Project 52 by John B. Harle

Ah - playing around with new toy? That must be fun. How is the whole lensbaby experience?

It's an interesting effect with the first photo but I don't know that your subject is as sharp as it could be - or ist hat the lensbaby effect? The abstract certainly looked interesting - you should have made us all guess as to what it was!

I believe your grass is green foxtail, an annual weed. That does not detract from its worthiness as a suitable subject:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Goldcoastgolfer

Ah - playing around with new toy? That must be fun. How is the whole lensbaby experience?

It's an interesting effect with the first photo but I don't know that your subject is as sharp as it could be - or ist hat the lensbaby effect? The abstract certainly looked interesting - you should have made us all guess as to what it was!

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Sorry I haven't replied. Something seems to happen with my notifications sometimes. Didn't see these posts. Then, I had to take somewhat of a break from photography. Never would have known how much thought and energy it takes to get just one photo per week. I had to give myself a couple of weeks off to recharge the juice bar :-)

Anyway, this isn't exactly new. I got it last summer, but haven't used it in a while. The hard part about the lensbaby is figuring out where the sweet spot is. You try to focus and then that focus spot is movable. I tried to focus on the grass, but may have been off a little. The effect is that you have a real sharp center and everything is blurred around it. Overall, I like the lensbaby, but it's a specialty lens. You can only do so many photos like this before you get bored. I should probably take it to an urban setting and try some shots.

The other problem with a lensbaby (at least for Nikon) is that it's all manual. I had to get a light meter to go with it. I think Canon allows some TTL metering.

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Originally Posted by rtbaum

I believe your grass is green foxtail, an annual weed. That does not detract from its worthiness as a suitable subject:rolleyes:

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It was certainly a pretty weed. I'll try to remember that. I don't see it often around this neck of the woods, so it really caught my eye. Thanks for the info!

As my above posts indicate, I've been experiencing some creative downtime the last couple of weeks. I might catch up with weeks 19 & 20 later. But for the present, on to week 21! It's finally gotten hot enough for the hibiscus to bloom. This was taken in the mid-morning. I tried to get out of the way of the sunlight. Of course, it was breezy, so out of 10 or 15 shots, this seems to be the only sharp one. This hibiscus is one of my favorites. the red and yellow are stunning.

http://i49.tinypic.com/30lfdeg.jpg

Where has the time gone? It's become garden/yard season and there's too much work to do to allow me much photography time. But every once in a while, a nice juicy bug comes along and gets me going. Found this guy munching my tomatoes this morning. I snapped this before I threw him over the fence. If he comes back, he's toast. Don't mess with my 'maters! :D

http://i48.tinypic.com/2pos2ki.jpg

To make up for past weeks, I took several today. The most difficult thing is to get the macro's in focus. Some of these worked, others not so much...:rolleyes:

http://i48.tinypic.com/2lxbhxl.jpg
Crepe Myrtle

http://i45.tinypic.com/2kkj2t.jpg
Wild Indigo...not such good focus, but I like the overall composition.

http://i47.tinypic.com/jind3m.jpg
More wild indigo. Better focus, but not as pretty a flower.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2diox0o.jpg
Don't know what this is, but it's pretty :-)

Got a new toy, a 70-300mm Nikkor lens. The best thing going for it was its low price. But it doesn't seem really sharp. Don't know if that's the lens or my failing eyesight. Sigh...anyway, one of the first, the Inca dove.

http://i45.tinypic.com/6zofvt.jpg

These are cross-posted on the insects page, but I liked them well enough to post again...

http://i45.tinypic.com/npjlg4.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/2ry4piu.jpg

Outside view
http://i49.tinypic.com/ic2u5x.jpg

Last summer we endured the worst drought in my lifetime. This year, well we had 7 inches of rain last week. Now, these guys are popping up in my yard. The book says they are calvatia bovista and they are edible. But they are so pretty I hesitate to harvest.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2ic6y5t.jpg

Couldn't keep myself from harvesting. They fried up really nicely. REALLY GOOD! I'm not sick yet at 3 hours.

http://i47.tinypic.com/1zx3bb4.jpg

The heat has had me in it's grip the last 2 months or so. No inspiration, bored with taking the same photo over and over again. But today, the wild morning glories were, well, glorious.

http://i46.tinypic.com/2v01p35.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/jab1b8.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/dpcnwx.jpg

Nice shots, John. Great color. I feel your pain- the weather has been terrible this summer and I've felt like I'd need to move to get anything interesting outdoors. Have been pining for Autumn, but just heard a report yesterday that the conditions this summer will probably mean the most unimpressive fall foliage in many years. Just what I wanted to hear.

I know what you mean. But you know, nature can surprise you. Something neat will probably come up. Look for little things.

Vacation has come and gone. But it gave me new things to look at. And some not-so-bad photos...

http://i45.tinypic.com/dpeczd.jpg
St. Margaret's Church

http://i48.tinypic.com/348q7gh.jpg
Westminster Bridge, London

http://i46.tinypic.com/2gvlwcj.jpg
Boudica rides the London Eye.

When photographing the well-known locations/features of a place like London, I imagine it's difficult to try and get a 'different' image. I don't know the church in the first one, but I think you've done very well in getting that 'difference' in the 2nd and 3rd shots. Certainly, the detail on the bridge is not the sort of shot you often see and it is, in my opinion, done very well.

The 3rd one is a view that's been photographed, but your presentation of it, fro me, stands it out from the crowd. I think, it's a very good B & W image.

Yes, that last image is an interesting mix of old and new elements.

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Originally Posted by Donald

When photographing the well-known locations/features of a place like London, I imagine it's difficult to try and get a 'different' image. I don't know the church in the first one, but I think you've done very well in getting that 'difference' in the 2nd and 3rd shots. Certainly, the detail on the bridge is not the sort of shot you often see and it is, in my opinion, done very well.

The 3rd one is a view that's been photographed, but your presentation of it, fro me, stands it out from the crowd. I think, it's a very good B & W image.

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Thank you so much, Donald. I hadn't really thought much about how well known these images would be. But you are certainly right. It's gratifying to know that some think I may actually be able to "see things from a different angle" once in a while :-) Hopefully, I'll have some more shots in the near future. Finding time to process them is difficult right now. I'm digging out from my vacation hole at work :-(

BTW, St. Margaret's Church is the smaller chapel right next to Westminster Abbey. Photos were allowed inside, but not at the Abbey.

A very interesting combination of elements and presentation in #2 & #3 John. Great vision.

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Originally Posted by MilT0s

A very interesting combination of elements and presentation in #2 & #3 John. Great vision.

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Thank you, Miltos. I looked at your site, so coming from you high praise indeed!