Got It.

Turning the Next Corner

Life to Life

Oval

Shadow Tricks

Craning

Green filter on this one.

Feel for You

Felt a smiling composition was necessary today. The upward angle was chosen because I was bored.

And by popular request, yesterday's photograph in RGB (top left), Red (top right), Green (bottom left) and Blue (bottom right).

Bad Apple

First time using the color filters. This one is a blue filter, as in its blocking all the red and yellows. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Cousins

So this final photograph was taken in the town of Niagara on the Lake, Canada. Specifically, the Angel Inn where we four, Thomas, Lauren, James and I, caught dinner. For me, it was interesting because the last time I was there was when I was 14 and we went to Niagara Falls with my Aunt Jackie and Uncle Kelvin, plus their family. I didn't appreciate the place as much as I did this time around. Plus now I'm legal age to drink, which makes life more pleasurable in general.

Anyway, next to me is James. He's been spending the past month in the U.S. living with us and while I've spoken about him I've never shown a picture. So here we are, free for comparison. My mom mentioned we look a bit alike, but then again we're cousins. It's not suppose to be so strange if we did. But this was our last adventure, in North America. I expect there will be more to come once I arrive there this fall.

Niagara Falls

So what if its not me who makes this photo great. Thomas consumed 64 oz of beer in an hour before this photo was taken, so he was barrel of fun. At this point, we were on our way to the tunnels behind the falls. And like at the Maid of the Mist, they force you to step in front of a green screen, snap your photo and digitally edit it into some stock image. Then they rape you for 25 bucks at the end. So when you take a cheesy photo and add a cheesy scene, like the one above, and you have something that is too great to pass up.

Wrong Stop

So yeah, I'm waaay behind on updates. However, I do have photos for each day. The reason I'm so behind is because of the last days that James was in the country and we had to use them wisely. And by wisely I mean canoing and going to Niagara Falls. This photo is clearly from the day we went canoing.

So at this point in time, we've pulled ashore and we're coming to realize that we're at the wrong landing. After 6 miles, we've still got an insulting mile to go. So we climbed into the canoes and headed off.

The previous hour or two was basically use goofing off. It was Lauren, Julia, Jon, Harry, Ed, James and myself. We had a veritable sea battle down the 6 mi journey. Nobody stayed dry.

Film Strip

Lost

zero

In Real Life

(no subject)

Half Full/Half Empty

Fist

The Window

So I started by raising the f-stop to... yeah. Actually, the beautiful mountainscape behind me is from an Ansel Adams photograph Clearing Winter Storm. It's probably one of the more awesome things in my possession. Special thanks to Julia for picking it up for me last Christmas.

Idle Hands

So I taught James how to play Risk and Axis and Allies last night. Then with my cousin Jon and his friend Bob we combined the games to create: Rixis and Rallis. It was one of the more entertaining games I've played for sure. Anyway, how this all relates to the self portrait of the day is that I didn't get in till 2-3 am last night and I went straight to bed. Only to wake up, go to a Red Lobster meeting, and realize I didn't post last night. So here I am now.

The inspiration for this came from when I tried to achieve proper focus with the camera. To determine focus, I stand at the approximate distance from the tripod that I will when having my photo taken and then I focus from there. So I was doing that and I noticed the floor boards and red chair made a stunning composition. So I went with it from there. I tried adding hands, both feet, feet on the chair handle... Ultimately I decided on this one because it wasn't over complicated, had a nice rhythm, and the gradients seemed attractive.

The Future

I love those stories about how everyone thought hat computers were gonna be huge and expensive and do nothing but blink and make noises.

Retour

Back to the stairs again, which was a common theme in the early days of this project.

Missile Display

So this was at the Air and Space museum in Washington. You'll notice that the angle is very similar to yesterday's photo, which is due to the same reason. No tripod. While I brought it, something about setting up the camera on a tripod in the middle of crowded tourist areas and walking away never appealed to me. So I did the ole 3 step tinpot self portrait:

1) Look around for people watching and wait till the coast is clear.
2) Hold camera out with hand and point vaguely at face, hope auto focus on your face not the background.
3) Snap and repeat step 1.

It's shamful, I know.

But other than that I got a lot of decent shots which I hope to put up on Os Donatus... We went from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, which we went up on Tuesday. Then did the Korean, Vietnam and Lincoln Memorials. By about 10-11 PM we finished the FDR and Jefferson Memorials. All the while I gave the American history talk to my English cousin. I explained who these people were, why they're revered, what they said and did. I tried to tie it all together as well and make it more relative to current events. George W. Bush finds his doctrine of spreading democracy perfectly acceptable because, historically, that's what American history has been building up to. I explained Washington, the precedents he set and how he viewed the U.S. as a shining example for the world. On the interior of the Jefferson Memorial is a quotation of his, how he would resist tyranny and fight for the freedom of mankind. I showed him Lincoln's Gettysburg address and how it regarded the American mission, the conflict within the noble cause. And then between all these presidential monuments are the War monuments. WWII is clearly a victorious war monument, as its remembered by those born in its aftermath. The U.S. defeated tyranny, just like Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington said it should, albeit the methods each endorsed varied. There's a continuity from Monroe's Doctrine through to Truman's and onto Bush's. This is why American's feel that they have the duty to go about doing what we do.

So that's what I told him, hopefully he's got a better idea of the American character and spirit. I'm sure it seemed quite strange to him, having come from a much more pacific Europe. But strangeness is part of going abroad, isn't it?

Gone the Distance

While this was took Monday, I haven't been able to post until today because I was way too cheap, tired and busy to find internet while in Washington D.C. James and I drove there Monday morning and arrived around 6ish. Since then was pure walking and touring with 4 hours of sleep between days. I haven't toured that hard since Europe two years ago.

The Philistine

I claim no ownership of any of the items depicted above...

Yo-yo Tricks

I noticed today while walking the dog the cool stretched out shadows that we made on the pavement. So I snapped a few while we were out. Once I got it in Photoshop, I drove the shadow blacks darker and tried to highlight the pavement a little. While the dark shadows makes it looks more animated, I like the look.

Independence Day Carousel

I'm right there. Over to the right.

I figured the bonfire on the beach would be a good opportunity to do some strange night photography, so I held off the portrait taking until then. I got some neat fireworks shots and fireside portraits as well, which I intend to showcase on my other blog.

So other than working, it was a decent Independence Day. Plenty of food and beer, the hallmarks of a good party. It's interesting how the celebration of our Independence from Great Britain has manifested in our time. It seems less like a recognition of independence and more like a Great Patriotic Holiday. You have to figure, the independence of the United States has long since been established. There's no real doubt about it. The holiday is more of a festival of achievement; men on the moon, technology, prosperity, victory in war, ect.

I wonder if the Founding Fathers ever thought it would end up like this. To them, the 4th of July was surely about Independence as the memory of colonial times was still fresh in their minds. I wonder what it will be in another 200 years.

Also of interest, my cousin James has been staying with us from the U.K. He pointed out his desire to be in our country during the Independence Day holiday as it seemed quite unique to our culture. Over there, they do not have a national holiday of major significance. It's not exclusively European, whom for the most part never declared independence from any other nation, as for example: France has Bastille Day which involves plenty of celebration.

But anyway, this is yesterday's photo. Now I'm going to have to come up with something else for today.

Deeper into the Shell

Salvo

Reminds me a bit of Frank Miller's art, however, the rain on the window is to thank for the splatter effects.

Desolate Highway