Day 242, 365 Day Project

One of the fun things about this project is to look for the everyday object and make a unique image of it. While I was taking a shower I started looking at the shower head and thought it might make an interesting challenge. So I grabbed the iPhone and brought it in close to the nozzle. At first I tried to use Camera+ Pro but the anti-shake would not allow me to shoot as I could not hold still enough holding both the camera and the shower. So I switched to the regular camera and squeezed off a couple of frames.

Working in Snapseed afterwards I rotated the image slightly, added some drama with a little grunge. Then I brought the shot into PS Express to give the soft border. I really like the way this turned out.

Day 241, 365 Day Project

I found these Orchids in the kitchen window and my Mom and Dad's house while Luke and I were visiting this morning. I liked their color and the nice soft light produced by the Bay window. Using the iPhone I snapped a couple of shots and then rotated and cropped the image added some grunge and the border in Snapseed.

Day 240, 365 Day Project

Out of all the plants we have in our house, the "Money Plant" as they call it in Kerala is the most prolific. My wife has them in pots as well as jars. The neat thing about the jars is you can see the roots and I wanted to record them for today's image. Shot with the iPhone and processed this time in Pictureshow adding some vignetting and grain to the final result.

Day 239, 365 Day Project

I think this might be the only Elephant statuette that I have not photographed, thus it gets to be today's subject. I built a small box of mirrors and used only the light from the overhead fixture. In order to control reflections I did not want I covered myself in a white piece of muslin and only had the lens of the iPhone stick through. I also use to large sheet of white foam core to complete the tent. After shooting the image with Camera+ pro I again used Snapseed for the post processing with a little bit of rotation, crop, color balance, grunge and borders.

Day 238, 365 Day Project

So we have a prediction of three hot and dry days which means this might be the last chance for me to clean and organize the shed and garage. As you can see I have a lot of clutter just from the shed. Many are props and sets that I have but don't have room for at this time. Since I have been working all day on this project I figured it was a good subject for today's 365 Day Project. iPhone processed in Pictureshow.

Day 237, 365 Day Project

Was not an overly productive day to day as I try to recover from the long trip from Vancouver and the excitement of yesterday. After going to Fountain Tire to arrange to have my car taken to AAMCO to get the transmit ion worked on I then headed in to Northland Village Mall to get my eye glasses adjusted. Walking through the mall this rack of Flip Flops caught my eye. Shot a frame using Camera+ Pro on the iPhone and then headed home. At home I processed the image in Snapseed and then posted it here.

Day 236, 365 Day Project

Well we are home after an eventful day on our way home from Vancouver. About 1 kilometer outside of Golden I heard a "Pop" and then the car lost all power to the drive train. So we coasted to a stop and got out of the car. I made a call to BCAA and arranged for a tow truck to bring us back to Calgary. This normally would have cost over $1000 but since I am a Premier member the cost was totally covered. So this shot was taken as the boy's and Lysa sat by the car waiting for the tow truck. Eventually the truck did arrive but not till after an RCMP cruiser stopped to see what the problem was. Cool and Luke were thrilled to have a look inside the car and to hear the siren. We all were able to return home safely inside the tow truck and got home around midnight.

Day 235, 365 Day Project

I went to False Creek in Vancouver today and shot this image using the 360 Panorama app on the iPhone. I then opened the image in Snapseed where I cropped it and made some minor adjustments. Posted to Blogger using Pictureshow.

Day 234, 365 Day Project

We went for a walk along the sea wall in downtown Vancouver this evening. Comming across this Children's Water Park we stopped to let the boys play for a while. As Cool and Luke played in one section I shot some images with the Canon 7D and the iPhone. This one was done with the Slowshutter App on the iPhone at 4 seconds and 1/32 exposure. The sun coming from behind gave a great look.

Once I returned I brought the image in to Snapseed and made some minor adjustments and added the border. Again I used Pictureshow to post it to Blogger.

Day 233, 365 Day Project

It's amazing what will fascinate you when you are visiting another city. We arrived at Lysa's friends house and as I was bringing the bags in I saw this snail on the front walk way. The colour of the shell caught my eye so I shot a number of images with both the Canon 7D and the iPhone. This was with the iPhone as I was able to get it right on the ground for a "snails eye" view. Processed with the Snapseed app and posted using Pictureshow.

Day 232, 365 Day Project

On the way to Vancouver we stopped in Salmon Arm for the night. After settling in at the hotel we headed out for a walk around the town. This fountain is in a park near the highway and I liked the way I was able to incorporate the Willow tree. iPhone camera, processed in Snapseed and posted to blogger via Pictureshow.

Day 231, 365 Day Project.

I am not sure when it actually opened, but I remember my parents taking me to Lloyds Rollerland when I was only a few years older then Cool is now. Today he attended a birthday party for one of his friends and other then a mural on the wall that was painted in 1999 the place hasn't changed much since I was there in the 70's. Still the same funky, disco lighting that I remembered and that I tried to capture in the few frames I was able to shoot as I helped teach Cool the finer point's of roller blading. I shot this with the Canon 7D at 12,800 ISO as I wanted to catch the ambiance and did not want the flash look. 1/125 sec at f2.8 on the Canon 24-70 f2.8 lens.

Day 230, 365 Day Project.

Some new accessories for the iPhone. Today I received my little package from Photojojo containing a holder to mount the iPhone on a tripod as well as this long focal length lens, universal holder and mini tripod. Going to have some fun with this when I visit Vancouver next week. Shot this image with the iPad using Camera+ Pro and then processing in Snapseed.

Day 229, 365 Day Project.

Going through Safeway this evening I took a few minutes in the produce section looking for something interesting to shoot. I took a few different shots but settled on this on of asparagus stalks as I liked the lines and colour. Shoot with the iPhone using Camera+ Pro and then processed in Pictureshow adding a little texture with the Sand Filter.

Day 228, 365 Day Project.

I went for a bike ride to my parents house today and on the way there following a familiar old path I saw a new sight. It seems that they have started a community garden behind the Brentwood Community Centre where one of the old ice rinks stood. So I decided to stop and look around for a bit. There were lots of vegetables but these sunflowers attracted my attention. Using my iPhone and Camera+pro with the anti-shake on a held the camera up and tried to brace against the wind. To my delight the camera froze the sunflowers at 1/2000 sec. at f2.8 according to the metadata. I guess because of the size of the lens there is a great amount of depth of field.

After I returned home I brought the images into Snapseed to make some adjustments. Below is a fairly accurate representation with only slight brightness, contrast and saturation adjustments. However I like the above image with some grunge added in and a border as well. Both stand well alone but it is nice to offer both.

Day 227, 365 Day Project.

I had an afternoon to myself as Lysa and Luke relaxed at home and Cool went to a friend's house to play. After dropping him off I had three hours to head out and see what I could find. I decided to visit a provincial park that my parents use to take me to when I was young, Big Hill Springs. Located midway between Calgary and Cochrane it is a unique little feature on the prairie landscape. Unfortunately the sky was clear and the contrast range was to great on the stream itself. However as I walked through the forest I found this interesting stump that seemed to be pointing the way to go. It was in a nice shaded area and I liked the way the colors worked together.

Canon 7D, 24-70 f2.8 @ f7.1 and 43mm, 1/60 sec and 1000 ISO.

Day 226, 365 Day Project.

This one took a number of images to capture the final result I was looking for. Using the iPhone and the app called "SlowShutter" I set this candy machine bank on a black muslin and then proceeded to move the phone in a variety of directions. Each gave different look but this was the result I wanted. After capture I then used Snapseed once again for some post production. A little cropping, brightness, contrast and saturation and then a border to finish it all off.

Day 225, 365 Day Project.

Our flower beds have been a wonderful source of inspiration and subjects this summer as we have a larger variety of flowers then usual this year. With the strange weather we have had in Calgary they all have seemed to bloom at different times as well. Using the iPhone again tonight I stepped out and captured this small batch in the front yard. Shot with Camera+ Pro and then brought into Snapseed for very minimal post processing.

Day 224, 365 Day Project.

We have a variety of Elephants all over our house. In India they are considered to be good luck charms and we picked up this brass statuette on our trip last summer. Using the iPhone I took the figure down stairs and placed it on a white sheet of mat board under one of the basement lights. I moved it around till I achieved the shadow I was looking for and then shot the image with Camera+ Pro. Again I brought the image in to Snapseed and did some minor adjustments and choose a simple border.

Day 223, 365 Day Project.

One of the nice things about the iPhone is the ability to get it into tight spaces where you might not get a DSLR. Using Camera+ Pro to capture the shot I then brought the image in to Snapseed for fine tuning. One of the things when doing any post processing be it with apps or photoshop is knowing when you have pushed it to far. I used the centre focus as I wanted to limit the depth of the image and cleaned it up a bit to make it brighter but after that knew I wanted to keep it fairly clean. Thus I left it with no border and no other manipulation.

Day 222, 365 Day Project.

Trying out a new App on the iPhone today. Picked up Camera+ Pro and did a quick test image of one of the HomeDepot Kids workshop project that the boy's built. One of the things I believe is that apps are just another tool to help us realize our vision and as such you have to know what is offered in each so that you can previsualize your shot with the final outcome in mind. I see some nice features with the Camera+ Pro, but not sure if it will be one of my favorites at this time. It did a nice job with this image but many of the filters are not my style.

Day 221, 365 Day Project.

I spent a half hour out at the airport photographing the planes as they landed. Arriving at the viewing area I put the Canon Extender EF 2x II and my 70-200 f2.8 on my Canon 7D. I then climbed on the roof of my Saturn VUE so I would be above the fence line. Sitting there I was able to get a number of good images of a variety of airplanes. This one though was my favorite as I have the two planes waiting on the Taxiway and the small plane just before touchdown. I don't think I would have got the same shot no mater how long I would have stayed. Shot at f11 at 1/1600 sec and 800 ISO.

Day 220, 365 Day Project.

I have posted four images today (although the top one would be designated my official image for the 365 day project) to just demonstrate what post processing can do. The 2nd and 4th images are the originals taken on the iPhone in my backyard. Image 4 was also shot using the HDR function built in to the camera (it made a difference in evening out some of the tones). Both images where then brought in to "Snapseed" and filters were applied.

The wagon wheel started by adjusting the centre focus, then adding some saturation, some selective adjustment and finally some grunge. I then brought it into Picture show for the frame as I knew there was one in there that I felt would work with the look I was going for.

The above image of the leaves I knew I wanted to convert it to B&W. This was also done in "Snapseed" using the Black & White filter. I first looked at the styles till I found the one I wanted then adjusted the brightness and contrast and then added a bit of grain. I used the frames in Snapseed to crop the image by tightening the area of the frame. This also turned out as I envisioned when I shot it.

Day 219, 365 Day Project.

I was cleaning up the boy's toys and decided to bundle up a bunch of them and take them to give to my niece Jayden. She's almost 11 months and usually makes pretty shy with me when I visit. Today she was all smiles as she explored the new trove of treasures I gave to her. I managed to snap a couple of quick images as she giggled at this toy.

Canon 7D, 24-70 f2.8 @ f4.5 and 42mm, 1/160 sec at 1000 ISO.

Day 218, 365 Day Project.

Even in it's final stage there was still some beauty in this dead flower. I saw it while watering the plants downstairs and clipped it out. Looking at it I saw that it had potential as a subject. The light from the windows was soft so I found a plain wall and held it up as I shot with my Canon 7D with the 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ f4.5 and 70mm at 1/80 sec and 6400 ISO.

Day 217, 365 Day Project.

Spent the better part of today going through all the old toy's that my boy's no longer play with. You may recognize this one as it has been around since I was a child. I think it is one of Fisher Price's most popular and most annoying toys. Decided it would be my subject for today. Using the iPhone I snapped a quick image and then opened it in Snapseed to process. Although I like what Snapseed can do, I find it a little harder to work with on the iPhone as the image is so small so you can not always tell what the filter looks like. Still I got what I wanted by adding a little grunge to the final result.

Day 216, 365 Day Project.

With these warmer summer days the fan seems to be one of the favorite appliances in the house. I shot this one using the iPad and then brought the image in to Snapseed for post-processing. First I cropped the image then using the centre focus changed the depth of field and added some vignetting. Finally I picked a frame and thus the finished image.

Day 215, 365 Day Project.

Went for a 10 km bike ride today that took me to the University of Calgary Campus. One nice thing about the iPhone is that it is easy to take with you when you are riding and you have a decent camera as well. This sculpture has been at the U of C for a long time and I shot a few images of it. I liked this one for my image for today as I liked the color and reflections in the swirls. I did minimal processing in Pictureshow using only the crop tool and adding the mat.

Day 214, 365 Day Project.

Colourful Bangles, lit by soft window light. It is truly amazing what we can do with today's equipment. In the days of film a shot under these conditions would not be possible or turn out well. Yet the high ISO's and sharp glass of our modern equipment allow us to work in a variety of conditions. Shot with the Canon 7D, 24-70 f2.8 @ f5.6 and 57mm, 1/30 sec at 6400 ISO.

Day 213, 365 Day Project.

Walking around the house I was looking for something a little different today, something a little abstract. Although we don't use it much we do have a Bar-b-que on the deck and I thought the grill had an interesting pattern. Using the iPhone I shot a frame and then brought first into Camera+ and then into Pictureshow to achieve the effect I was looking for.

Day 212, 365 Day Project.

I had posted earlier today that the richest environment can be with in 100 feet of your home. In doing this project I have found that to be true as a large number are around the house (both inside and outside). Today's is no exception as I ventured out in the late afternoon sun and saw the image below first. I like how the shadow of the rock in the garden gave a nice dark background to the flowers that were bathed in sunlight. After shooting a couple of images I swung around to the other side and found this wonderful back lighting on the flower. I love the way you can see the veins of the flower.

Canon 7D, 24-70 f2.8 @ f5.6, 1/250 sec at 100 ISO.