Taken with iPhone Camera. Edited with Lo-Mob

For those of you who have only recently started to follow my 365, you might be interested to know that I started out this project as an iPhone only project. about day 100, I switched to using my DSLR, because I found that since I was not using it as much as my iPhone, I was actually forgetting how to use many of the more complex functions. I reasoned that the reason I was doing this project is so that I could become a better photographer, and if I was actually going backwards in my learning process, I had to do something to change that.

Last night I was reflecting on all the things I have learned from shooting with my iPhone, and also realizing all the cool effects I that I can get from it and decided that I should really keep shooting with the iPhone from time to time (maybe weekly) just to keep up with it.

So today’s photo is of my Nikon D90 taken with my iPhone and processed using an awesome program called Lo-Mob. The effects that can be had from this program are so cool. They have so much texture and personality.

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Nikon 50mm 1:1.8. Edited in Lightroom.

About a week ago I started to experiment with using a snoot on my SB900 flash. To start with, I just used a piece of paper, and it worked great. But like any tech geek worth his pocket protector, I wanted to take it to the next step. I bought a HONL knockoff on ebay. It arrived yesterday. I payed a little of $10 for it including shipping. I’m very happy with the result.

I’m planning on picking up a few other light modifiers from the same seller. Some flags and grids will be fun to play with, and as far as equipment goes, it will be some of the cheapest toys I can buy for photography.

As for the photo, I wish I had tried a second light behind for a slight rim light, to set off more of the hair. I’m going to have to play with that another time.

This model is really easy to work with. He never complains. But I’m almost sure he was abducted by aliens because he doesn’t say much, he always looks freaked out and he has a strange implant on his underside.

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Nikon 50mm 1:1.8. Edited in Lightroom.

Walking by the front door of the building where I work, I noticed the inside of this tulip was so stark and bright, like a little yellow sun peaking out. It immediately made me want to see if I could capture it in an interesting way.

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Nikon 50mm 1:1.8. Edited in Lightroom.

Today’s model is my 2 year old niece, Aubrey. She has such beautiful eyes. She has played my model before. She appears as part of my iStock Photography portfolio.

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Lensbaby. Edited in Lightroom.

Today Photowalking Utah Event was Ogden’s Union Station and Historic 25th Street. Here we have an action shot of James Jr. Jumping from one train car to another. What a riot!

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Lensbaby. Edited in Lightroom.

My daughter brought home a few peacock feathers the other day and I’ve always been drawn to iridescent object. I used my off camera flash and the Lensbaby which proved to be a good exercise in manual control.

The title ‘Peacock on the Walk’ comes from a story my mother told me when I was young. I can’t find any references to in online, and I don’t remember the story perfectly, but the story goes something like this:

There was once a man who claimed to have read every book ever written. Whatever book was mentioned he would claim to have read it. One day another man in an attempt to show the first man for the fraud that he was made up a title to a book, Peacock on the Walk, and pretended to have read it, raving how good it was. The first man claimed to have read it too, and said how wonderful it was. At this point man 2 revealed the truth and showed that man one was a fraud.

My mother told me that story to teach the lesson that we should always be careful about what we claimed.

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8. Edited in Lightroom and Color Efex Pro.

As part of Theme Thursday, I offer for you consideration…my commute home. Today’s theme is home…which just happens to be the place I most like to be…especially after a long day at work.

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8, F2.8, 75mm, ISO 200, 1/800 sec. Image edited in Lightroom.

This evening was a kite flying activity with James Jr’s scout pack. JJ did his best to fly his self made kite, even thought there was very little wind.

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8, F8, 75 mm, ISO 200, 1/200 sec, Flash Fired. Image edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Yesterday and today I’ve been playing around with snooting my SB900. Nothing fancy, just a piece of paper taped around the flash. But I’m really happy with the effects that I’ve been getting. Makes me wonder how many other seemingly simple and obvious tricks are just waiting to be discovered.

Taken with the Nikon D90 and the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8, F5, 60 mm, ISO 200, 1/200 sec, Flash Fired. Image not edited.

Today’s photo is of a silly piece of rock I bought in Japan more than 20 years ago. It has the word Nintai, the Japanese word for patience, written on it. I keep it at my desk where ever I work as a reminder to be patient. I’m not sure it works. In fact, it looks like it was made in quite a hurry with very little attention to detail.

The cool part about today’s photo (at least for me) is how this photo was created. I’ve included a snapshot of ‘the studio’ (AKA, my desk at work) that shows just how you can take a relatively ugly location and turn it into something that is unrecognizable. It’s hard to believe that the above photo was taken just from where I sit at work with nothing but an off camera flash and two pieces of paper.

Using a piece of paper as a snoot over the flash, I pointed it right at the object. turned the exposure up to 1/200 to get rid of any ambient light and viola. I added another sheet of paper on the other side of it to reflect some light back onto the edge. The photo to the right shows what it looked like without the edge lite.

This experiment today makes me want to see what else I can do with various light modifiers made from common stuff.