Life Quest (and other stuff)

Time of another mirror self portrait, but this time I'm doubling up. Taken with iPhone 4s, edited with Snapseed (on phone), mirroring done with an actual mirror.

Friday night, while I was trying to get some work done, I was bombarded (okay, slight exaggeration) by messages containing pics of friends with drinks in their hands. Mean, mean, mean. Well, Auke , two can play that game. Canon EOS 60D;  EF50mm;  1/64 sec;   f/1.8;   ISO 200 Cropped, levels set and sharpened (drink) in PhotoShop. What is the 52 week project about? Comment using Facebook Or use Blogger comment area below

Yes, I am late with this post - very late, I know, but the picture was taken a week ago, I promise. I just didn’t get around to loading it. And here’s why... I got a new speedlite I wanted to give a bit of a test, so the idea was moody, strong, side lighting. I got everything set-up and started to do test shots. Tim joined me, but it’s okay, was just testing. Then... When it became clear he had no intention of leaving, I did... And this happened... At some point I decided enough is enough. My camera. My remote thingy. My flash. So I booted him out... But, before I was ready to go... At this point I gave up – so the test shot right at the top of this post, that is week 13. (Cropped, brightened slightly, otherwise as shot.)   What is the 52 week project about? Comment using Facebook Or use Blogger comment area below

So you get a IR remote shutter for your birthday. You are super excited, because you don't have to start the timer and run anymore. You place your camera. You pose. You press the button on the remote. You run to look at the result, only to realise you are still in bulb mode from last weekend's starry-events. So... Let's call it Art. (With some imagination you can see my arm, dress and hair...) What is the 52 week project about? Comment using Facebook Or use Blogger comment area below

This past weekend me, my hubbie, my son, my daughter and my mother-in-law (our lovely grandchild sitter)  went on a trip to gaze at the stars, on a farm about 20km from Montagu. The event: The Autumn 2013 Southern Star Party . It was a lovely weekend, shared with other gaze-ers of stars, as well as draw-ers of stars and photographers(-ers?) of well, stars. Soooooo, how could I let this opportunity slip past without a bit of self-portraiture? The short answer, I couldn't. On Friday night I popped my camera on my tripod, stood around for 25 seconds waiting for an amazing capture for this week. Turns out, in daylight, I did not stand as still as I thought, and 25 seconds is not quite enough time to give me the illumination I deserve. (You can read whatever you like into that. Smiley face.) Here’s what I got: Canon EOS 60D;   28.0 mm, 25.0 sec;     f/4.0;     ISO 6400; WB -  Fluorescent Processed in C...

Cutting it a bit close again, but made it... So I've been looking into this self-portrait thing. Turns out, as long as it's a picture I take, of myself, it counts. Any part of myself. Thus, I went for a bit of an artistic approach to my feet this week. And just for variation, I did 2 "creations" with filters, as I'm being artistic and all. Taken with iPhone 4s using Blux Pro 35mm eqv, 1/15s, f2.4, ISO 800, no flash First one as shot - cropped only 2 and 3 edited using Snapseed on iPhone - 2 different Retrolux filters. What is the 52 week project about?

After the cold sore disaster I had every intention to get back on track. Well. I didn't. Not only did the cold sore not leave me alone, but I realised today that actually, it's already week 10 and week 9 has simply slipped by me. So, in an attempt to redeem myself, some pics I took of myself well before starting this project. All taken with my iPhone. Three of them well after dark. Edited a little in PhotoShop, but in truth, not really worth it on these images. Put on some frames to try and look professional... I'll try harder this week, but it's already Wednesday. Busy busy busy. But Happy. What is the 52 week project about?

Got a cold sore, so not really in the mood for pictures. But, this isn't called 52 weeks of me when I feel like it. So here is a pic after all. (It doesn't say anywhere it has to be all of me.) "I" or "Eye" What is the 52 week project about?

This week my self-portrait is combined with “getting the job done”. I am currently working on updating my website (although I feel a complete redesign coming on) and decided I need a picture of me in my little studio, hard at work. So here it is: Getting the shot Set my camera up on a tripod and used the 10 second timer to get myself in position. The model is my son; the camera you see in my hands is my back-up, my “proper” one taking the shot. Main light source, strobe with umbrella, camera flash set to 1/16 for fill. Threw filter on the background strobe purely for interest. f8, ISO100. For interest sake , the shot I got... What is the 52 week project about?

This past Tuesday I went to the Red Hot Chili Pepper concert at the Cape Town Stadium. Great time, with great friends, and I did receive an answer: I still do not like the taste of beer. Even the kind described to me as "sweet". (I won't fall for that again...) Anyways, so inspired by the Chili Peppers of Red Hotness, I donned my little red dress and shook my hair about for this week's photo. The dress barely made it into the final crop. But it's about the hair, right? Canon 60D 18 mm, f5.6, ISO 200, 1/250s 1 studio light and on camera flash for fill light. Exposure set to Tungsten for the "blue" feel. Basic adjustments in Camera Raw. Letting my hair down. Or up. What is the 52 week project about?

Lens reflections 5 down, 47 to go. Continuing to come up with new ideas and concepts will definitely improve my overall photography skills, and I believe posing myself will help me to better convey ideas when I photograph others. For a long time I saw myself as I graphic designer who also take photos. Others called me a photographer. Others hired me as a photographer, but I still had to make the transition in my mind. I have. I am designer. I am photographer. So I give you lens reflections. My reflection in one of my lenses, on my camera, actual picture taken with my cell phone (was to lazy to take out my back-up camera, sorry). This photo feels like a glimpse of what is to come. I am photographer. I am capturing the present, creating a record of the past, but moving forward into the future. What is the 52 week project about?

So, time for another self portrait. This time a cell portrait. Arm stretched out, using the fact that my phone is reflective on the back to align the shot, making hubbie sit still in the background for a bit more interest and hoping I don't shake too much when I let go of the shutter button. Then into Snapseed, where I threw in fake fades and fake grunge and fake light leaks, and now I'm in the blogger app where I am writing this post. Told you it's a cell phony kind of day.

Ever felt like screaming? This week I tried to catch that on camera. Glad to say that this is not at all how I feel, just seemed like a fun self portrait. Although, I have felt this way at some time in my past. Probably will again in future. In the meantime, a pic... Hush One exposure only. 28.0 mm;   20.0 sec;   f/18;   ISO 200;   Manual;   Compulsory flash firing. White balance and noise reduction in Camera Raw, colour mask added in PhotoShop. Original jpg from Raw file, cropped only, no additional editing. Took me a couple (25 to be exact) of tries to hold the one side pose, quickly move to the other side and hold and then hold still in the middle. But I'm quite happy with the result. Not 100% what I had in my mind, but this kinda thing can suck me in and 400 photos later I am still not at 100%. So I stopped. Before I needed to scream ;) What is this 52 week project about?

And it's week 2. (Actually I'm gonna shoot two photos close together so that I match up with the week numbers of the year. Easier in the long run me thinks...) Tuesday night I spent setting up and snapping, and only got round to the final touches tonight. Here I am: the second self portrait in my little quest. The light is only from white LED "Christmas-light" flowers, shot just before 2 am in an otherwise dark room. 35mm, 1/4 sec, f5.0, ISO 100 Converted to black and white and basic editing in Camera Raw/Photoshop. I call it: Stop to smell the electric flowers. Stop to smell the electric flowers What is the 52 week project about?

So it’s 2013. Some people may attempt hiding under the covers for the complete duration – it ends on a 13, you know – while others are celebrating the prime-ness of it all. Whether you have great new resolutions or recycling old ones, or perhaps steered clear of any formal resolutions at all, with a new year, inevitably, come new things. And this is true for me too. By choice, I might add. I have enjoyed taking photographs from my first little (toy) camera when I was barely a person, anxiously waiting to see if my coveted roll of 24 (couple of months of pocket money it was) yielded any successful results. As a teen I received a “proper” point and shoot from my youngest brother as a birthday gift, and as a student, my eldest brother allowed me to tediously pay off my first (his old) slr, when he upgraded. Then the digital era arrived. Back to point and shoot, then a bit more functions and eventually, I think it was 2006, my first digital slr. Gone was the worry...

I admit I have been a bit quiet on the update front, in truth, I have been quiet on the blogging front as a whole, but here I am, and if you give me a couple of hours you'll see that I'm back, with avengeance... That said, let's get back to the business at hand, the 365 photos update. As I am nearing the halfway mark of the 365 photos challenge, I am both excited and disappointed. I am excited because some of the photos I have been taking with my cell phone are rather beautiful. I am disappointed because not all of my photos are beautiful. Some are downright awful. But I'm here to learn and (hopefully) get better. So here are my favourites since the last update: Day 71 - Crane. Pitty about the dirt on the car window it was taken through, but still pretty I think. Day 75 - Shadow Day 76 - Colours in fibre optics Day 88 - Field My favourite, favourite of this lot. Day 112 - S.w.ing! Pure happiness. Day 126 - Red flower One of those that...

A pic of the sticker Cazpi sent me. A couple of weeks ago I was reading cazpi's blog and found an entry telling about the world wide moment . It perked my interest. So I quickly bounced over to the World Wide Moment website . It was settled. I would take part. From then on my life build up to that moment, the 10th of the 10th of 2010, 10 past 10 GMT or 10:10 GMT 10 -10 -'10. I had many ideas of what to take, where to go, how to make an impact. On the day however, we stayed home after a busy couple of days, and I decided to train my lens on my boy. And then the moment came and hundreds and hundreds of people around the world (day or night, depending where they are) took their cameras and pressed the shutter. And this was my result: My boy kicking a goal with his world cup ball. And at virtually the same moment, hubbie also clicked: You see, I really took the previous one...   :) It was almost magic. Knowing that for this minute I was part of ...

I had every intension of taking the time and improving my photography "eye." Being able to see the shot before it's taken and spot the good shot when I see it. Okay, so maybe learning that in a week or two is on the ambitious side, but I was hoping to at the very least pay attention. I didn't really. Somewhere along the line I got distracted with astrophotography, and my 365 challenge almost bordered on a chore every now and then. But that said, I still think I got a few pretty beautiful shots with my Samsung Jet cell phone. Here are my favourites of the past couple weeks: Day 39 - Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder - a staged shot Day 44 - Good morning, sunshine Day 46 - The streets Day 50 - Sunset Day 51 - The field I'm also very glad to have inspired Lee with this challenge. She has put her own, rather wonderful spin on it and you can find it at Ponderings from the Cape . The link is for Day 1, but she's almost two weeks into...

The 365photos started out as a fun, creative project, but now it would seem that it wants to be more. The basic rules still apply, take a pic a day, upload to Twitpic . But I am starting to feel that the photos must not just be a happy snappy, but proper photography. And seeing what people out there can do with just a cell phone, I know that I can do better. That said – pics of the cats and kid will still make the cut :) I’m also very happy to say that @Robi27 has joined the cause. She’s also tagging pics #365photos, so have a look! Now, a few of my favourites from photos I took over the past two weeks: Day27 Blue Sky  Day28 Tree Day32 Lights Day34 Innocent Hands And because a self portrait was bound to make its appearance… Day38 Self Portrait (more extreme phone effects) I also have to amend my rules a bit. When I forget (happened once so far on Day 21) then I must simply send in an extra pic the next day. I will still do blog posts about the challenge, but it will b...

When the rain came down yesterday morning, I decided that the Athlone cooling towers had to go down without me. But, as the time drew near, the rain took a break and hubbie and I quickly grabbed the camera, binoculars, telescope and toddler and off we went. Figuring that since it’s pretty far away, Tygerberg hill would be a good (read quiet) call. It would turn out we were not the only ones with this thought. At 11h30 there were people everywhere. After some double parking to unload, I took the car to a slightly more legal spot and scampered back. Then we waited. Shouting. Towers falling. The thunderous sound only hitting a couple of seconds later. Dust. It was all over. Here are some of the pics Hubbie ( @gavlock ) took. He used our Canon EOS 350D in drive mode, shutter speed: 1/4000 sec, ISO: 400,  attached to a Skywatcher aperture 10 inch, focal length 1200mm telescope. And in the spirit of my 365photos chal...