Penning Photography Daily

At the end of the Thanksgiving meal, as the games were about to get out for play time, we called my brother Larry and his bride Beverly.

We used Skype, and had a webcam going.

So we got a portion of our family connected, visually as well as vocally.

Earlier we had done the same thing with my brother Nick in Virginia with his bride Mary Ann. They were at their Rebecca & Bret’s home.

We sang songs, caught up on bunches of family news, and felt together even though we were apart.

Karen took this one, as I was standing by, makeing sure that all the geek wizardry went well.

Thanks to Katherine & Chris as well as Charlie & Lewis for hosting our family. We had a great time sealing yet again our families together in love, and with great food!

A simple 9 volt battery as seen up close.

A macro photo of the ordinary, which reveals every crease and crinkle when viewed at this close level.

This is a near full crop of the photo I took. To get closer, and I could have, I need a light source to overcome the shadow of the camera itself, as it blocks the light by being so darn close.

Next time, I’ll use a flash.

Love that camera: the Panasonic LX3. A superb photographer’s instrument.

Can you tell I’m all charged up?

I’ve got my eye on you.

Reflections of my desk and office in my eye.

Closeup & personal.

The Panasonic LX3 got another positive plug the other day when Digital Photography Review mentioned it in a positive light as compared to the lesser rating it was giving it’s closest competitor, the Canon G10. The G10 got only a Recommended rating as compared to the coveted Highly Recommended rating that the LX3 received. My early adopter buy of this fine optical instrument was again confirmed as sound judgement. Yay!

One of the most fun features of the camera is it’s ability to focus up to 1 centimeter away from an object. I used that feature during my lunch break to take some macro photos of ordinary objects.

Perhaps my eye isn’t so ordinary to me, but it is common enough as a type of object. Unique to me, ordinary in the everyday. That is, unless you get up close for a macro view of the ordinary.

Check out the reflection in my eye, and you will see the windows in my office, my desk, the hanging camera strap, photos on my walls, my hands, holding the camera, etc.

Worth a second glance.

From over a year ago.

A simple butterfly, seeking nourishment on some goldenrod in a nature preserve.

A bit of colorful beauty to remind me of the lushness that Spring & Summer have, while I’m in the waning days of Autumn, heading for the dark, monochromatic days of winter.

I’ll challenge myself to come up with some colorful photos this Winter. Beauty can be seen everywhere, if I just take the time to open my eyes to see it.

Dipping into the archives today, as life is busy with nearby holiday “Stuff.”

I set my flash in this one to use the Modeling Light, which strobes a 2 second burst of lower intensity light, so that the lighting can be seen on the model. I’ve never used it for portraiture, except this one time.

I was in the darkest room in our home – the interior bathroom. I set the exposure, a long one, to capture the strobe effect. Turned off the lights, and set the timer. Counting down the timer, I hit the flash button when the shutter opened.

Of course, I was making a goofy face! What else would you expect from me.

I used cross processing to blend in som different colors for the highlights and shadows, increasing the strangeness of the photo.

Interesting, for sure.

Sunset over Central Illinois.

The gauzy layer of clouds over the blue sky, with the band of gold sunlight at the horizon.

A peaceful feast for eyes hungering for a bit of beauty.

I loved the quality of the sky at twilight tonight as I was leaving work.

I stopped, put my remote shutter release on, popped the flash up and dialed it down -1ev, with my Gary Fong Puffer flash diffuser in place.

I set the shutter for a couple seconds, to let in the nice light behind me fill in.

You get me, the nice sunset sky, and the lighted Capitol building, all in one frame.

What’s more to ask for?