The 4th of July

For this assignment we were supposed to pick our favorite pictures from the 4th. I tried to take some firework shots but Rexburg's display was not only paltry, but also happened before the sun was fully down. This resulted in less-than-ideal shooting conditions and I didn't get a single picture that I felt was worth posting. Lame. However, I did get some descent shots of firecrackers so I've included those instead. There were also some great clouds behind the temple on Sunday so I threw in one of those as well. Enjoy!

My daughter, Evelyn and a quiet moment with a sparkler

Sparkler fun and a ground blossom

a fancy fountain and a roman candle

some intense clouds behind the temple

Picture Info:
1. Evelyn: 04 July; f 4.5; 0.5"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
2. Clarissa's star: 04 July; f 3.5; 1.0";Sony a200 Digital SLR
3. Ground bloom: 04 July; f 18.0; 0.4"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
4. Great Balls of Fire: 04 July; f 5.6; 0.5"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
5. Roman Candle: 04 July; f 10.0; 0.5"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
6. Temple: 05 July; f 13.0; 1/250"; Sony a200 Digital SLR

Waterworld

For this week's assignment, we were supposed to take pictures of water. Our class had a photoshoot in the Ricks Gardens at BYUI and, as you can see, 5 of the 7 pictures came from there. The first pic is of the Rexburg Spray Park and the last is a fountain outside the local Maricopa County Library in Gilbert, AZ. I wish that I had more time to explore taking pics of water, but these will suffice for now.

The Spray Park

rocky falls and a damp lamp

do the dew

bland waterfall shots

night fountain... I like the motion in this shot

Picture Info:
1. Spray Park: 11 June; f 10.0; 1/320"; Porter Park, Sony a200 Digital SLR
2. Rocky Falls: 11 June; f 5.6; 1/125"; Ricks Gardens, Sony a200 Digital SLR
3. Damp Lamp: 11 June; f 5.6; 1/250"; Ricks Gardens, Sony a200 Digital SLR
4. Do the Dew: 11 June; f 5.6; 1/125"; Ricks Gardens, Sony a200 Digital SLR
5. Bland Waterfall 1: 11 June; f 16.0; 0.4"; Ricks Gardens, Sony a200 Digital SLR
6. Bland Waterfall 2: 11 June; f 25.0; 1/5"; Ricks Gardens, Sony a200 Digital SLR
7. Night Fountain: 25 May; f 5.6; 15"; Gilbert, AZ, Sony a200 Digital SLR

Motion Blur

For this assignment, we were supposed to experiment with different techniques that would create or add motion to our shots. I really didn't like any of the options but I finally settled on using the motion blur filter. The pic is of our 4 mo. old sitting in his stroller at the stadium. I selected him, chose the inverse and added the blur effect. It's not my favorite, but I think it turned out alright. Enjoy!

Picture Info:
1. William: 23 June; f 6.3; 1/80"; BYUI Stadium, Sony a200 Digital SLR

Panoramics

This week we were supposed to take a variety of shots that we could stitch together using Photoshop's PhotoMerge tool. I decided to take three different kinds: 1. A wide-angle scenic shot of Bannack Montana, 2. A circular shot in a smaller space, in this case my backyard, and 3. a vertical shot starting at the ground by my feet and moving in a straight line to the sky above my head. They all turned out nice, but the last two are my favorite. You really have to click on them to get the full effect. Enjoy!

Bannack, Montana


Our Back Yard


Our Front Yard

Individual Pano Shots

Here are the individual peices of the Pano shots above:

Bannack, Montana; f 13.0; 1/160, Sony a200 DSLR


Backyard; f 3.5; 1/30, Sony a200 DSLR

Front Yard; f 4.5; 1/60, Sony a200 DSLR

Here are the pictures that I used for my photo journal. A stormy-day temple, a lonely drinking fountain, some rusty gears, my daughters on a small ferris wheel, rainy-day campus, hospital brick and a bathroom stall hook. All in all, a fairly eclectic group of pics. Enjoy!

This week's assignment was to take one picture each day of the week and then put them together into a layout for our photo book. This will not be the layout I use for my photo book, but it was something to get the job done. I don't really like how little the pictures have to be and how one of them sits right on the fold. Oh well. Enjoy!

Portraits

This week's assignment was to develop our portrait taking skills. I have two themes: 1. The lovely ladies in my family and 2. the David O. McKay library (the place where I met and fell in love with my wife... we were reference librarians together). I think they turned out alright.

My lovely and amazing wife Jessica standing in front of one of the lilac trees in our backyard.

The first pic is my oldest daughter, Evelyn with Mr. Potato Head lips. I suped up the saturation and contrast to get what I think is a cool effect. The second pic is our middle child, Hannah. I love this picture... She's watching a Charlie and Lola DVD with crusty mac and cheese on her face, an"I-need-to-take-my-nap" stare and her signature agape mouth.

This is Sister Hepworth, the secretary at the library. Her office has great retro-looking wood paneling and I thought it was an appropriate backdrop.


This first pic is Sister Francis who used to be in charge of the student reference librarians. She is an amazing lady and a good sport for letting me take her picture up so close! The second picture is of Brother Powell, a good-natured man with a great hairdo! He's incharge of the library archives (thus the lab coat and the boxes).

Picture Info:
1. Jessica: 02 June; f 5.6; 1/125"; backyard, Sony a200 Digital SLR
2. Evelyn: 02 June; f 5.6; 1/80"; kitchen, Sony a200 Digital SLR
3. Hannah: 02 June; f 5.6; 1/5; family room, Sony a200 Digital SLR
4. Sis. Hepworth: 02 June; f 5.6; 1/15"; Library, Sony a200 Digital SLR
5. Sis. Francis: 02 June; f 5.0; 1/10"; Library, Sony a200 Digital SLR
6. Bro. Powell: 02 June; f 5.6; 1/15"; Library, Sony a200 Digital SLR

Portrait Edit

Our editing assignment this week involved some sort of edit to a portrait. This is my nephew Carter and the picture at a spray park near our house in AZ. The colors were a little washed out so I used the color match function to brighten and otherwise fix the colors. I think it turned out okay.

Picture Info
1. Cater: 22 May; f 5.6; 1/125"; Sony a200 Digital SLR

Southwest nights

For this assignment, we were supposed to practice our night shot skills. I was a little nervous because we were in Arizona this week and I was sure that it was going to be difficult to find any good night shots in a city that never really goes to sleep. After I got started, though, I quickly realized that I was actually lucky to be where I was at and that it was my Rexburg classmates that I should feel nervous for. I'm so glad I was here. All of these pictures are taken within a 2 mile radius of my house in Gilbert, Az. Enjoy!


This is one of my favorites. A few of us went scorpion hunting in our backyard (a tradition) and this time I took my camera. If you've never been scorpion hunting, you may not know that a scorpion will glow fluorescent green when exposed to a black light. Cool, eh?


I like the way the stars show up behind the power lines and the cactus in these pictures.


These pics are of Hwy 60, one facing west and one facing east. I love how the moon looks in the first pic.


I paired these two pics together because of their almost identical color schemes. In the first pic it's a green paloverde tree in front of a hideous pink building and the second is an old fashioned market/restaurant near our house.


A cross in a nearby church. It was impossible to get the exterior of the church without blowing out the cross, but I kind of like the effect. The second pic is just a residential road near our house with a few ghost lights running through it.

Picture Info:
1. Scorpion: 26 May; f 5.6; 13.0"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
2. Starry Power Lines: 26 May; f 3.5; 30.0"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
3. Saguaro Cactus: 26 May; f 5.6; 15.0"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
4. Freeway Moon: 26 May; f 5.6; 3.2"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
5. Freeway: 26 May; f 13.0; 10.0"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
6. Paloverde Pink: 26 May; f 5.6; 2.5"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
7. Liberty Market: 26 May; f 10.0; 1/10"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
8. Stained-glass Cross: 26 May; f 5.6; 1/10"; Sony a200 Digital SLR
9. Burk Street: 26 May; f 5.6; 30.0"; Sony a200 Digital SLR