Went to visit our friends today, and as it was photo-related visit as much as holiday related (as in “Christmas cards” ), it was OK for me to take out camera and see what my creativity says.  They have so many objects and subjects to shoot. I just couldn’t help myself.

It looks like I am into macro theses days, and into photographing everything around the house which is not running away from the camera. Well, not exactly, the cat is usually running away. This time, the fact that I focused on his paws, and the flash was not firing in his eyes, calmed it enough so I was able to take this shot. I used a macro attachment on the Nikon kit lens (18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6).
On the other note, I finally figured out how to separate autofocus from shutter button. This is highly recommended by professional photographers, like Jennifer Wu and Roy Toft.  I am still waiting to see it making a difference for my photography. For those who have Nikon D40x, the only way to do it is to change what Autoexposure/Autofocus lock button does. Believe me, it required several trial to figure it out without manual (I kind of thought you should be able to it with Function button?) and finally reading the manual. The last resort helped…

Everybody is still holiday mood, maybe doing shopping, maybe munching on leftover treats. I actually was taking some pictures yesterday in my quickly assembled studio consisting of a piece of white fabric next to the deck door. The artificial light is just beyond my understanding in this moment, and I feel more comfortable using sun light, even through window drapes. I was shooting whatever came out of the oven early in the morning.

Here, the turkey is ready two hours in advance, but still sits in the oven, where it shares space with corn bread stuffing with sausage. Both gingerbread and corn bread turned out just fine, considering the battle over who gets the remaining half cup of flour. Green bean casserole is supposed to be brought over, and there should be enough mashed potatoes mix to at least make plates dirty. Otherwise, is looks like the Thanksgiving is turning out OK- the center piece is ready.

I am getting into holiday mood. As I guess all the people doing shopping during lunch break today, figuring out it is going to be less crowded (ha ha). As all those people taking off early in the afternoon to start cooking and baking. And mostly as all those people who decorate their houses for holiday season. Well, I am not exactly like everybody. I doubt there is too many making holiday decorations, and then photographing them few afternoons in row, trying to get some handle on artificial light. Here are results.

Today’s image is a bit of abstraction, and a bit of macro. Might seem a bit busy to some, but I like the color and texture. If you feel like you need to look hard to figure out what is in there- it’s your own fault.

Today’s photograph was inspired by Ron Goldman. He was last week’s guest on “7 photography questions” podcast, which I enjoy listening, especially at work (many manual, brainless activities around the lab ). It the show, he explains some how to take a photo. But when I tried at home, it all went down to the right light.

This was a photographically busy weekend, and I shouldn’t have any problems filling pages on a blog for a few days now.
I have a luck of living close to few good bike trails, including Sugar Bottom, which seems to be THE mountain biking destination. Maybe I am not much of a mountain biker, but water is my element, and the trail is located close to Coralville Lake. Great views, and I was posting photographs from there many times. Today, we planned a longer photo session, and the weather turned warmer then during the week. It was sunny, at least to the point when we got there, so I was regretting we didn’t come earlier- I wanted to shoot closer to sunset, but when I was expecting working in the sun. When it got cloudy, it didn’t matter that much, did it? But it turned out just fine, I think I have keepers from all locations we visited. Today’s photo was taken on Novice Loop, an easy trail winding close to the lake shore.

Lonely biker

I was working on photographing birds on my deck bird feeder, and so far I only know what is not working for this purpose. Mostly the door glass covered with protective foil. However, the camera with teleconverter (2x) were on the tripod ready to use all week in the living room. Even my cat, Ace, who usually disappears and doesn’t show for hours when I pick up the camera, seem to get used to it. I decided to take advantage of that.

The December issue of “Outdoor photographer” arrived yesterday, and made me realize, that even if Arches are the most photographed place in US, it doesn’t mean that I will be banal by putting some of my photos from there on my blog. By far these are the photos I will go back to most often. I knew I will enjoy the place when I went there, and I indeed did.

There is a funny story behind this photo. On the first day, on our way back from the Window Section, late in the afternoon, we saw a bunch of photographers in one spot. I think it was Parade of Elephants, but almost a year later, I just cannot remember, If anybody recognizes the place, leave a comment. They had their cameras, tripods, lotsa stuff. Looked serious. The sun was down already, it was getting dark- no point to stop and try to figure out the place.  We returned next day, about an hour before the sunset. We were neither first, not last . I set up to photograph this one view, and I have a history of light changing during the sunset. But I like this one the most.