DSC09438: Craft Alliance Series 1.5

DSC09438: Craft Alliance Series 1.5, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Another in the set taken at The Craft Alliance located on The Loop in St Louis. This has some great Depth Of Field and Bokeh examples in it.

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Flash: Flash fired

DSC09437: Craft Alliance Series 1.6

DSC09437: Craft Alliance Series 1.6, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

We were walking around The Loop today and doing some urban photography when we walked inside the The Craft Alliance store and took some great photos. They had all of these glass balls hanging in the windows so i decided to get a series of photos of them. I used a "Back Flash" to make them a little brighter and got some great shots of them.

This photo has some really good Depth Of Field as there were so many of them and i love how the buildings are out of focus and the balls on either side of the center are also out of focus.

Exposure: 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Flash: Flash fired

Come a little closer!

Come a little closer!, originally uploaded by littlebiddle.

This is an amazing photo. What more can i say other than it is used by the permission of the photographer.


Actually I think this was about as close as they could get to the bridge without getting into trouble!

Uploaded by littlebiddle on 6 Nov 08, 10.03PM CST.

In my yard...

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.

I took this before i left for work this morning. I love the big splash of yellow that the trees have going on about them. The Sun was just rising and you can see the big contrast from the top to the bottom.I am going to take a better photo of them with my A200 this weekend before they all fall off. I think that all the nice temperate weather is gone for the rest of the year...

Winter is nearly upon us.
From RMStringer

Night ready.

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Type O Negative - "September Sun"

This is perhaps my second fav song on the Dead Again album.
"September sun glowing golden hair
Now keep in mind son she was never there
October�s rust bisecting black storm clouds
Only the deaf hear my silent shouts

Yet in the dark still he screams your name
Nights living death with witch rhymes insane
Ten years amassed para toda mi vida?
Lost man in time was his name Peter

September sun rotted Flatbush porch
I would have run then had I known the cost
Autumnal rays turned your eyes to stone
Did it give you pleasure to steal my soul?

Leave her alone
I said leave her alone

Me? I know why"

Type O Negative "Profit Of Doom"

" My Soul's On Fire...

Perhaps one of their best albums.

I am the profit of doom

Speak the name of He created thee all to be which should not be spoken
No laws broken

Now life and love the stars above which fall upon thee all that worship the beast
Influence ceased

My soul's on fire

My faith is an amber burning ever working towards a greater reward
Serving my Lord

Built his home upon the rock not of the flock but coming as a shepherd
Guarding his herd

My soul�s on fire!!

Socialistic States? You Bet!

Well, i guess that enough smoke was blown up the asses of the Socialistic States of America to get Obama Elected.



Welcome to the new Socialistic Democratic Republic Of America. Where the rich get poorer and the poor get poorer. "Robin hood Economics" will be the norm now.
"

Barack 'Robin Hood' Obama and Joe 'Little John' Biden are planning to rob from the rich to give to the poor, in order to 'spread the wealth.'They want to increase taxes on those making at least $250,000, while cutting taxes for those making less than $250,000. What they neglect to tell us is that they're raising taxes on the providers of jobs, goods, services and charitable contributions on which the rest of us depend.

So, once per year we get a greater tax return, while paying higher prices for our goods and services throughout the rest of the year.

And, because of higher corporate taxes, jobs will move overseas, more American dollars will go to offshore accounts, fewer dollars will go to charitable contributions and the work force will be cut.

The American Dream will have a $250,000 ceiling. Who really wins when we stick it to the rich guy? Politicians."

They only hope is that the Demoncrats screw the public so bad that in the midterm elections the Republicans get back both houses.

May God have mercy on our country as well are going to need it.


What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!

DSC09251: Eads Bridge 1.1

DSC09251: Eads Bridge 1.1, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This is the Metro Link station at the East side of the Eads Bridge. I took this photo from the ground all looking crazy!

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09214: Eads Bridge 1.0

DSC09214: Eads Bridge 1.0, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Crazy angle taken looking off the Eads Bridge with some of the Mississippi River in the photo.

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Election Day!!

I got out and headed to the polls at 5.40am CST They opened here at 6am.  Did you vote?

           

           

--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++

Bad, Very Bad...

As seen on EPHONYMOUS blog.

What is your opinion?
Blogroll Me!

DSC09307: Fall Colors!

DSC09307: Fall Colors!, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This group of trees is located near the old house that is falling down. I love the fall colors that are present. It is a pleasant sight to see when driving through all the corn fields and soybean fields.

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09188: Eads Bridge Metro Stop

DSC09188: Eads Bridge Metro Stop, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This is under the road surface on the Eads Bridge. I was on the Illinois side of the Metro Link Station taking some great photographs today.

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 60 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09212: High or Low?

DSC09212: High or Low?, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Is it a stick or a log? You decide what it is!

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 60 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Fire!

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Industrial...

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Behind Trees...

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Urine Test?

I 100% agree with this statement.

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government

distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine

test with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to

people who don't have to pass a urine test.

Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for

them? Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the

other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their A--, doing drugs, while I work. . .

Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public

assistance check?

--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++

DSC09149: Ghost 1.6

DSC09149: Ghost 1.6, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Another in the kitty set that i did on Sunday. More great light and shadow on the cat.

Exposure: 0.167 sec (1/6)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09138: Ghost 1.4

DSC09138: Ghost 1.4, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

She is always a fun subject to photograph. It is fun to try to get her in the pose that you want and that is a hard thing. Cats have a mind of their own and do not obey very well! She is a very temperamental cat to say the least!

I love this pose because of the way that the light catches her hair as she is sitting on the floor. The long ear shadow on her back is really pointed and distorted because of the angle that the sun is coming through the window.

Exposure: 0.077 sec (1/13)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09091: Firewood 1.1

DSC09091: Firewood 1.1, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This was an experiment i did in selective Depth Of Field. It was very windy when i took this series of photos. I placed the front of the wood in sharp focus and the rest of the material out of focus. I love the grass being blurry and having a good Bokeh. Some of the wood is also blurry as well that is not in the directly focused area.

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09122: Ghost 1.2

DSC09122: Ghost 1.2, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I think that this is another good example of a "Depth Of Field" photo. I was laying on the floor for this photo as well. She was looking straight at me and i had my 70-300mm lens on the camera. I love the light on one side of her face and the shadow cast from that light. She is in sharp focus and everything else is out of focus. The light and dark on the floor out of focus is a very neat effect as well.

Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 120 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Mack: Cell 'Phones, Water Bottles, and the Ballot

Thanks to Mac Hall for letting me post his work to my Blog.

 

Cell 'Phones, Water Bottles, and the Ballot

 

Uncountable kazillions of electrons have been blasted into the universe questioning where Barack Not-Allowed-to-Say-His-Middle-Name Obama was born and wondering if the possibility of a foreign birth compromises his eligibility to rule over us all as President of the United States.

 

Some of Senator Obama's faithful appear to think he (or He) was born in Bethlehem.  This is highly unlikely, but even so it would be irrelevant; his mother was an American citizen and never renounced her citizenship, so Senator Obama is as American as Chicago's South Side.

 

If being born somewhere else were a disqualifier, millions of American citizens would not be citizens at all: the children of servicemen,  diplomats, employees of multi-nationals, and the occasional ill-timed vacationer.

 

Although the Constitution says that, among other requirements, a President must be a natural-born citizen, one can only ask what that means.  Pretty vague stuff there.  Is there such a thing as an unnatural-born citizen?

 

Further, the first 20-30 American presidents were all foreign-born, subjects of Their Several Majesties of Great Britain and Ireland and Stuff. 

 

The precise number of American presidents under the Articles of Confederation is difficult to calculate precisely; some served twice, and one didn't serve at all due to illness, being informally and possibly illegally replaced by two substitutes.  There could have been as many as nineteen presidents under the Confederation.

 

The first nine presidents under the Constitution, beginning with George Washington, were all born in the British Empire, and starting life as an imperialist is so not cool.

 

The first made-in-the-USA president was John Tyler, born in Virginia in 1790.  In an aside we may note that he was the busy father of fifteen children by two wives, so perhaps he rather than George Washington should be regarded as the Father of his Country, or at least a great percentage of the population.

 

Whether or not Senator Obama would be an effective president is up to the voters -- or perhaps up to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or A.C.O.R.N.  According to The Washington Times A.C.O.R.N. registered the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys to vote in Nevada.

 

This leads to the question of whether or not a football player must be natural-born in Irving, Texas in order to play football there.  And, anyway, why aren't they the Irving Cowboys?  Could that too be a false registration thing?  A nation waits with bated or baited breath for the answer.

 

The real issue in this election is not where Senator Obama was born.  The real issue is how the typical modern American is going to be able to mark his ballot with his cell 'phone in one hand, his plastic bottle of fashionable water in the other hand, a tin cricket stuck in one ear, and a bipod or tripod or something stuck in the other ear.

 

Is the Constitution available as a download?

 

-30-

 

 

 

Today's Horoscope


Remember: Nobody is perfect. Whatever you lack in talent and ability, you more than make up for in well-timed excuses.

-- From The Onion via Happy Catholic

DSC09118: Ghost 1.0

DSC09118: Ghost 1.0, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

The light and shadows cast by the big window were just amazing this evening. She was sitting on the floor with the light dancing about her and causing different patterns on the floor. I love the shadow caused by the light on against her head. She was just starting to turn her head in my direction. At this point, i was standing and not laying on the floor.

Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 120 mm
ISO Speed: 200

DSC09123: Ghost 1.3

DSC09123: Ghost 1.3, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I was on the floor photographing her. I love the blurry background (Bokeh) behind her. The sun was shinning in through the big window on the stairs and hitting her. Shadows were dancing around because of the wind that was blowing outside. I am not sure what she is looking up at, but it gives a good side profile of her face.

Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 135 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Bike Trials.

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone. MC Trial system.
From RMStringer

DSC08787: Star Bright...

DSC08787: Star Bright..., originally uploaded by RMStringer.

When i took this set of photos i looked at the craftsman as doing art and that is how i approached the photographic aspect. I did not look at it as work, which was ease for me because i am not the one doing it. I told this to them as i took the different photos. I looked at it from an artistic perspective.

I thought that the was an amazing photo. The bright star pattern that the welding makes and the highlight of the smoke are very nice. I love hos the gloved hand is softly illuminated showing the texture of the leather glove. I love the sparks shooting off in all directions as he makes his weld. I took this with the other work photos.

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Stonehenge Sunset

Stonehenge Sunset, originally uploaded by Heaven`s Gate (John).

From Time to Time i find a photo that i just have to post that is not my work. I get permission from the photographer and then post to my blog. This is one such photo. Please enjoy!

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) west of Amesbury and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of Salisbury.
One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists had believed that the iconic stone monument was erected around 2500 BC, although this has since been advanced to 2400-2200 BC.
The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 .
New archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge Riverside Project indicates that Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. The dating of cremated remains found that burials took place as early as 3000 B.C, when the first ditches were being built around the monument. Burials continued at Stonehenge for at least another 500 years when the giant stones which mark the landmark were put up.
For a daytime view, please link below :
www.flickr.com/photos/59303791@N00/2917367909/

Uploaded by Heaven`s Gate (John) on 13 Oct 08, 3.43AM CDT.

Rays of hope- for a better tommorow

Rays of hope- for a better tommorow, originally uploaded by green umbrella.

I saw this photo while posting to one of the groups on Flickr that i belong to. I thought that you might enjoy it as much as i did! Posted by permission as always!



Rays of hope- for a better tommorow

Uploaded by green umbrella on 21 Oct 08, 6.18PM CDT.

Stained Glass: Crop

Stained Glass: Crop, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I did a crop of the photo and this is what i got. Lighted brick on one side and negative space on the other broken with the stained glass window in the middle.

Exposure: 0.077 sec (1/13)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Sun & Clouds...

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Processing RAW Files in Adobe Lightroom

I saw this article in a post that i read on Flickr and thought that you might like to read it.

The following tutorial on Processing RAW Files using Adobe Lightroom was submitted by John Short from www.canonphoto.co.uk and www.johnshort.co.uk

Why do we read so often then it is best to shoot your image in raw and not as jpegs?

The first image in this tutorial is a jpeg of a Gannet where I have deliberately blown the highlights. One of the problems with a jpeg image is once exposed it is processed in your camera and the raw data is lost. If you have blown the highlights the information is simply not there for you to recover in your favourite processing application.

The following images are the basic steps in processing a raw file and I hope will demonstrate to you the benefits of shooting in raw mode. If you want to try to emulate my final image using the jpeg file and your favourite image editing software be my guest. It will be interesting to see what can be achieved in comparison with working with the raw file.

Adobe Lightroom is not just a processing application for raw files, it is also a library for storing, retrieving and searching for images. I have 20,000 raw files on my computer and Lightroom has catalogued them all in the library for instant display. Images can be filed by title,date metadata and so on. This aspect of Lightroom is really for a different tutorial and if there is interest I will put one together but for today let us concentrate on processing your raw files.

First we must open our raw file in the develop module of Lightroom. This screen capture shows the basic image in Lightroom with the develop module circled in red. The picture of the Gannet is ‘as taken’ and saved as a jpeg for you to see the blown highlights.( if you feel like taking on the challenge feel free to try and process the basic jpeg version of the image.

The first change I always make to an image is to try and correct exposure problems by reducing or increasing the exposure slider. The exposure values are roughly equivalent to f stops and you can either type directly into the box or move the slider with your mouse. In this instance I have reduced the exposure by 1.27, just over 1 f stop.

Now we can adjust the recovery slider.This tool will only effect the highlights and will recover additional detail that may not be visible in the original image.

leave the fill in tool for now and go instead to the Blacks, this darkens the darkest parts of the image without affecting the highlights. It is the opposite of the recovery tool used earlier. Moving the slider only a slight amount will give the appearance of more depth. In this instance I have increased the blacks by 5

The fill tool brings details back into the shadow areas without affecting the highlights. This is a great tool for pulling detail back into the shadow areas and in this example I’ve increased the fill tool by 11.

In the top left corner of Lightroom select 1:1 this will enlarge the image in your viewing screen to full size. the clarity slider increases local contrast making the image appear sharper. This tool needs use with care, it is all too easy to overdo the effect.

The vibrancy control will enable you to increase the depth of colour without the risk of over saturation , I find it a subtle enhancer for colour depth.

All that remains now is to export the image as a tiff to your favourite processing application for the final touches.

In this example I have only shown the basic processing tools available in Lightroom. The objective is to whet your appetite and to illustrate the benefits of working In raw. If you think you can achieve the quality from a jpeg then do try with the gannet.jpg image. You will soon see that the lost highlights are lost forever.

Here’s the first and last image side by side (click to enlarge):

At a later date perhaps it will be worth while looking at some of the more advanced tools such as noise reduction and curves!

DSC09037: Doll

DSC09037: Doll, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I little guy sitting on the trailer at the church for the pumpkin sale.

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 250 mm
ISO Speed: 200

dreadnought

dreadnought, originally uploaded by telmo32.

Origional Photography by telmo32

USS Bonhomme Richard

Fleet Week San Francisco

A carrier is not really a dreadnought, which is a battleship; but who could resist that word?

Uploaded by telmo32 on 19 Oct 08, 10.28AM CDT.