House of Martin

About 15 years ago, my father decided to create a Martin bird house.  It wasn't a difficult project, and apparently it was fairly well built, for only now is it starting to die.  But it's dying at a rapid pace...and I'm sure will be taken down and tossed in the fire pit soon.

Martin House

Here is a portion of that bird house.  The colors underneath the peeling paint have a nice antique feel to them.  The fact that it looks like it's going to fall apart also helps add that feeling.

And Finally...Today's Photo

I have a broken bicycle in my shed.  It is beyond repair.  Instead of tossing it, I decided to harvest certain parts for a new photo project.  The project is called "Deconstructing a Bicycle." It is basically what it sounds like...I will be taking photos of pieces of the bicycle as I take it apart.

Bicycle Chain

The first part I removed was the chain.  I don't know if I will use the isolation style for all the photos, but it worked well for this one...so we shall see.

Another Assignment

One of my assignments for my current photo project with New York Institute of Photography is an action shot at a team event.  Today, through the open windows in my house, I could hear the sounds of people shouting out numbers and names, and other people cheering and clapping.  I assumed there was some sporting event going on at the park that is about a mile from my house, so I grabbed my camera, got on my bike, and rode...hoping I'd find something that would suffice for the project.

Through the Water

The event was a swimming tournament.  There were a few different types of races...this one having the next team member dive and swim across the pool as soon as the current swimmer reaches the other's location. 

Textures For Photoshop

Today's photos are not anything special by themselves.  Instead, when combined with other images, they can add interesting textures and depth to otherwise ordinary images.  There are tons of tutorials online on how to best use textures, but basically, if you are using Photoshop, all you need to do is place one of these images over your picture that you want to add texture to, change the opacity of the layer, and then just mess around with the layer mode, saturation, exposure, and whatever else you think would look good.
All of these textures are free to anyone who wants to use them.  All I ask is that you leave a link to what you used it for....thanks!

Old Book Cover

This texture is from an old book cover.  It can be used to make photos look much older than they really are.

 

Rust

This rust was on the side of a green dumpster.  It would be a great texture for a grunge look.

Rock

This image has a lot going on in it.  The cracks and darker parts would make this texture work well as a grunge texture as well. 

Portrait of an Old Man, Staring

This is a portrait of one of my uncles.  I took this photo at my sister's wedding, not today.  It was the first image I had access to, so it became the image that had some of today's textures tossed onto it.  Definitely not the best use of the textures, but I just wanted to give an example of what can be done.
For another example of using textures, look at yesterday's post.  I used an old paper texture for the first photo.

Astrophotography

I love astrophotography.  I love the chance to stand under the beautiful night sky, just staring into space.  And what situation doesn't benefit from having a camera nearby, as well as having different equipment to work with?  none.  none at all.  The different equipment I am referencing is a remote shutter trigger.  The only time I use my remote shutter trigger is when I shoot astrophotography.  Any other time that I need to trigger the shutter without causing much camera shake, I just use my 2 second on camera feature.  That feature is quite helpful.  But with astrophotography, the shots tend to take at least a minute, in which case I must use the remote otherwise I can only get up to 30 seconds.  The remote allows for shutter speeds of as long as I am willing to sit under a starry sky.  That could mean hours.

The Big Dipper

A good constellation.  Definitely not my favorite, but a good one none the less.  Orion takes the cake.

A Cluster of Ducklings

You can frequently find animals for sale at the Green Dragon (my local, open Friday only, farmer's market).  It is also frequent that these animals are in less than fantastic conditions.  I'm not saying they are treated poorly, just that their quarters might be a little closer than the common animal rights activist might want them to be.  These ducklings sure don't mind it though, even with extra room in their box, they are quick to pile onto each other.

A Duckling Cluster

 I may not have composed this shot in a beautiful way, but I was going more so for the close quarters look.  I wanted it to be hard to distinguish between the different birds, making them seem like one big pile of feathers.  Also, does anyone know what types of ducks the ones with the black stripes on their heads are?  I've never seen ones like that before.

Algerian Flatbread

To go with my Futari, my wife made a delicious spiced Algerian flatbread called msemmen (think naan).  It was actually slightly spicy...my wife does not like spicy things at all, so I was impressed by her willingness to add cayenne pepper and cumin.  And I even watched to make sure she tried some at dinner.  She did...and she even said that she liked it.

  Msemmen

Whether she was telling the truth or not about liking it is a different story.

It Has Been Some Time

...Since I did my last installment of my Urban Alphabet.  So, with a free morning, I hopped on my bike and rode around town looking first and foremost for my elusive G. 
I frequently have my camera attached to me while I'm on my bike, so I have been looking for the G for quite some time.  I have had no luck up until this point.  Today, I told myself I had to find it.  I did...Within the first 3 minutes of being on the hunt, too.  H, I, and J were quickly found after the G popped into existence.

Urban Alphabet

Now I can spell out Big Head.  That, my friends, is an accomplishment. 

Sooner or Later

Sooner or later I'll find a good subject for some wide angle photography.  Not only will I find an awesome subject, but when I stumble across it, the sky behind it will be bold and beautiful.  That is not what happened today.  Today I found a tolerable subject and an ok sky.  I have been looking into different techniques for "aging" photos in post production, and today, since I wasn't perfectly pleased with the straight outta the camera picture, I applied some of those techniques to the photo.

A Hybrid

Part barn and part garage, this structure helped me with today's photo of the day.  We will say today's photo was more an exercise in post production, not so much in actually taking a picture.  The scratchy look is a "texture" from a free archive and are easily found online.  I have some good ideas for my own, so look for some similarly textured photos in the future.

My Uncle

Due to my sister's wedding, much (extended) family time occupied my day.  Even with many people around that I normally don't see, I just didn't think to take my camera out until around midnight.  This uncle was the last person to leave.  He is an awesome uncle.  I just searched his name and the school where he teaches...the article title "Mars Pathfinding in the Channeled Scabland" came up.  He worked with NASA for the Mars Pathfinder Mission.  Pretty sweet.

Uncle

He is probably thinking about some phase of the moon while making my mother think he is actually paying attention to what she is saying.

John Protopapas

The Ephrata Public Library had a free sitar concert today.  The sitar player was John Protopapas, a very interesting man with an impressive past and a beautiful talent.  He played for about 45 minutes, some on his hand drums, tablas, but mostly on the sitar.  His explanation of the culture that surrounds the music he played, the techniques he used, and the trance he was able to put us all in made for quite an enjoyable evening.

John Protopapas

I only had a second to get my attempt at a portrait.  Throughout the whole evening, the only time he wasn't smiling was when he would get into an intense riff on the sitar.

Deep in the Music

Here is one of the infrequent times that he isn't smiling.  His fingers flew up and down the neck of his sitar.

Tablas

Here is a close up of his hand resting on one of his tablas while he explains the different rhythms and beats to us.

Laundry Day

It wasn't laundry day for me today (yesterday, on the other hand, was), but it was for someone in my neighborhood.  Passing the brightly colored articles of clothing on my way home was all the prompting I needed to figure out what today's photo would be.  I got home, grabbed my cameras (my Canon T1I and my ancient Kodak Duaflex IV), and went right back out.
On its own, a clothesline might not be anything special, but I have taught myself how to see the world in different shades, void of color all together, and in tons of different forms that require post-processing or just simple in-camera manipulation.  I saw the clothing hanging there and I knew that all it needed was to be shot through my old Kodak Duaflex IV - the more and more popular Through the Viewfinder, or TTV technique.

   Laundry Day

The only post-processing that I do to my TTV images is an upping of saturation...The images that you would get from a working Duaflex were known for their strongly saturated colors.

The Veins of Nature

Nature's veins run close to the surface.  They don't hide behind flesh and fat like ours do.

Nature's Veins

While taking the photograph, a wind kicked up.  It only moved a portion of this red currant leaf.

Near Infrared

I have a near infrared filter.  This allows me to take some interesting pictures in that I can use it as a neutral density filter or just by using it to get those other-worldly images due to the color.  Today I used it as a neutral density filter, getting nice soft water effects with slow aperture speeds.
I'm not going to get into the way it works or all that you can do with a near infrared filter, but look for an upcoming  post that does indeed get into all that.

Stream of Brick

This stream is missing much of what makes a stream a stream...water.  If I really wanted to show how a near infrared filter could be used like a neutral density filter, I would have waited for the water to rise.  The addition of bricks to a stream make up for the lack of water.

Wine Tasting

My wife and I don't do much drinking.  We actually don't really do it at all.  Since we got together six years ago, I have had one beer, about one glass of wine, and a couple mouthfuls of vodka.  She has had less than half of that.  We do, on the other hand, do free things.  So when we were notified that our also not so big on the drinking but big on the free things doing friends were going to a free wine tasting (at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire) , we opted to join them, figuring the free side of it negated the fact that I'd be drinking.  I can now say I have had about one and a half glasses of wine in the past six years.

 Fill 'Er Up

Our little group are real connoisseurs when it comes to wine.  We use terms like motor oil to describe the essence of fine wines and flock to the booths that have slushy wine because it's a slushy...it's gotta be better than the regular thing.  

Subtle Colors

I won't lie, some of them were very good.  The blueberry wine was quite delicious.  I tried to emulate it's subtle blues in this image.  

Longwood Gardens

We went to Longwood Gardens with some friends of ours today.  Its a rather nice, rather massive garden about an hour away from where we live.  It was fun.  I took pictures.  It's late now, though, so I'm not going to do much more explaining of the day, the things we saw, the history of the place, or the things I photographed.  Hopefully the quantity will make up for the words I am without.

Lily

This is some part of some flower.  I only know that it is a lily because it was in a massive room labeled as a lily display.

Not Sure

Someone help.  I really should know this one.  It looks ridiculously familiar, but I just don't recall what it is.  It reminds me of a Jack In the Pulpit.

  Cactus

These edges are edges of some type of cactus.  I sure know my plants.

Lost Colony

I got a little taste of the farm life I so badly want.
In an attempt to make some extra money to make the move to Ireland a little less painless, my wife and I have been doing some odd jobs.  Her grandmother has been great and has allowed us to clean their church as well as help around on her farm.  Today, while my wife sold strawberries and after I hacked away at a field of asparagus, I wandered around with a camera.  Following a little path next to some wooded land, I stumbled upon a lost colony.  There were about six or seven bee boxes, crawling with bees.  I had no idea that her grandparents raised bees.  I questioned her grandmother about it, hoping we could get some honey, (her grandmother would not even know how to harm a bee, so I would be fine with taking their honey) but she told me she lets some guy use her land for his bees.  Sadly, she doesn't even get any honey out of the deal.

Little Boxes

 Here are some of the brightly colored hives in an area that I would not have expected them.  The colored boxes remind me of something...I'm thinking Sesame Street.

Hive Mind

There is something militaristic about the swarming of bees and the letters and numbers.

Back Roads and Church Parking Lots

The back/country roads of Ephrata and surrounding towns are littered with little churches.  In the parking lot of one of these churches, there sits a pile of junk.  Down the road from said pile is a little one roomed barn/shed/garage.

Pile O' Junk

A couple planks of termite ridden wood, a candle holder with a cross on it, and an ancient piece of farming equipment with a blanked draped on it.  That is what makes up this pile of junk.

Floating Window

I was amused by the little one roomed building.  The walls were very white and I knew if shot correctly, it would be near impossible to make them out.  The end result would be some vegetation with what appears to be a floating window above it.  All I did out of camera was add a little extra overexposure and some extra dark tones.  

For School...Again

Another part of my current photography project for NYIP became today's photo of the day.  Basically, I had to take two images of the exact same still life/setup, the only difference being one of them had to incorporate a makeshift reflector board for some additional side-lighting.  Though it didn't have to, mine became a product shot for Tiffany & CO. glassware.  I got some beautiful glasses from my grandparents when my wife and I got married, but we don't do anything that justifies the use of awesome glassware.  So today, their existence was justified.

Thirsty?

With my awesome photographic talent, I can sell you any product.  So yes...yes you are.

Go buy some expensive glassware so you have something to put your thirst-quenching water in. 

For School

I am currently attending the New York Institute of Photography.  So far it's going rather well and I'm rather enjoying it.  My hope is to get through the program before I move to Ireland, and at the rate I've been going, that really shouldn't be a problem.  I just have a few photo projects to work through...The one I was working on today ended up getting me today's photo. 

Kiwi

I'm pretty sure this bird statue thing is supposed to be a kiwi.  Like all kiwis, it is cute, unlike most kiwis, it is also deadly.