A quick update.

I have been out and about the last two days so I am bringing my photo of the day up to date.  Both day's photo's were captured with the iPhone and then post production work done in Snapseed.

September 9.  Hanging around St. Stephen's Anglican church while waiting for the boy's at choir and found these three interesting images.

September 10.  Walking around the Varsity Community Center I was attracted to the locks and chains on the garbage cans.

A shared experience.

One of the most powerful things about photography is that it really makes the world around us a shared experience.  Early travel photographers found many outlets for their images as it was difficult for the masses to travel and thus photographs were the common person's way to experience the larger world.  In our times millions of images are created and shared, thus we have found that the world and it's experiences has shrunk. Now is this a blessing or a curse?  I guess it is how you want to look at things.  I personally choose to be on the positive side. I enjoy looking at photo's from my friends around the globe and in a way experiencing what they are.  In the same way I want to share my photo's so that other's may get to know me, who I am and the way I see life around me.  This is what keep's me shooting a photo a day.

September 6  I came up with this concept when I found one of my old loupes in a drawer.  I tried it on some typical items on my desk using it as a magnifying glass.  Looking at those results and rejecting them I decided to use it for what it was originally intended.  I pulled a set of negatives from my files, put them and the loupe on the light table and shoot the photo with my Canon 7D.  One of the results I had not anticipated was the glow of the blue plastic from the light below and I think that makes the image even stronger.

September 7.  Walking in the rain down in the Connaught district while waiting for my boy's at a choir activity.  I found these two shots and the grey sky's made for a scene that allowed a nice level for the ambient and artificial light.  Both were photographed with the iPhone.

September 8.  One of those rare foggy morning's here in Calgary that generally don't last to long.  I want to make an image in it but the family was getting ready to go to church so I only had the option in front of my house.  I chose to use these dead flowers in the foreground  to help add to the depth created by the fog.  It also gave a nice feeling that fall is soon to be here.

A trip to the garden center.

I made a visit to Sunnyside Garden center today as I needed some wasp killer as I have a nasty nest under my shed.  So many places were sold out so I was happy to hear they had some when I called them this morning.  As I walked through the center I saw many interesting items that I started snapping away with my iPhone.  Here are today's results.

One thing this visit did was make me want to research flowers more, especially since I have photographed so many this past summer.  I want to learn how to to tend to them better to get better and consistent results.  Fortunately they did have some literature there which I was able to take away as a start.  Perhaps I will even learn enough to have a proper garden next year.

Off to a good start.

It is so nice when we feel like we have had a productive day.  I can honestly say that I feel that the month of September is off to a good start as I have managed to clean up a lot of lose ends and get started with some projects as well.  There were two things I wanted to do today.  One was to get rid of a lot of scrap metal items from around the house.  I found a gentlemen who hauled a truck load of items away for $20 which helped me out immensely.  I then was able to shift my focus to the Calgary Institute for Photography.  

I started this organization over 10 years ago when there were not many educational opportunities around.  I brought in some guest speakers and had a good initial start.  However I was not able to sustain it, especially as there became a boom in workshops, seminars and on-line offerings and so I had backed off the last few years.  Now I am starting a revamp of it and trying to get back to some of my original intentions.  One of the main ones is to be a source of information for events in Calgary and region.  So if you would like to check it out please visit http://cifpinsights.blogspot.ca or add your name to the mailing list by sending an e-mail to registration@cifp-online.com to receive notice of posts to the CIFP blog.

 Here are two photo's I created today for my photo a  day challenge.  Both were taken as I walked over to pick my boys up from school.  Using the iPhone I captured this feather in the field at the Dalhousie Community centre.  Every morning for the last week the fields have been filled with seagulls and today as I walked through I could not help but notice them.  This one caught my eye and I got down low to the ground to capture it amongst the grass.  I love the way the texture of the feather came trough.

While waiting for Cool to finish his shift with the school patrols I was taken by the line up of buses in front of the school. The enrollment has really risen since they turned it to a fine arts school and buses come from all over the North end of Calgary to bring students.

Before and After.

Over the years I have learned that a good photograph sometimes needs a little tweeking or enhancing.  There is a lot of schools of thought into how much is acceptable and when it is pushed over the boundaries.  However as I researched photography and those who have worked with the medium since it's inception, I have found few case where a straight print works all on its own.

The greats have always worked their images to make them appear the way they envisioned and as I have grown I have come to the comfortable realization that I can achieve the same.  Now I am not claim to be a "great", but I do believe in the practice of post production to make my work stronger.  Today I would like to share two examples of my process as it relates to my iPhone photography.

Example 1.  I found this flower at a mall in Lakeview her in Calgary.  I moved in as close as I could to get the flower sharp and took this first image.

Once I returned home I opened the photo in Snapseed and took the following steps.

1.  Cropped it square so to share easily on Instagram. (If I want a rectangle image I have to down load the file to my computer and ad white canvas to make it square in order to share.)

2.  I adjusted the white balance to warm up the scene.

3.  I used the center focus filter to darken the edges and soften the background.

4.  I selected the frame I wanted.

5.  I opened the file in iPhoto and eliminated the white specks and some of the other spots I found distracting to the eye.

These steps resulted in the photo below.

Example 2.  There were some small sunflowers next to the previous flower and I cropped in camera with the iPhone to get the area I wanted to work with.

Again I started with Snapseed.

1.  Cropped it square.

2.  Using the Black and White filter I converted it using the green filter and then worked with the contrast and brightness to get close to what I was looking for.

3.  I used the selective adjust to brighten the centre portion of the flower and darken a few areas I felt needed it (In essence dodging and burning).

4.  I selected the frame I wanted.

5.  I opened the file in iPhoto and eliminated some spots I did not like.

These steps resulted in the photo below.

So that is a brief look at my process that I do on pretty well all the photo's I share.  If you have any questions or comments please post them bellow or contact me via e-mail.

I close with a photo of Luke and Cool as they get ready to return to school this morning.  It was a good first day and they were excited to get back.  Post processing for this was done using the earlybird filter native to Instagram (one of the few times I have used this apps filters).

A little bit of table top photography.

One of the things I did fairly well at the Alberta College of Art and Design was table top and product photography.  I didn't pursue it as I found portraiture and working with people to be more what I was in to at that time.  Still I know how to make products look good and this skill has stayed with me.  These last two days before school have been spent with my boy's and preparing their supplies for the start of the new year tomorrow.  As such I found that I was working downstairs in the studio both evenings photographing a couple of items I found around the house.

September 1.  Last year after the circus a local furniture store next to the big top was handing out gifts to the children.  These decorative clocks were the prize and they each have one.  Last night I was looking for something to photograph and saw it on the shelf and decided it would make a nice subject.  Simple lighting, one softbox with egg crates and a black background were used.  Shot with the Canon 7D at 1/125 sec, f5.6 at 100 ISO.

September 2.  I came across this bottle of perfume bottle on the shelf.  I immediately had an idea of how I want to shoot it.

Here is the set up that achieved the above result.  I wanted a different background and remembered I had used my silver reflector as one before.  The first set up I had it pulled tight and when I was looking at it I did not like the wrinkles and straights creases in it from the folding when storing it. I loosened one corner and pulled it a little giving me a much more pleasing crease.  Setting the bottle on a mirror I slid it up and down until I achieved the position I wanted.  I brought my Alien Bee with an XS Chimera soft box to the left and slightly behind.  I then clamped a piece of white mat board to a light stand to add a soft highlight on the right side.  The 7D was set at 100 ISO, 1/125 sec and f13.  Bellow is the set up.

Finishing the final shot I downloaded to my computer and then fixed up some minor spots in photoshop before uploading it to my iPhone.  Using Snapseed and the center focus filter I darkened down the outer edges slightly and added the frame. I am really pleased how this turned out.

Another month ends.

August wraps up and soon we will be into fall.  September is another chance for new beginnings as the students start a new school year and work gets back to normal after a summers rest.  For me it will be about building something with in this photographic community that I love.  The months ahead should be exciting as we wrap up 2013 and I fully plan to keep shooting a photo a day for as long as I can.  I look forward to sharing some of the things I am doing over the next four months.  For now please enjoy these photo's from the last four days.

August 28.  Out once again for an evening walk.  These trips usually last a couple of hours as I wander the paths in the neighbourhood, during which time I look for objects to photograph. I was attracted to the vibrancy of the blue in this bike.

Words can be powerful parts of a photograph and it is important how you include them when they appear.  In this case the engraving on the storm sewer becomes the subject, a call for environmental awareness.

Some lawn decorations can be interesting as well.  Here a rusted old set of metal wheels made for an interesting subject.

August 29.  Though hard to see I liked the way this little yellow bug blended in with the yellow flower.

August 30.  Nearing the end of a long day I took one of the toy's we picked up in Disneyland and wanted to try some long exposures with it.  The first was the initial test shot at 100 ISO, bulb setting for 3 seconds at f8.

I then adjusted to f11 and 4 seconds and rotated the camera on the tripod to get this effect.

August 31.  A trip to the pet store at Crowfoot crossing gave me these two images.  The Easter Island Head caught my eye on this one here.

The Luke asked me to photograph one of the cats.  He is really fond of them.

While waiting for Cool's guitar lesson to end I photographed this Aria Bass guitar hanging on the wall.