Day 334 - Low Scoring Photography

This was a fun idea I got off the internet this evening.  No, it wasn't a real game.  If it was, it would be a pretty bad game for all those involved.  Not many points for the words I put together are there?

Still, you can have a lot of fun with something like this.  If it had numbers I could have worked 365 into it.

Day 333 - Help Me!

We spent some time in the Stupidmall again today.  (That's the affectionate name I have given to the Supermall in Auburn.)  Seriously, there's nothing super about this mall.  We have taken pictures in this mall a few times before though--Usually when we just happened to be here for some shopping reason.  I guess you could say it was during times of photographic desperation.

After taking several pictures of several random things as we walked the mall we were finally headed out the door of the Burlington Coat Factory store where we were parked.  That's when I saw this one, lone pink glove lying there begging to be noticed.  It was a study in contrast.  Everything around it was black & white or something similar.  Here was this bright pink glove that just screamed for someone to look at it or pick it up and put it somewhere safe.

Not me--I just took its picture.

Day 332 - Best Friends

Okay, there's no way I could really know they're best friends.

We were out driving today and I stopped to take a few pictures of a particular snowy pasture/barn scene.  True to what always seems to happen when I do that, a horse ambled on over to see me.  After enjoying a fair amount of scratching from me, the light-colored horse wandered over to see what all the fuss was about.  The dark colored horse nickered and greeted the other one with a little nuzzle.

Day 331 - Frozen Drain Chain

You know those chains that people put up instead of downspouts?  The water follows the chain to the ground instead of rattling around in a hollow downspout.  They add a little bit of style to an otherwise ordinary necessity.  Well, at least here in the rainy Pacific Northwest it's a necessity...

When I walked up to the entrance to my bank after work today their drain chains caught my eye.  There is one on either side of the entrance, and because of significant cold snap we're in the middle of right now both of them were encased in solid ice.  Had they been in the bright sun they would have been even more striking!

Click on it to check it out in full size.

Day 330 - Snowy Street

It was just snowy enough this morning to make an interesting drive to work.  By interesting, I mean not humdrum.  I left plenty early enough so I wouldn't have to hurry and stuck to the slower streets just because I found it more enjoyable.  When I got to downtown Kent I noticed I was almost 20 minutes ahead of schedule so I stopped and walked around with my camera.  I was really liking the way the old-style lighting on the street was making the snow glow.

Instead of my regular-sized tripod I grabbed the little pocket one I had... Hence, the low level perspective.

Day 329 - My Old Glasses

If you have worn glasses for any length of time during your life, you know that a good pair of glasses is hard to come by.  When you consider fit, quality, and function, it's rare to have a pair that meet all the requirements.

These old things were one of my favorites from days gone by.

Day 328 - Lights, Seagulls, and Stormy Skies

It was one of those days when we had snow showers forecast.  Just before I left for home this afternoon one of those showers had dumped a bunch of heavy snow/rain mix.  As I started home, I was following it.  In front of me was a massive dark wall of clouds, and from the other side I saw sun coming in.  I decided I would head to the top of one of our parking garages in Auburn in hopes a rainbow might appear.  By the time I got up there, the storm was but a memory.  Hardly a trace remained except for these thick, moody clouds.

While I was there, the spacey-looking lights that surround the top of the garage caught my eye.  The seagull in the background just added a little something extra.  I softened the picture a bit and added some more color saturation.

Still, a rainbow would have been pretty cool...

Day 327 - Waiting for the Patties

It's burger night here at our house. (Yep, you guessed it--I didn't get out anywhere for any good pictures today.)  Actually, Sunday is really our burger night, but because of the holiday and me being off work today we opted to let it slide until tonight instead.  We enjoy our burger night.  Our favorite 1/3-lb. patties from Costco fit together right nice like (<--southern talk) with our old gas grill on the deck.  We grill rain, shine, snow, dark--You name it.

I ran this picture through a "pseudo-HDR" filter in Photoshop to give it a little something.  Kinda weird eh?

Day 326 - Begonia Masoniana

This is a cool-looking plant!  Suzie has had this around for almost 20 years.  It took me a long time on the web to track down what it actually is.  According to what I found, it's also known as the "Iron Cross Begonia" due to its unusual leaf markings.

I shot this in our light box using a single light on the left, a black background, and the 100mm macro lens.  Be sure to click it to view it full size.

Day 325 - Abandoned and Forgotten

We found ourselves in a different area than usual today.  One wouldn't think to look for a cemetery in this particular area because it's a 4-lane road with very heavy traffic, but I knew it was there and I suggested we stop and take a look.  It was a small one, and it was on it's own little street just off the highway.  The day was very cold, but beautifully sunny.  When we were finishing up with our cemetery pictures, a derelict house caught my eye right across the little side street we were on.

Bonus!

We have been very interested in finding an old house we could take pictures inside of, but most good ones are blocked off and clearly marked with a multitude of No Trespassing signs.  This one was just sitting right there in plain sight and surrounded by shade trees.  Imagine our surprise when we found a bigger house behind that one!  It was a very big house, still sturdy (and therefore not dangerous) and was perfect.  It was full of the 'feel' we were looking for.  Peeling paint, water stains, broken plaster, and floors littered with debris.

We just have to go back!

Day 324 - Piggin' Out at Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse

This is Carol.  I don't know her at all, but because she was our server her name was printed on our receipt.  She's a very good waitress and seems to really enjoy her job.

Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse is the place where you get your bowl of peanuts when you come in the door and as you eat them you throw your shells on the floor.  Remember?  It has already been featured twice in my 365, on Day 23 and Day 233.  We felt it was time we went up there again and sampled their happy hour finery.

I took a lot of shots of the hustle and bustle of the waitstaff.  We were sitting near the area where they pick up the orders to deliver to the tables so it was pretty busy.  I was setting my camera on the edge of our table and clicking away--hoping to get the perfect mix of 'ghosting' to show the movement of everyone.  I didn't necessarily get that but I do like what I got.  I gave it a slight softening in the foreground to take your attention from the boxes that live there.

Day 323 - Forgotten Paint

I took a few little zigzags through some of the alleys of downtown Auburn on the way home today.  I probably looked pretty suspicious, but I didn't care.  When I saw this peeling paint I stabbed the brakes and jumped out.  Even the drab color of paint worked.

Just what I was looking for!

Day 322 - Sunny Greenhouse

The clouds and sun were dramatic this afternoon as I headed home from work. I stopped at the edge of a farm field that I go past all the time with the intention of capturing the long greenhouse they had standing there with no roof on it.  It's one of those round-top varieties that they stretch plastic over the top of, but that part of it had pretty much disappeared quite a while ago.

This captured a pretty good section of sky in it as well.  It looks pretty striking in comparison to the bright green ground and the sun-lit end of the greenhouse.

Day 321 - Old Kodak

It's almost like poetic justice when you take a picture of an old, old camera for your 365.  It's like photography coming full circle.  This is my newest addition--just added this week.  I'm not sure of the age because they sold them for several years, but it's got a 1916 patent on the inside.

I did some very minor tweaking here and there and added the slight vignette around the edge.

Day 320 - Visiting the Library

Maybe he's a "gentleman of the road" or maybe he just doesn't spend money on the way he dresses--I don't know.  I do know that libraries tend to attract people without much means--especially during the cold months.

Again I went for the heavy grain black & white look.  I'm liking it more and more.

Day 319 - Just a Ditch

I can't believe that I used a picture of a ditch today.  Why?  Well, because we were out taking pictures and I ended up with several interesting pictures containing barns, a Christmas tree farm, Mount Rainier--even some Alpacas.  What do I choose?  The last picture I took while we were out was the steel-lined ditch running alongside the road where I stopped to take some pictures looking down on a tree farm.  I figured hey--a ditch--now that's something you don't see just every day!

I ran it through a smoothing filter after I cropped it slightly.  After all, even something as exciting as a ditch needs a little fluffing...

Day 318 - The Castle Wall

Okay okay--it's not really a castle, but then you all probably knew that anyway.  This is a wall in our bathroom.  It's totally Sue's creation, and a fine one it is.  She has painted the walls to look like stonework, and has a real stone backsplash around the sink.  She did it all!

This is the coolest thing about it though.  It's the view we get during those times we lose power and the royal candles light the way to the throne.

Day 317 - Gage

Gage lives down the street with his master, Denny, and the rest of his small family.  Denny is Suzie's son, so we see him often, and Gage loves to come with him whenever possible.  He is the best dog you could imagine--a total lover, and smart as a whip!  I caught him splayed out on the dining room floor this evening, and he was totally fine with having his picture taken.

I ran this picture through a preset filter to give it this unique look.  It's just called Color Creative - Color CP 3, and it's a one of the default filters in Adobe Lightroom 3 if that helps.

Day 316 - Aging Rails

I took what you'd call a very ordinary picture here.  Ordinary when you see it in it's original form that is.

I have noticed that I seem to be gravitating toward monochromatic pictures lately.  Sometimes I use that to "save" a picture, but in this case I just like the look much better.  I took away the color, added grain, added a yellowish tinge, added a lightening vignette around the edge, and played with the contrast & brightness a bit.

It's a lot different than it was originally.

Day 315 - Glassware Shadows

This is a small shelf of decorative glassware in our kitchen.  It's up near the ceiling so I had to do some creative placement of my tripod to get the camera up high enough.

I was pleasantly surprised by the shadows that the different items cast when I hit them with a flashlight.  Pretty interesting patterns!

Day 314 - Bright Barn

Today was one of those days when the sun lights up everything but the background sky stays dark and moody--very good for photography!  I took a few pictures of this barn as well as the windmill they have on their property, but this one won out.  They were both very close to the road so you really couldn't get great composition.  Basically, you either get a shot or you don't.

I've always been a fan of sun-lit, painted structures with dark sky behind them.  I hope you like it. (Remember:  Click these pictures for full size!)

Day 313 - Reaching for a Cold One

Hey look--it's another self-portrait!  I have to knock this kinda stuff off.  I'm starting to just see some old guy.  The first thing I noticed after taking a bunch of these pictures is how I look so pissed off.  I should be happy and excited about reaching for a beer!

This kind of shot is fun to do.  You just bury your camera in the back of something and use a 2-second remote timer to give you enough time to get your timer hand out of the way.  I just took a couple of test shots to see how the zoom was working and to see what all was included in the shot, then I just went for it and took a bunch.  So far I've done the wood stove, the dryer, and now the fridge.

Smile, dummy--Everybody's watching!

Day 312 - Somebody's Hawg

I was out in a shopping area this afternoon, walking around the area with my camera... Searching.  I knew if I was there long enough and in no hurry I'd probably get something. I would have rather gotten the owner with it.  I did see him when he got there, but even though I waited for him for a long time he never showed up.  That's okay... I like his bike all by itself.  It was primer black.

I like bikes painted primer black.

Day 311 - "The Claw!"

I have no idea what these guys' are called so I just go by the fact that it's the only thing they ever said in the Toy Story movies.

There are a lot of Toy Story toys here for grandkids to play with so I have lots of opportunities for stuff like this.

Day 310 - Sidewalk Artsy

This is what you get when you take a regular old shot of a young lady walking down a sidewalk toward you and you run it through a Topaz Adjust filter called Venice Painting.

This is the sort of shot that is perfect for it.  It had composition I liked, but I didn't like the point of focus.  Instead of focusing on the person it was more centered on a bush in the foreground of the picture.  The Venice Painting filter does a controlled blur on the picture.  I like it.

Day 309 - Falling Down

What can I say--I like old stuff.  Especially 'falling down' old stuff.

This is a dilapidated old outbuilding near our house that we've been to before--most recently back in summer.  I took several shots of the place, but as happens with me many times, I decided it needed to lose the color.  It just looks better to me this way!

Day 308 - Trees on the Wall

This is the time of year when the sun can come out very bright, but yet still be low in the sky.  Because of that, these trees planted right next to stark, concrete buildings in a business park near where I work can cast pretty clear shadows.

I mainly chose this picture because of the red band of color on the building.  Oh, and the fact that it didn't totally suck...

Day 307 - Tacoma Art Deco

This is St. Joseph hospital in Tacoma.  It's a far cry from the usual bricks that most of the rest of Tacoma is built from. Sue and I went there to visit my brother-in-law, Gary, who was under the watchful eyes of the hospital staff after having a heart attack a few days ago.  The good news is that he's doing fine and doesn't need surgery.  The bad news is that he's got to stay in there another day or two so they can keep an eye on things.

Okay, lets come back to the strange, art-deco look of this hospital.  Perched up on the hill overlooking much of the city, it's a strange sight.  You can see it from miles away.  Think of this:  As weird as it still looks to us now, imagine how the residents of Tacoma felt about it back in 1974 when it was built!

We caught it in the waning hours of daylight this afternoon, so the vivid blue sky was really accented by the sun's rays that were turning the off-white building a warm yellow.