I recently attended a funeral service for a colleague of mine. He had lived a long good life that still ended too soon. During the service one of his grandsons created a video slideshow of his life. This guy loved life and the photos showed it. They shared great photos that helped an outsider get a better idea of him and his life. As one that often has a camera with me I often run into people that don’t want their photo taken, ever! When you do get a chance they make it difficult to get a decent image. They move their eyes, turn their head or blink. Anyone that has taken photos knows what I’m talking about. The reality is that most of us don’t enjoy having our photo taken, but i’m pretty sure most of us would want to be remembered with great photos. So next time you wince at the camera think about your legacy or the slideshow at your memorial.

For those Photographers out there this post from Scott Bourne over at PhotoFocus provides 7 tips to get the most out of your photos… http://photofocus.com/2012/03/19/seven-things-i-wish-id-have-known-when-i-first-became-a-photographer/

Homemade GF cookies at our house today!

ISO 1000 ƒ/5 T 1/50

Edited in Perfect Photo Effects 3

ISO 1000 ƒ/3.5 T 1/200

We got some rain today so I decided to try and photograph it since it’s such an unusual occurrence here in the desert. I decided to remove the color to enhance the depth of the leaf and drops. Here’s the original after minor levels adjustments in aperture.

I then exported the image into Perfect Photo Suite 6. Here’s a screen capture of the filters I chose.

I kind of like the metallic look of the post processing.

ISO 1000 ƒ/22 1/125

I had to goto a colleagues funeral service today in Boulder City,NV. So I decided to go do some sightseeing after the service. Boulder City is about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas. Boulder City started as a place to house the workers that were building Boulder Dam, which was renamed Hoover Dam. Here’s a wiki link about Boulder City http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder_City,_Nevada
When I was a kid I remember going on school field trips through the dam and until last year the highway connecting Las Vegas to Phoenix crossed the dam. Last Year they opened the O’Callaghan-Tillman bridge to bypass dam. The bridge also has a pedestrian lane that you can walk across. It was really windy today and I will say that I was a bit scared hanging over the railing taking this photo. It’s 840’ down to the river below and I am amazed at the workers that actually built it, they are far braver than I. Here’s a wiki link about the bridge: http://bit.ly/qKm7a4

ISO 1000 ƒ/2.8 T 1/800

I decided to mess around with a wide open aperture and play with the the area of focus. Focusing on the leaves instead of the very end. It’s different.

I have no idea where these jars came from, but I liked their color and texture.

ISO 1000 ƒ/2.8 T 1/20

Had a bit of a scramble today to find a decent capture. Found these necklaces on my wife’s necklace holder! I think they’re pretty cool!

ISO 1000 ƒ/2.8 T 1/60

Caught this Jet streaking towards the sun tonight!

Jet Stream into the Sunset

taken with iPhone 4S and edited in Aperture

Ninjago-Lego

ISO 1000 ƒ/2.8 T 1/250