More Snow 309/365

We got about 2 inches of the wet, heavy stuff today. This is the holly tree in my front yard. I like the high contrast and the way the red pops.

The Pharmacy 308/365

More holiday decorations… Reminds me of stories my parents told me when I was a child about sock hops, sweet shops, fountain sodas, and malt shakes. Happy Days!

The Library Café 307/365

Its so great to get together with old friends. While we see these friends regularly throughout the year, we make plans to go out once or twice a year for something special. Tonight we shared dinner, drinks, coffee, and then family board games back at their place. It was a fun evening.

Sleigh Bells 306/365

I’ve always liked the sound these make and for the Christmas season we hang a strand on our front door.

Clean Sweep 305/365

The fireplace broom, but its nothing more than a prop since ours runs on natural gas. Snooted speedlight below subject.

Poinsettia Heart 304/365

We have 3 of these around the house and I took over a dozen shots but liked the structure, color, and texture of this one best.

Merry Christmas 303/365

A fun day with family.

The Stockings Were Hung By the Chimney With Care 302/365

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there….

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.

Candle Lights 301/365

The other day these were buried under snow. I like the way the snow melted in such a symmetrical way. I couldn’t decide between B&W or color. Which do you prefer? Both shots were taken with the same exposure f/4.5~1/250 Sec~ISO 1600.

Icicle 300/365

I was wondering around the house trying to identify tonight’s post and noticed this while coming back from the garage. I tried, unsuccessfully, to create some dazzling lighting with gels, an assortment of flashlights (LED, penlight, and standard), and Christmas lights. I didn’t like any of them. Besides, my lighting assistant got cold and cranky. In the end I simply bounded the speedlight off the snow. I think the B&W version is so much better.

I think I needed the lights up on the roof coming through the subject. More space between the back of the house & the roof edge would have also helped

BTW – I went to see Avatar in IMAX 3-D today and was awestruck. The special effects were amazing. The last time I remember feeling this way about a movie was the original Starwars back in 1977....

Carriage 299/365

It’s a Danbury Mint piece but what I really love is the lighting, the reflection, and the bokeh.

House Guests 298/365

We live on a dead end street and each year we have a neighbor Christmas Party with host responsibility rotating amongst us. Each family brings a plate and we share some food, a few drinks, lots of laughs, and time together. This year it was our turn to host and 6 families plus a few other friends gathered. Due to the 14 inches of snow we received overnight we had an impressive collecting of boots, shoes, and sneakers by the door.

It's Snowing! 297/365

The first storm of the season is a blizzard that’s predicted to drop up to 18 inches. So far there’s about 6 inches and somewhere in the background is our home.

Trimming The Tree 296/365

We postponed adding the finishing touches on our tree until our daughter came home from school. We’re so glad she’s home but I suspect the two weeks are going to go by too quickly.

Sound View 295/365

The Long Island Sound taken from a 3^rd floor window of the Stonington Inn. Stitched together with Canon photo stitch.

Stonington 294/365

I’m traveling on business and staying at a quaint little B&B inn located in Stonington CT. It’s a typical small New England village. I strolled past a massive colonial home with a Christmas tree in the belfry and knew it was going to be tonight’s post before I shot a single frame. I know I could have taken a better shot if I’d had a tripod with me. The flash shot is to provide you a better understanding of the subject. The real shot also has flash but it was timed for second curtain sync so that some of the structure was visible without washing out the main focal point. Strobist - camera mounted 580EXII

Booty 293/365

Santa’s sleigh was full of it.

Pistachios 292/365

I love them but I couldn’t snack on them as they’re a gift for a friend.

Garland 291/365

Christmas decorations, closer up.

The Mirror 290/365

Our dining room mirror decorated for Christmas. I like the shadows… Click the photo for a larger view.

Ominous 289/365

Latest street crossing aides that countdown from 10–0. I have this vision in my head of a stream of cars flying out to run you down if you don’t make it to the other side by the time it reaches zero.

All Decked Out 288/365

Complete with Santa ferris wheel, life size snow globe, a nutcracker. Gaudy!!

Yes I Do 287/365

I too run on DD. Just a quick snap as I need to get to bed cause 5am comes around quickly.

Robert 286/365

I shot a corporate event and this is just a random selection from the pool of 236.

Nada 285/365

I got nothing today. I never even picked up the camera or went on-line.

OOF Christmas Lights 284/365

My neighbors decorations but I doubt they’re recognizable.

Color Wheel 283/365

My Samsung 64” DLP television has been making a loud screeching noise for the longest time. My solution was to simply turn up the volume to drown out the noise. I did some research on the web and found numerous instances of the same problem being caused by the color wheel. Its nice to be able to watch TV at a normal volume again.

Fisheye 282/365

The poor mans kind… I stumbled upon this convex mirror, which reminded me of a fisheye lens.

Wheels 281/365

I found 3 front bicycle wheels chained to scaffolding. No frame, no rear wheels, just the front. Why and why 3? I went back a few hours later but nothing had changed.

New York’s Finest 280/365

The streets of NYC are predominately one-way with streets running east-west and avenues running north-south. 42^nd Street is a main cross-town though fare and one of the few 2-way streets. 3^rd Ave is 5 lanes of traffic traveling north. I’m leaving work and car 2478 is speeding east on 42^nd St with lights and sirens. The cop reaches 3^rd Ave and attempts to turn right, directly into the head-on traffic. Realizing this is a potentially fatal mistake he slams on the breaks and they jump out and run down 3^rd Ave. The odd thing about this entire situation is that no one even flinches, traffic attempts to keep moving, pedestrians play dodge the taxis, and weave around the cars in the crosswalk. Me, I whip my camera out of my backpack to capture today’s post, then head to the subway.

My Daughter’s Work 279/365

Talent just runs in the family... Afternoon sunlight flowing in through the skylights.

NY Daily News 278/365

This is the HQ of the leading tabloid. There was a truck in front of the building, preventing me from capturing the entrance and stonework, so I settled for looking up….

Frosty 277/365

From this angle he’s almost frightening.

Shot with Canon 50D and Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 at 1/8 sec ~ f/4.5 ~ 12mm ~ ISO 1600. Tripod mounted 580EX at 1/64 power about 5ft high.

Music To Go 276/365

I was looking around the house for tonight’s subject when I stumbled upon the Sansa & the shuffle lying on the desk in the office. That got me thinking about the many iPods in use throughout the house. I added the cover art in Photoshop.

Top Dog 275/365

Brandy seems completely oblivious as Dave plays King of the Mountain. Too Cute!

Thanksgiving 274/365

I’m thankful for my wife and daughters. We’re all in good health, we enjoy each others company, and doing things as a family. I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

She’s Home 273/365

My daughter came home from college for the Thanksgiving weekend, can’t you tell? Dirty laundry, shoes, books, and other assorted stuff tossed about the dining room. It’s worth it….

Circus Men 272/365

An absolutely horrible shot of the stress relief toy on my desk.

Pine Cones 271/365

Expanding on yesterday’s theme, here’s two different lighting approaches.

Pine Droppings 270/365

It’s a bit monochromatic but if you look closely you’ll find a tiny splash of green, and red.

Swinging 269/365

I took my gear to the schoolyard to capture this 5 second image. When I gave the swing a big push so that the arch was larger in didn’t show up in any of the long exposure (> 1 sec) photos.

Canon 50D with 24-70 f/2.8l at ISO 100~f/20~ 5 sec ~ 58mm with triple stacked filters ND8, ND4, circular polarizer.

Damn, I Missed My Train 268/365

It’s not as bad as it may sound, there’ll be another one in a few minutes.

Christmas Lighting, Already? 267/365

I’m not sure when the lights on these 2 trees were put up but I know it was recently because I walk past them at least once a day, usually more. According to my personal calendar this shouldn’t happen until Thanksgiving. Sadly, commercialization has taken over the entire season.

Outreach 266/365

With winter weather making a comeback the homeless are retreating into the subways. The MTA has a homeless outreach program that attempts to get them into a shelter, provide a meal, and get them out of the subway.

Autumn Colors 265/365

Yea I know, the theme has been done to death already. But the color scheme has magnetic pull. The kicker here is that these are a box of ornamental fakes…..

Small, Wet, and Ripe 264/365

We’ve had this mini orange tree for about 10 years. While these might look sweet and delicious last years harvest was dry and tasteless.

Powder Puff 263/365

I found this on my daughter’s dresser and took about 2 dozen different shots. These are my 2 favorites. They're so different...

First shot- f/2.8 ~ 1/60 sec ~ ISO400 ~ 58mm ~ speedlight camera left, elevated and snooted

Second shot- f/2.8 ~ 1/15 sec ~ ISO 800 ~ 70mm ~ EV minus 1.67 and a setup shot.