Day 304, 365 Day Project

Spent pretty well the whole day with my boy's. Took them both to Market Mall and Northland Village Shoppes for some early trick or treating this afternoon and then took Luke out in the neighbourhood while Cool went out with one of hiss classmates this evening. When I got home with Luke he began organizing his candy by the colour of the packaging. It was so cute I had to snap a photo. This is where the ultra wide angle of view of the iPhone comes in handy as I out it close to the floor and then just shot as he sorted the piles. Did a little post processing in Snapseed to jazz it up a bit.

Day 303, 365 Day Project

As I do this project I am discovering a few mini projects to go along with it. This is my second image in my back lit plant project. I found this dead flower on the flower in our basement after it had fallen off the plant it is from. I have always liked the textures so I brought it in to my production room and set it on the light table. I used a mirror to bounce some light back into the front and Photographed it with the Canon 7D, 24-70 f.28 @ f10 and 46mm, 1/60 sec. at 1600 ISO.

Day 302, 365 Day Project

Today was Cool's last day of swimming lessons and afterwards we went over to the Community Association as it was the opening of the new playground and fall BBQ party. Both boys had lots of fun, but needless to say they got dirty so when we got home I threw the in the tub to clean up and play. Now both boys love bubbles so I added some bubble bath and let them have fun. Cool discovered that he was able to blow large bubbles using his fingers and was having lots of fun with this. I thought it was pretty original of him to figure this out so I wanted to record some of his bubbles. Well after a number of images he was able to create this monster and I was able to capture it.

I used the Canon 7D and 24-70 f2.8 @ f3.5, 1/80 sec at 3200 ISO. Then after cleaning it up a bit in photoshop I used OnOne's PhotoFrame plugin and a weathered wood option as the frame.

Day 301, 365 Day Project

Luke had his last day of swimming lessons today so I took my Canon 7D along to get some shots in the pool. Here he was just floating and I liked how his long hair floated around his head. When I got home I brought the shot in to photoshop and used the OnOne PhotoFrame plugin and then used the Acid Burn 11 as I liked how it framed the image. Shot with the 24-70 f2.8 @ f4 and 68mm, 1/100 sec at 2000 ISO.

Day 300, 365 Day Project

I have become very comfortable with the iPhone and the Snapseed app, so much so that I have noticed that I can really previsualize the image and the way it will look before I snap the shot. Ansel Adams was the photographer who developed the idea of previsualization and was a master in the darkroom in order to achieve the desired results.

In the early days of digital many photographers got away from this idea and just shot numerous images with the intention of fixing them later in Photoshop. Yet as digital has emerged and more tools have presented themselves to us I have seen that more photographers are taking time to see their image and know what they will do afterwards with the variety of tools that they have at their disposal. In general I think we are seeing more meaningful and interesting images then ever before.

I saw today's composition while brushing my teeth this evening. My wife had left some of her perfume on the counter and I liked the way they looked in the scene. I could see the final result in my mind as I went and grabbed the iPhone and then took the shot. It only took me a few seconds in Snapseed to find the exact grunge filter I was looking for and the frame. It turned out exactly as I envisioned.

Day 299, 365 Day Project

As we enter the last few days of October we have had incredibly dry weather and I know that winter can arrive any day now. So I climbed on the roof and got the Christmas lights in place so I don't have to worry when the snow and ice arrive. While I was up there I decided to shoot a panoramic image using the 360 Panoramic app on my iPhone.

Day 298, 365 Day Project

At Cool's choir concert on Saturday they were selling flowers and my boy's always like to get one each. So now four days later the Flowers still look good and I saw another opportunity to use them again as subjects for today's entry. This time I choose the iPhone as I knew I could get it in close underneath the flower. I took two shot's, one of each flower, and as I processed them in Snapseed I liked both equally so I give you each image for your consideration.

Day 297, 365 Day Project

I found these pipes casting these wonderful shadows as I walked through SAIT tonight after my Wedding Photography class. Since starting this project on January 1st, I have grown even more aware of light and shadows, shape and form and love the fact that I have a new tool in the iPhone to help capture interesting and different views.

Day 296, 365 Day Project

I have been using the iPhone and Snapseed app a lot lately due to the ease and simplicity in post production and downloading. Still I want to spend more time shooting with the Canon 7D and trying post processing in Photoshop. To aid this I downloaded OnOne's Picture Photo Suite 5.5 in the trial version (version 6 is out at the end of the month).

It was good that I only picked up the trial version as I discovered that my computers CPU and Video card do not support most of the suite and I would have been fairly ticked off had I purchased it and was unable to use it. I have been planning an upgrade of my work station for a while now so perhaps this was the push I needed.

Yet there was one part of the software that does work and I am able to trial and that is PhotoFrame. There is a large library of looks in this suite and I am impressed with the ease that it seems to work. I choose one of the frames to go along with today's image as it reminded me of the look I use to get when I did Polaroid emulsion transfers years ago.

Shot with the Canon 7D and the 24-70 f2.8 @ f5.0 and 40mm, 1/100 sec at 400 ISO with natural window light as the source.

Day 295, 365 Day Project

These beautiful pipes are part of the Organ at Knox's United Church here in Calgary. We were in the church attending my son Cool's Choir concert and while waiting for the show to began Luke wanted to visit the balcony where I was able to get close to the pipes. I took out my iPhone and snapped a couple of shots and when I got home processed the image in Snapeseed giving a bit of grunge and adding the frame.

Day 294, 365 Day Project

In September I had bid on a set of Nike Golf club through Safeway and Airmiles E-Auction. I was successful and thus had a new set of clubs for myself. I tweeted that I had won and thought nothing of it. A few weeks later I received an e-mail stating that I had won the daily draw of a Wittnauer watch for having tweeted about my experience. Today that reward arrived and my wife now has a beautiful new watch. Shot this with available window light on the iPhone, cropped it in Snapseed and then finished the post processing with Instagram.

Day 293, 365 Day Project

Decided to try some more table top work with a mini bottle of Grey Goose I was given a few years ago at a American Photo party in New York. I added a glass from the 1988 winter Olympics in the background (unfortunately I don't have any martini glasses) to add some depth. I shot the image with the Canon 7D and the 24-70 f2.8 @ f8, 1/125 sec. and 100 ISO. Lighting was a Balcar head with a Chimera small strip box and egg crate on one side and white foam core on the other.

I then downloaded the image and cleaned it up a bit in photoshop then uploaded the image to my iPhone. Once again I used Snapseed to do a little post processing to add a bit of grunge and a frame.

Day 292, 365 Day Project

Today's post helps correct a mistake I made back in February. I realized that I had posted two different days with the same number, thus throwing my dates off by one day.

Today's image is of one of our flowering plants that seems to have blooms year round. I always like the look of the flower and the texture on the pistil. Here I brought the iPhone in close to capture a more intimate view. The only processing that was done in Snapseed was to crop a tiny bit and add the frame.

Day 290, 365 Day Project

By observing the work of others it can help us learn to alter the observation of our world around us. My friend Jonathan Marks (http://www.jmarksphoto.com/) has been an inspiration since I discovered his work early in 2011. Watching the imagery he has produced by mastering the iPhone and the various tools available to him has helped me to expand my vision as well.

I have always believed that you must develop your own style and not imitate others. However by sharing and being open to other styles one can expand their own repertoire as well. As I go into the final 75 days of this years project, I have seen a great improvement and growth in my own work. I credit this to being open to new ideas, philosophies, techniques and tools. I am invigorated by observing the works of many talented photographers and thus stretched myself as well. Using my Canon or my iPhone (used to create today's image) allows me to share my vision with you.

This particular shot was done at the Knox united church as I wandered around the building waiting for Cool during his choir rehearsal. I looked up and loved the lines and colour that I saw. I rotated my iPhone to get the composition I liked and then brought the image into Snapseed to crop the image and add the frame. I love the final look of the photograph.

Day 289, 365 Day Project

A very active game of table tennis was taking place in the Campus Centre at SAIT this evening. I saw this as I went for a short walk around campus and grabbed a quick shot with the iPhone. Processed in Snapseed with a little drama and a frame added.

Day 288, 365 Day Project

Decided to play around with a little table top work tonight. Using my Canon 7D and the 24-70mm f2.8 lens I shot this glass roster figurine my wife purchased recently. I placed it on a light table then added a reflector from above and shot against a black background. Aperture was f7.1 at 1/60 and 1000 ISO. Some photoshop work was done to eliminate the lightbox at the base of the roster.

Day 287, 365 Day Project

I'm taking advantage of the fall colours as we usually don't get to colourful around Calgary. This image shot with the iPhone has no saturation added at all. This is the way the colours appear on the tree in my neighbours yard. I love the red and orange against the blue sky. Final image was processed with Pictureshow.

Day 286, 365 Day Project

A bouquet of flowers photographed with the iPhone and processed in Snapseed.

Day 285, 365 Day Project

To those on the east coast these fall colors may be common, but here in the west we don't have a lot of red or orange leaves. I came across this small bush of bright red leaves in the Bowmont Natural Area along the Bow River here in Calgary. Zooming in with my 24-70 f2.8 lens on the Canon 7D I exposed this image at f2.8 at 1/40 sec and 2000 ISO in the late evening as the sun set. No post processing was done on this image.

Day 284, 365 Day Project

From my basic lighting class at SAIT this evening. The lovely Breanna graced us once again as a subject and today's topic was using gel's to colour the background. I gave my lecture and explained what we are doing and how it works then brought Breanna up for a couple of test shots before letting the students have the opportunity to photograph her. Now Breanna has been coming to my classes for some 8 years now as a subject and we work pretty intuitively together and I have plenty of wonderful images of her created over this time period as it is hard to take a bad photograph of her.

Any way I did my shots, showed the students and left it at that. When I got home and downloaded them I was happy with the look of this one and decided that it would be the image of the day.

Canon 7D, 24-70 f2.8 @ f 7.1 and 32mm, 100 ISO at 1/125 second. Alien Bee 800 with a 3' x 4' Larson soft box as the main and a reflector for fill. Red gel on Alien Bee 1600 head.

Day 283, 365 Day Project

Trying for something a little more abstract today so I shot a close-up image of my niece's eye with the iPhone. Post processed using Snapseed for cropping, coloration, gunge and frame.

Day 282, 365 Day Project

It's Canadian Thanksgiving today and what would a feast be with out pumpkin and chocolate pies with whipped cream. Over at my parents with the family tonight to celebrate and while walking through the kitchen I saw the mixer with the beaters up and dripping with whipped cream. Seeing an opportunity I pulled out the iPhone and snapped an image which I processed in Snapseed to get the look I was after.

Day 281, 365 Day Project

This afternoon for about 15 minutes we had a wildlife festival in our front yard. One Rabbit, three Squirrels, a couple of Blue Jays, some Magpies and Pigeons. Went and got the 7D with the 70-200 f2.8 IS and the EF 2x II converter to try and take some shots out the front window with out scaring them away. I was most interested in the Jays as I have only recently seen them around our house and we have been here 8 years now. However when choosing the image of the day Luke liked the squirrel image more so that is the one I choose. On of the better shots of the Blue Jay is below.

Shot at f5.6, 1/160 sec at 1000 ISO and 400mm focal length.

Day 280, 365 Day Project

I went for a walk down by the Bow River on this fine Fall day in Calgary. I was able to capture a number of great shots that could have been my image of the day but choose this particular one for a couple of reasons.

I had just walked up from the river and was on the bike path when I saw this interesting contraption hurling down the path towards me. I just had a few seconds before he would pass me so I quickly pulled the iPhone from my pocket and turned it on. I then had to find the camera button and launch the camera app. I barely had time to get the camera up as he passed and I snapped the image as the app launched, panning with him as he went by. Not knowing what I caught I was pleasantly surprised that I had him in the centre of the frame, pretty well the whole trike (just a bit of the back wheel clipped) and nice and sharp. I don't know if I could have captured this shot any better had I planned it or had him ride by multiple times. I also had a chuckle as he commented to the friend who was behind him on a regular bike "Darn Paparazzi".

Final image was cropped and had minor enhancement in Snapseed.

Day 279, 365 Day Project

A simple but elegant image of leaves in the fall. Shot with the iPhone and finished with minimal post processing in both Snapseed and Camera+ Pro.

Day 278, 365 Day Project

I've had this Conch Shell for years as a souvenir from a trip to Hawaii. I have always loved the texture and the shape of the rings the circle the shell. I knew when I shot this image with my iPhone that I wanted to do it B&W and so that was the first conversion I did and then I softened the depth of field using the grunge tool.

Day 277, 365 Day Project

Walking out of SAIT down a stairwell I had walked many times before I felt a pull to snap an image of the stairs with my iPhone. When I got home I brought the image into Snapseed and straightened and cropped the image added some grunge and burned in the top right corner. This image I have titled "The Dark Stairwell" and I like the abstract look of it.

Day 276, 365 Day Project

Image number 4 in the Vehicle Face Plate series. Although I have just started this series I have found that the best face plates also need interesting grills in front of them. So not any face plate will be added to the series. it will have to have some character to go along with the vehicle as well. Shot with the iPhone and processed in Snapseed.

Day 275, 365 Day Project

Fall is here, the harvest is in, and Thanksgiving is just a week away. An abundance of vegetables await and I snapped them in the bin at Safeway this evening with the iPhone. Decided to use Instagram for the post processing tonight as it was the only app that gave me the look I was going for.

Day 274, 365 Day Project

Out taking a walk around the house on a beautiful fall evening and I noticed this lovely shadow being cast by the bolt on the rusty light pole beside the pathway. Out came the iPhone and I got down close and snapped a few frames. The texture was awesome as well and I love the angle I was able to achieve. Processed with Snapseed afterwards.

Day 273, 365 Day Project

My wife recently picked up these flameless candles from Costco and added them to a holder we have that she places beside a little totem to "Our Lady of Health Vailankanni". It comes from a Shrine in Tamilnadu, India where three apparitions of Mother Mary at Vailankanni occurred. This is also unique since it is one of two only icons where Mother Mary is shown wearing a sari. Centuries of devotion to Mother Mary both by Hindus and Christians have evolved an amalgamation of practices borrowing elements from both religions. It is said that the portrayal of Virgin Mary as a curer of illness and a victor over all demonic forces is seen by local Hindus as an artribute equivalent of Hindu Goddess Mariamman. The practises include bathing in the sea, shaving heads, walking on knees or rolling in the shrine as a ritual.

It is also common to find traditions of offering a candle in the shape of the respective ailment- a heart in case of cardiac complications, a liver in case of jaundice, lungs in case of tuberculosis and so on. In case of the ailment getting cured, many bring with them small gold and silver replicas of parts of the body that has been cured to donate to the church. Devoties clad in orange (or saffron) robes.

Some times offering are sent in sealed bottles or big hollow bamboos duly closed and thrown in to the sea with the address of the shrine written on them. Such offerings are believed to reach the holy spot. (Information from Wikipedia)

I thought this might make for an interesting image using the candles so I took them down to the studio and photographed it using Camera+ in the iPhone. Very little post processing was done on this image.