Monday, February 26, 2007

Post #5 Lenses

Well, I have finally decided to bite the bullet and buy some lenses. I waited for ages for BandH to get the Tamron 17-35 wide angle but it never happened. I decided to buy it at Sigma4less.com for like 50$ more. I also got the Canon 50mm 1.8 II. I did find a nasty little particle on the inside of the kit lens so as soon as I get the 17-35 and the 50mm, I will send that back to Canon and hopefully they will give me a new one. I will soon have the ideal set of storm chasing lenses for under 500$ I was going for that Canon 17-40L originally but after reading the reviews for the Tamron, I decided to save 250 bucks. I guess all I will need in the future is a telephoto lens and I am certainly not in a hurry to get one although I did miss having one at the Avs game the other night. Buydig.com finally decided to send me the 2gb compact flash card that I paid for so I will be in buisiness very soon. Anyway, here is an old JPEG shot from my first shoot with my Rebel XT.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Post #4 Denver Pictures

Yesterday was a productive day for picture taking. I shot the stairs at the Market street bus station after walking with Michael Carlson to his bus. I was actually told that I was not supposed to take pictures there? I couldn't imagine why unless it is some terrorism bs. Anyway, I also shot the big white statues at the performing arts complex along with some other objects along the way. I would have liked to be chasing right now but it didn't seem realistic. for those who went, it certainly paid off with Jon, Roger, Tony, Verne, and Michael catching a tornado near Mclean Texas. I guess I will post some pictures while I sit here soaking in jealousy.
This is at MSCD, I went
a little crazy with the editing but
I like the way the colors look almost completely digital animation
Market Street Station Performing Arts Complex
They play funky music under these things Inside Performing Arts Also inside, looking west Same but BW This is looking up from the river.
I wanted to completely frame the statue in the trees but I need that
Tamron 17-35mm Wide-angle

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Post #3, Chasing for me Unlikely.

This system seems to have slowed a bit giving Sw Kansas a shot of severe Friday evening. It is likely that storms will not initiate until around sunset. Considering Buydig.com hasn't sent me my memory card as of yet, I would be un-prepaired to shoot many RAW images tomorrow. I am also scheduled to work so these 3 factors combined have led me to cease any hope of chasing tomorrow. It is only February and there will be many more setups (probably better than this one) throughout the spring. On a different note, I did get a chance to get out and shoot some images in Denver today. I focused mainly on the performing arts center architecture, utilizing shadows and light rays and learning about their effects on the images that I take. I shot mainly in RAW today so the images should prove to be fixable if any of them are flawed. Stay tuned, images from today are coming later tonight.

GO AVS!!!!!!!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Post #2, Possible weekend chase.

Well, It seems that saturday holds some potential for severe weather within a reasonable driving distance from Denver. Wichita AFD and SPC extended outlook both have some pretty strong wording. A cold core event seems possible but is it worth driving through a possible blizzard to get back to Denver? This is one of the main considerations I am taking into account along with the fact that my chase buddy, Jon Merage is likely heading out with Roger Hill and chasing all the way into the Mississippi River Valley. I dont have any equipment other than a few cameras and some road maps so if I did go, I would have to rely on nowcasts assuming I could find one. Anyway, this is still a ways out but Im keeping my eyes on it for sure. Dodge City corridor and anything to the west I could do but east of there is questionable. I cant get stranded in a blizzard on I-70 either because I have to be back by sunday night for a rollerhockey game.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Post #1 MACRO Photography

My first real landscape










These are my first attempts at MACRO photography. They are of an Iris that my mother received for valentines day. These are severely edited of course but hey, there is a reason I got a DSLR right?










A little crazy with the color saturation.











Best one yet.