ξξξ Get a helmet and a roll bar...

ξξξGet a helmet and a roll bar...

" Get a helmet and a roll bar (turnin' it on, blowin' it out) and I'll be ready to
go (turnin' it on, blowin' it out)
Take it out to Pomona (turnin' it on, blowin' it out) and let 'em know
(turnin' it on, blowin' it out), yeah, yeah
That I'm the coolest thing around. Little buddy, gonna shut you down
When I turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO

______________________________________________

Part 4 of 4.

It would have been great to have had a full moon when it got really dark but it was pretty much pitch black.

I had intentions of using the flash units to illuminate the car but in the end my friend saved me with his maglite flashlight.

He used the flashlight to 'paint' the car with light and the results were very good from what I was seeing through the viewfinder.

Need to find myself a really nice flashlight with multiple settings and head so I can control the light a little better - what we had was fine but it did require some trial and error along the way.

Hopefully I can parlay this into several additional shoots but this time for $$ :)

♣♣♣You oughta see her on a road course or a ¼ mile...

" You oughta see her on a road course or a ¼ mile..
You oughta see her on a road course or a quarter mile
This little modified Pon-Pon has got plenty of style
She beats the gassers and the rail jobs, really drives 'em why-ee-eye-ild
C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO

______________________________________________

Part 3 of 4.

The sunset was less than stellar - that is to say not very impressive. So the night time shots were something I was banking on as far as them turning out ok.

It just wasn't in the cards for the sunset, not enough clouds for one. Not that it would have been easy to execute very many shots in the short time that the sun really hits the clouds for that "wow factor.

We tried a couple of different ways to light the car in the dark. I brought 2 flash units and one umbrella. While those were good, they often left big reflections in the car and so we tried something else, a simple mag-lite flashlight an it was awesome.

This is also know as "painting with light". Basically we tripped the shutter, 30-second exposure and my friend 'painted' the car with his flash light :)

Turned out pretty good I thought! Though I still want to get a little better uniformity next time!!

∩∪∩ Wa-wa, (mixed w/ "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa - GTO Pt. II

" Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
(mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
(mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
Wa-wa (mixed with "Ahhh, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa

______________________________________________

Part 2 of 4.

This wasn't even our first location choice to soot, more of an after thought.

Originally we were shooting for a mall parking lot over looking the downtown area.

We got to the mall and wouldn't you know it, it was full up! I mean it was packed. No idea why there were so many cars there.

1) It was beyond the main parking area
2) It's not like it was even close to holiday shopping!!

We got some good daylight and nighttime shots (to follow in parts 3&4).

What surrpised me is how fast that sun sets though! I mean it was gone before I even had 10 shots in I think.

Got to be quick and have an idea of what you want to accomplish to get that lighting just right...I'll have a little better feel next time for sure.

¤°¤ Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO - I

"Little GTO, you're really lookin' fine
Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389
Listen to her tachin' up now, listen to her why-ee-eye-ine
C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO..."

______________________________________________

Thought it was time to take a break from the macro.

A) After all, it's not the only thing I shoot!
B) My PhotoBucket is full - that has all the macro pics in it (bandwidth issues)
C) see A&B

These are far from perfect - Photoshopping included.

I got burned big time by one of my hard drives - before I could back up all the edits I made, poof - gone! :(

So these are take 2! Let that be a lesson - immediately back up that important stuff.
I lost at least 6 hours of editing!

Hopefully I did them a little justice on my 2nd pass here.
Let me know what you think of my before & afters!

ζζ Mars Lunar Rover or Couch Crater? ζζ

Man, I really should clean in-between the couch cushions more often!
Never know what you're going to find!!

Including but not limited to: 2 Universal remotes, 4-6 goldfish (the crunchy ones - [I say 4-6 b/c not all of the bodies are readily identifiable]), the loose change (17cents), one fruit loop, toy cow, and of course what you see below which I believe used to be tortilla chips.













I kid of course!! These are some tiny lichens found on th side of a tree...though by all accounts I could probably get some pretty interesting shots of the under side of a couch cushion!!!

°°°_D¤n't Be a ¶in HeaD_°°°

Say hello to my little friends!!!

While they look every bit like nails, they are not. They are common pin heads (not unlike most of my friends). Surprised right, that I even have friends??

Now if I was really talented I might have drawn smiley faces and or written quotes on the top of the heads but sadly I am not that skilled nor nearly that patient.

0












Of course the hardest part about shooting something that reflects so much light, is trying to get the right amount of light and the angle which will yield few hot spots (completely white spots of light).

I usually just use a single light source for these macro shots, a common 40 watt desk lamp. BUT, I also incorporate diffusers in order to soften/diffuse the lighting. The pink hues below are actually caused by red/pink pieces of construction paper in front of the lamp.

This serves 2 purposes: 1) softening(diffusing) the light, 2) being able to change the colors without ever having to changing the light source.

Enjoy!

♍♍ Juan-der Bread ♍♍

What do you like on your toast?

Me? Nothing beats 0.88lbs of butter and 17 tablespoons of cinnamon and sugar. Now that's table not teaspoons here folks.

Yeah, Timmy has a high motor - not for nothing.

So enjoy the Juan-der (Wonder) bread - except this was store brand and wheat!!!

◊Stop (drop & roll) and smell the roses (note: no roses pictured in this post)◊

It may come as a shock to you, but I do take more than just super close up pics of breakfast cereal ;)
That being the case...

The Set-up: We had a super dry winter/spring so I wasn't able to get many good flower pictures this year.
Which is really a shame in this part of Texas because of the blue bonnets...this year was a sad crop of them to be sure.

The Delivery: But here are some later bloomers from last fall!












I planted some wild flowers 2 yrs ago...I think in another 3-4 years (if we ever get some rain), they will tend to cover about 1/3rd of the backyard - as they have spread decently from the 2 spots I planted them in originally.

They should afford me ample photo taking opportunities :)

∇∇ One is edible, the others not so much ∇∇

Meet some of my random household objects.
I'll often pick up something from around the house that I think will look interesting under the macro lens. Not everything is a home run of course, but then there are also times I get an unexpected pleasant surprise (see toothpicks).




















































































Care to guess what any of them are??

I'll send you a 8x10 print of your choice from my web site if you get it right!!

ΤΦΦthpicks, are you ready for your close-up??

When was the last time you looked at a toothpick and said, "hey - I wonder what this would look like if I painted it and photographed it?"

That was me a few months ago and this is the result.









Just ordinary common household toothpicks, painted with food coloring, and photographed using my 'super-macro' setup. Where I take my 105mm macro lens, attach it to my camera, add a macro reversing ring to the end of the macro lens, and then attach my 50mm lens to the reversing ring (so the 50mm lens is facing the ring and is mounted backwards).

All of the images here are the same, just different depths of field used.

The amazing thing was I never in a million years expected this type of result, where the color fades and bleeds away such that it does.

So know you know, not only are toothpicks extremely useful - they can be turned into art!!!

~TIM~

©u®es what ails you!!

One of the fun thing about macro photography, is the limitless number of items in your house that you can take and try to make interesting.

Pills being no exception....I bet you never saw a Tums©® that close before!!

The biggest challenge is getting good lighting. My lens is usually no more than 2 inches away from the subject and so getting enough light and the right light is quite a challenge!

Tim

♫♫ Club Pics: Flash is for LOOzers ♫♫

One of my new activities is shooting live music here in Austin.

Austin (TX) claims to be the live music capital of the world. Which as far as I know, could very well be true as on any given night you might be able to find music in over 100 clubs on the famed 6th street.

Do I get paid? No.
Is it fun? Yes!






♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

These are a few of the early ones. Most of the time it's small local acts or relatively unknown acts from out of town. BUT, I have done a few you might have heard of:

• The Used
• Watch Them Die
• Ian Moore
• In Flames
• The Sword
• 311
  

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

And of course the key to any good live music picture in my opinion, is being able to take it without using the flash.

Why?

1. Flash just washes everything out!
2. Makes it too bright!
3. Blows away the colors of the stage lighting!
4. Is DIStracting for the concert goers!
   

And with the bigger acts you aren't even allowed to use the flash in the first place so I've always taken all of my pics without flash and I'd stack mine against the hot harsh flash versions any day :)