Vernon PAD - Tree in Snow

Thanks to about 5 inches of snow and an avalanche that shut down the highway we wanted to travel on back to Vancouver, we decided to stay an extra day in Vernon. So, I ventured out this morning and took a bunch of pictures in a little park right behind where we are staying. There are several nice shots I considered and will probably showcase here over the next few days, but I picked this one because it shows the snow and has a kind of irony to it with the unused park bench waiting for spring and for people to sit and enjoy the view from. Plus, I have a thing for trees, especially solitary ones.

Hopefully, we should get away tomorrow, although, if I got totally snowed in and had to miss some more work, I wouldn't really mind. Really, I wouldn't.

Canon 30D, 17-85 IS at 17 mm, f16, 1/40 sec (+1 exposure compensation).

Vernon PAD - Trees

Here is today's picture and possibly the last one from Vernon since we're heading to Vancouver tomorrow for a couple of days. There was a line of trees behind a small mall near where I am staying and so I stopped and took a few pictures and picked this one to share. I experimented a bit with throwing a funky frame around it and this is what I got.

Same camera and lens - lens was at 44 mm and it was shot at f9, 1/320 sec with a -2 compensation and ISO 100. I spent some time playing around and I think I used two different shots overlayed to get a dark sky and light trees.

I'm not sure if I'll have another shot of the day tomorrow since I am travelling but I have a couple of others from the last few days that I may post.

It's been a good challenge to force me to get out and get only a few pics instead of wandering around randomly shooting a whole pile of pictures and never doing much with any of them. It has been a good discipline and a good learning experience. I'll have to do it again but I don't think I could do a PAD for a whole month, say, like some bloggers I follow.

But, it is good to challenge yourself to projects and I'll have to do more of that. I really have to get going on the lighting thing and some of the stuff from Strobist, since I have a lot of the equipment I need already. Have to twist some arms for models, though.

To those few who visit, thanks and have a great day.

Vernon PAD - Candles

I had an idea and went out this morning to Kal Beach in Vernon but the weather wasn't great so I came back and went looking for something inside to shoot for today's PAD. This candle set was interesting to me so I stacked them on the table, put a chair on the table to make the background and took the shot. I used the light from a window at camera left and used a silver reflector that I bought yesterday (a 5 in 1 set) to bring in some light from the right. Then I played with some actions I have and came up with this effect.

The lens was at 80 mm, and the setting was f8 at 1/4 second and ISO 100.

Vernon PAD - Highway Truck

Since it is still just after 10:30 in British Columbia, I've managed today's picture with time to spare. Took a trip with the family to Kelowna today and since I got to sit in the back of my son's car I thought I would just shoot some shots out the window. I grabbed this one out the back window as we passed the truck. I used an edgy effect in Adobe Camera Raw that was suggested by Matt Kloskowski, one of the Photoshop guys (it was actually a tip for Lightroom but Camera Raw can do it, too). Then I just did a couple of things in Photoshop to increase contrast a bit. It's certainly not a perfect shot because it was taken through the back window and the defrost wires in the window cause the lines seen in the picture, but I kind of like it.

Details: same camera and lens, lens at 56 mm, ISO 200, f8 at 1/30 sec.

Vernon PAD - Sawhorse in the Snow

I didn't go very far today and I spent more time fooling with the image in Photoshop (including a crash that shut the computer right down and losing all my unsaved work) than I actually took shooting the photo. This is just in the backyard of the place my son and his family rent in Vernon.

I used a filter to do a black and white conversion and then painted the little red patch back in.

Details: Same camera and lens as yesterday; focal length 72 mm; f8 at 1/100 sec and 100 ISO.

Now, time to focus on the Superbowl.

Daily Picture on Holidays

I'm on vacation for a week in Vernon, B.C. and I thought I would try and do a picture a day (PAD) while I'm here. Plus, maybe actually get this blog going.

I took this picture this morning just up the road from where my son and his wife and children live. It looks out over Kalamalka lake and I like the curve of the shore and the reflected curve in the development on the hillside.

Click on the picture for a little bit larger view.

It was shot in RAW and adjusted there and then I used a couple of actions in Photoshop to get this.

Shot with a Canon 30D, 17-85 lens at 59mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/100 shutter speed.