Tonight, I walked into the dark sanctuary to pick up something I had left there. The light from the street was shining through the stained glass, and I took a couple of pictures. I am including this in the playing with light series since this picture is actually brighter than it was in real life due to the long exposure time.
f3.2 for 16 seconds
playing with light - stained glass Thursday, January 31, 2008 | 2
playing with light - part two Wednesday, January 30, 2008 | 1
aperture = 3.4
shutter speed = 1/4th of a second
lamp = $8.95 at walmart
a texas sunset Tuesday, January 29, 2008 | 3
Praise Him under the open skies;
Praise Him for His acts of power,
Praise Him for His magnificent greatness;
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
Hallelujah!
taken from Psalm 150 (the message)
playing with light - part one Saturday, January 26, 2008 | 5
aperture = 3.4
shutter speed = 1/250th of a second.
light fixture = 70's
three pictures of one tired cat Saturday, January 26, 2008 | 9
One thing I love about photography is the creativity and variety you can put into it. I love playing with light and taking pictures in low light situations (just looking at the first month of blog pictures probably shows that). Today, I have three pictures for you that are not that great, but I had a lot of fun taking them. All three of these are taken in a room with only a desk lamp on. The most amazing part is seeing how still the cat sat for the two pictures with long exposures.
This first picture is just a picture taken with no flash and a four second exposure. Since there is little light in the room, the four second exposure allows that room to look lit since there was quite a bit of time for light to filter onto the lens.
Honestly, that picture was pretty boring, but you can get more drama by using a flash (well duh, it's not like it takes an Einstein level professional photographer to understand that). This picture is just a standard flash with an exposure time of 1/40th of a second that creates some great dark and light areas of the picture.
Now, this last picture is where things get interesting. Some photographers like to use a technique called "slow sync" where they combine the two. For this picture, I had the camera flash right as the picture started, so that little abby here is well lit. Then, I left the shutter open for four seconds to allow the ambient lighting in the room to do it's work, and you end up with the entire picture being lit up with a yellowish glow. You lose the shadows found in the second picture, but this technique creates its own drama.
See, an educational post with cats involved. I guess they can be used for something other than warming my wife's lap.
"little cabin in the woods..." Thursday, January 24, 2008 | 2
This is some random cabin in northern new mexico. If you see this picture and it's your house, can I move in with you?
On a different note, you'll notice there is a new look to the website today. Due to some changes with Blogger the old template wasn't working, but I should have it back up in a week or two. Or, if you prefer the new look, let me know that. Or, don't let me know because then I can feel like Ben Stein! ("bueller...bueller")
quick, get some water...the cat's on fire! Wednesday, January 23, 2008 | 4
A friend thought it would be funny to hide a cigar in our house, but Alison and I were not the first to find it. This is what we came home to.
You have to go back to the comments in the January 9th post to understand why I put up this picture today.
cellphones are the new lighters... Monday, January 21, 2008 | 1
...at concerts that is.
Here are a couple of pictures from our youth ministry event this last weekend. These pictures were during the barlowgirl concert on Friday night, and they are two of the last three I took before our digital camera decided that the lcd on the back had served it's usefulness. Thankfully, the eyepiece still works.
This first picture is a half second exposure and the second one is a four second exposure of teenagers waving their cellphones around.
late night laughter Friday, January 18, 2008 | 2
This was taken with some of the teenagers in my youth group last May. We are at a relay for life event, and it was about one in the morning when this was taken. One of my favorite parts in this half second exposure is the little tongue of flame sitting there above the rest of the fire (you may need to enlarge the photo by clicking on it to see this). It's amazing to me how God made fire where it can leap like that.
On a different note, this will be last picture for a few days. I'll be back Monday with something else, so I'll see you then.
here's digital photography hint for you: If you have a digital camera, most models will record tons of stuff about your pictures. This includes photography stuff like your aperature and shutter speed, but it also includes things like what time you took the picture. That is how I know 8 months later exactly when this picture was taken. All of this info is embedded in your picture into something called the EXIF information. If you search for a freeware EXIF reader, it should not be too difficult to find one (or your favorite graphics program may have this ability built in).
a great night Wednesday, January 16, 2008 | 3
Tonight is a great night. The chai is hot, and the night air is cool which sets a nice mood. While my days have been tough over the last couple of weeks, there is something relaxing about sitting down with a hot cup of tea or coffee and listening to some great music. Let me tell you about what I am listening to tonight.
Ten years ago, I heard my first Switchfoot album and loved it. They are a rock band who wrote smart songs about following Jesus which I found refreshing. A couple of cds later, and their lyrics were cryptic and I found myself not enjoying their music as much. Last year, the band broke from their record label, and they went independent which freed them up to do things they couldn't do with a label. One of those is to release solo albums.
Today (I'm writing this on tuesday night), their lead songwriter and singer, Jon Foreman, released his second of four eps based upon the four seasons (eps are shortened albums-around six songs or so). So far, these first two eps are awesome! I love a good folksy kind of feel with thought provoking lyrics, and that's what these are. Foreman said these are too intimate for a rock band, and he does a great job of incorporating instruments like oboes and harmonicas and clarinets into a folksy type of sound which I love. Since he is trying to capture the feel of each season, some of the songs in Winter deal with sad topics like death, but I can't wait to hear what his lyrics will be like for Spring and Summer.
I am telling you this because I think most of you would really enjoy this series of eps. This music is melancholy sounding, and the lyrics are very real. At times, they border on depressing, but I also love how Foreman sings about God in a way I haven't seen in many years (which is refreshing to me). Everyone who reads this is required to go to his myspace (here) and listen to his song, White as Snow, a mesmerizing song with great guitar harmonics with lyrics taken straight from Psalms 51. Really really good stuff. I think 90% of you reading this will really love this (90% works out to 3 of you).
So, in honor of his guitar work, I present mine. Now if only my playing was as pretty...
dead arches Tuesday, January 15, 2008 | 4
I know, I know. With a title like that, people are expecting a "death to mcdonalds" type of post today. These arches are actually the roots from a fallen tree.
(notice-brown arches, not golden)
falling for moss Monday, January 14, 2008 | 2
one daily picture uploaded......check
one unfunny pun for a title......check
hazy albuquerque Friday, January 11, 2008 | 2
When I took this picture, I loved seeing the fog/haze off in the distance. Foggy mornings are some of my favorite mornings in the world, because it is a beautiful and great reminder to me to spend my life doing something worthwhile-living for Christ.
James 4:14-15 (New Living Translation)
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
"believe it or not..." Wednesday, January 09, 2008 | 6
...but people told me that picture of my cat was ugly. well, i got to thinking, "what could be uglier than yesterday's picture?" then it hit me: nothing is quite as ugly as a grown man in red spandex and a bad wig. so, here is some secret paparazzi footage of travis w. inman flying through the air. we just thought he was a christian romance novelist; little did we know the truth.
while i mean no disrespect to ralph hinkley's wig, i really do want a prettier picture up for today. so, here are some flowers from the prayer gardens at the glorieta baptist encampment outside of santa fe, new mexico.
"If only I had thumbs..." Tuesday, January 08, 2008 | 3
I could strangle my owner for putting this bright light in my face (plus I could play the piano)
here's the church, here's the steeple... Monday, January 07, 2008 | 2
open this blog and see all the boring information about this picture i am going to write
i mentioned at the top of the page ("pull") that i am fascinated by the colors you see at sunset, but i realized i did not yet have up a sunset picture. this picture is of birchman baptist church in fort worth, texas. the church has lights which shoot upward. the lights in this 15 second long exposure actually appear green if you look closely. this is due to reciprocity failure which you can read more about by clicking here. 
as my hero, kermit, said, "it's not easy being green" Sunday, January 06, 2008 | 6
three years ago, ali and i visited some of my family, Christi, Ben, and Jacob, over in england. a neat spot Christi took us was the ruins of an abbey in bury st. edmund. i enjoyed this view of a wall that is now covered in bright green moss. once this wall had a function far different than its use today. i hope that my relationship with God never reaches a similar state.
the moon has never looked so bad... Wednesday, January 02, 2008 | 5
digital camera...$112
telescope...$115
holding camera up to telescope...$0
picture of moon...pretty bad
the memory...almost priceless
tomorrow i'll put up a good one...promise
my personal favorite Tuesday, January 01, 2008 | 3
this picture was taken on a cloudy morning in fort worth when the sun was obscured by the clouds.
this pic is a great reminder to me that Jesus is the light of the world.
Reflections of Creation
the Autumn Challenge
Take a photo every day for the month of October...go to the blog.
Blog Archive
Please support Compassion Interational
Releasing children from
poverty in Jesus' name.
blog.compassion.com
Subscribe To this blog