One Week!

We leave for vacation in one week!  Flying down to my home away from home...  Walt Disney World!  This will be the first official stay utilizing our vacation club points at The Beach Club Villas.  This will also be the first vacation at Disney in January.  I have heard good things about the low crowd levels during this time of the year although the first few days of our stay are during a marathon weekend.

Who can argue with a view like this?  The first time we stayed at this resort in 2008 it totally changed how we like to vacation.  You can be more relaxed and take the time to enjoy little things.  Being able to walk to two of the parks is a huge plus for me.  Having Epcot in my back yard has brought a heightened appreciation for the park.  There are more 'little' things to enjoy and not having to spend time riding a bus to get there lets you slow down to appreciate them.

I think the simplest perk I am looking forward to is the ability to get up and go for a walk around Crescent Lake.  An early morning stroll is always so relaxing and a stop at the Boardwalk Bakery for coffee is the best way to start a day.  I will have to convince my wife that all the stopping to take pictures is a good thing.

Now to start working on getting everything ready...

The Year Concludes

The year is almost over and I am realizing that this blog has been silent for almost 6 weeks.  I have let my interest in photography consume me to an almost exclusion of everything else.  I need to learn some balance.  There are books I need to be finishing, games that have to be completed (or started considering the next game's arrival soon - looking at you FF XIII!) and a gym membership that needs to become my friend after all the holiday eating!

Over the holiday break I dove back into some gaming, giving my portable systems some love (DSi and PSP).  I think I was just getting them prepped for my vacation in 7 days.  I always travel with them to help distract me on long flights and I didn't want them to feel used.  I'm close to finally finishing Tactics Ogre on the PSP and there are a few of the free downloads I haven't even touched yet.  On the DSi I am always consumed with Civ Revolutions even though I have a few games on stand-by.  Is it a cliche to say 'time to make time'?

There is also a few things that need to be attended to on the consoles.  Bastion on the Xbox isn't going to finish itself and Plants vs Zombies on the PS3 is almost over.  This might be a tough time considering the kids have new games they are playing and sharing is always an interesting proposition.  I can't always kick them off even though dad should be allowed to.

As I mentioned above I need to get to work on Final Fantasy XIII now that XIII-2 is almost upon us.  I'm sure it will be released before I can manage to complete the original.  I think I avoided this game because of all the negative comments and I should let it stand on it's own  I haven't always agreed with reviews or comments in the past so why I let them cloud my thinking I'll never know.  Sticking with the PS3, I loved the original Dragon's Age game.  I've played through that one numerous times and the DLC and expansion pack where great too.  I just didn't fall in love with the demo for Dragon's Age 2, so this is another of those games that I need to consider.  I'll need to plan my backlog because I still need to pick up Uncharted 3!  OMG...  good thing it is winter, I get the most of my gaming done when it is cold!

A New Adventure

Today I started my new adventure - a 365 day photography project.  I'm using this project to motivate me to get out everyday and take pictures.  I then will post one of the pictures to Google+ for the project group to see.  Hopefully in the process I will learn some more about photography and I'll probably learn quite a bit more about myself.

I have been doing a lot more with my camera, exploring different styles and learning what its capabilities are.  I've been on the fence about this project for a few weeks but decided it was time to quit making excuses about why I should start one and just do it!  I have to admit I was encouraged by the amount of people on Google+ who I am following that are on a similar journey.  Those pictures and the user interaction they receive helped me jump off the fence.

To add another dimension to this project and give me a place to explore a little about photography I created another blog to record my adventure.  It can be found at Picture Day Blog.  Stop by and see how I'm doing (today is the first day so it will be a little sparse!).

A Little History

I would almost call it a landmark but I doubt most people are even aware of what it is.  It is something I have passed probably a dozen times or more each year since I moved to the Mohawk Valley 21 years ago.  You can see it as you drive along Mill St., from Martin St. to East Dominick St.  You might notice it among the southern skyline of Rome, NY as you drive along Route 365.  And lately I have become fascinated with photographing it.

It is the water tower from the old General Cable Corporation facilities next to the NY State Barge Canal just off of Mill St. in Rome, NY.  It is old, weathered and a little worse for wear but I have been having a great time trying to capture unique images of it.  It started a couple of weeks ago when I went down to get photographs of the spillway were the Mohawk River empties into the Barge Canal.  Before I could even get to my destination I was captured by the presence of this water tower.

This is the first picture I took that evening.  I don't think the name and logo even registered with me at the time.  I was enthralled by the tower and my plans for the evening changed immediately.  I was on a new mission.  To see what images I could get and how I could best capture this lonely sentinel.

I grabbed a few more pictures from across the street and then I headed down to the spillway.  I was able to get a few distant pictures using the trees from the park to frame the water tower.  I was trying different things and actually came home with more 'keepers' than I anticipated.

It wasn't until I was able to upload the pictures to my PC and start processing them that I noticed the name on the tower, General Cable.  A quick internet search provided me with a little more information and a few more days of digging produced some really interesting facts.

• General Cable Corporation was incorporated in 1927 in New Jersey.  It brought together facilities from various companies started in the late 1800's; Phillips Wire and Safety Cable Company, Rome Wire Company and Standard Underground Cable.
• Rome Wire Company developed the Romex ® brand of non-metallic building wire in 1922.
• Rome Wire Company was built near the New York Central and Ontario & Western railroad lines and had direct dockage on the New York State Barge Canal.

The water tower still holds a fascination for me.  Every time we have an interesting sunset or the sky has wonderful clouds I want to run down to south Rome and see what image I can find with this water tower.  Just the other night the moon was just about right in the evening sky so I drove down to the park across the street and was able to capture this:

I'm sure everyone else will be tired of me photographing the General Cable water tower but for now I'll be making a regular run by it to see what I can capture...

It's the Light

It is interesting to think about how my perception of the world is changing the more I explore photography.  The other night I shared a post on Google+ from Sandra Parlow.  She was answering a question posed by Levi Moore, 'What was life like, before photography, for you?' and her answer mirrored a lot of thoughts I have been having.  Here is Sandra's original post...  What was life before photography...


And her list...

• Not noticing which way the wind was blowing.
• Not noticing the clouds and the way the light bounced and reflected off them.
• Not noticing the birds sitting on a wire singing their song.
• Not noticing that one lone tree standing in a field all by itself.
• Not noticing the way the water runs over the rocks.
• Not noticing the mysterious and beautiful nature of fog.
• Not really looking at the colors of the leaves on the trees.
• Not looking at the scraggly flowers or even paying attention to the tiny details of the beautiful ones.
• Not knowing that spending an hour alone in a field listening to the hawks cry could restore my peace of mind.
• Not noticing the smallest details and textures of things I saw every day.
• Not using my senses the way I should have been.

I agree completely with the concept of this list.  I am aware of everything now, or at least a lot more of what is around me.  I'm always looking to see if I should stop the car and take a picture, or if what I'm seeing would be a cool image.  I'm noticing the wonderful detail in everything and I find myself always thinking how I would position the camera to capture it best.  It's amazing out there...  and I'm just starting to enjoy it.

This or that

Yesterday was a rainy, lazy, stay inside kind of day.  I hadn't planned it to be that way, but once the weather kicked in full force I didn't have much choice.  My wife and daughter had left to visit my mother-in-law and wouldn't be home until Sunday.  Even though I had to work on a database most of Sunday morning, I thought Saturday afternoon would be all mine to go exploring.  There were a few places fairly close to the house that I was sure would provide me with some great pictures.  Oh well, best laid plans...

I decided to get a few things done around the house and then I sat down to watch some of the shows queued up on the DVR.  The rain was beating against the front window and when I turned to catch a glimpse of the show outside, this is what I saw.

I liked the way the rain distorted my view of the burning bush and thought if I could find an angle that didn't have any window glare I would have a decent picture.  It took more than one click before I achieved the picture I was hoping for.  I think it turned out OK.

Now this isn't exactly the picture I took with the camera.  I played with a few of the image settings in Adobe Photoshop's Lightroom.  Here is what came out of the camera.

There is some processing done by the camera because it saves in JPEG format but it wasn't the way I wanted it to be.  The image was a little too bright so it needed to darkened and sharpened.  I also increased the clarity and added a little to the saturation level.  The original wasn't bad but I just couldn't get it there with the camera settings.

I'm no expert and I'm sure I have 'ruined' more images than I have 'fixed' but the fun is in the trying.  Still learning so hopefully you will see an improvement as I continue.

Google Plus and Photography

I was lucky enough to get on Google Plus when it was still in beta.  I wasn't sure what it would do for me, I mean, what did I need another social network for.  Well, it is basically the only social network I have been using for the past couple of months.

I happened to join around the same time I was getting interested in photography.  I had been posting pictures of vacations and family events on FB but that wasn't much more than point & shoot.  To be honest it was the only photography I knew for years.  Don't get me wrong, I used the camera, sometimes to excess.  I could come home from a vacation, especially from Disney, with five to six hundred pictures.  But it really was quantity over quality.

Being the Disney fanatic (addict?) that I am, eventually I came across two very important Disney web sites/blogs that started me down this new path I am following.  The first was WDW Photography (which is now the Disney Photography Blog) created by Adam Hansen and Cory Disbrow.  And then through that site I found The Disney Tourist Blog created by Tom & Sarah Bricker.  Both of these sites opened my eyes to what a Disney photograph could be.  I would pour over those sites lost in each image, wishing my pictures would be as nice.  Now, my pictures hold a lot of memories for me and I would never delete them, but the pictures on these sites prompted me to learn more.

I started playing with my camera (a Sony DSC-H20).  I discovered the camera was capable of a lot more than I ever imagined.  At first I got lost in the available settings and I struggled with getting the camera to work for me.  And then, again thanks to my new favorite websites, I purchased my first photography book.  I believe it was in a post by Tom Bricker about recommended reading which pointed me to Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure.  What an eye opener!  Finally, the settings started to make sense to me. I quit trying to manipulate everything and focused on two or three key settings.  My pictures started to improve.  I was hooked.

Now this gets me back to where I started with this post, Google Plus (G+).  I'm not sure how it really started but I stumbled across some photographers (I'm fairly sure the first was a recommendation by one of the 3 photographers mentioned above).  And since G+ allows you to follow people by placing them in a circle without a requirement for reciprocity, it allowed me look through the window into a whole new world.  I must have been fairly lucky with those first few photographers I circled.  Not only were they posting amazing pictures they would recommend other photographers to follow.  My circle grew.

Eventually, I opened the window and climbed through.  I started posting more.  I was even confident enough with a few of my pictures to post them out to the public stream.  It was a little addicting.  I discovered there are many different types of photography; landscape, portrait, macro (a new favorite), etc.  I found that you could accomplish some amazing pictures by enhancing them in post processing (I went a little overboard with that at first, but I have it under control now!).  By seeing the various styles and types of images flowing through my stream it encouraged me to experiment more with what I was photographing.  I have been taking my camera with me everywhere I go, just on the off chance I would see an image I wanted to capture.

It all exploded a couple of weeks ago...  G+ allowed you to share your circles.  I few of the photographers I was following (favorites, whose pictures I really enjoyed) shared their circles.  I was a little overwhelmed!  I only added two complete circles and then sat back to watch the new images coming rolling in.  It was great. I needed to dial it back a little though.  I refused to add any more of the numerous circles that were being posted.  Instead I went back to my old method, if someone I followed recommended a photographer I would check out their profile and see if they were doing the type of work that interested me.  I still add a few new people a day but it more manageable this way.

The other great event that occurred, which has really helped me learn photography, was the creation of daily themes.  Photographer Eric Leslie maintains a list of the daily photographic themes.  Each theme is curated by one or more photographers and anyone is welcomed to post an appropriate picture with the hash tag for the theme.  It allows anyone to view the pictures by searching for the tag and is a great way to interact with others.  For me it is a great way to challenge myself to try different images.  I find myself actually thinking about what I want to photograph and planning when/were/how to get the image for a particular theme.  I think it has helped me improve my camera skills tremendously in a very short time.  I can't describe the feeling I get when other people comment on an image I've shared.  It is a little intoxicating...

Time to go see what I can find with my camera...  later.