Blog Comments Fixed

I have finally disabled the "captcha"/ "jumbled word"/ "word verify"/ "word challenge" feature on my blog. I have also changed settings to allow anonymous comments without signing in. If you have been frustrated in the past please try again...

. Your input is very important to me. I will continue to post the daily pictures on both Facebook and my blog. Please comment on which either forum works best for you. This is an additional change from yesterday's notice. Thank you Jay Baum.

 

 "Facebook Self Portrait"

Day 274. September 30. Countdown 92 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Seventy Four. September 30. Countdown 92 Days. Picture # 274. "Untitled". A late season tiger swallowtail butterfly feeding on a purple sage also known as Texas sage. A thank you to Tracy Jackson. She helped me tonight by catching that I had misindentified the plant as a mountain laurel when I first posted Day 274. She also shared that the Texas sage is sometimes called the barometer bush because it's flowering is triggered by high humidity or high water content in the soil. This evening on Facebook my cousin Kenneth Moe wrote this "Sometimes the images choose the artist". This picture exemplifies what he is referring to. I went to the land tonight knowing there was going to be a great sunset. Well there was a great sunset but this guy stole the show. I have included some sunset pictures below. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/5.6. ISO 400. Exposure 1/2000 second.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 273. September 29. Countdown 93 Days.

Day Two Hundred Seventy Three. September 29. Countdown 93 Days. "Forest & Trees" or "Blinded by Preconceptions". It was raining this morning when I woke up. A massive system of storms was moving it's way through central Texas. Weekend mornings usually start with me sitting on my third story balcony with a great cup of coffee. My eyes study the sky forming the background behind the steam rising off of the hot coffee. I am thinking about the day's picture. I am studying the clouds,the lighting, already starting to form ideas about what I will be aiming my camera at on this day. Bright clear skies push my thought towards shady areas, flowers and close-ups. Foggy and hazy conditions will steer the camera towards ephemeral and stylistic pictures. Today was dramatic storm clouds.So it seemed obvious, I would be driving northeast into the lower plains, in other words,big sky country. Unfortunately life had other plans for my day. Besides everyday household chores there was three days of neglected editing and posting waiting for me do. In the afternoon I had to meet a coworker at the Austin Convention Center to take down a show. When the show was finally down and in the crates,the question of where I was going to find my picture was not as important, as when. Old southern expression time, "I was burning daylight". As I was closing and locking the gate at work, I was searching the sky looking for the most dramatic clouds which would determine my direction of travel. I did not even see this dead tree because the sky behind it was dull and lifeless. I did not want dull and lifeless, I wanted dramatic. The only reason I even saw this shot was because this bird chose this moment to land on the top of this tree. Almost resenting the time, I  grabbed the camera and shot a few exposures of this bird and tree. Jumping in the truck and with limited time, I then chased the clouds, ending up with sixty or so exposures of the clouds with various foregrounds. I did not have time to edit the pictures last night, so I sit here this morning viewing the day's pictures with a different mental filter. I understand now, if I had edited last night, today's picture would be some generic shot of the sky, instead of this minimalist, monochromatic image. I believe this is the more powerful image. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. 28-135mm lens. Focal length 28mm. f/8, ISO 800. Exposure 1/400 second.

Comments

 

 

At the suggestion of my Facebook friend Zhi Zhu, I found out that I could change my settings on my blog to "anyone" which means you should not have to register anymore to post comments. I would appreciate someone trying a test post to see if it is easier to comment. Also I have no way of knowing who is visiting my site. So I invite people to just say hi. I have enjoyed my 366 Project. I want to say thank you to each and  everyone who has been with me on this journey.

 





Day 272. September 28. Countdown 94 Days.

Day Two Hundred Seventy Two. September 28, Countdown 94 Days. Picture # 272. "Water & Light". The welcome rain clouds were just starting to blow in to the area in the early evening hours.. It was still a long way from sunset, but the light was already very low and flat as I headed out with my gear. Realizing I did not have much light left, I decided to stay close to home. Bull Creek is just a mile or so from my apartment so it became the default location. The grey lighting conditions eliminated any glare off of the surface the clear water and allowed the camera to pickup underwater details. The only problem is I left my remote trigger at home. I did not want to wait for the timer for each shot so I triggered the shutter as carefully as I could. Unfortunately today's picture is not as crisp as I would have liked because of camera shake. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 190mm. f/8. ISO 800. Exposure 1/8 second.

Day 271. September 27. Countdown 95 Days.

 

 Day Two Hundred Seventy One. September 27. Countdown 95. Picture # 271A, 271 B, 271C. "School Pride". Another night under the lights, Texas high school football continues. OK, baseball cliche. I was sort of swinging for the fences tonight with my shooting. I wanted to to try to shoot artistic moving abstracts using very slow shutter speeds. It is hard to do because I wanted parts of the picture to remain in focus and others to show motion blur. I am also shooting from halfway up the stands at 300mm. I never captured that perfect moment while the person was frozen and the motion was all around them. I posted three attempts. Back to the baseball analogy, three strikes you are out. Oh well, there will be other nights.  Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/10. ISO 400. Exposure 1/15- 1/20 second.

 

 

Day 270. September 26. Countdown 96 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Seventy. September 26. Countdown 96 Days. Picture # 270. "Untitled". I hope this sets the benchmark for my strangest picture. A while back I was experimenting with my Canon XTI trying to capture individual falling rain drops, without much success. I wanted to see if I could do a better job with the Canon T3i, but I had a problem, it was not raining. So today I am sharing a picture of my shower. Strange, I know. Canon Rebel T3i. 28-135mm lens. Focal length 135mm. f/6.3. ISO 400. Exposure 1/50 second.

Day 269. September 25. Countdown 97 Days.

Day Two Hundred Sixty Nine. September 25. Countdown 97 Days. Picture # 269. "Untitled". Detail of a wagon wheel on a Wells Fargo stagecoach. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 122mm. f/5.6. ISO 800. Exposure 1/200 second.

Day 268. September 24. Countdown 98 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty Eight. Countdown 98 Days. September 24. Picture # 268. "Fire on the Water". Sunset at Mansfield dam in Austin, Texas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_Dam . The camera was setup on the low water crossing bridge a little ways downstream of the dam. This is the headwater of Lake Austin. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Bower Fisheye lens. ISO 200. Multiple exposure .8-2 second.

Day 267. September 23. Countdown 99 Days.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty Seven. Countdown 99 days. September 23. Picture # 267. " The Dance". I sent this picture to my friend Tracy Jackson while editing. She responded that it looked like a "dance". So thanks to Tracy for todays title. I wish for better/faster glass. I missed a fantastic shot of these two squaring off with each other. But I took many shots while they were standing still like the one below. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. f/5.6. ISO 400. Exposure 1/500 second.

Day 266. September 22.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty Six. September 22. Picture # 266. "Milestone". I received a message from my friend Gary Cross today,"Happy 266, 100 to go, well done Intrepid, well done. Keep shooting.". Thank you Gary, I had not realized today is the start of the countdown. Tomorrow there will only be double digits to mark how many more times this year that I will throw on my black tee shirt, grab the gear and head out the door . . . Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Bower Fisheye Lens. ISO 400. Exposure 1/6 second.

 

Day 265. September 21.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty Five. September 21. Picture # 265. "Untitled". Because of time constrants I was out looking for the day's picture while the sun was still very bright. I decided to try my usual shady spot along side of Bull Creek close to my apartment. I was happy to to see there was a variety of opportunities to shoot. The bright sun light and shadows on the lush landscape did not disappoint. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/5.6. ISO 400. 1/500 second.

Day 264. September 20.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty Four. September 20. Picture # 264. "Untitled". Just some flowers that sprung up on their own in a narrow strip of grass in front of where I work. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 75mm. f/6.3. ISO 200. Exposure 1/1600 second.

Day 263. September 19.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty Three. September 19. Picture # 263. "Untitled". An unusual scene at a popular swimming hole in Bull Creek, no people. Actually I had to wait for dusk for the last couple to leave. It is hard to tell from the picture, this waterfall is about eight feet tall. The tripod and myself are standing on the rock in the foreground of the shot.The tripod leg had to be cropped out of the bottom of the picture. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Bower Fisheye lens. ISO 200. Multiple exposures 1-2 minutes natural light, 1 exposure with popup flash -2. 

Day 262. September 18.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty Two. September 18. Picture # 262. "Untitled".  On Facebook last week I was contacted by a voice from the very distant past. Kenneth Moe my cousin. We had not spoken in over thirty years just because life is a really big place and we had always walked different paths. As we conversed and caught up I realized how little I knew of my mother's side of the family. There seems to be strong creative streaks and lots of story tellers. Ken has done an extensive geneology of the Evans family. He has kindly shared it with me and I am looking for some quality time to sit down and study it. Ken is also a published writer with a book currently available on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Floating-Boy-Book-Heretics-Occupied/dp/0615591558/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348024598&sr=1-1&keywords=floating+boy . He connected me with his brother Karl Moet who is a professional musician. http://www.reverbnation.com/karlmoet . Anyway, what does any of this have to do with with this picture? It's about family. Reconnecting with people made me start thinking even though my mother and her siblings have all passed parts of them live on as memories. These memories are triggered by things that are left behind after they are gone. My Aunt Rhoda worked as a nurse on the Gila River Reservation at the elementary school in Sacaton, Arizona. Her family spread her ashes near there on the reservation .The intricate basket above more than likely came from my Aunt through her Native American friends on the reservation. The necklace was the lesser of two squash blossom necklaces my mother wore and much admired. The conversations with my cousins made me stop and handle these things maybe looking for a little spark of magic that at least in my mind will keep family alive forever. Canon Rebel T3i, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 75mm. f/10. ISO 100. Exposure 1/200 second. Pop up flash -2 with a sheet of paper as a difuser.

Day 261. September 17.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty One. September 17. Picture # 261. "Untitled". Today was an odd shooting day for me. There were very dynamic cloud formations and good lighting. I drove out to Volente Beach thinking good sky over the lake type pictures. I shot a few but was not happy with any of them. I put the gear away and decided to wait until sunset and once again shoot over water but on a much smaller scale. This is a section of Bull Creek along side of the Capital of Texas Highway. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 50mm. f/22. ISO 400. Exposure 2.5 seconds.

Day 260. September 16.

 

Day Two Hundred Sixty. September 16. Picture # 260. "Light Storm". Today was an unusual rainy day in central Texas. It rained all day and into the evening. I have been wanting to shoot this empty school parking lot at night during a rain storm for quite a while. But a lot of details needed to line up. First the parking lot needed to be empty at night. Then it needed to be raining. But it could not be raining to hard or I could not risk the gear getting to wet. Tonight was the night. Everything worked. Canon Rebel T3i, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 28mm. f/22. ISO 400. Exposure 10 seconds.

Day 259. September 15.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty Nine. September 15. Picture # 259. "Butterfly & Leaf". My broken Canon T3i is now fixed. Precision Camera & Video http://www.precision-camera.com/pages/repairs/lcd-replacement.html repair shop replaced the complete back of the camera. The LCD was not available as a separate piece. The picture below serves as a reminder that there is an evil wind in the empty back roads of Oklahoma that waits patiently to do it's mischief until the unwary photographer turns his back on his camera and tripod. A $236 lesson for me. The good news is that the repaired camera seems to be working fine. Canon Rebel T3i on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/8. ISO 800. Exposure 1/200 second. Pop up flash +2.

Day 258. September 14.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty Eight. September 14. Picture # 14. "Fade to Black". A grackle caught in a moment of reflection in a parking lot puddle. Various birds were taking advantage of the shallow water by bathing in it as seen in the pictures below. Canon Rebel XTI, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/5.6. ISO 800. Exposure 1/320 second.

 

 

 



Day 257. September 13.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty Seven. September 13. Picture # 257. "Rainy Night in Austin". The light rain started this afternoon and continued into the evening. The rain is much needed in central Texas right now but it does pose problems with getting out and shooting. I tried to find sheltered places, even if it was just under a tree in an attempt to keep rain drops off of the lens. I would wipe off the lens in between pictures and hold a towel over the camera for the long exposures. A added bonus was that I had the hike & bike trail all to my self except for a homeless guy watching me from under the shelter of a near by structure. A beautiful night. Canon Rebel XTI, on tripod. Bower Fisheye lens. ISO 400. HDR image. Three exposure ranging from 5-15 seconds.

Day 256. September 12.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty Six. September 12. Picture # 256. "Change in the Weather". The rain clouds were sure to create a nice sunset but I was not counting on it actually raining. Most of the pictures I shot were from inside of my truck so to keep my lens dry. The sunset kept changing, just when I thought it was over, another ray of light or a shadow would appear. The starburst around the sun is because there is a hole in the cloud and it was positioned perfectly as the sun fell. All in all, I shot close to 170 exposures of this sunset. A nice way to end the day. Canon Rebel XTI, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 90mm. f/25. ISO 400. Exposure 1/400 second.

 

 

 



Day 255. September 11.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty Five. September 11. Picture # 255. "Untitled".  Went to Saint Edwards Park today. http://www.austinexplorer.com/Locations/ShowLocation.aspx?LocationID=1393 . Everything seemed to be hiding from the bright sun. I wandered around shooting backlit leaves, some fish in the creek but nothing real interesting. A different approach was needed. I picked a spot and set up the camera & tripod. And waited. I tried to move as little as possible. Pretty soon small things started to appear or either I started seeing through the filters of preconception that were blinding me . There were leaves bobbing in the creek bending the surface of the water creating beautiful shadows on the creek bed. A butterfly was harvesting mineral salts deposited on a rock. Bugs were swimming and flitting all around me and occasionally landing close by. My eye discerned a striped pattern in a deep shadow. I zoomed in to find a skink taking shelter from the sun. Once again I have been reminded how big your world can become when you take time to notice the small things. Canon Rebel XTI, on tripod. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/7.1. ISO 200. exposure 1/500 second.

 



Day 254. September 10.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty Four. September 10. Picture # 254. "Untitled". As summer releases it's unrelenting grip on the Texas landscape even the quality of the light seems to soften and change. Most of the summer this area has been shaded by the higher background ridge as the sun has set. But as we slip closer to fall the sunlight briefly washes the ridge tops before covering the whole area in shadows. View is from Coldwater Canyon drive in Austin, Texas. Canon Rebel XTI, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 120mm. f/8. ISO 400. Exposure 1/500 second.

Day 253. September 9.

Day Two Hundred Fifty Three. September 9. Picture # 253. "Section 60". Section 60 is part of a much larger cotton field just south of Taylor, Texas. This field has just been harvested and you can still see the large bales of gin ready cotton in the background. It appears that the wet winter and some what mild summer made for a good harvest. Canon Rebel XTI, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 75mm. f/4. ISO 400. Exposure 1/2500 second.

Day 252. September 8.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty Two. September 8. Picture # 252. "New Traditions". Texas A & M, one of the most tradition rich schools in the nation embarked on a tough new path, Saturday. The Aggies introduced themselves to the Southeastern Conference "SEC" today. The Aggies lost a heartbreaker to the University of Florida but they let the SEC know you had better bring your "A" game. The Aggies intend to play football. The rich traditions of Texas A & M are going to enhance a already tradition rich SEC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditions_of_Texas_A%26M_University .The Aggie band is the halftime show you do not want to miss. The football team may have come up short but the Band loudly proclaimed "You can't touch this !". Canon SX20 on full auto.

 



Day 251. September 7.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty Two. September 7. Picture # 252. "Making Sparks". This picture of my co-worker Ryan Timm welding a frame displays the amazing abilities of the iPhone. I used an app called Pro HDR to capture this image. The app first reads the light extremes in a scene then takes two bracketed exposures and combines them into a single image. What is so remarkable about this picture is the extreme bright welding arc detail is not blown out and the app accounted for the low light levels in the shop.  Not an aesthetically wonderful picture but from a technical point of view pretty interesting. iPhone using Pro HDR. Edited with Photoshop CS5 and ACDSee Pro 5.

Day 250. September 6.

 

Day Two Hundred Fifty. September 6. Picture # 250. "Untitled".  Still looking for ways to stay out of the heat. This "gimmick" picture is a gallery wrap of one of my own pictures that hangs in my living room. This effect is created by using a long exposure and a zoom lens. While the shutter is open, you carefully "zoom" the lens to different focal lengths. Cooler weather is coming soon. I promise to get back outside. Canon Rebel XTI, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 28-135mm. f/20. ISO 100. exposure 28 seconds.

Day 249. September 5.

 

Day Two Hundred Forty Nine. September 5. Picture # 249. "Curtain Theater". This is the view that actors see when they are performing on Richard Garriott's replica Globe theater stage. http://www.nowplayingaustin.com/venue/detail/29369 The only difference is they are usually playing to packed houses. This is the Baron's Men home theater. http://thebaronsmen.org/. Canon Rebel XTI, handheld. Bower Fisheye lens. f/1.6. ISO 400. Exposure 1/200 second.

Day 248. September 4.

 

Day Two Hundred Forty Eight. September 4. Picture # 248. "Temperature". Another 100 degree day in Austin, had me thinking about temperature when I got home. I have a collection of weather related items ranging from my families barometer to a full portable weather station made in Germany for the Russian military. One of the more artistic pieces is the subject of todays picture. Many years ago my friend Tracy Jackson knowing of my interest in weather gave me a beautiful Galileo thermometer modeled after his original design. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_thermometer. In a related side note, yesterday a friend of mine and I were having a discussion on how to shoot a picture of a clear glass vial to get defined edges. So Day 248 envolved some experimenting. I knew the shot would require a very shallow depth of field and a quick shutter speed. So I started with my fastest lens and a high ISO. Next, the background needed to be dark but still have subtle variations. This was solved with my full bag of trash that was by the door waiting to go out. So my thermometer was set on my empty work table with the trash bag as a backdrop. Lights were adjusted to eliminate glare on the glass. I shot a few exposures at different settings but was not satisfied. I finally got the effect I wanted by using my flashlight app on my iPhone. I turned the light on and sat the thermometer on top of the phone. It worked and I got my picture. Canon Rebel XTI, handheld. Canon 50mm prime lens. f/1.8. ISO 1600. Exposure 1/400 second.

Day 247. September 3.

 

Day Two Hundred Forty Seven. September 3. Picture # 247. "Flower # 1 B/W". Left the house before dawn to beat the sunrise. The sunrise was all greys and very muted. I decided to packup and go find something else to shoot. As I walked back to the truck these very large flowers (3-4") seemed to be floating in the darkness. The white petals were catching the early light while the rest of the plant was still in deep shadows. Canon Rebel XTI, on tripod. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 70mm. f/6.3. ISO 800. Exposure 1/50 second.

Day 246. September 2.

 

Day Two Hundred Forty Six. September 2. Picture # 246. "Fire & Time". This peaceful scene was very different one year ago. On Labor day weekend in 2011 this spot was in flames. The Bastrop County Complex Fire started September 4 and burned until October 29. It consumed 34,356 acres and burned close to 1700 homes. There were two fatalities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastrop_County_Complex_fire . On January 29, Day 29, http://jaybaumphotography.blogspot.com/2012/01/day-29.html , I visited Bastrop State Park which was directly in the path of the fire. The dirt was scorched. There seemed to be only burnt dead trees and barren dirt. Now less than a year later and with the help of some rain the renewal has started. The ground is quickly being overtaken by the color green. There were flowers and butterflies everywhere. Below are some other pictures from today's visit. The last picture shows that the scars from this fire will last a very long time. Canon Rebel, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/6.3. ISO 200. Exposure 1/2000 second.

 



Day 245. September 1.

 

Day Two Hundred Forty Five. September 1. Picture # 245. "No Longer Under Wrap". This guy made his first appearance from under his cover on August 9. He had only one eye peeking out when he was captured for Day 222. This will be his last time to stare at you from this blog because he is moving to his new home this weekend. Canon Rebel XTI, handheld. Canon 28-135mm lens. Focal length 33mm. f/8. ISO 200. Exposure 1/400 second.



Day 244. August 31.

 

Day Two Hundred Forty Four. August 31. Picture # 244. "Friday Night Lights". The Texas high school season has started with all of it's pageantry and on the field drama. It is a time for the entire student body and their families to come together under the lights for the wonderful tradition of Texas football. (Picture 1. below) The Honor Guard becomes the focus as the National Anthem is played. (Picture 2. below) The exhilerating entrance of the football players onto the field always is a crowd pleaser. (Picture 3 & 4. below) The over three hundred member marching band covers a large portion of the playing surface and provides a very powerful sound as an exclamation point to the game. Canon Rebel XTI, handheld. Canon 75-300mm lens. Focal length 300mm. f/5.6. ISO 1600. Exposure 1/160 second.

 

Picture One

 

 

Picture Two

 

 

Picture Three

 

 

Picture Four