Gene

originally uploaded by billaday.

Gene rocks on percussion. Amazingly steady tempo, very tasty chops. Sometimes when I play bass, Gene is right next to me on percussion.

Two shots in one here. Good call? Should this remain two separate images? Does it work? I kinda like the story it tells. Lemme know your thoughts.

Year 3, Day 144

The 70s is alive and well

originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's Alex and his new, old bass. It's new to him, but old to us. For some reason, Fender made amazing bass guitars in the 1970s. Not before, not after. Here is one such guitar.

If you don't know Alex Balderston, go check out his tasty bass licks.

Year 3, Day 143

commerce building by night

originally uploaded by billaday.

I took a pretty cool shot of this by day back in December, zoomed in and cropped, and wanted to get a night shot of it. Fortunately, I just missed the light, so I was able to capture 14 one-second shots. I used about 11 of them. In Photoshop, I changed the layer properties to Lighten (new to CS3). It's similar to Screen, but keeps the sky from getting too bright.

Year 3, Day 142

high key parrot gradient

originally uploaded by billaday.

Any guesses on this shot? It's pretty abstract.

Here's a clue:
I used Photoshop's curves to modify the colors from a dark orange to a bright(er) yellow and green.

Year 3, Day 141

Let's Go Fishing

originally uploaded by billaday.

And with this ridiculous image, I now have 9,001 photos in my iPhoto library. A milestone perhaps.

This is a really boring math training, SB472. The only worthwhile part of the 5 day training was discovering this center for my kindergarten classroom. Students (or Jeanene, as seen here) "fish" using a magnetic hook. The fish have paper clips on them (so the magnet picks them up) and numbers on them (so they kids can add) .

Year 3, Day 140

closing the blinds on mediocrity

originally uploaded by billaday.

Reflections are all around us. Here's a building reflecting another building. Not sure why the security glass looks like curtains.

Year 3, Day 139

reflecting upon a time

originally uploaded by billaday.

I want to start a couple small sets/projects:
1. taco stands
2. bathrooms

It wasn't until I wrote them just now that I realized they could be related. There are not, however. Both of these places seem to have objects conducive to photography. They both tend to have vintage, outdated stuff, and more personality than given credit for.

Year 3, Day 138

one legged man on a bus bench

originally uploaded by billaday.

This man sitting on the bench caught my eye. He was sitting with his legs crossed, but it looks like there's just one leg.

Year 3, Day 137

four twenty five was eight days ago

originally uploaded by billaday.

My goal with the photo-a-day project is to shoot (at least) one photo every day. I'm still going strong on the shooting part. The tough part is geotagging, editing, sorting, uploading, and blogging them. The internet at home has been painfully slow and intermittent. Translation: from what little free time I've had, it's been eight days since my last photo-a-day post.

On to the photo... I don't know what color this is. Blue? Purple? In Photoshop, I working in lab mode, and made it blue. When I converted back to rgb, it turned purple. Depending on the program I open it in (Preview, Finder, Photoshop, HoudahGeo, or Safari), the color looks different. Any Photoshop help here would be great.

Year 3, Day 136

Blue in Orange

originally uploaded by billaday.

The color of the windows changed depending on the angle they were at. Only this side of the building had the alternating blue and gray rows of windows.

If it wasn't for Zel's photostream, this scene never would have caught my eye. He's a big influence.

Year 3, Day 135

Geneva swings

originally uploaded by billaday.

I've always liked these types of shots, and have wanted to take one for a while. My original plan was to have my friend swing his daughter around, and I'd put my dSLR where his shoulder is. Then, I could get fine tune the composition, aperture, exposure, etc.

Here is what really happened:
Geneva kept trying to climb up and down the stairs. Up and down. Up and down. So, to avoid having her inevitably fall, I distracted her. She asked me to swing her, so I did. I reached into my pocked and grabbed my point-and-shoot (Canon SD870 IS). I was careful to not drop her, but knew that I may drop (and step on) my camera. I was only cupping it with my palm and one finger on the shutter. I'm surprised I could even push the shutter button. So I swung her around and snapped three shots. One had her looking away, one had a blurry face, and one was awesome.

Interestingly enough, I took what I learned from a blurry grass shot of my dog. I was able to get a good shot in only three tries here; with my dog, I took 40 pictures to get one good one. I guess I really am learning about photography, and getting better (or at least faster) at taking shots.

Year 3, Day 134

slow twitch muscle fiber

originally uploaded by billaday.

So, I just discovered that my motorcycle and gas station photo made it onto Explore. (If you don't know about Explore, that means it's listed among the 500 photographs chosen each day for the Flickr Explore page.) Thanks are in order to all the attention, comments, faves, and support from Flickr friends.

Here is a slideshow of my Explored Flickr photos.

Year 3, Day 133

put a cork in it

originally uploaded by billaday.

Cork is an interesting thing. I would not have thought to shove a piece of tree into a bottle to help it last. Apparently, there is a cork shortage in the wine world. Some day, there won't be corks in wine bottles. I might as well capture the iconic keeper of the wine while I can.

Year 3, Day 132

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