363/365 - Jim - Drive in the Rain

( f/4 50mm 1/1250 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

I was heading down to Pittsburgh to watch the Steelers game and the rain was coming down really hard. The windshield is curved, so getting focus on all the raindrops was not possible if I wanted the background all blurred. The weather eventually cleared, but then the Steelers lost, so it was a pretty dreary day.

293/365 - Jim - Route 38

( f/11 24mm HDR ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

On my way home from camping I passed several places that I thought I should stop and take photos, but I wanted to get home so I didn't. Then I remembered this place on Route 38 that someone set up a bunch of old signs and such. I ended up driving right past it and had to turn around, but it was worth it. I bracketed 7 shots to do an HDR and had to do 3 of them, then merge them together. I thought it ended up looking pretty cool and I didn't even get out of my car.

272/365 - Jim - Lotus Elise

( f/8 24mm 1/200 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

I went to the Cruise-A-Palooza in Butler today with my family. There were a bunch of unique and old cars lined up and down Main Street in downtown Butler. When I saw this car it immediately brought back memories of when I really wanted to get this car. This was of course before I was married with kids... This was a very amateur shot so I spruced it up by removing all the surroundings and adding the gray faded background. I also did some other touch-ups, but won't point them out because I didn't do that great of a job on them. The Lotus Elise now starts at $47,000 which means I'll never have one in my garage...

180/365 - Jim - Oil Change

( f/13 10.5mm 2 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

I only took 3 photos today. This one was done quickly while I did an oil change on my Honda Accord which has over 100,000 miles on it. It was really dark, so I decided to HDR it to bring out the details. You can even see the oil draining.

104/365 - Jim - My New Car

( f/22 105mm 1/125 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

OK, so it's just a Matchbox car... I put it on a piece of reflective black paper and used a single flash with a softbox. Then I applied a preset to it in Lightroom. This is such a tiny car and I liked how real it looked, so I sat it aside to photograph. While trying to think of something to take a picture of today, I remembered I had this waiting.

097/365 - Jim - Oscar Mayer

( f/5 55mm 1/60 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

I like the look of photos with hardwood floors. I found myself thinking about it today, so I went into Jameson's room to see if I had enough space to take a photo. Turns out I only have a small spot and there is a window just above, so the wall is even limited. I took a few test shots and then got Jameson to play beside the wall. That was more difficult than expected. The book is there because I told him to sit on it, thinking that would get him in the right spot. Turns out I was wrong. This was the best I could do. He hunkered down and launched the Oscar Mayer wiener car at me.

061/365 - Jim - Lit Path Home

( f/18 24mm 47 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

Theme is automobile. I didn't take anything while it was daylight, and I didn't want to do another studio shot. So I had Carol drive down the road and back home. I put my camera on a tripod and set it to Manual mode. The shutter was set to bulb and I held in the cable release as she drove toward me. I would like to someday take a photo from a tall building down onto a busy street and get several streaks of light. I just haven't found the right building...

043/365 - Jim - Green is the Winner

( f/11 52mm 1/160 sec ISO 200 Nikon D300 )

Theme is tricolor. This was a tough theme for me. I could not think of anything really creative, so looking around the room I found this part of a race track that my sister got for my son as a birthday gift. Thanks to my guest entry for his creative photo. If you would like to be a guest photographer, pick a theme and take a photo on that day. Then send it to me at crankball@zoominternet.net along with a name and description of your photo. Also, please let me know the theme you picked beforehand so I don't change it. If you don't find a theme you like, remember that every Sunday there is no theme. I would love to have a guest every week.