Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone

The setting of the two tables for the group of 10 that will share thanks for the past year and forward.

A very organized individual, my wife, has her way of keeping tabs of what has to happen all the way to the end, the serving of the meal.  She's a great lady.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Bluebird House in a Mist

Today I played around with a few pictures that I took a couple of days ago.  We had a light fog as you can see in the background.  I have been working with the GIMP program and learning how to use layers.  In this one I also did a boarder thing. 

I like GIMP, but there are a lot of features to learn.  In time I am sure they will be more natural.  First thing was to learn how to get rid of what you had done that you didn't like and how to save what you felt was a good choice.

This is a Bluebird house on a fence line that a farm has put up many years ago.  It is cropped from a larger image that would include the woods and grass around a pond in the foreground.

Halos and the sun

Just some halo effects of the sun as it came from behind a cloud.  This was taken in RGB Standard color.  ISO was 100 with camera in full manual.  Partial metering witht the f-stop at F20 and shutter at 1/200.  The image became a b/w or sepia looking due to the intensity of the sun.  I believe it was taking at approx. 9:30 AM.  Using the program GIMP, I unmasked the picture, then sharpened it and then played around with lots of effects until I came upon the lens menu.  The bright spot on the lower left corner started in the upper left.  There is a couple of cross hairs that you move infinitely until you get what you want.  I had an earlier posting of the sun coming up with a bright white spot in the clouds, that one was not touched up. I still believe that it was a reflection of some sort as the sun had not crested the horizon.

Morning Pictures and the Help of a Magazine.

Around 7:30 AM yesterday I saw the buzzard soaring for its breakfast.  I looked peaceful as it glided through the calm morning air.

My camera info for the shot is as follows:

Canon EOS Rebel Xti

Lense is a Tamaron 18-270 mm Di II set at 1/100 shutter speed, 6.3 aperture, Metering Mode is Evaluative Metering and an ISO of 100.  The focal length was 270, White Balance was set to Auto and AF Mode was A1 Focus.

The second picture is a little trickery I suppose.  From my angle and what was truly on the horizon there appears to be a body of water on the otherside of the tall tree in the foreground.  At first I thought I had picked up a fog hanging over I-675 which is below that line between the tree and the what appears to be a land line in the distance.  I actuality that is sky and the land line is a line of clouds.

Camera settings for this shot are as follows;

Same camera and lense.  1/50 shutter speed, 5.6 aperture, Metering Mode is Partial and Exposure Compensation is -1.  Focal Length is 184, ISO is 100 and the White Balance is set to Daylight and AF Mode was again in A1 Focus.

I picked up a great magazine on digital photography.  At least that is the section I got it from at the book store.  In reality it is more of a book.  Very few adds.  It's called the "The Ultimate Guide To Digital Photography" Fully Udated 3rd Edition.  It's actually a British magazine and I t hink it is great.  Easy to read and very informative, especially for a novice.

Signs Of The Season

     A farmers grain truck and wagon loaded with soy beans is ready to be driven away to market.
       The obvious weed line is the fence line to the Zink farm just east of our plat. 

       To me, farming is one if not the best careers a person can have.  It is also the toughest job you can have.

Sharing a rock

Couldn't pass this shot up.  A pair of ducks sharing the warm sun and a rock along with a snooze.  How does on balance on one leg and sleep at the same time?

What a Range For a Lense

I just love my new Tamaron lense.  The flexibility of range is great and the ease of use for the amature is great also. 

It has been written that you see shadows and blur at corners in certain conditions with the lense set at different focal lengths.  Again, for the amature, to me, this is not going to be an issue.  I don't set my subjects up with special lighting, at least not yet.  From what I have read, being mounted on a Canon EOS XTi is the best thing for this lense. 

I have here, two sets of pictures that have not been doctored except for the rock shot and that one was trimmed to get some of the water out of the picture.  All pictures were taken from inside the house, around noon and in some various modes, ie shutter or aperature priority.  The water tower is at least a mile and a half away as the crow flies.  The ducks are about 450 to 500 feet or a football field and a half away.