Since I don’t get be in a lot of the photos I take, I’ve started a little tradition where I do a self-portrait each year on my birthday. Self-portraits can be difficult and time consuming, but I like the challenge and try to use some of the techniques I’ve learned throughout the year.
The pose I chose was due to the fact that I’ve spent a lot of time this past year in front of a computer. While this isn’t too uncommon of me, the projects I’ve been on have kept me in front of a PC more than usual. Fortunately, I enjoy what I do, so it doesn’t always seem like work. And as for the couch, I’ve spent many late nights in that exact spot, so I felt the need to include it in the shot.
Here’s to another year.
Posted: February 28th, 2010 at 11:02pm by theo.johnson
On Thursday (Feb 11th) it started snowing in North Texas. It’s rare, so I made sure to enjoy it with the boys. For the first time we were actually able to build a real snowman and have snowball fights with the neighbors. I was able to get some nice photos over the last couple of days.
The biggest thing I had to remember was to decrease the aperture because my first set of pictures came out all white. I thought my camera was on the fritz, but realized I had it set to 2.8 for some indoor shots I was taking earlier. I lowered it to 8 and everything was all good. I also threw in some black and white shots.
Posted: February 13th, 2010 at 1:41am by theo.johnson
Round can simple described as a “Circle”. Circles are simple closed curves which divide the plane into two regions, an interior and an exterior.
OK…that’s the technical jargon. We all know what Round is and can identify objects that are round in shape. Your challenge couldn’t be much easier. Locate something that is “Round” and turn it into a creative photograph. We must clearly be able to determine which object you’ve chosen as your round subject.
Yeah, yeah this is pretty basic, but time has not been on my side the past couple of months. I wanted to make the challenge and it was cold outside, so I decided to look for round objects around the house. This was the most obvious.
Exposure: 0.1 sec (1/10)
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal Length: 17 mm
Focal Length: 17.3 mm
ISO Speed: 320
Exposure Bias: +1/3 EV
Flash: No Flash
Posted: January 19th, 2010 at 6:26pm by theo.johnson
Since most people still have their Christmas decorations up, I guess I’m not too late with the pictures. I thought I’d share a couple of pictures I took over my Christmas vacation. I just recently got a used Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens at a really good price and wanted to test it out in some low light situations. I would have like to have gotten the Nikon equivalent, but I really couldn’t justify the cost. All in all, I’d have to say it’s a good lens. I’ve been wanting a decent zoom lens for a while and this one definitely lives up to its reviews.
All of these pictures were hand held because I knew the camera would do well with a tripod. The first set of pictures are in Downtown Dallas. I hadn’t been there in a while and didn’t know they completed the park, so I decided to stop and get a couple of shots. They had so many other nighttime shots I wanted to get, but finding a place to park for a few minutes was tough.
The second set of photos were taken in San Antonio. I’ve finally started taking the white balance off Auto and think I may start doing it more often. The camera does a good job of choosing the best setting, but sometimes manual is the way to go.
The third set of photos were taken New Year’s Eve. My wife and I got a chance to go out without the kids for dinner and a movie. After having dinner in Plano, we took a little stroll around the Shops at Legacy. I had my camera and decided to get some shots of the area. It was cold, but nice that night.
For those photo enthusiasts, if you click the view on flickr link, you’ll be able to see the camera settings I used.
Posted: January 7th, 2010 at 11:59pm by theo.johnson
A silhouette is a view of a object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. The term has been extended to describe the sight or image of a person, object or scene that is back lit, and appears dark against a lighter background.
Many photographers use the technique of photographing people, objects or landscape elements against the light, to achieve an image in silhouette. The light might be natural, such as a sunset or an open doorway, a technique known as contre-jour or it might be contrived in a studio.
Quite simply, your challenge this time is to take a photo where your main subject is a silhouette with no discernible features visible. It should be black and outlined by the light situated behind it. The subject and post processing is up to each individual.
I think this was one of the firsts challenges that I’d gotten a decent number of votes in. I knew what I needed to do to get a silhouette, but I needed a subject. Well, once again I got my little model to help out.
He had just gotten ready for bed and I asked him to put an ornament on the Christmas tree. While he was busy finding a spot, I shot a couple of photos for the challenge.
I added a black faded border around the picture and played around with the levels to enhance the glow from the lights. I think I got a decent shot. View the image at flickr to see the camera settings.
Posted: December 29th, 2009 at 6:14am by theo.johnson
