The aftermath...

Two buildings in old Kent have gone up in flames. They were about two blocks away from the store so we got to see the whole thing.

Windstorm. Lots of fallen braches. Our power is still out. But, luckily enough, no major damage.

Ferry Ride to Anacortes

View from Mount Constitution.

Doe Bay

Sky on the ferry ride to Orcas Island

You have new Picture Mail!

Our latest ad was in the Wine issue of Digs magazine. I ended up taking many pictures of wine glasses.

B&W of a maple tree in my back yard. I set this picture as my desktop background at work. I've had two comments as a result...

"That is so monochromatic it sucks the life out the room."
"That's what trees look like when you die."

Sigh. I kind of like it.

This is another image that pushes the limits of what low res jpeg can handle. Weird. I wonder if Google is pushing the compression up to save on space.

Anyways, I was more technically rigorus while I took these photos-- used a tripod and a cable release and I used low ISO. Actually, I slightly over exposed (Without blowing out the highlights) and then darkened the image on the computer. This trick helps reduce noice. But, it also requires more patience. Over exposing means longer shot times which increases the chance the camera will shake and blur things. Since I have to darken the images later, I can't just upload a send. I need to spend extra time with each image to make it just so.

Sometimes it's kind of fun doing product shots for the store. I like this photo as just a photo. The background is blurred just right-- no real detail, just a nice warm glow. hmmm.

The real photo doesn't have those funky levels that you see in the top right corner-- it's a continuous shade.

Chair

Chandelier

Sunflowers

This is the 3rd time I've taken a panorama of Seattle at night.

Mystery Flower. Mark found one of these growing in the wild along Alki Beach. He plucked it, and planted it next to the front door, where it took root. If you know what it is, please leave a comment

Morning Glory. I hate Morning Glory. It's taking over my yard. The flowers are kind of pretty though.

I've started playing around with Photoshop more. I see why every photographer has it. It allows you to do some pretty amazing things with ease. This photo for example is a composite of 5 photos. I took a very dark photo, then slightly lighter photo, then a lighter photo and so on. Photo shop then merged the 5 photos capturing the detail of each. So even though each of the 5 photos had spots that were too dark, or too light, the resulting photo has a great range.

Coral

Solstice Parade.

Solstice Parade

I wish I knew who the little girld was. The pics of her are soo cute.

Solstice Parade

Solstice Parade

Solstice Parade

Picking Bogart's Nose

Freemont Solstice Parade

The new lens gives me greater control over the depth of field, so I can focus on one object, and blur everything in the background. It takes some practice, but it's helping me control the "background is too busy" problem

I've got the new lens. It's very nice but, it's also humbling. If photos don't work out, I have no one to blame but myself. The lens is a good tool, but I still have to do the work to make things look good.

This picture was taken hand held in dim light. The previous picture of the blue ceramic horse was taken with a tri-pod and with proper light.

I'm slowly getting dragged into professional photography. I do the photography for Chair & Trellis, the store I co-own. Because these photos are reproduced in newspapers and magazines, it's much more technically demanding than my hobby photography.

With hobby photography, I take pictures of what I want when I want. It's nice if I get a few good shots, but there are no problems if things don't work out.

Professional photgraphy is different. I have to reliably take many good pictures of subjects I don't always care about even if I don't feel like taking pictures. Then there are the logistics of photgraphy inside the store which isn't always the best place to take photos. The lighting and layout are for shopping. When you take pictures at the store there are often distractions in the back ground, the shots are too busy, the lighting and the colors are off or ugly price tags are visible. Plus I can only do it when it's quiet and there no customers around.

Frequently, Mark will compose a display and tell me to what angles he'd like it photographed from. Then I'll say I can't get that angle because the camera has to be too close, or too far. Or the lighting is too contrasty.

It's frustrating that the store looks so beautiful yet it's hard to communicate that beauty in the photographs.

Now I'm considering buying a thousand dollar lens and thousand dollar software. Professional quality lenses and software would give me much more flexibility in taking the shots I need and since we are spending thousands of dollars on ads they may be the right tools for the job. On the other hand it's a lot of money. I will feel ill the first time I accidentally bump a two thousand dollar camera and lens against the wall.

I took a picture of some damaged metal work for the store. The picture ended up being pretty in it's own way.

Chance is very spirited when I'm around. Every now and then he tires out and I get to take a nice picture of him

The moon from my back patio.