Textures

While in Harrisville, I was able to take some time to walk around and shoot in the land surrounds my father-in-law's house. It's a fairly sizable bit of land with quite a few areas to shoot around in. Along with wild flowers and grasses, there were plenty of opportunities to shoot textures to use in images later on. I'll start with one image that didn't really require much development work.


I found many trees on the property that produced some really neat textures that I used in some other images taken around the same time. Two of my favorites are below.

The bark on a birch (I think). I love how the outer layers just peel away from the inner layers.

There was also some moss on the ground that looked to be good for use as a texture file.

Moving right along to actually using the texture files. I must thank Jared Carpenter from POTN for providing a basic tutorial that got me started working the textures. For brevity's sake, I won't show the original images. What I briefly did was to open both the background and texture images in Photoshop and drag the texture image onto the background image. To get more of a transparent effect, I selected "Color Dodge" and then set the transparancy to around 43%. I then desaturated the texture image a little bit. I'm being vague in the description because each image required a little different approach.


This last image was one of my favorites. I really liked it before applying the texture image. However, after adding the texture of the birch bark, it became an image I think will be printed and hung in the house.

Firecrackers at the Breitmeyer's

Since Harrisville had it's fireworks show on the 5th of July (see previous post), we had to shoot something of a pyrotechnic nature off to celebrate the founding of this country. My wife's little brother was the master of ceremonies lighting the majority of the firecrackers. Below are the results of the explosive display.



This last image was a long exposure (3.2 seconds at f/10). My sister-in-law was playing with some sparklers. Really neat effect.



Stay tuned, artsy-fartsy photos coming up next.

Fireworks in Harrisville, MI

The fourth of July was spent visiting my father-in-law and his family in Harrisville, MI. The fireworks, which took place on the fifth was a very nice and surprising event, given the length and amount of fireworks that were shot off. Below are a few images with a collage of some others. All of these images were taken at ISO 100 or 200 with an aperture of f/11 and shutter speed of 0.6-2 sec with the camera mounted on a tripod. I used an EF 17-55 f/2.8 IS with the stabilization turned off. There were other images taken over the weekend, which I will chronical later on.









The collage of fireworks. It's small, but I think it gets the point across of how many fireworks there were on Saturday (click to see a larger image).
This last image was caught by sheer luck on my part. I just happened to press the trigger button when I started to see what the firework started to look like. It's one of my favoites from the weekend.
Kanu is also eager to get back to reviewing baby stuff after his weekend off. Look for the return of the reviews soon, too.

The most dangerous review ever.

Kanu decided to try out the baby iguana bathtub (which we received from a childhood friend of the egg layer) tonight (cue foreboding music). There are some warnings that Kanu wanted expressed before we continue on.

1. Do not leave baby iguanas unattended in these tubs
2. Do not use overly hot or cold water when bathing baby iguanas
3. Do not use the included toys to taunt the happy fun baby iguana (or the cat)
4. Before bathing baby iguanas, please check your life and health insurance policies to make sure they are both up-to-date.


Kanu first wanted to test out the hammock attachment of the bathtub cattub. He liked the sensation of floating on air even though there was no water in the tub. He imagines that the iguana will like this too. As with other items tested so far, he was very disappointed with the lack of a hole for his tail. In the future, Kanu hopes that the manufacturers of these items start taking the anatomy of iguanas into consideration. The toys (not all seen here) are especially fun, especially to use as a weapon to squirt water into his owner's face.

Kanu also feels that this is the perfect thing for just lounging around the house on a lazy afternoon.



While preparing the tub for Kanu's bath, Roxy, the 15 pound beast decided to check things out. Instead of seeing this as an cattub, she saw it as a big water bowl. Kanu was very upset with her for drinking out of his freshly drawn bath. He will retaliate by licking her butt later this evening.


Kanu normally loves the water. Being the true actor that he is, he attempted to wiggle around like a baby iguana just for the sake of accuracy. Not all baby iguanas like their baths and Kanu wanted to provide as realisitc bathing scenerio as possible. The image below doesn't specifically show him wiggling around, but please believe me that he did wiggle around.


Kanu almost in for his bath.


Right when Kanu was forcibly removing his owners' limbs and eyes without remorse getting all lathered up and clean, the camera's batteries died and I ran out of memory on the card. Who knew that blood could splatter so much that it made photography impossible 10 photos could fill up a 4GB card?

Kanu was very pleased with the construction of this tub and gives it 4.5 paws out of 5. He feels that the baby iguana will get many hours of good clean fun out of this. If there is anything wrong with it, it doesn't have restraints more toys to use as weapons against his owners.

Kanu will be taking the weekend off from reviewing baby items so his owner's wounds will heal he can properly celebrate the 4th of July.

He wishes everyone a happy 4th of July.

Kanu reviews more iguana gear.

One of the first iguana gifts we received was the Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumper from some very dear friends in Wisconsin. Kanu was very excited to test this toy out to make sure it would provide the baby iguana enough stimulation and fun. He had no problem getting in the toy, but was a little concerned that there was no hole for his (or the iguana's) tail. The first image shows Kanu comfortably in the seat ready to play.


He enjoyed the mirrors, toy frogs, and other bits and bobs associated with this item. However he did get freaked out at some of the noisier items on it. He commented that the frog was his favorite piece of the toy. He could bat at it for hours at a time without getting bored, as he's sure the baby iguana will do as well.


Here, Kanu is contemplating his burgeoning music career. He was annoyed that his slacker owner didn't put any batteries into the piano-type device. Kanu was very disappointed that he wasn't able to play chopsticks on this piano-type device though. This will have to be revisited later on when batteries have been purchased. He feels that this will provide hours of amusement to the baby iguana as well as making his owners want to find a padded cell to get away from the noise.


Overall, Kanu is very pleased with this toy and will give it 4.9 paws out of 5. The only thing he doesn't like about this toy is the lack of a tail hole. He feels this will be a bigger problem for the baby iguana as he thinks iguana tails aren't as movable as his is. The only other problem he encountered with this was the lack of batteries in the piano. He places blame for this oversight on his slacker owner and will seek his revenge at 3 in the morning by jumping on the slacker owner as hard as he can. He may also seek the assistance of Roxy, the 15 pound cat in this endeavor.

The Iguana's bath tub will be the next item reviewed as soon as the owners recieve their Kevlar full body armor.

Kanu reviews iguana gear

With the iguana's arrival drawing closer, we're getting more and more of the things needed to bring an infant iguana into one's house. Of course, all of these items must be checked for safety, comfort, and quality. Not having any young iguanas sitting around the house, I have to use what is available to me. The Papasan Catasan proved to suit Kanu so well that he appeared to fall asleep. He was strapped in to prevent him from accidentally falling out of the Catasan. He, however did not find the rabbit above him interesting. The iguana might be amused by this, I'm not too sure.


We now move onto the highchair. This went together without any problems and seems to be sturdy enough for an iguana to sit and eat in. Kanu immediately took to the high chair without any problems and was easily strapped in. It was almost as if he knew that the highchair's purpose was for him eat. Here he is patiently waiting for his dinner.

This also shows how easy it is for him to eat while seated in the highchair. He had no problem reaching his food while strapped in. We didn't try the recline feature of this particular highchair as he doesn't feed from a bottle anymore. Kanu gives the Papasan Catasan 4 paws out of 5 as the toy is a little scary to him. He gives the Highchair 4.5 paws out of 5. He feels there could be some more padding in the seat for his sensitive rear.

Stay tuned for more baby iguana item reviews.

Wisconsin Trip (Memorial Day, 2008)

The next trip we took was to visit friends from grad school in Wisconsin. We normally take this trip over Labor Day weekend, but our first born is due around that time.

We've always gone over on the S.S. Badger, a train ferry that was converted to carry automobiles and passengers between Ludington, MI and Manitowoc, WI. It's fairly inexpensive in comparison to having to drive through Chicago traffic on a holiday weekend. Nice way to travel, you can sleep the entire way over.


The Badger has a sister ship, the S.S. Spartan that has been tied up at dock for quite a while. They were built for the same reason at around the same time. The Badger is more advanced and had been heightened, but they are basically the same ships. They run off coal-fired boilers. The ship was fairly desolate above deck due to unseasonably cold temperatures so I was able to get some nice images sans people.





While in WI, we got to spend time with friends and their adorable child who is very photogenic. I had a field day last year shooting him and had a wonderful time taking photos of him again. One of my favorite shots came after some post processing in Lightroom. I swear this kid could be a spokeskid for Oskhosh.





Heading back over, it got very cold about half way across the lake, and there was an odd phenomenon where the sun was out, yet there was a low-lying fog.

Holland Trip

Early May brings about many things in Michigan. The end of college, the start of (typically) reliably warmer weather, and tulips. Holland, MI has a tulip festival every spring to showcase tulips, oddly enough. Of course, the tulips being grown were absolutely gorgeous.



There were plenty of people walking around and getting a shot without anyone in it was amusing, to say the least. This fountain, in the center of Holland provided a lovely backdrop for this shot.

I had just received my new EF 85mm f/1.8 lens, so I had a field day playing with bokeh, as seen in the following images.





This final image gives you an idea of what a field of tulips looks like in May. Absolutely stunning.



More images can be found at my site.

Recent Trips (part I)

In early April, my wife and I took a trip to Houghton, MI to visit her sister, who is attending Michigan Tech. Driving up there after a full days work was not in the cards because a certain hotel decided to stop having a night clerk on duty after 11:30 pm. So we pushed through and drove the full 10 hours in one evening, arriving in Houghton at 3am. It was my first trip to "da UP," as the locals call it. It is truly gorgeous country up there and we happened to catch things right before all the snow and ice had melted (as you'll be able to see in the photos).

We got up the next morning and drove from Houghton to Copper Harbor, the northern most point in Michigan one can reach by car. I couldn't have asked for better photography weather on this day.



This was taken just outside of Copper Harbor. You're looking out onto Lake Superior which still had a fair amount of ice on it.



Another shot at the same location, looking camera right of the previous shot.



This was taken at a different location, further west. This really shows how frozen over Superior still is in early April. The temperatures were in the 40s, yet there was still 2 feet of snow on the ground in some places!








The obligtory Mackinac Bridge shot. It's not the most glorious photo of the bridge that's ever been taken, but I like it. It was incredibly hazy when we drove back downstate.

More images can be found here

More to come later!