355/365 - Jim - Alameda Gazebo

( f/16 24mm 1/13 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

We went down to Alameda park today to let the kids play. I took this shot to later do an HDR with it, but ended up just blending exposures. It is similar to HDR, but not quite the same. Then I used Photoshop and duplicated the layer, and blurred it. On the sharper layer I chose a Lighten blend mode. This gives it an Orton effect look. I also used Picasa to add a soft focus so that only the gazebo is sharp.

276/365 - Jim - Tunnel Vision

( f/8 5.8mm 2 sec ISO 100 Canon PowerShot A710 IS )

We took a short vacation over the weekend and went to visit my sister-in-law in York, PA. There are a few tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike that you must go through. I thought of this before we got to them and planned to take some long exposure shots in the tunnel. It's not the easiest or safest thing to take photos while driving through a tunnel, but I did it anyways. This was about all I had time for today because it mostly consisted of working and driving.

149/365 - Kyle - Motion Blur

( f/8 4 sec FujiFilm FinePix S700 )

Kyle is currently a senior at Warner University majoring in Church Ministry and minoring in Communications (photography and video). I've never met Kyle, but he was directed to my site by my dad. My dad suggested he get in touch and send me some of his work. Here is some of what Kyle emailed me:

When it comes to photography I am a motion-blur fanatic. It is just my thing. I did not have a tripod on me that night, so having the rides blur while everything else stay focused was hard. Just had to hold my breath!

119/365 - Courtney - Steeler Excitement

( f/2.8 7.9mm 1/40 sec ISO 100 Sony DSC-P200 )

This was taken by my sister-in-law Courtney. She prides herself in her ability to take blurry photos. In this picture is my father-in-law, Bill, at the AFC Championship game. Courtney tells me this was right after the Polamalu interception. Very understandable that the image would be blurry with all the jumping around and excitement. Go Steelers!

119/365 - Jim - Blur

( f/1.8 50mm 1/20 sec ISO 1600 Nikon D300 )

Theme is blurry. I used my 50mm f/1.8 lens at the highest aperture to ensure a lot of blur. The depth of field is so shallow that only the lens cap is in focus. I had my mother hold the lens cap with her arm extended out as far as she could. She complained at me saying she didn't want to be in the picture, but the extreme blur settled her down.