Penning Photography Daily

I used the same setup as I did for my picture of the day.

I moved the flash so it would cover roughly half of my face. The tungsten-based light covers my other half.

The flash side is crisp and in focus. The other side is slightly less so because of my long exposure and fidgety nature. =)

I like the optical reducing effect on my mouth and chin. Instant facelift.

I reduced the saturation on the oranges channel to lessen the tungsten light.

I’m not sure how to name the effect except it’s edgy to me.

Geese, Flying North.

Perhaps Spring is soon to arrive?

I was driving and saw flocks of geese heading North.

I didn’t try to capture them while driving. Not a good nor safe idea.

As I was getting out of my car, I could hear their call.

I put my camera bag down, popped off the lens cap. Set my exposure and grabbed a few frames of a small flock.

I was about to pack it in when I heard another flock.

I was glad I waited.

This large flock isn’t the greatest number I’ve seen. They sometimes seem to bee in the hundreds if not thousands.

I love the background of the blue sky and white clouds.

Thoughts of Spring bring a smile to my face.

New life, about to burst. Nature, renewing itself.

I was out driving back from taking a photo, which I thought would be today’s subject, when I spied three deer.

They were waiting for the cars to pass, so they could cross the busy road.

I turned around in the nearest drive and hot-footed it back, twice.

This is from the 2nd turnaround.

I’m glad they posed for me instead of ending up being hit by me. That happens a bunch around here. Never to me and I hope never to you.

Me – First thing after waking up.

Bed hair.

I grabbed the camera, went into the bathroom, and here you are.

Yikes!

I can’t believe I’m publishing this.

At least the black & white treatment takes some of the edge off.

Really.

I always liked the shape and exterior skin of this building.

I must be a rectangle kind of guy.

The exterior is stainless steel and glass.

The steps are made of shaped asphalt The chemicals put down for melting snow and ice, turn the usually black steps into shades of gray and white. It almost looks like bird guano. =)

I was searching out a place to take my self portait and remembered this place was on my mental list.

I set up my trusty Pentax K10D on my gorrilapod tripod, set the exposure and the self timer, and here you are.

A bit of HDR magic in Photomatix and I like the results.

My bride Karen didn’t recognize the building. The perspective and the lighting change how we see the building dramatically from the everyday view.

I like it that way.

Pillsbury Mill.

Opened by Pillsbury for flour production in 1929, closed down by Cargill since 2002.

It stands as a huge testament to the thousands of people who toiled there, and as a reminder that it’s harder to tear down some buildings than others.

Just after sunset, I had pulled into a lot that stands at the entrance to the railroad switching yard, still operating, next to the mill. My son Chris and I were having a phone conversation about missing our family cat Johanna, and about new digital SLR cameras coming out. I had to cut him off, as my light was fading by the second.

I kept talking to him and saying, “just a second” as I adjusted, framed and snapped off a few of this scene. I’m multitasking sometimes. =)

I like the transition of the sunset to blue twilight sky.

I’ll probably go back and take some more of this building. I don’t have to rush, it’ll be around for a while still.

It’s just too hard to demolish!

In a contemplative mood

Our family cat died this afternoon. She was nearly 20 years old.

The house is emptier without her. Dear Johanna.

I put my Vivitar 285 strobe in front of me, mounted behind a Wescott shoot-through umbrella, set to 1/16 power.

I tried out a wired remote, which allows me to focus and snap. It works well. I am thinking of getting a wireless remote and hacking for my camera. It’s on my list.

Staring off, thinking of Johanna, and missing her.

Me.