Apr 30 - Grow Light

My wife and I have our tomato starts in the garage under a grow light. I had a shot of them a few weeks back when they just popped up, this time I wanted to capture all the great leaves and stalks with the harsh lighting behind them. I shot up and under to give a different perspective.

One alternate on Flickr

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/200

Apr 29 - Kitchen Gadget Abstract

I took this close up abstract of a kitchen gadget to play around with lighting, depth of field, and focus. I like the confusing qualities of the lighting and focus on this one.

Four more on Flickr.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor Micro 60
60mm FL
F/5
Shutter 1/6 Sec

Apr 28 - Fern Frond

Today I went out into my very moist backyard and snapped some shots of the ferns sprouting up back by some old stumps. I really liked the partially unfurled fronds and the sense of movement of the branch as a whole.

Two alternates on Flickr.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor Micro 60
60mm FL
F/10
Shutter 1/160

Apr 27 - Wooden Cups

My father made these wooden cups for me as a gift a few years back. I love the grain and wood defects in the cups as well as the sheen of the stain.

Two alternates on Flickr.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm FL
F/13
Shutter 3 sec

Apr 26 - Master of World Finance

I have a little box where I collect all the leftover coins and bills for when I used to travel for work. It doesn't really happen anymore, but it's a great souveneir and it something that brings me back to the places I loved seeing. This is a macro shot of some of the bills and coins.

One alternate on Flickr.


Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
80MM FL
F?14
Shutter 3 sec

Apr 25 - New Mouse

Here's a shot of my newest ergo notebook mouse. It folds up to a ridiculously small size and has an amazing scan system that can be used on a glass table top. Plus it looks super cool. I am pretty pleased.


One alternate on Flickr.

Stats:

Nikon D700
Nikkor Micro 60
60mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/2 sec

Apr 24 - Books

Both my wife and I read quite a bit. Since today was a sick, stay-at-home type day I took a pic of one of our book cases.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
40mm FL
F/11
Shutter 25 Sec

Apr 23 - Mini Golf Castle

At work today we had a mini-golf event where different groups of folks set up their own mini-golf holes and we all competed on the course. This was the hole I worked on with some co-workers. It included a real sand trap, a drawbridge through the castle, and the moat had live goldfish in it.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
45mm FL
F/4.5
Shutter 1/15

Apr 22 - Ivy

Like most people in the Northwest, we have ivy taking over part of our back yard. I thought I would embrace the spring growth spurt and take some shots of it.

Stats:
NikoN D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm FL
F/4.5
Shutter 1/13

Apr 21 - Sew Buttons

My wife had to go to a craft store and I didn't have the pic of the day yet. When I encountered the loose button table, I realized there was a good reason to be dragged in to the shop.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85
48mm FL
F/11
Shutter 1/40

Apr 20 - Sacred Heart with Milagros

My wife and I purchased this Sacred Heart at our favorite Mexican imports store in Seattle's Post Alley. I just love the look of the weathered milagros agasint the dark wood.

Two alternates up on Flickr.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm FL
F/6.3
Shutter 2.5 sec

Apr 19 - Bloated Toad

A shot of Emily's Bloated Toad in the flower bed. I really like the purple shrub behind it as a point of contrast.

One alternate up on Flickr.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
56mm FL
F/9
Shutter 1/50

Apr 18 - Purple Spring Flowers

I took a shot of these little purple guys poking up through my ivy. I'm not sure what they are but they do make a nice contrast to all of the green back there.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85
85mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/80

Apr 17 - Dani

I took this shot of my sister-in-law Danielle in her new birthday jacket while she was up for the weekend. I really liked how the lighhting and the wall in my livingroom worked out as the background.

Status:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 50mm 1.8
50mm FL
F/1.8
Shutter 1/100

Apr 16 - Green Heels

I took this shot of my friend Candice's new green heels partly because they are cool and partly because so many of the women viewers liked the shoe photo earlier :)

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
35mm FL
F/3.2
Shutter 1/25

Apr 15 - Sew What

I took a shot today of my wife working on her sewing machine. I worked to get some of the machine motion while caprituing the details of her hands and the fabric.

Two alternates on Flickr.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm FL
F/9
Shutter 1/30

Apr 14 - Candice and Tacos

I went to the local taco truck with my good buddy Candice at lunch.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikko4 24-85mm
24mm FL
F/5.6
Shutter 1/800

Apr 13 - CD Collage

I am an avid devourer of music and have a pretty large and eccentric collection. I grabbed a stack of CDs from my office and put some of the more colorful and interesting labels into a collage for today's picture.

An alternate up on Flickr

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
56mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/40

Apr 12 - Garage Door Components

This last weekend my garage door fell from the ceiling and sort of self destructed. I took a shot of some of the components before the reconstruction.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1 sec

Voting Time!

So as I mentioned before, I am putting together a Q1 book of the first quarter of my photos. I have 91 to choose from and would like to narrow it down to the best, maybe 30 max. This is where all of you come in.

I have my favorites, but I also am biased. I'd like you to go in and comment on your favorites. You don't have to do all 91 pictures, just the ones you like best. I'll use that nfo (plus my own votes) to come up with the finals.

Unfortunately, Blogger has no easy way of doing this, so please just go to each photo and leave some sort of comment. "Use this" or "include this" or whatever. SInce this is Q1 only I will only be considering photos up to Apr 7. I will tally up around April 25th.

Also, if anyone is interested in a copy of the book let me know if a few folks want one maybe we could get a deal of some sort.

Apr 11 - A Man and his Toy

I went to my friend Bart's place to help him hang drywall on his ceilings today. He bought himself a new beefy cordless drill, so I thought a nice weapon's eye view was in order.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85
56mm FL
F/6.3
Shutter 1/140

Apr 10 - Apprehensive Dogs at the Park

I didn't notice until my wife pointed out late last night that I have back to back dog pics. Sorry about that. We went to a local dog park for a stroll in the sun yesterday and came across these guys at the river. They all really wanted the ball, but not quite enough to go in after it.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm
F/4.5
Shutter 1/800

Apr 9 - Brewster Jumping

It turned into a sunny afternoon and my Shar Pei mix Brewster was going nuts jumping around on the deck. I got a good grab of him in mid craziness.

Two alternates on Flickr

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
66mm FL
F/5.6
Shutter 1/1250

Apr 8 - Cocoanut Monkey Graveyard

They may look cute while you're on vacation, but take a long hard consideration where your cocoanut Monkey will end up when you get home. I came upon this forgotten pile of sad little fellows at a local thrift store.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
35mm FL
F/4.5
Shutter 1/30

Apr 7 - Pirate Ship

I took this closeup of a pirate ship I won from friends at a White Elephant party a few Christmases back. When I started looking for a close up I found this great angle that reminded me of Kandinsky paintings.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
60mm FL
F/7.1
Shutter 1/40

Apr 6 - Bark

I came across this interesting bark in a park near my house. I was thinking of going black and white with this but the little blast of green from the moss made me keep it in color.

Two alternates up on Flickr.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/50

Apr 5 - Stoney Path

I took this shot on a rock covered path at the Sammamish CIty Commons. I liked the look of the rock retaining wall and tried to get a nice low angle to increase the interest a bit.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
62mm FL
F/9
Shutter  1/160

Apr 4 - Hypno Skull is Hypnotic

I took this hypnotic shot of a great Day of the Dead skull candle holder our friends got for us in Mexico. I love using this effect and I have to try hard not to overuse it :)

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
85mm FL
F/5
Shutter 2 sec

Apr 3 - Watson Boys Skee Ball

My wife and I spent the afternoon with the two boys she used to nanny. We took them out to lunch and an arcade where they learned the joys of Skee Ball. I took a bunch of shots of them enjoying themselves.

I put seven alternates up on Flickr

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
40mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/160

Nearly the end of the first three months.

I have almost hit the end of the first three months of this project. In 5 days I should be at the end of the first quarter. I am thinking I will choose the best of the quarter and print myself a coffee table book. In doing this I may ask you, my loyal viewers, to help me vote on which pictures to include. I'll post more information (and purhaps a survey) soon.

Thanks for checking out the photos and to those of you who's sent me comments.

Apr 2 - Bunnies!

Another candy picture, this nice collection of chocolate bunnies. I promise I'll lay off the candy soon.

Stats:
NikoN D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
35mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/200

Apr 1 - Butchery!

A local butcher recently opened up in Redmond, WA. "Bill the Butcher" (probably no relation to the character in Gangs of New York). They have locally sourced, organic, hormone free, antibiotic free meats. They also carry cheeses, eggs, rubs, all kinds of great stuff. Since opening they have now become our go-to place for meat. I also understand they have a few other places in western Washington. So if you're around the Seattle area check them out. (This is not a paid advertizement).

Three more on Flickr

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
24mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/60

Mar 31 - Barry and Stacy Are Skeptical

I went out to a happy hour with some friends. Barry and Stacy were the only two game enough for their pictures to be taken. Here they are looking at me skeptically, probably hoping I'll finish up soon so we can go back to chatting.

Two more up on Flickr.

Stats:
Nikon D700
Nikkor 24-85mm
62mm FL
F/4
Shutter 1/160