rules, because I was the only one who shot brand-new photos instead of just posting old favorites. This was actually a good thing because it inspired me to get off my butt and get back into photography for the fun of it, so Thanks, Mark! 

As always, I shot these using the F828 capturing infrared light only.

No Wheels--No Problem

It's that time of year when the clouds in South Texas might be high and wind-blown, which to my eye makes them not only dramatic and unique but also perfect for shooting in infrared.

A few days ago I checked the sky and my first thought was to curse the boy who wrecked my car and robbed me of the chance to drive around looking for something to photograph, but after a few moments of consideration I realized that there must be a way to bring home a decent shot without a car.
Sounds like a no-brainer now, but at the time I was worried.

Because I live in a typical suburban neighborhood, when I want serious clouds in the frame the main thing is to get out someplace where there's visibility instead of just trees and houses.
I hit the streets on foot and headed to the nearest place that offered such views, knowing that I only had a drainage ditch's width of clear sky but hoping for the best.


Timing is almost everything.
The dramatic clouds I was watching were in a good place while I was out there, which sounds simple but they were moving very fast across the sky so a bit of luck was involved--I don't usually sit around in the sun for hours waiting for better conditions.


The deciding factor for these pictures, however, is that I was down in a concrete-lined drainage ditch a good 4-6 meters below street level and shooting up at trees and powerlines on the edge of it.
This eliminated a huge mess of suburban crap that would have blocked my view of the clouds or cluttered the space between, which would have ruined their value as a background.

I'm pretty sure the powerline shot is one of my best over the last year or so.



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Christmas Shopping

We went looking for a new car and found one that we really liked, but Google-ing the dashboard error lights killed the deal.
Damn--I might have been mistaken for Matt Bonner of the SA Spurs driving a white Grand Am!

Coming out of the dreaded WalMart I noticed that the clouds were high wispy cirrus and that they were drifting into a favorable position relative to a singularly striking orange-leaved tree doing it's best to survive amid the bedrock of Leon Creek.
This tree caught my eye a week or 2 ago due to it's awesome color and location and I had a feeling that today's sky would be perfect for shooting it, so I declared a shopping break for the photo-op.

Parked at Tio's on Bandera Road and hiked down to the creekbed with my camera bag and monopod. The rocky terrain was a bit of a challenge in my nice new shoes, but nothing I couldn't handle.
This is what passes for "Fall Colors" here in San Antonio.

I know you won't believe me, but while packing up my gear before leaving the house a little voice told me to take the Sony F828 that can shoot in infrared instead of my main DSLR camera, and then I took the whispered plan further and grabbed my monopod that gives me enough stability for shots in the 1/10 to 1/30 shutter speed range that IR requires.

Infrared was totally the best choice for this scene.
And within a few seconds of packing up my gear to head out, the sun dropped below the clouds on the horizon and confirmed my perfect timing--I turned around for a last look and saw a dark tree that would have been worthless.

Project Ornament

The fine-ass John Lennon Rickenbacker guitar ornament from my last post got me thinking, and there's lots of time for that since I've not been sleeping worth a damn this week.
Swine Flu? Allergies? Rock&Roll Fever? Food Poisoning?
Doesn't matter--my mutant healing powers are back so all is well again.

Anyway, I decided that it might be cool to make my own ornament to honor 2009 as the year when I not only got back on-stage again but also bought myself a new instrument for the first time in over 20 years.
So last night I took a suitable photo of my 8-string bass and got it printed a few hours ago.
Used Krylon photo spray adhesive to mount it to some quality cardboard then hand-cut the outline with an ExActo knife. Sandpapered to taste.


Almost looks like a real bass got hit with a shrink-ray.

Where Was I?

Oh yeah--at San Pedro Springs Park, waiting for the sun to go down.



This spring-fed pool is enormous, but only 3 feet deep.
No swimming allowed anymore, but it's a nice place to just sit and enjoy the fine weather we're having.

Photos like this remind me of why I like shooting at night.
Need to get off my butt and get back in the game.

Drought

The record lack of rain, the unending march of 100+ degree days, the brown grass, the utter death around us...it makes me sad and tired and crushes my spirit.



The "new" camera has made it's first foray into the Texas heat, and brought back a photo I was positive would never get made just days earlier.
I wanted to shoot this dead tree in IR, nothing else would do.

Even with four filters on the end of the lens there still was more vignetting (mostly cropped out) than I expected, but oh yeah this lens goes to 28mm-e versus 38mm. That explains, and it's not a problem at all.
Neither is purple fringing. IR doesn't see colors, so I'm immune to it.

My other mission for this camera is flash macros of small critters.
This is another big part of my photography that the DSLR fails at, and I tried many times. I'm not buying a macro lens anytime soon, and the DSLR's inability to use a fast shutter synch makes these other cameras a better choice anyway.

I knocked this out in two minutes using my old techniques, and couldn't be happier with the results.
And with that, my photographic drought is over and I can now do everything I could do before my F717 died, and then some!
I feel complete for the first time in a year.

I'm very excited to be able to plug these holes in my repertoire.
And the size, grip, weight, and black finish make me feel like I'm holding a real camera--this thing is a tank compared to the F717!
Looks enough like a DSLR that I won't have to take any crap from camera snobs.