Theo Wiersema Photography

Amarillis

2011-12-12T18:20:00.000-08:00

So after many months of silence on this blog, here's another post! Jolly good I say. :)

Here's a random fact...

2011-09-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

...this blog has had 2,297 page views since it's creation in May 2009. Wow, I must say that number surprised even myself. Considering that I've have only 165 posts, that's approximately 13.921212121 views per post. I didn't realize that many people viewed this blog! Here's onto another 2300 views!

California Picture

2011-08-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from California and I have to say I really didn't take that many pictures while I was there. 95% of my photos were just of my family doing beach stuff...nothing spectacular or anything. But really, 90% of the time the skies were overcast and there was never any awesome sunset/sunrise to speak off. There's also almost absolutely no shells at this beach so no luck in the macro department. :D Anyways, enough with the excuses. Here's a rather average photo I took. Blah...

Yellow flowers

2011-08-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love this photo. What about you?

Day 7

2011-07-23T20:03:00.001-07:00

A Dwarf!

Day 6

2011-07-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

So I went to the airport today to watch the beginnings of this weekend's airshow but in a moment of disregard forgot to bring my camera. Wow. Don't ask me how... And tomorrow I won't be able to take any pictures as I will be working there. Humbug. Anyways, here's a little preview of a font I'm developing. Yes I know it's boring to most of you.

Day 5

2011-07-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

Strawberries! I used a white plastic folder for the background and then used a slower shutter speed to wash out the background. Of course the white bowl was a plus and the sunlight coming through the window gave a nice shine to them.

Day 4

2011-07-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

Day 3

2011-07-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of "Photo" Marathon

2011-07-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Ok so maybe this is cheating but the lens of my camera fogged up when I tried to take it outside so I had little choice. Sketched in pencil then outlined in marker.

Day 1 of Photo Marathon

2011-07-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't been posting quite as much as I should have been posting recently, I thought I publish one post per day this week to catch up. So without further ado, here they are. (All photos taken with the Canon Rebel XS & 50mm f/1.8 lens.

This is my sister's guinea pig Sally. She seemed rather inquisitive about the lens.

One of my favorite piano pieces.

I was walking around the house looking for something to take a picture of, when I saw these two metal angels sitting next to each other on this antique mirror frame. They sort of looked like they were kissing each other so I took a snap. I guess it's not a great photo, but it's still interesting.

That's all for now! If I feel really ambitious after this week, I might do a picture a day for a year....maybe. Stay tuned for more tomorrow.

B-17 Visits Peoria

2011-07-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

This blog is still alive. I haven't taken many pictures recently so here's a small something.

Spring

2011-04-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Houses at Sunset

2011-02-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Random Pictures from the Past Weeks

2010-10-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

It's Me!

Changes

2010-10-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

Please forgive the horrendous state of this blog as I take it through some major theme changes. It will probably be in this state for a while since I don't have that much time, so bear with me.

Meanwhile, you can kind of see the direction I'm going in so feel free to give me some feedback.

A Flower and a Quick Tip

2010-09-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Unofficial quick tip of the week: To get the best shots, shoot around dusk and dawn. The reason is, during these two times, the light is coming from the side with a softer, warmer feel that when it is blaring down from overhead.

Quick Photography Tip: Landscapes

2010-09-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd just throw this tip out there since I've found it useful.

I often come up to a landscape that's just begging to be photographed. However, when I just point the lens at the landscape without any thought and take the shot, I often find the shot wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be. One of the reasons for this (in my opinion) is the lack of a foreground. Let me explain...

The foreground is the part of the image that is close up while the background is the part that is far away. So for example in the image below I have shaded the foreground (roughly) and not shaded the background.Make sense?

But to get back to my tip... A photo that only has a background and no foreground can be good but will never (ok...maybe 99% of the time) be astounding or brilliant. Adding a foreground to your landscape shots will great improve your shot. For example, here is a shot that I took that has essentially no foreground.

Its an OK shot, but its not amazing. But when you add a foreground to your shot, generally the picture will look a lot better. E.g.:

This shot has a background (the sun and some of the clouds) and a foreground( the waves and the closer clouds.) Now granted this was a sunset shot at the beach so its going to look better but you get my point.

Try this technique out and show me what you get!

Of Birds and Beaches

2010-08-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

By the way, I'm loving this extra-large image size. :D

Basil Plant?

2010-08-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what this plant is but it sure looked nice.

Beach Sunsets

2010-08-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

Of course whenever I go to the beach, I've got to get sunset photos so here they are. What's your favorite one and why?

Off to San Deigo

2010-08-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well today my family and I will be leaving for San Diego. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be on the west coast beaches. But before I leave, here are some pictures from a baseball game I went to. There are too many for this blog, so here's a link to a slideshow. Enjoy!

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/3273232/1/Cubs%20%288-2-10%29?h=f0909f

New Lens Means New Pics

2010-07-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

I just bought myself the Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 USM IS lens and I just love it. It has a ton of high end features for a low price. For one thing, it is a telephoto, meaning I can now take shots of objects far away. Secondly, it has a UltraSonic Moter (USM). This means that instead of having to move the rotating end of the lens to focus, it has a separate focusing ring beside the zoom ring. This adds greater precision in focusing as well as a smoother turn. It also has Image Stabilization (IS) which allows you to take pictures in lower lighting without blur. The overall build quality is excellent with a metal mount (not plastic). However, it is rather heavy-for the first time, my lens is heavier than my camera. :D If you want to read some more on this lens, you can visit this site: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-28-135mm-f-3.5-5.6-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx .

Here are some pictures I took right after I got the lens:

Photographing Keyboards

2010-07-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure why I like this picture, its just sort of cool.

Beautiful Flowers

2010-07-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Just two pictures of flowers after a drizzly rainy day. I'm thinking about framing the second one. :D

Flies, Spiderwebs and Rusty Fences

2010-07-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Zoom in on this one!

Fireworks!

2010-07-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

Ok...get ready for a massive post. I remembered to bring my camera to the fireworks show this year. I ended it up with about 75 photos, of which about 40 where deleted on the way home in the car and another 20 deleted upon arriving home. Here's the results. Most of these photos were taken with a 2-4 second shutter speed with an aperture of f/11.

Lights

2010-06-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

The Reason I Love Macro Photography

2010-06-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

Macro photography to me is my favorite subject besides landscapes. There's a certain "thrill" that comes from capturing something that most people don't notice.

Beautiful!

2010-06-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

Two Posts in One Day!

2010-05-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

Yes...this blog is still alive

2010-05-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lion's Head

2010-05-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

Landscapes and Flowers

2010-05-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

Photgraphy Poem

2010-04-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

While morning mist lies on the ground,
And beauty reigns through lack of sound,
A quiet step comes through the night,
Carefully through the mist of white.

A yawn escapes through tired lips,
Wishing--hoping he will not trip.
His hands instinctive, straighten hair,
While breathing in the fresh night air.

His path goes on, through hill and vale,
To mountain top--as if to hail,
The sun in its celestial path,
Beating down with almighty wrath.

But no--he does not hail the sun,
Instead, he raises as if a gun,
A well-used camera to his eye,
To capture early morning sky.

Caught forever--the light of dawn,
For seconds later, it is gone.
The sun has risen, morn has left,
The magic moment left bereft.

Walking back to home sweet home,
Walking softly through tender loam,
Marveling at God's great creation,
Amazed at such imagination.

-Theo Wiersema

Misc Pics for a Saturday

2010-04-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Pear Tree

2010-04-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Wrens

2010-04-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

I had just come in from playing baseball with my brother when I saw this bird in the garage. My brother ran upstairs to grab my camera while I didn't move. Somehow the bird didn't move at all. He just sat there on the brick wall staring and me and blinking occasionally. With the camera at hand, I began snapping pictures at every angle, using different settings to make sure I didn't miss a great picture. These are the results. I must say, that these pictures have got to be some of my favorites. (Note: These were all taken at a measly 55mm focal length.)

Awesome!

A Sunday Walk

2010-03-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a walk in the forest that is right behind our house. The people in the picture are my sister and my dad.

Notice: No people were posed in the taking of these pictures.

Just a corn stalk.

Chess!

2010-03-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

I luv(!) this picture!

A Black and White Experiment

2010-03-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

I was reading recently on the subject of using black and white photography to focus on the textures of a subject and not just the colors. Today I decided I would trying to attempt this.

I like this one a lot. It is off a dried piece of stump that was laying on the ground.

Not so amazing, but still rather interesting.

The Missing Clock!

2010-03-02T16:10:00.001-08:00

Clocks, Pianos and Plants

2010-03-02T11:39:00.000-08:00

Just some misc latest shots I've taken. Nothing spectacular, but good nonetheless.

I think this is Queen Anne's Lace, a little white flower that was half dead in a vase in our house.

Just some macro test shots of various plants.

More macro awesomeness!!!

Fun in the Snow

2010-02-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures from the sledding hill in our backyard.

As you can see, it looks like me and my camera are about to get hit. Thankfully, this was not the case as I was farther away than it looks thanks to my focal length. Note my sister with a very surprised look on her face in the background.

Wahoo!!!!

And here's my sister again, with a scared look on her face this time-it looks like she's coming in on final approach in an f-16. :-)

Shoot Closer Portraits

2010-02-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a challenge for the view people who actually read this blog.

Resist the urge to take full length portraits of people. Try taking closer up shots of people. This will result in a variety of among your photos...(which is always good.)

Shooting close up can show different expressions and feelings in the face of the person that a longer shot cannot show. Look at the differences between these two photos.

This a picture taken from about 8ft from the subject. See how average this photo looks? Its not a bad picture but its not amazing. We want our photos to be amazing. Take a look at this next photo taken close up.

See how much more expression this photo has?

Try this technique yourself and show me your results.

Go Macs!

2010-02-03T12:13:00.001-08:00

Here’s something that all you Mac lovers will appreciate.

What does this have to do with photography? I don’t know, but I thought this was hilarious.

New Theme and Post

2010-02-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd liven stuff up with a new theme for my blog. What do you think?

And here's the latest of my ramblings:

With the purchase of a camera comes many other purchases; some little, others not so little. The gadgets that you get to accompany your camera can make or break your photos, (or your back!) Too much gear and you are stuck with a 50lb camera bag that is a misery to carry around. Too little gear and you won't be able to get your shoot. Here's a list a some essential photo gear.

Memory Card-I normally just carry around one of them but I recomend having two.
Camera Strap-This is sort of obvious, but don't carry your camera without some sort of strap. It's just asking for a disaster.
A Charged Battery-Don't make the mistake of running out of juice when in the middle of a shoot. (That's why a lot of people carrying an extra battery.)
Camera Bag-Where are you going to carry all this stuff!?
Filter or Lens Hood-I recomend always having one of these on, especially if you are talking your camera outside.
If you have multiple lens, make sure you take only the lens you will need. So if you are going to shoot wildlife, don't take a 15mm Wide Angle lens.

Did I miss anything?

How to Make Your Portraits Better

2010-02-01T13:56:00.000-08:00

A quick post on how to make your portraits look better.

1. Set your camera to Portrait mode.

This is probably overlooked by many people but it really helps in increasing the quality of the image.

2. Use an external flash unit

Getting the flash off your camera can improve your photos dramatically. Your photos will not have the classic "shine" on the cheek and the skin will have a softer look.

or if your an everyday mortal like me who doesn't have an external flash....

Use the pop-up flash on your camera (Carefully!) The pop-up flash is renowned for creating some of the worst photos. Direct light that comes from right above the lens is almost sure to produce red-eye and a "two-dimensional" look.

3. Set your flash to 2nd-curtain. (Also called Rear Sync.)

Doing this will stop your pictures from having an under-exposed background. What it does is let the camera adjust the exposure for the natural background light and then it fires the flash to freeze your subject.

4. Adjust the power of your flash.

You may not know this, but you can control the power of your flash. I normally have mine on the lowest setting so that instead of overpowering the existing light, it just fills in the shadows. This also helps reduce red-eye with pop-up flashes. (Be aware-having the flash at this setting does not work in all situations.)

5. Have a good background.

A bad background can kill an otherwise wonderful picture. Keep the background simple, this will direct the viewer's eye towards the person-(which is what you want, right?)

6. Avoid (if at all possible,) the poised portrait.

I know that sometimes a portrait is going to have to be poised, but if at al possible, try to avoid it. Although the person is not trying to, poised pictures will almost always look---------poised. To avoid this, use this simple tip-tell them that they don't have to smile yet because you are going to test the lighting of the room. Continuing talking to them and talking pictures. Odds are, these will be some of the better pictures of the shoot.

7. Shoot at your farthest focal length

This will give the subject a more flattering look.

8. Be creative and shoot wide every once in a while.

I know there are many more things that make your portraits look better but I thought these were the most important. Did I miss any major ones?

My Latest Ramblings

2010-01-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

I thought today I mix it up and write an article instead of posting some pictures. So here are some thoughts on the various topics related to photography.

As a photographer who has just bought a Canon DSLR, I get asked the question, "So why is a DSLR so much better than a cheap point and shoot." This question especcially gets asked when the price of my camera is mentioned. ($450...that's as cheap as DSLR's get.) I don't know how many times I've been asked this question. (It's getting quite annoying now.) In answer to this I thought I'd write out a list of the advantages of a DSLR compared to a $150 point and shoot.

1. The giant advantage of having control over what you do.

2. The overall speed of use...with a point and shoot you generally have wait 3 seconds for it to turn on and another second for it to focus correctly. With a DSLR, the turn on time is so fast, that by the time I've put my eye to the viewfinder, its been on for a while.

3. Extensiblility. When you buy and point and shoot your stuck with the equipment on the camera. With a DSLR, the options are endless.

4. Battery Life! I am still shocked at the length of my battery life in my camera. I was used to taking about 50 pictures and then having to change the batteries. Not anymore. I can go up to about 600 photos before my battery dies. Awesome!

I think these are the main reasons but (of course) its not all. The reasons below are minor but still worth mentioning.

5. Solid Build. Have you ever held a point and shoot after using a DSLR for a while? Well, the point and shoot feels like a toy compared to the DSLR.

6. The "Professional" Feel. I know this is sort of silly, but just owning a DSLR, makes me feel like a professional photographer. :-D

7. And finally, last but not least, the awesome feeling you get of just walking around with it in your hands.

Are they any others reasons that I have missed?

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What's up with the prices of lenses! I know that they are a lot cheaper than they were a few years ago, but still; most lenses these days seem to be over the $400 mark. For mortals like me, that's way more then I'm willing to pay, (at least right now.) I guess if you want to get the good stuff you've got to pay for it.

On the good side, there are a couple of lens that are at very reasonable prices. One specifically that I have been looking at getting, (if I ever do get another lens,) is the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens. Selling for about $100 at Amazon.com, this lens gets great reviews for its great quality of photos at such at low price. (It has about a 4.5 out of 5 rating on their website.) With an f-stop of only 1.8, you can get high shutter speeds when there isn't much light.

There are some down sides to this lens. A couple of reviewers of Amazon have complained of the lens, "falling apart" after only a few days of "normal" use. (What's their definition of normal use!?) Others complained of it feeling like a plastic toy, which is understanding, given the plastic build. Of course, however, you have the people who rave about this lens, saying it is one of the best lens they have ever bought.

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Ever since I bought my new camera, I think my picture-taking rate has quadrupled. (This doesn't mean that the pictures I have kept has quadrupled.) The battery life, combined with the quick picture time, (I can just hold the button down on my camera and it takes pictures of a rate of about 3.5 a second,) enables me to just walk around with my camera snapping a picture whenever I want to.

That's all for now! What do think about all this rambling?

Misc Latest Photos

2010-01-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

This is one of the horses at the stable my sister works at.

A closeup shot of a piece of mint(?) on a Laufemajean (I've mutilated the Lebanese word, but that's what it sounds like in English.) Anyway, I thought it was pretty awesome picture.

And our cute little Guinea Pig, Sally who's wondering what in the world I'm sticking in her face.

The Letter A

2010-01-17T18:47:00.000-08:00

Today I was fiddling with the letter A, when I came up with a drawing of it that looked like a man running. So here is the first of my (hopefully) entire alphabet characterized.

You can see the the two little curls that are arms are commonly used on old-type fonts. The top curl of the A is the head and the two ends of the A are the feet.

Mini-Knights

2010-01-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

This is about the limit of the 18-55mm lens that comes with the Rebel XS. I'm quite pleased with how well it performs with the macros. I (of course) used manual focus for all of these, a piece of paper for the background, no flash, and the lens set at 55mm. Tell me what you think.

Sisters

2010-01-08T18:20:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from my new DSLR using this great technique I read about:
1. set the flash power all the way down
2. set the flash to flash at the end of the shutter and not at the beginning (this is typically called the "2nd curtain" or "rear sync"
3. and finally set your picture style to portrait...
4. optimal distance from your subject is about 8ft...(any farther and the flash won't work)

California Pics

2010-01-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from my vacation in Los Angeles, California.

Roderick Spode

2009-12-09T08:45:00.000-08:00

this is my drawing of the dictator Roderick Spode from the old tvv series, "Jeeves and Wooster". Spode is supposed to be a humungos person, I think he is described as 7 ft tall and 6 ft across with his jacket on in the book. I highly recomend both the movie and books by P. G. Wodehouse.

I will be posting more drawings like this soon...the next is of Wooster. Oh yes, he is also the leader of the "Savior's of Britain" in which each member is required to wear black shorts that go just above the knee. :-D

2009-12-04T11:19:00.000-08:00

The results of playing around with Gimp, the free photo editor.

Chameleon

2009-11-22T20:06:00.000-08:00

The latest art from my computer. :-)

Leaf Pile

2009-11-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

After raking, the little ones decided to make a leaf pile to jump in. Of course, I was there lying on the ground trying to catch them in the air from weird angles with my camera. Also, as a first, i took these at ISO 64 as it was really bright outside.

I don't know what my sister was doing in the last picture, but it sure is a cool picture :-)

Pano

2009-10-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

A panorama of the woods behind our house. It's almost 360 degrees but as you can see the exposure got totally messed as the sun was setting. Its not a great panorama by any means, but panoramas are always cool so I thought I'd post it. I can't upload the image directly because of its size (its 13 2mb images,) so here's a link.

theoew.uuuq.com/misc/Panorama 4.JPG

Announcement!

2009-10-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

Today, I write my 101 post. It seems like just yesterday that I started this blog. With an average amount of 3 pictures per post, that's 300 images!

In honor of the occasion, here is a list of some of the older posts.

Grand Canyon
Sunrise
Explosion
Wasp
Water Crystals
Iced Berries
Beautiful Flower
Moon

Hope you enjoy them! Here's to 100 more!

Magnifying Glass

2009-10-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Another image made with the amazing Gimp photo program. (I'm making a tutorial on how to make this in Gimp. It should be out soon.)

Wide Angle Snow Picture

2009-10-21T07:43:00.001-07:00

Here's a panorama of our backyard driveway in the winter time. Although it does not look like it, this picture is actually a 5 picture panorama.

I wish!

2009-10-14T07:20:00.001-07:00

Thought you computer people would like this creation of mine.

Coming Soon!

My Youngest Sister

2009-09-28T19:14:00.001-07:00

Latest Idea for Logo

2009-09-18T07:44:00.001-07:00

Here's an idea for a logo I've been working on recently.

Fire in California

2009-09-07T18:32:00.000-07:00

If you've been following the news you know what this is. I was in Pasadena last week and this is some pictures taken during the night.

Twin Brotheres

2009-09-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

An example of some computer work I did this afternoon. This is my brother (and no he does not have a twin.) Oh and by the way it only took 15 minutes.

Beach Photos

2009-09-04T11:51:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos that I took during my beach vacation in San Deigo.

Mini Cars and Crayons

2009-08-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

Finally, I get back to a photography related post. I was walking around with my camera and spotted this mini racing car. Since I had my mom's camera which has a really nice macro setting I decided I take some pics. I also tried taking some macro shots of some crayons my little sister was drawing with. Here are the results.

Bugs Bunny

2009-08-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hmm...this blog is turning from a photography blog into an "anything goes" blog. Anyway, here's my latest creation from the depths of my computer.

What do you think?

Puffins!

2009-07-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

Thought you'd like to see my latest work.

Linux Ubuntu 9.10

2009-07-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

Ok...I know this isn't about photography but I just had to share this for all you computer people.

Ubuntu 9.10 countdown.

Bees and pure flower beauty

2009-07-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here's some flowers from our garden.

My personal favorite is the last one. I seem to like the close ups of the flowers where you can see the little details.

Latest Design

2009-06-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

A thought I'd post some of my recent graphic design. All of these were created with the free image-editing program, Gimp (http://www.gimp.org).

On this one I first sketched the picture on paper, took a picture of it with my camera and then opened it in Gimp. I then used the path tool to outline and fill the various colors and shapes.

This is the orginal drawing before I had done anything.

...and this was the final result. (Please excuse the horrible job I did on the hands...) (Some of you may have seen a similar image before. I saw the drawing a while ago and drew my own version of it. None of it was actually traced...)

Now on to the next image. Not quite so impressive but still cool.

I was trying to design my on folder for a icon on a computer.
And the next one just a random idea.

And finally a fake buisness card I made in my free time.

As you can see, this isn't the usual but just some fun stuff I have been doing over the summer. Tell what you think! :-)

Daisy's after a rain

2009-06-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Just last week I was at Mattoon, IL learning how to fly. Hence the break from the posts. Here is are some pretty cool photos (at least that's what I think.) I tried to use the rule of thirds(is that what it is called?) to position the flowers. I also tried to get only the main flower in focus and the others blurred out...(aperture, not photo editing...)

misc flowers

2009-05-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of a day out riding my bike on some local trails. I have no idea what the names of the flowers are (is the third pic queen anne's lace?)

Finally a new post!

2009-05-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here some pics I took after a (very) long break. Just some flower (i don't know the name) from our garden. The last one I took is my personal favorite. I'm gonna try taking this same picture but much closer with my mom's camera(her point and shoot camera has an amazing macro setting), so get ready for some awesome closeups!

baseballs, bugs and flowers...

2009-04-25T11:03:00.001-07:00

Here's the days work...the random ideas that came into my head...the ladybug picture didn't come out as well as I would of hoped...I really love the baseball one. These were tall taken with my mom's canon point and shoot 'cause her camera is the only one with manual focus.

Logos

2009-04-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Since I have taken no pictures recently, here are some logos I made for my blog...Which is your favorite?

Update

2009-04-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't add any opportunities recently for photography so that's the reason for this "blog silence". And....I'm at a loss for words.....so....................

Chicago Trip

2009-04-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

This week, my family went to Chicago for our spring break. Here's a panorama of the city plus a picture of the hotel we stayed in... The panorama had 7(!?) pictures...the most i've ever use...plus i didn't even use a tripod...I'll gave you a link 'cause the uploader automatically shrinks the picture to its really skinny.

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq224/theo-ew/Panorama4.jpg

Latest Graphic Design

2009-04-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest graphic design. Tell me what you think!

wildlife...my first try

2009-04-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

ok...here a quick post to show you my latest pictures...i'm really busy these days so i can't post that many pictures...as often

recently i went to our local wildlife park and took these

songs i am playing

2009-03-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

Finally Nathanial Fairies gets his wish....yes i videotaped myself playing 3 of my songs....This one is by moskowfski(probably mutilated the spelling)...another polish composer...
My second piece a padreeski(speeling!?)

This last one is my favorite...a chopin waltz...beautiful...

The day's work

2009-03-15T14:16:00.001-07:00

Here's the results of taking a flower from a vase on a sunny Sunday afternoon outside and trying different things with it. I don't know if you can notice but the first picture was taken through a magnifying glass. You can see the reflection of some trees in the upper right hand corner. Although the magnification glass did not let me get super macro shots as I had hoped, it does do one thing that is very nice for macro photography. It blurs the background as if you had a nice fast lens with a small aperture.

Also, do you like the new blog design? I have been trying out a couple that are given by google, but i decided to make my own.

interesting views on a flower

2009-03-12T10:01:00.001-07:00

Just a beautiful flower...tried to get an interesting view of it.

graphic design

2009-03-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

my first soft box experiments

2009-03-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

what do you think? This is my first try so I'm would really like suggestions.

beautiful skies and telophone poles

2009-03-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

I especcially like the bottom landscape one....as you can see its the place where most of my landscape shots have come from...the clouds were just beautiful that day

Neat trick with candle and long exposure

2009-02-26T16:46:00.000-08:00

here is my first attempt at this sort of thing. Please excuse the horrific face distortions caused by the 8 second shutter speed. I can assure I do not look like a two nosed split lipped monster...hehe

More funnies...

2009-02-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

This is my younger sister, doing what she loves to do...

Funny

2009-02-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture I took on a walk in Grandview Drive in Peoria, IL. Its is quite a beautiful place. Look it up on Google.

A Walk in the Woods

2009-02-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

This is some grain in our backyard woods. If you want to know the trick to getting a photo with this much difference between the black and white set your camera setting to floresent and then switch to B & W. Then, adjust the color temperature and tint to get the desired effect.

Another pictures from our woods. The sun glare sort of ruined what might have been a terrific photo but its still ok.

And lastly the best. My personal favorite of the day. This is an obvious expression of the rule of thirds. (it does help top follow that rule sometimes!)

My Sister

2009-01-17T17:26:00.000-08:00

As my camera is WIA(my acronym for Wounded in Action) I will posting photos with a new theme-people. I take many pictures of my sisters but never posted any before. So here goes...

This is just adorable, you got to admit. Hmm, maybe I should post the color version too. You tell which one is better.

I can't really tell. The skin tone really appeals in the color version...oh humbug...i can't decide...

More Aircraft

2009-01-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

If you didn't know, I'm really into aviation. The first picture is a P-51 Mustand from WWII and the next two are A-10's know as "Warthogs."

F-16 Engine

2009-01-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

I know i haven't posted any pictures for a long time and there's a reason for that. My camera is broken down. So here's an old picture from last years air show in Peoria, IL.

So what do you think?

Favorite Computer Programs

2009-01-07T19:25:00.001-08:00

Microsoft Office 2007

OpenOffice 3

Digsby

Google Chrome(for basic Google searches)

Mozilla Firefox(for the real stuff)

Ccleaner(Registry and file cleanup and tuneup)

Songbird (smaller and faster than iTunes)

Gimp(lots of features for ZERO dollars

Avira Anti-Vir(free)

Comodo Firewall(more free stuff!)

Firebug(editing code of webpages-guess what! Free too!!!)

What's YOUR favorite programs you use? Tell me in a comment. I'd like to know.

The reason for the below post is 1)just curiosity, 2)some of you remember that my camera has had recurring problems and is not currently working-there are purple lines going across the picture and finally 3)i didn't have anything else to post

More Randomness

2009-01-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

Here is some more random pictures...

Randomness

2008-12-31T12:51:00.000-08:00

OK...here's a bunch of random pictures I took in the last few days. Yes, they aren't amazing, but for some reason I still like them. Maybe it's just the silliness of them all. The top one reminded me of a cross.

Gravestone

2008-12-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

We had just went to a funeral and I was sitting in the car with my camera with nothing to do, so I pulled out my camera and shot this stone that was right next to the car. It's not a great shot but there's something interesting about it that I can't pin down. Maybe you can. What do you think is interesting about this photo(if it even is interesting to you.)