People | Daily Plog

February 26, 2010

A Friendly Sunset

Filed under: D90, HDR, Minnesota, Nature, Nature Preserve, Outdooors, People, Quarry Park, Sunset, Uncategorized — Tags: Beautiful, D90, Forest, HDR, Minnesota, Nature, Park, Quarry Park, St. Cloud, Sunset, Wilderness — Jacob Crosby @ 3:15 am

This photo was taken when my friend Steve (www.srmartinez.net) and I went out for some photography, yes, we went to quarry park again, it seems every time I visit there, I am greeted by some new perspective or view on something. Next time, I think I will use the rule of thirds a bit more prominently, and I will make sure I am closer, as I was not accounting for the effect of the wide angle lens I was using.

This one was taken while we were both still relatively warm. Steve had forgotten his gloves, so later on I let him use one of mine, so we shared gloves… Yes, sharing gloves with another man is a sacred thing, so Steve and I are pretty much blood brothers now.

Back to the photo, I really like this one, however, I used my (cheapo) wide angle lens, and sadly I discovered a severe flaw in the unit. I will give extra awesome brownie points to the first person that is able to identify the problem in the photo, and the distortion which caused it. I will give you a hint, My D90 has a setting that (either on or off) attempts to reduce this effect.

So, for everyone reading, do not buy cheap equipment with an expensive camera, it will only leave you sad, and wondering why your expensive camera is taking terrible photos, until you see the edge-bending effect of your wide angle lens and realize what the problem was, or maybe that’s just me…

I also think it is probably prudent to adjust the photo size I am posting, as much as I love the large size photos, it seems to give a feel closer to being there, since your eyes kind of scan around, much like they do naturally. It seems that many people are running lower resolution monitors, so, if you are unable to see the full image in the window without scrolling (Please make sure your browser is set to full screen view), please just leave me a note here, so I can do things to make it a better viewing experience for everyone…

Thanks!

Rating: 9.7/10 (3 votes cast)

Rating: +2 (from 2 votes)

Comments (4)

December 17, 2009

Great news

Filed under: Nikon D90, People, Updates — Tags: Arizona, Beautiful, Chandra, D90, future, Happiness, hopefulness, Nikon, People, site, update, Updates, woop woop — Jacob Crosby @ 3:15 am

I have a great deal of good news to share with everyone this post and it does not even involve some deliciously edited photo… I have recently come into a certain amount of assistance from someone to which I am eternally grateful. As it stands recently I have been unimaginably hopeful with regards to my future. I will say this, and I wll keep it ‘relatively’ short, I had recently lost someone in my life in which I believed had absolutelty no replacement the world over.

It seems not only did I find a replacement for this person, I found that this person never really deserved to be in my life in the first place. I thought my life would be terrible and I would be lost without her, and he truth is, my life has been unfathomable leagues better since she lost me. I have been blessed not only with realization that I have had MEGA great friends the whole time, and that I may have lost one person, but I have gained two great new friends and an amazing family that make it very clear that she always needed to be replaced. Much like a broken piece of office equipment, you do not dwell on the fact that it is broken and “gone”, you simply replace it, and forget it ever existed in the first place because the replacement unit functions better on it’s worst day than the previous unit did when it was brand new….

I have always heard the best revenge is living well, hehe, well, that I am doing, and not that I would ever wish ill upon Chandra (or most people for that matter) as I do still love her so very much, I reently heard she is doing worse since she lost me… If there is such a thing as karma I am confident some just got dished up, shaken, not stirred.

Having given that tidbit of “grandtastic” news, I want to inform everyone of my first purchases towards my new business as well as the basic premise behind my new venture.

My very first purchases towards the business were a new air compressor and a new brad nail gun. Essentially I intend to process my photographs as usual, and get them printed in varying sizes. The second step in my overall process is to construct my own unique frames that I will be able to design around the photograph that will be going inside the frame. Now that you can see why I would need an air compressor and a nail gun when working with photographs… hehe. My third purchase was my dream camera. I have been dissatisfied with my camera for shooting HDR photographs for some time now. Ultimately, I found a great deal for a Nikon D90 online, I purchased the D90 with a few lenses and some additional equipment that will help me transfer from my Canon to a Nikon as all the connections are different, as well as the threading of the lenses.

Now that everyone knows why I have a great level of confidence in my future I am ready to go out and sell my photographs and frames. I would like to involve my friends and family in the process of building this, and doing so from the beginning, so if you have an ideas that you think would be beneficial, please do let me know.

Sorry for the lack of a photo today.

“Real life is the hardest impression, it’s always moving so I let it come through.”

~Little Texas

Rating: 9.5/10 (2 votes cast)

Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)

Comments (1)

November 30, 2009

Rose…

Filed under: Arizona, Nature, Outdooors, People, Phoenix, Rebel XT/350D, Sedona, Travel — Tags: Arizona, Wilderness — Jacob Crosby @ 12:32 pm

Don’t disturb the beast, the temperamental goat, the snail,
While he’s feeding on the rose,
Stay frozen compromise,
What I will, I am…

Bend around the wind,
Silently blown about again,
I’m treading so soft and lightly,
Compromising my will, I am…

I am, I will, so no longer
Will I lay down, play dead,
Play your doe,
In the headlights,
Locked down and terrified,
Your deer in the headlights,
Shot down and horrified,

When push comes to pull,
Comes to shove,
Comes to step around,
This self-destructive dance,
That never would’ve mattered,
Until I rose, I roared aloud here,
I will, I am…

I am,
I will,
So no longer,
Will I,
Lay down,
Play dead,
Play this,
Knee down,
Gunshy,
Martyr,
Pitiful,
I rose,
I roared,
I will,
I am….

Within the words above I find a certain level of comfort. It seems that in this song the notion that we are able to endure precludes itself. I found that my level of endurance, tolerance, and patience, with regards to the lies, untruths, and injustices of another is finite and is not everlasting as I previously thought it was. It seems that, just as in the words above, there came a point in which “Compromising my will” was just no longer possible and as such, “I rose, I roared aloud here!… So no longer, will I lay down, play dead, play this.” I did whatever I deemed necessary to stop the “Self-destructive dance” that was indeed occurring. I was not able to focus on anything short of what the end outcome would be. My approach wrong, perhaps… Is the outcome what was most necessary, yes, without doubt, and in the same, there is an amount of remorse that penetrates me. Though not enough to cause regret, just enough to, on occasion, cause my spine to tingle, my heart to race, my thought process reduced to what might have been. Though after the abundance of effort and time on my part put forth, it seems that, inherently, people are incapable of change.

We are all faced with challenges, some as simple as getting out of bed, some unimaginable. In the end, we make our decisions based on the rules we have set for our lives, the guidelines to which we tailor our existence. Sometimes, our emotions interfere with a logic that is evident and ultimately undeniable. Perhaps if we could take the emotional variable out of the equation, the decisions we must make would be a great deal easier, but nobody ever said the easy choice was always the right choice, and as I have found, it rarely is.

I have made my bed, and I am fully prepared to sleep in it, and a certain level of confidence burns through me, that I will rest well, and may you also, with all of your regrets and remorse for what you have done to those around you, and what you will continue to do. Only you know the extent to which your behaviors reach, and the irreparable damage you have caused. May you sleep well indeed Chandra.

Since this post was built around a “quote” in the song above, there will be no quote today.

Rating: 10.0/10 (3 votes cast)

Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)

Comments (1)

November 29, 2009

The tides of time and a Photo

Filed under: HDR, Minnesota, People, Rebel XT/350D — Jacob Crosby @ 5:30 pm

I have been using the software I previously mentioned called Woopra for a few weeks now. It has become a small bit of a surprise to find that roughly 30% of my website visits come from two users in a single city. I will not be mentioning the single city and state, as it is important to me that both visitors continue, well, visiting and I fear that should I make an announcement of it, they will likely stop visiting. Though I am not entirely certain, I am very confident… So thanks for your visits, you know who you are..

In starting the writing of this particular post I did not have a particular direction in mind. I have been in a great deal of pain in recent weeks, and it seems that it is getting progressively worse. Which is exactly what I was informed would happen, and that in the coming months things will progress pretty quickly. I am afraid that the current medications I am on are becoming of little use. Most days I am able to ignore the coming months, and the fact that there is a certain outcome of which I have little control. Although, there are days, in which I am simply stuck with myself and all the information locked in my mind, which is also of little use. Time is a relative thing, it seems that when we have an abundance we allow it to waste away, yet when we have little, we long for more.

As of this very moment in writing I have no photo selected, and I am not sure I have the motivation to even look at them… Most of them remind of a much different time in my life, wherein I may not have had a great many things, I did have one thing, and she was most of what mattered to me. It seems counterintuitive, but the falling down does seem to be far more painful than the standing up. I have finally been reminded of a photo I had taken some time ago, though I cannot remember the date, and I am not going to spend the time to look for it. This photo was taken in St. Cloud with Chandra at Munsinger Gardens. I asked her to wear her sari so that I could take some photos of her in it as I thought it would be a beautiful and colorful addition to Chandra. Though not one of my favorite photos, it seems that many people like this one. Also, no unique name for this one..

A short while after this photo was taken we had wandered around and found a cage with peacocks in it, totaling around 6 if I remember correctly. There was one in particular, so extremely colorful and energetic. I tried my best to get the three photos usually necessary for HDR, but it was of no use, as the animal was reluctant to stay still for more than a moment at a time.

Rating: 8.3/10 (3 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Comments (3)

July 2, 2009

A Good Friend

Filed under: HDR, Minnesota, Nature, Outdooors, People, Rebel XT/350D — Tags: Forest, HDR, Minnesota, Nature, O'Brien, Park, People, River, State, Wilderness, William, Woods — Jacob Crosby @ 9:30 pm

This is a photo taken when my friend Andrew and I went to William O’brien State Park. I kind of wandered a little closer to the river and a small ledge of rocks and looked up and found that this was a fitting pose for Andrew. I did very much like the angle, with the tree and the roots in the foreground I think the photo turned out very well. Andrew is clearly far more photogenic than I am, no matter, this is my photography site, not “My Photograph” site.

And please, let’s keep the ratings based on photographic quality and not something like “Hot or Not”…

Thanks!

Rating: 9.0/10 (5 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Comments (0)

“The Artist”

Filed under: HDR, Minnesota, Nature, Nature Preserve, Outdooors, People, Quarry Park — Tags: Forest, HDR, Minnesota, Nature, Park, People, Quarry Park, St. Cloud, State, Wilderness, Woods — Jacob Crosby @ 1:04 am

“The Artist”, as titled by my friend that both took and processed the photo, Steve (http://www.srmartinez.net).

Steve and I were able to spend a little while together at Quarry Park in St. Cloud, MN and I feel that we both took some great photos that day, some of which I have already posted. This particular photo is a very rare photo I would say, though I may love taking photographs, I am not exactly fond of having my photo taken, so typically they end up being candid shots, as this one shows.

I will state that, in my defense, I do usually notice the faint clicking sound of the mechanics of the typical SLR firing away, and order the photo of me to be deleted, however, for some reason or another, Steve’s Nikon SLR and lens are the quietest combo I have ever heard, or not. Not sure if it is just a fluke that his is so quiet, as I have used them in stores, and a friend (Andrew) also has a Nikon and I have not heard one so magnificently silent as the one Steve owns. Regardless, I am confident that the next SLR I purchase will be the Nikon D90, as it has every feature I could dream of, and still uses a relatively small form factor, so when I have a spare $1,200 to spend on a camera, and a fairly good reason to do so, oh yes, it will be mine….

Rating: 8.3/10 (3 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Comments (1)

June 14, 2009

The Optimist

Filed under: HDR, Indoors, Minnesota, People — Tags: HDR, Hospital, Indoors, Minnesota, People — Jacob Crosby @ 11:47 pm

Though not actually the case, I thought the title was relevant to the situation, as things can only get better. Being a realist has it’s advantages, such as not having some delusions of grandeur, among other things.

I was feeling a significant deal better today so I thought it was necessary to snap a quick few photos and really ended up liking this one. I am a big fan of the overall feel of this photo. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Rating: 8.0/10 (2 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Comments (4)

June 6, 2009

Sunset Sari

Filed under: HDR, Minnesota, Nature, Outdooors, People, Travel — Tags: HDR, Minnesota, People, St. Cloud, Sunset, Woods — Jacob Crosby @ 9:03 pm

Though I did not come up with the name for this particular work, I do enjoy it nonetheless. This is the ever beautiful Chandra in the traditional dress of the Nepali culture. It really is a quite elegant dress with the way it moves in the wind, and compared to the typical drab American colors we have, this is a colorful and quite beautiful piece of attire. I was stunned when she lifted up the loose part of the Sari and the sun shone through it, it was quite a beautiful moment to see.

Unlike some photos of people that are a “pseudo-HDR”, this is not, she was able to stay still just long enough for me to snap the necessary photos. She should be given an award for her ability to stay still, considering her level of energy and apparent inability to stay still for longer that several seconds at a time.

Rating: 8.2/10 (5 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Comments (1)

June 4, 2009

The Eye of the Beholder

Filed under: Duluth, HDR, Lake Superior, Minnesota, People, Travel — Jacob Crosby @ 1:41 am

Tonight’s post was an extremely difficult choice at first, so for those of you reading, I posted the three photos that I was choosing from on my flickr, which is abnormal for me, since I typically post one new photo a day. The runners up will get posted tomorrow and Friday.

This is a very unique photo for both the subject and I. This young lady has dark dark brown eyes, nearly black. I have tried on many occasions to capture the color and light in her eyes, yet I can never quite seem to do so. This was just a quick snapshot while we were getting out of the car, I did not expect it to turn out, let alone be this amazing.

You can clearly see the color and texture of her eye, the normal shot was great, but to make a pseudo-HDR has turned out wonderful, I have long thought that anything too close would not work well with HDR, this photograph as done an outstanding job of proving me wrong.

Rating: 10.0/10 (4 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Comments (1)

May 21, 2009

Easter Sunday in Beautiful

Filed under: HDR, Holidays, Indoors, Minnesota, People, Uncategorized — Tags: Easter, Forest Lake, HDR, Holiday, Indoors, Minnesota, People — Jacob Crosby @ 10:15 pm

This photo was taken on Easter Sunday 2009. My sister was dead set on getting a photo taken of her in the house all dressed up nice. I was very inclined to do so, of all the photos I took, this one had the most “natural” feel to it (though it is not my sister), which is what I look for when photographing people. Not much else to say, I just hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Rating: 10.0/10 (4 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Comments (0)

Older Posts »