A few recent images.

One of the nice things about doing the daily photo using Instagram is that I can post it immoderately after I finish the post processing work that I do on the image. I am shooting this project entirely with the iPhone and using different apps to crop and finish the shot before uploading it. The top image is from January 19 and is a perfume bottle that my wife has. Processed with Snapseed, frame in RealCamera+.

January 18. Shot in the Doctor's office while waiting for him to come into the room. Processed with Snapseed, frame in RealCamera+.

January 17. A butterfly from a set of three that I have that are mounted in a display box. Processed with Snapseed, frame in RealCamera+.

January 16. Stuffed frogs that were staring down at me from the shelve in the boy's room. Processed with Snapseed, frame in RealCamera+.

January 15, I went to Edmonton to teach a small workshop on using alternative light sources. This was created using fluorescent light strips to light the model. Processed with Snapseed to change the focus just on to the legs, frame in RealCamera+.

January 14. Shot at SAIT in the instructors office for ICT. The coffee urn was empty (fortunately I don't drink coffee) but made for an interesting subject. Processed with Snapseed, frame in RealCamera+.

Waiting for the Eye Doctor

Nothing can be more important to a photographer then their eye's. So we must make sure we see an eye doctor regularly. A number of years ago my optometrist noticed something strange and sent me to see Dr. Crichton to make sure everything is fine. I have been going for about five years now and though thinks are stable he is keeping an eye on my optical nerve. Today I had an appointment for some specialized tests so while sitting alone in the waiting room I happened to notice this lonely Coat Tree. Using the iPhone I composed the image I wanted then brought the file in to Snapseed where I cropped it and added some grunge. Then using RealCamera+ I added the subtle frame that I thought would work with the photo.

Hitting the slopes.

Today Cool's school headed out to Canada Olympic Park for ski lessons. This was interesting for me as 40 years ago I learned to ski here as well when it was known as Paskapoo. The old tow rope is still there but now they have these fancy conveyor belt things that the skiers stand on that takes them up.

So I arrived out at the hill near the end of their lessons with the Canon 7D looking to take some photographs of my boy. I shoot a number with the 7D but since I wanted to do my Instagram 366 image at the hill I brought out the iPhone. Now the original file was dark as the camera wanted to compensate for the snow, but Snapseed worked well to bring back the brightness. I then added the drama back with the Drama 2 filter and finished it up in PhotoToaster.

Today's Instagram 366

It has been a long and busy day. Shot this in the afternoon as Luke and I were playing in the basement. Shot on the iPhone and processed with Snapseed with the frame added in PhotoToaster.

Rediscovering the Magic.

When I started taking photo's some 40 years ago I did it because it was fun. Over the years I have had ups and owns and times of great inspiration and huge frustrations. Running a business can be one of the hardest things to do and can make us lose the love of what we once enjoyed. Over the last year as I started and completed my 365 Day Project and now doing the Instagram 366 I am having a lot of fun once again. It is a great way to rediscover your passion.

When I started there was a magic in the darkroom, a sense of awe as the image came up under the red light in the developer. It was a seminal moment for many photographers in the film era. Along came digital and the darkroom faded in to the background, done by a few while most people shifted to the new technology. Photoshop did allow for some experimenting and plug-ins allowed for creativity, but it is slow and time consuming.

Enter the iPhone and other camera phones and a bevy of apps that allowed for quick images, processing and sharing of images. It is fun again to experiment with the different tools available to us and allow others to see and comment immediately. Today's images are part of me playing.

The image below was created in the backyard after a snowfall and captured with the iPhone, processed with Snapseed, framed with PhotoForge2 and posted using Instagram. The above image was fun and a result of experimentation. I have a number of apps and wanted to try this one called Photo Booth which is one of many of these apps that are suppose to mimic the old style mall Photobooth's. It was late and I pointed my iPad at myself for an Auto Portrait. I started to play with the functions and was looking at the "Squeeze" lens and how funny it made me look. After taking the image I brought the file in to Snapseed on the iPad and then used the Drama 2 filter and added the frame. So if you like you can call me "Mega Mind" from now on.

Back to School

Shot at my boy's school on the first day back to classes. Saw the signs hanging in the locker by the front door and pulled out the iPhone to capture a frame. Once I was home I brought the file into Snapseed and applied the Drama 2 filter, darkened the image slightly, used to selective focus to soften the background and added the frame to get the final result seen here.

Instagram 366 Challenge

I thought I would be over the Photo a day Challenge but I started the Instagram 366 with a few of my friends over there. In addition I have been posting the image to the Start To Photograph meet up group here in Calgary as well. So I guess you can say I am a Photography Addict. So this year all my daily images will be shot with the iPhone and posted first to Instagram, then the meet up group and my blog. This is where I will share some of the details on the image plus random thoughts for the day.

About today's 366. This is a candy bowl we have that sits on the fridge so I see it every time I open the door of the fridge. As I was looking at it today I was noticing the swirls and decided it could make for a unique image. So I took it down and placed it on the kitchen island under one of the sot lights. As I explored the shape looking at the screen of the iPhone I found the background distracting. So I went down to the studio and brought up a small blue background and stands. I placed this in the kitchen and repositioned the bowl on it. Then I shot three images, the first had the candy in the bowl, the second was empty and the third I put a small blue towel in the bowl. One I looked at the images I settled on the first one that I shot and then brought it in to Snapseed. Here I cropped it, then tested some of the filters that I like. However I was not happy with the results they were giving me as I was losing the coloring from the tungsten light source and the blue background. So this shot is fairly straight with only a little darkening and a slight tweaking of the saturation. The frame was then added with PhotoToaster.

Today's random thought. Even in the confines of your home you can find the subjects for you to photograph. After all they are your own treasures and obviously had something that attracted you in the first place.