Yet more Severe Weather!

So I was let out of work 2 hours early today because there was a HUGE storm (nickel sized hail) and it knocked out the power to the whole area. So we all sat in the dark for about an hour before my boss called it a day.

I got a couple pictures of the clouds right before it started rain/hail/gale-force wind-ing. These were just exported straight out of Photomechanic, instead of being run through Photoshop to boost the colors a bit (since I'm on my netbook right now, instead of my desktop)

   

                                                                                           

       And one of my co-workers looking at the emergency light right by my desk. We were talking for like an hour (like I said earlier) until my boss finally called NIPSCO (Power company) and they said that the power wouldn't be on for a while (apparently the huge power station had an issue because of lightning or something) so my boss let us go. 


The 4 mile drive from work to home was very hectic, because apparently people don;t know that when the power is out, a stoplight works as a 4-way stop sign. So there was a 3 car accident on one of the big intersections, which made it take a little longer for me to get home.


Oh well. At least the temperature is down again. It was 103F here yesterday before the huge storms that I wrote about in my last blog. And now its around 68 or so. So I would say that its a win.





And that's all for now. Apparently we might have another storm tonight too.

Later,

Kevin

TV: Olympic Swimming Trials
Movie: Nada
Game: Rayman Forever
Music: Inception OST
Food: Oreos and Water.

Severe Weather Alert

 Quick post before I head to bed.

I went out shooting with one of my friends because, as the title indicates, we had a severe weather alert for thunderstorms and golf-ball sized hail. Well we didn't get any of that, but it was still fun going out and doing my first real long exposure photoshoot.

 First good shot was basically at sunset over the Engineering building at my School. I should hsve done some sort of HDR effect, but I was running out of time because of the massive storm that was right above me.

 So later, after I went back home really quick and grabbed my tripod, we attempted to get some of the lightning, but we were a bit too late (by about 10 minutes or so) to really get any super good shots. It also would have been better to have a wider angle lens than the 35mm that I was using, because it seemed that wherever I was pointed in the sky, the lightning would happen somewhere else. We will try again later, though.

 After it was dark we decided to go out to the Universities welcome sign to maybe try to catch some of the last lightning shots (which we didn't) but my friend had the idea to try to spell out "VALPO" on shadows on the sign. We got past V, A, and L, but he couldn't figure out how to get a P easily (since he had surgery a while ago and he couldn't quite move his shoulder that way). But here's a V.

After that I did a couple experiments with car light trails. I really like this first one because of the Semi truck that went by, leaving the higher up tail light trails. I might go somewhere else (try to get a bit higher up) and try again sometime.

And that's all for tonight. I am going to Summerfest in Milwaukee in Saturday, so I might take my camera and try to get some pictures there. But then again maybe I wont want to lug around my DSLR in the 100 degree heat. I'll decide later.

And that's all for tonight, as I've got work in the morning.

Later,

Kevin

TV: Big Bang Theory
Movie: The Avengers
Game: Rayman Forever
Music: Halo: Reach OST
Food: Subway Steak and Cheese

After Dark

Well, almost after dark.

It's the weekend again, and that means I have time to go out and take pictures again! I just got a new monopod for my camera, plus a new lens hood for my 80-200mm, so I'll go out and test how those perform in the next couple days.

I took one of my roommates up to the train station near the Dunes yesterday, so I decided to head over there and see what I could get.

 These two pictures were taken about 30 seconds apart (above/below), so you can really see how fast the light was going away. I was going to try to play with the composition a bit, but the sun didn't really let me.

 On this one below I was trying for a wider-angle feel. I don't know how well it worked, but I kind of like it.

And also some flowers. The top one from outside my office (I actually took the picture through the window), and the bottom one in my backyard.

I was surprised at the incredible bokeh on this bottom one. Well done lens, though it is a bit soft in other places, too.


Those were my pictures from yesterday. I'll see if I can find someplace to go today.

That's all for now,

Kevin


TV: Big Bang Theory
Movie: Still nada
Game: Minecraft (like usual)
Music: The National
Food: Not enough of it, really...

Beach Service

I went out again today to take pictures with my great new lens. Very enjoyable experience, especially having the fixed aperture, so that I can get shots with a pretty nice Bokeh even when I am all the way zoomed in.

So today I went up to the Indiana Lakeshore state park on Lake Michigan. It was a really nice day so there were a TON of people there, but I think I was still able to get some good shots:

 I love that I could get Chicago pretty clearly even at this distance. Also Jet Skis.

 Tons of people at the beach, so I'll just leave these pictures below without too much description

 Little pictures. I think that they came out pretty good, though.

 Sand Volleyball.

 Stairs going up to an observation point. I took this shot from my hip without the viewfinder. I think it turned out all right.


 And last but not least, two pictures of an extremely photogenic Seagull!

 I like this one above, since the seagull is in near-perfect focus, but you can still see people behind it and the sand in front of it.

 And lastly, very colorful flight.

Also I find it ironic that even though I went to take pictures of Chicago, the two best pictures I got were of a bird... heh.

All in all, I am supremely pleased with my new Lens, and definitely think that it was a very good purchase.

That's all for now. I'll have some Lego pictures up sometime later today or tomorrow, as I spent about 3 hours yesterday building something.

Pip pip, cheerio!

Kevin


TV: Smash
Movie: Nada
Game: Minecraft, Sins of a Solar Empire
Music: The Lumineers
Food: Garlic Chicken (which I am going to make tonight).

Lake Service

Hello all.

So I finally got a near-pro grade lens in the form of a Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D telephoto lens. It will be SO much better than my old kit lens (which I actually just sold) for doing sports photography, and just for getting shots that need a bit more reach than my 50mm lens.

So I went out today to one of the parks in Valparaiso and took some pictures!

Anyways, here are all of the best shots that I got (with a little commentary):

 This one was actually the first picture that I ever took with my new lens. I think that it came out pretty good.

 Little bird on the railing of this really nice bridge ( next pic). I think that the Bokeh on this one is phenomenal!

 

The nice bridge from across the lake. 

 This was taken basically at the exact same place where that bird was, just looking down off the bridge.

 Little bird hopping around the tree.

 There were a lot of lily pads in these lakes. We don;t really have them in Colorado, so it was exciting for me, even if it might be boring for some people. I really like their little while flowers, though it was tough to expose for the bright flower and the darker pads. I think that this one turned out all right, though.

 There were quite a few people out fishing on the lake.

There was also what looked like a cub scout/boy scout boat race going on, so I snapped a few quick shots while they were racing.

 The guys in the boat on the left won, I think.

 Southwest Flight.

 Family fishing. I took this shot from my hip without even looking through the viewfinder, but I think it turned out all right.

 The little bit of color amidst all the green sort of caught my eye.

 Same people fishing. I'm not sure which shot I like better, the last one, or this one.

 There were a bunch of paddleboats out and about on the lake too. That is something fun.

This guy actually caught a pretty large fish, I was surprised when he landed it right as I walked by. So I snapped a few quick shots before continuing walking.

 

Something funny about these is that the girls were actually paddling the direction that they were facing, instead of the way you are supposed to. 

I really like how this came out, and I think it is the best of the bunch. I managed to get the boat almost perfectly in focus, and I like the little bit iof blue from her shirt.

And that is basically it. It started raining really hard after this last shot, so I had to high-tail it out of there.

I might go out again later today or something, who knows.

Until then, preow

Kevin

TV: Smash
Movie: Nada
Game: Minecraft
Music: The Lumineers
Food: Subway

Downtown Photography

I finally got off my lazy ass and went and took some pictures! Amazing!

So I went to downtown Valpo just to see what it offered in terms of photographic elements. Prepare yourselves for a lot of pictures, because this is going to be a big-un.

(These were all taken on my Nikon D7000 with a 35mm f/1.8G lens.)

First off I went to Designer Deserts, because it is a fun bakery with lots of cakes and cupcakes and such. My girlfriend had the great idea to start there, and I went from there.

 A couple similar shots, I just didn't know which I liked best.

Then I headed around the corner to Silcott Shoes, a store with great brick walls and great uses of leather and fabric.

 I like the tones and textures that this one suggests, even though it is in black and white. In retrospect, I should have used my cameras built in digital level to get that bottom part flat, but oh well.

 I found that tag ironic.

 More shoes, but these are girl shoes. This shot was a bit overexposed.

I might go back to this store sometime and actually buy some of the shoes. They all look really nice, and they are very reasonably priced, even less than you can get the equivalent at WalMart or Target, if I'm not mistaken. (I'll obviously be buying men's shoes.)

 This one actually didn't use any photoshop at all. I really like the sort of more subdued colors and tones in this one. I am very happy with how this turned out.

 I couldn't decide which of these two I liked best. I think that I like the one on the right, but it would have been much better if I could have had a model sitting on the couch.


After this I headed out and just sort of wandered around a bit outside.

 This is a picture of the Porter County Courthouse, in black and white, of course.

 Awesome old Porsche. This guy was cool enough to let me take his picture.

I stepped into a knitting shop, also, and found whole walls of pure color.

Back outside.

 And back outside. I found another awesome, old, red car, though I don't actually know who made this one. The badge on the front said "MG"

 There is this great mural on the side of one of the buildings in downtown. I kind of want to get a picture with a few people walking in front of it.

 And last but not least, selective coloring of a back alley. I had to crop it like this because there was an annoying UPS truck parked right out of the frame on the right side. What do you all think about it? I think it could be just as good if the whole thing was still just in black and white.

EDIT: I have now decided that selective coloring is the worst thing in the world and I shall never do it again.

So that was a really fun excursion, though there were some things that I could have gotten better if I had had someone else with me, either as a model or as a fellow photographer. Also, all of the business owners were more than happy to let me come into their shops and take pictures. It made me feel pretty good about some of the people in Valpo.

I absolutely LOVE my D7000. As you could see above it could get some awesome bokeh shots, but then some amazing clarity (like in this last picture). And yes, I do know that that has a lot to do with the lens that I am using, but the whole experience was great!

So that was my excursion for the day. I came back home afterwards and uploaded the pictures, did a little bit of editing, and made myself chicken and rice for dinner.

Sorry that I haven't gotten those Lego pictures edited yet, it is next on my list of things to do.

And that's all for now!

Kevin


TV: Game of Thrones
Movie: Prometheus (excited for it)
Music: The National
Game: Minecraft, Sins of a Solar Empire
Food: Chicken and Rice!