Purple Challenge - Runner-up

This was one of my runner ups for the Purple Challenge I had with Marshall over at f/11.

Until I worked on this project, I never realized how hard it was to find purple on demand. Granted, I had put the extra constraint on myself that I didn't want to just shoot the closeup of a flower. Here at the hospital I work at, we have plenty of them.

As regular readers will know, I love lines. I also love symmetry. In this photo, I tried to capture the beauty of the flower with the brick background. The light on the wall helps to frame the picture.

Maybe I'm getting to obsessed with the rule of thirds.

What do you think? Not purple enough? Don't like symmetry?

River City Days - Sunrise from the Dock

I spent the day looking at this view. My post was very near the water. Saturday morning, the sunrise looked like this.

I really enjoy my Canon 17-85mm IS lens. I think I take almost 95% of my photos with it. The thing I like about it is, I can go from wide angle to the low end of a telephoto with the turn of my wrist.

I wasn't really sure how to shoot this shot and not have a snapshot but something more. I opted for a wide angle that include much of the dock I was standing on. The beautiful Eisenhower bridge in the background.

Would the picture have been better with the bridge in focus and the dock not? What do you think?

River City Days - The Foggy Buoy

At a different spot on the Mississippi from the previous two pictures, the sun wasn't quite as prominent, in fact, it was still kinda dark.

I thought it was really interesting how the fog hung so close to the water and just a few feet up, no fog.

I was thrilled to see that I could get a shot like this and not worry about the background. Just enough wilderness to smooth out the edges.

You like them dark?

River City Days - Foggy Sun

Not to far from the train in yesterdays post was this little spot on the Mississippi River.

I've never really tried to photograph something while leaving the sun in the frame, but this shot needed it.

It took me several tries to get the exposure right, seems it's tricky to get the sensor, the light meter and my eye to all work correctly while looking RIGHT AT THE SUN.

In this shot, I think I hit the rule of thirds correctly and the added elements of the reflection of the sun and the fog on the water made this scene really interesting to me.

What do you think?

River City Days - Train at dawn

The first weekend in August in our family means one thing, River City Days in Red Wing, MN. My mother has been organizing and running the Arts and Crafts show for...let's just say I don't remember her not doing it.

When I met my wife, she joined the family tradition of helping Mom run the show. She loves doing it now.

Saturday morning I get the rare treat of waking up before dawn and heading down to Levee park to welcome the crafters to the show.

I've always been fascinated with light and in particular, the neat stuff it will do in a lens. I'm not always a big fan of lens flare, but on this morning, I was try to get it. The sun just seemed particularly bright today and it was reflecting off of everything. The flare helped me tell the story about the morning light.

This is the first in the series of photos I took that morning.

Do you like lens flare? Is washing this out too much? What do you think?

Purple Challenge

A while back, my friend and fellow blogger Marshall and I had a crazy idea. Why don't we come up with a series of challenges to push each other creatively and artistically all the while having some fun. We both have day jobs and families and other commitments, so let's see what two guys with cameras can do.
In our first challenge, Marshall's wife got to chose the challenge. Apparently, she's a big fan of purple.

To the left here is his submission to the challenge.











On the right is mine concept for purple.

Let us know what you think. We've each posted these on our blogs so go check out his other work at his blog, f/11.

Mississippi at Dawn

The first weekend in August every year since I don't know when, I've helped my Mother and Father run the River City Days Arts & Crafts Show. This is a part of the annual city celebration of my hometown, Red Wing, Minnesota.

FXMixer over at f/11 has given me a challenge, and trust me Marshall, I should have something for you in the next two days.

On my first full day on the job at the craft show, I get the pleasure of watching sunrise on the Mississippi River. This is the first a few pictures I captured on the shores of this beautiful river.

Again, this pictures is as shot and has only been converted to JPG from RAW.