the low end is the heart of the band

originally uploaded by billaday.

This photo is a good illustration of why I love the photo-a-day project...

It was 9pm, and I hadn't bothered to take any decent photos. I was getting tired, and would have much rather vegged out and watched TV, but I knew that I had not taken a good photo yet.

So, I begrudgingly took out my D70s and my SB600 speedlight (strobist: speedlight mounted, TTL mode, 1/60 shutter). I knew what shot I wanted to take (which sometimes is most of the battle for a photo-a-day shot)-the day before, my eye caught an angle of the bass when I was setting it down. Rather than take a photo with my point-and-shoot, I waited until I could get my f1.4 lens to shoot. Before shooting, or even taking out my bass, I decided to take 5 shots, then go back to relaxing. As I knew it would, 5 shots turned into 40, and I got a couple great photos of the tuning keys on my bass guitar. I like the bokeh (shallow depth of field) in this shot.

Year 3, Day 131

The Lord looked down from heaven on the children of men

originally uploaded by billaday.

Isabelle was trying to get the kids to mellow out, so she suggested they pretend to sleep (on the hot, hot pavement). They loved it, but didn't lay down much.

Year 3, Day 130

old time gas station and a hand built motorcycle

originally uploaded by billaday.

I arrived early to a Pasadena appointment to give myself some time (ten minutes) to take some photos. After a brief photowalk, I was heading back to my car, and I passed a guy with a purple motorcycle. He got off the bike and took out a Nikon dSLR. He positioned his shiny motorcycle in front of an old-style gas station, and was planning to photograph his bike for a calendar. I asked if I could jump in, he obliged, and I snapped a few.

This was was taken with my Canon DS870is, which is a killer camera, but doesn't have a very wide aperture when you zoom. So, in Photoshop, I duplicated the layer, applied a gaussian blur (at 22 px), and masked out the bike and gas pump. I also applied a Color Stylizer filter using Nik Software's Color Efex Pro. Basically, it applies a sepia filter, and lets you fade in the color. You get way more control over colors and shadows with Nik, but that's the basic idea. Now (hopefully) it looks like it was shot with my f1.4 lens with a super old film.

Year 3, Day 129

Let me ask you a question, how do you feel about frilly toothpicks?

originally uploaded by billaday.

I'm for 'em! Well, this club is formed. Spread the news on menus nationwide.

Year 3, Day 128

Bob Tron and his green bowl

originally uploaded by billaday.

Remember the movie Tron? Remember how the characters from Tron used to be on the Peoplemover at Disneyland?

So, I think that if I was hanging out with those guys, this is what their diningware would look like. And, of course, the guy's name would be Bob. Bob Tron.

Year 3, Day 127

aerodynamic and warm

originally uploaded by billaday.

I started teaching with University of La Verne. It's a satellite course, so I'm teaching at Rio Hondo College in Whittier. I wanted to photo-a-day the building I teach in, but the light on my car just looked so cool. And by cool, I mean warm... warm colors (reds and yellows).

Year 3, Day 126

called out of retirement

originally uploaded by billaday.

Tires are expensive. We bought 4 recently... it's not as though you can buy just one tire. I suppose that's why there are place like this that sell 4 tires that are used. I went to Costco and got 4 new.

Year 3, Day 125

a moon made of diamonds

originally uploaded by billaday.

150 teacher and I sat in a room for 2 days waiting to see if we were going to get laid off. So far, 89 of us, including me, will not have jobs in August.

Year 3, Day 124

heirloom

originally uploaded by billaday.

I think that my grandpa built this way back when my mom was a baby. It's a handcrafted chair, and is still working (sort of).

Year 3, Day 123

Easter egg laughs

originally uploaded by billaday.

We got invited to Landon's Easter Egg Hunt. He had a great time, and found a great many eggs. Afterwards, Daniel threw him up on his shoulders, and they both laughed through a handful of shots.

Year 3, Day 122

at the table

originally uploaded by billaday.

Recently, I have come to appreciate wine. Two years ago, my palate consisted of the vocabulary words: red, white. Nowadays, while I still know little, I do enjoy tasting wine. I like to compare and contrast similar wines, and typically create a mental venn diagram about them.

Year 3, Day 121

deville deville

originally uploaded by billaday.

I took a small kaleidoscope-type toy and held it up to the lens. I got a pretty cool repeating pattern on the guitar amp's handle.


Year 3, Day 120

manipulative

originally uploaded by billaday.

So, if you don't know, I'm shadowing a math class at University of La Verne. I get to watch Cindy teach some classes, and I get to teach some classes. When Cindy teaches, she brings in dozens of physical examples, like these discs, to help teach teachers how to teach students. When I teach, I show lots of examples online. The physical examples are great because I can photograph them (as seen here (obviously)).

Year 3, Day 119

KidSpace

originally uploaded by billaday.

We went to Kidspace Museum. Natalie has annual passes for her family, so I got to go and hang out with them for free. If you have kids and live near Pasadena, this is a very cool place to go. Lots of science to be learned.

Year 3, Day 118

Stone Brew stonework

originally uploaded by billaday.

Stone Brewery is an amazing place to visit. Not only is their beer full of flavor and depth, but their brewery is, too. From the amazing food to the brickwork, I was thoroughly impressed.
Year 3, Day 117

mosquito hawk

originally uploaded by billaday.

Everyone around me seems to hate mosquito hawks. I don't. I like the fact that they eat mosquitos. That means that I get bitten less. So please, don't kill these insect superheros.
Year 3, Day 116

strawberry donuts

originally uploaded by billaday.

The Donut Man in Glendora has the best donuts in the world. We went on a Saturday morning, and the line was around the side of the building. There is a really bad glare, but it is important that everyone sees the magic that is the strawberry donut. Take a big donut (like a jelly donut without the jelly), cut it in half, and fill it with fresh strawberries. Yum.

Year 3, Day 115

caught you

originally uploaded by billaday.

I like the refracted light in the water droplets. I really need to get some extension tubes for my macro lens, so that I can focus closer. Any recommendations? (I have a Nikkor 50mm f1.4.)

Year 3, Day 114

drinks all around

originally uploaded by billaday.

We went to Citrus College to see Greg & Steve. Yes, it was intended for kindergartners, but I still wasn't impressed. Come on guys, you can do better than karaoke for 2,000 people.

Year 3, Day 113

rear view rear view

originally uploaded by billaday.

Don't look back, baby. Unless you drive a bus. Then, attach 3 rear view mirrors to your vehicle.

Do you think people that drive vehicles like this think about the past much?

Year 3, Day 112

crossing

originally uploaded by billaday.

Some of my favorite photo-a-day shots are taken when I'm waiting for something. I'm glad the train came by.

Year 3, Day 111

neon rectangles

originally uploaded by billaday.

Any guesses on what this is? No fair looking at the Flickr tags.
Year 3, Day 110

command

originally uploaded by billaday.

Yup. It's a keyboard. Still working on getting a really cool shot of the backlit keyboard.

Year 3, Day 109

Happy Birthday Maggie

originally uploaded by billaday.

Maggie is one year old today. She still runs like a crazy dog... mostly right out the front door.

This shot looks nice large on black. You can really see her face in focus and the grass blurred. Good stuff.

Year 3, Day 108

one shot wonder

originally uploaded by billaday.

I've been thinking about taking just one photo every day. It requires patience and foresight. Tonight, I simply hadn't taken a photo yet and was tired. So, I composed carefully, made sure the belt loop was in focus, and took just one single shot. I don't think I'll do this very often, but I might try being more selective and careful with shots I do take.

Year 3, Day 107

bleeding candle

originally uploaded by billaday.

Using Image Capture, I import the photos into a folder on my desktop named New Pictures. Image Capture allows you to run an Automator Workflow, so it also opens up HoudahGeo, Photoshop, and iPhoto. Finally the workflow asks for photos to view, then opens them up in Preview. I delete the rejects in Preview.

Next, I drag my new photos into HoudahGeo. It lets me easily and efficiently add geotagging info to my photos. I save those, and now my photos know where they were taken (in iPhoto, in Flickr, etc).

Typically, I revisit my photos, and delete ones that don't impress me again.

Next, I edit photos one at a time in Photoshop. Recently, I've been using LAB mode. It preserves the histogram, and therefore the integrity, of the photos. I typically bump up the contrast (using a variety of ways) too.

I use 1001 to upload my photos to Flickr. It's free, and easily lets me send new pics to my photo-a-day set and several groups.

The final step (on my local hard drive) is to drag the keeper photos into iPhoto. I like editing and geotagging the photos before iPhoto. If you edit in iPhoto, it creates an original file and a modified file. I think that's lame. Also, I like having the geocoding info written into the exif data of the photo itself. The new iPhoto doesn't do a great job of that.

Once online, I add every photo-a-day picture to its Flickr set, and then add it to my photo-a-day blog. To get it to blogger, I manually create a post. I use TextExpander to paste in all the info so you can see the picture, when I created it, leave a description, and the formatting is all set.


Year 3, Day 106

bounce the light

originally uploaded by billaday.

Lifetouch came to take photos at our school. This is not my setup, it's theirs. I really liked how the umbrella was (obviously) lit up. So I took a quick photo with my point-and-shoot, and multiplied in the blackground (Photoshop layer blending mode).


Year 3, Day 105

blue hanger

originally uploaded by billaday.

This photo shows:
A) a giant hanger that a giant uses to hang his giant jacket
B) a new flag for a sovereign, fascist nation
C) a tent thing that provides shade to our school lunch tables

Year 3, Day 104

tow

originally uploaded by billaday.

One of the dads from our kinder class brought his flat bed tow truck for us to see. We're studying transportation this week. I took a really cool photo of the hub cap reflection, but you can see the kids' faces, so I can't post it online. This shot is pretty good, too. I like the texture of the gloves.

Year 3, Day 103

up against

originally uploaded by billaday.

The light and shadows caught my eye. I like the gradient in the middle of the frame, and how it slowly reveals the brick wall in the background.

Year 3, Day 102

dance dance

originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's what you get with a 1/4 sec. exposure, and some massaging in Photoshop's lab mode.

Year 3, Day 101

zig zag

originally uploaded by billaday.

This week (in kindergarten), we studied the word family -ig. At the end of the day, I showed my class this picture on my G1 after they sounded out z-i-g. They acted like it was the coolest thing they've ever seen.

Year 3, Day 100

foggy storm before the calm

originally uploaded by billaday.

Fog is fascinating to me (probably because I only see fog 6 times each year). I love the depth it gives to photos. Sure, for most people fog is mundane. For me, though, it changes everything. The light is suddenly awesome--both reflective and muting at the same time. So, on foggy days, I'm one happy camper. And if I'm not camping, I'm one happy photographer.

Year 3, Day 99

need coffee

originally uploaded by billaday.

Somebody should make this a sticker. Or a song.
Year 3, Day 98

pot of green

originally uploaded by billaday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I like wearing green and talking with an Irish accent. When you're a kindergarten teacher, that is expected, not frowned upon.

Year 3, Day 97

chaser

originally uploaded by billaday.

I love the shadow, not the person, chasing the hula hoop. This shot probably would like nice as an 8x10, and probably terrible as a 40x40 pixel thumbnail.

Year 3, Day 96

rise of the machines

originally uploaded by billaday.

Some days I (almost) actually wonder if machines will end up taking over the world.

Year 3, Day 95

Family Portrait

originally uploaded by billaday.

After shooting and editing 350 pictures, I finally have some family portraits to share with Michelle and Danny. View On Black

Workflow wise, I used Lightroom for the first time. I like how I could take my Photoshop knowledge and apply it to Lightroom. Good times, good product. Easy smart filter. Now I just need to see how well it manages files and projects.

Year 3, Day 94

270

originally uploaded by billaday.

I've noticed that after 2 1/2 years of photo-a-day, not as many things "catch my eye." And yes, I'm using quotes on that. When I first started the photo-a-day project, I had my camera always with me, and I found many, many shots that I had to take. Things don't grab me like they used to. I guess I'm pickier regarding my subject matter.

So... this shot. This scene actually caught my eye. I thought to myself, "I need to stop and take this picture." So I did.

Year 3, Day 93

three walls

originally uploaded by billaday.

View On Black.

How many walls do you see?

Year 3, Day 92

pillar of salt

originally uploaded by billaday.

I like the angles, color, texture, and contrast. Not sure about the composition. Is it too busy?

Year 3, Day 91

modern pyramid

originally uploaded by billaday.

This sculpture caught my eye last week. I brought my f1.4 lens to work, and snapped some shots.

Dedicated to Zel. Not only is this photo Zel-ish, but he left a comment last year asking me why I took so long to photograph a building that caught my eye. Mostly because of that comment/encouragement, I photographed this shot without procrastinating.

Year 3, Day 90

greenhouse

originally uploaded by billaday.

I really enjoy teaching at APU. As though it's not the coolest thing ever to help people become better teachers, I get to back on a college campus. There's so much learning, interesting people, flyers, and architecture around. This photo falls under that last category.

Year 3, Day 89

Netbook

originally uploaded by billaday.

Pat the Sound Guy built his own Netbook, and installed Mac OS X on it. Dude! Super awesome, super tiny. And, under $400. Wow. I have a brand new MacBook Pro, and I'm totally envious of this. His explanation:

"This is the kinda thing you could take for a bike ride."

Year 3, Day 88

thermal camera

originally uploaded by billaday.

This shot is significantly cooler if you've played Splinter Cell, or if you've work thermal goggles before. I ran the image through a sort of Photoshop thermal filter workflow. Kinda cool. Yes?


Year 3, Day 87

shopping graph

originally uploaded by billaday.

I had an hour to kill before picking my sister up at the Burbank airport, so I found free mall parking and took some photos of downtown Burbank. This shot is me shooting the first floor from the third floor.

Year 3, Day 86

wick

originally uploaded by billaday.

These days, I'm burning the candle at both ends. I've been shooting (much more than and) at least one photo every day. Sorting, geotagging, editing, uploading, and publishing... I have not had time for such things.

Year 3, Day 85

electric mayhem

originally uploaded by billaday.

Some day, Everet will be a rock star. And I will be able to say that I was there in the early days. He already has a cool pose, and he's just 3.

This is 1/2 second exposure, f4.8. I color corrected using Photoshop's lab mode. That gave me a lot of control over how much yellow light I wanted to leave in. I added a few adjustment layers, notably a contrast layer with contrast +65 and layer properties set to vivid light (to make the background more contrasty).

Year 3, Day 84

matt

originally uploaded by billaday.

Ilearackedonryinhowitmorsurmosofmyshotwithhisenswilltaybttdoesn'teedo
Year 3, Day 70

Matt Maher rocked out. My buddy Francis knows Matt well, and got us in for free. Turns out, it was a free concert.

I'm most excited/proud of this photo because it's a big step forward for me as a photographer. Typically, I'll bring my small point-and-shoot camera with me to events like this, and try to get a good shot from where I happen to be. At this concert, I brought my D70s and SB800. Towards the end of the concert, I walked up to the stage, and snapped a bunch of pictures. Sure, I was supposed to stay in my seat, but I wanted good photos. And, sure enough, nobody stopped me or made me leave. Yeah me.

Year 3, Day 83

prison break

originally uploaded by billaday.

The plastic fork poking out of the bag caught my eye. I wonder if it was trying to make a break for the outside? I suppose it's right; get busy living, or get busy dying.

Year 3, Day 82