Daily Plog

February 26, 2010

A Friendly Sunset

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!


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January 17, 2010

The Bright Idea

Filed under: D90, HDR, Minnesota, Outdooors, Pets — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jacob Crosby @ 2:23 am

This photo is a good bit out of my ordinary type of photo. I ran this one through PS (Photoshop CS4) in an effort to give it more of that wintery feel. I am confident my treatment did lend a bit of cold to the overall feel of the photo. I hope that you also feel the same, I consider this to be one of my best ever photos… Please vote and let me know what you think. I am finding that there are a great number of visitors coming to the site, but not voting, or commenting, please, it only takes a single click of the mouse for you to vote, they are the little stars at the bottom of the photo/post.

Thanks Everyone!

“And in the end, we find that we are back to the place we began, fetal and weeping, for no better a reason than fear and selfishness.” ~Jacob W. Crosby

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October 6, 2009

The perplexity herein…

Filed under: HDR, Houses, Minnesota, Outdooors, Rebel XT/350D — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jacob Crosby @ 5:33 am

So, in recent months it seems I have been relegated to my bed. I have come to find that I have an extreme level of anti-socialism, as though that is some form of government… Anyhow. There are, it seems, several reasons for the recent lack of enthusiasm for much of anything. One, being the severe pain I feel when doing any form of physical movement, including carrying my camera bag any distance farther than out the door and to my Jeep. Two, a severe bout with depression has struck me, and I simply lack the motivation to do nearly anything. Three, I have no money, no job and I feel very much alone.

Having said that, there is still a positive spin on things, somewhere, I hope… I just have yet to find out what that is. I do have some paperwork to fill out, in an effort to get some form of assistance from the government due to my current medical condition, which is clearly a positive point on the chart.

On to the photos… It seems today is a bit of a “twofer”, in that I lack the ability to make a decision as to whether I would like to focus on the positive or negative side of things. The two photos that follow were taken within the same 24 hour period. The self-portrait was taken first, late at night, I was unable to sleep. I had been crying… No, sobbing quite excessively due to a recent “loss”. I ended up staying up for roughly 32 hours, I accomplished very little at first, finding no reason to do anything of significance. Somewhere around the 5:00am mark I decided that I wanted to feel good again, so I made the decision that at sunrise I would force myself to climb on the roof and take photos of said sunrise, a goal in which I had neglected for a little over three months at that point. After having a battle with myself over motivation, I walked to the window screen and promptly removed it from the window frame (Which, in fact, was not very prompt at all since the screen was rather tightly affixed to the window frame, and I lack the ability to exert any significant amount of force without pain).

I waited the next 50 minutes, thinking about what lay in store on the roof, during a wet morning, for a young man, in no physical condition to be climbing about on a roof, with a tripod, expensive camera, tennis shoes, and a severe fear of heights. No matter! I was on my way and there was no stopping me now. I made the trek onto the roof, only to find there was no way to the other side of the house, other than to scale the garage, and make a three foot jump across a gap between the garage and the other side of the house, camera and tripod in tow. Needless to say, I made sure I took my time and captured a significant number of photos from different positions prior to an escape back to the comfort of my room. I am quite fond of both photos here, as they represent the relative low and high in the course of a 24 hour period, one in which I do not believe the high point or low point have subsequently been achieved.

I hope that you are all pleased with these photos, as they are the first actual motivation I have had in some time. Please, please make comments, critique, shout, yell, gripe, or do whatever it is that you feel the need to do. I am at a point in my life in which I need to feel like something I do matters. Though it is something as simple as a personal photo blog, it really is one of the few things I have left. So please, take a few moments, click on the shiny little stars to give a vote, jot down a few lines about how I do not hang out with you enough, whatever it is you deem necessary. Something to keep me motivated to do this is really what I need, and it is just a start.

I would like to thank someone, a family member of a dear friend of mine. I recently received an email detailing my skill with my photography and my ability to articulate what it is that I am feeling and going through. There was what appeared to be a deep rooted concern for my well being, and a level of reassurance that I am very unfamiliar with. Those of you that know me, know that my upbringing was one of much neglect and discouragement. So to hear such positive words coming from a person most would consider a relative stranger, was endlessly surprising and a wonderful few sentences to read.

On to the Photos!

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September 15, 2009

The Midday Fog

Filed under: Duluth, HDR, Lake Superior, Minnesota, Rebel XT/350D, Travel — Tags: , , , — Jacob Crosby @ 5:54 pm

This photo was taken on a recent venture to Duluth. It was a beautiful scene to come rolling over the hill into Duluth and find that the whole of the city and Lake Superior were covered in a thick blanket of gray fog. The last time I had been to Duluth was sunny, bright and colorful. I had made the trip with a dear friend Chandra, up to Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse. There are multiple photos from that trip in the archives. It would have been nice if I were in a better mood for photography work, but alas, I was feeling a little under the weather…

I was able to spend the day with a friend from High School that I had not seen or heard from in about 10 years. It was certainly a strange day for me, and at a particular low point in my life. I guess it goes to show that some friends are friends regardless. Thanks Rena. :)

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August 26, 2009

The Overbarn

Filed under: Barn, HDR, Rebel XT/350D — Tags: , — Jacob Crosby @ 6:08 am

This is the polar opposite of the previous photo. This is the barn above the barn. I wanted to climb up in the hay loft you can see, but my father recommended against it as the barn has not been well maintained recently. Which was easily identified by all the holes in the floor. I was quick to comply, as falling through a floor is clearly not on my list of things to do.

I hope to get more photos of barns soon, both inside and out. Sadly, the ugliness of winter approaches, as such it will be hard to find anything beautiful to take photos of, everything will be very much lacking color. Though winter does have it’s own photographic appeal to me, perhaps not in HDR though.

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July 24, 2009

Dreamy Summer Sunset

Filed under: HDR, Minnesota, Nature, Outdooors, Rebel XT/350D — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jacob Crosby @ 2:42 am

A photo taken whilst driving down the road. I learned from a person I would consider a friend, that should you see something you think is picture worthy, it is most likely best to stop and take the photo.

I nearly missed this one as I thought, "I should stop and get a photo." Yet kept driving, I did this for about a half a mile, which seemed like next to eternity, since the voice of Trey Ratcliff was in the back of my mind repeating, "Stop and get the photo, it will be worth it." In some sort of Steven King of nightmarish chant… Sorry Trey, but that is really what happened. Needless to say, I took the advice and avoided the slippery slope that might have been a missed photo.

Now, having said that, this is a bit of an abnormal photo for me, as I do not use Photoshop unless someone specifically requests that I add/remove something. Yet for this photo, I opted to use PS, since again, there was a nagging voice claiming that will a little love this could be a great photo. I am very pleased and will likely add it to my top 5 photos ever captured and processed.

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July 2, 2009

A Good Friend

Filed under: HDR, Minnesota, Nature, Outdooors, People, Rebel XT/350D — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — 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! :)

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“The Artist”

“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….

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July 1, 2009

You Are Not Forgotten

Filed under: Cars, HDR, Rebel XT/350D — Tags: , — Jacob Crosby @ 10:28 pm

There are two sides to this photo I suppose.

There is the positive side that is the fact that it is my first client, and this could potentially open many doors of opportunity for my business. I am confident that the client will be extremely happy with the photos, including the poster size photo they are interested in.

On the other hand, the other side is the truck itself. It is a terrible thing that one would have to devote their truck to a cause that in some cases, should never have happened. Some wars, not saying which ones I feel specifically, should never have happened, and the lives lost were unabashedly lost for what would seem to be no reason at all, I suppose one example is The Civil War.

Regardless of your standpoint on any particular war, I hope that you would feel that the loss of life in most wars could have been prevented. Though I am mostly anti-social, I have discovered recently, that above most things, I value life as one of the most important things ever, not only human life, but the life of all things, it is a precious, and fragile thing that should be valued by all. Not to say that taking a life is not sometimes necessary, it should always be a last resort…

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June 15, 2009

Track 7

Filed under: Duluth, HDR, Lake Superior, Minnesota, Trains — Tags: , , , , — Jacob Crosby @ 9:15 pm

After a good bit of wandering in the rain I found a welcome reprieve in the form of the Duluth Train Museum. I was outside at first unaware of exactly where I was and I had just assumed I was probably not supposed to be on the train tracks and confident I may have been trespassing. After snapping a number of photos of various trains and train-like structures. After being told it was a museum I decided the minor expense would be worth the price. Grabbed a ticket, my camera and started shooting photos.

However, this was an especially difficult shot, since the conditions were very dark I had to do long exposure shots, and I tell you, this is difficult to accomplish when people have no regard for a photographer and that walking in front of one is something you are somehow “expected” to do, because everyone that could, did.

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