09.05.07 - an adventure in sensor cleaning

well friends... yesterdays frustrated post sent me into action... two visits to penn camera in laurel (real cool people working there) and about $85 later spent on a rocket blower and sensor swabs... well... you can see the results. thats it for today, learning to do this was probably the most important lesson i've learned all week when it comes to photography.

don't be afraid of cleaning your sensor.
jim baker

09.04.07 - lake elkhorn?

i'm not ussualy real anal about gear... not at all, get in there and get what you need to do done... but have a good tripod if you're going to use one. I got angry at the tripod i was trying to use because it just wasn't functioning correctly tonite and I'm still frustrated. The only thing I really got tonite was a bunch of mosquite bites. Lake elkohrn hasn't really been kept up. I need to force myself to shoot with my other lens i've been using the 10-22 for all of the shots I've been posting. I'm leaving all of my sensor dust in these pictures to show you how bad it is... i don't know if its just on the sensor, or if some of it is on the lens, or the filter or a combination of all three... but nonetheless its disgusting and i'm too frustrated tonite to clean it up. if you can't find anything good to shoot just shoot into the sun. tonites shoot was crap.

awwwww....
(uninspired)

maybe tomorrow will be better... i guess we all have bad days.
jim baker

09.03.07 - smile when you smoke.

20d - iso 100 - 10mm - 1/100s - f7.1
desat, pushed the contrast, upped curves on subjects
nothing super profound i just liked the candid moment and authentic expressions.

please take the time to check out the two new links i put on the right side they are two of my latvian friends that are both solid photographers.

cheers
jim baker

09.02.07 - parking garage... columbia mall

i like all the lines in this pic... i like the lighting too. nothing i'd put in my portfolio but its just fun.

20d - is0 200 - 10mm - 1/25s - f3.5

this is my car... can you tell i'm running out of ideas already?!

20d - iso 100 - 10mm - 30s - f18

2 shots from tonite... on the theme of shooting everyday... i should probably start only posting one pic a day... i dunno if this is sustainable. This guy puts up a pic everyday but it might not be from the day. I guess the point is for me to actually get out and shoot everyday.I feel like i'm already running out of ideas. people are telling me 'motion' stuff... 'action' stuff... sports? anyone want to buy me a really fast lens so I can do that? Comment with some ideas?

thanks...
jim baker

09.01.07 - yesterdays b-more shots...

b-more... tim lease is back in town for the weekend so we went out and shot last nite, we went with andrew loys too who i haven't seen forever. Drew took us up to the top of federal hill, i've never been there to overlook the city. Drew just took a photo 1 class at the community college. He's shootin' film, and he's the only one that brought a tripod. Tim and I decided that Andrew was the only real photographer last night...



i laid on the ground to do this shot... people were walking by looking at me like i was an idiot.
20d - ISO 100 - 22mm - 30s - f10

20d - iso 800 - 12mm - 1/5s - f.3.5
(hand held baby...)

20d - iso 100 - 10mm - 30s - f14
(thanks drew for letting me use your tripod)
okay heres the dilema... composition or grain? which one do you like better? I think the one below is better composed... but the one above is obviously sharper and has less grain... i should have taken that uv filter off though... comment and let me know what you think is better.

20d - iso 800 - 10mm - 3/10s - f10
(hand held)

me, tim and drew.

09.02.07 - UBF fun...

i met these kids in mexico this summer so i decided to go visit their church today. they are one of the best group of kids i've ever met. (self timer on the trunk of my car)

at the university of maryland M.
(hand held, auto, 10-22mm lens)


i shot last nite in baltimore... i have yet to edit those pics cause i'm preoccupied with looking at camera bags. i've used my camera consistantly for 5 days in a row. think i can keep going? renn fest is here in MD... anyone want to go next weekend? I haven't been since I was a kid, and i'm thinking it would be a great photo-op. look for the b-more pics either today or tomorrow.

09.01.07 - path

eh... i should have gotten out there about an hour earlier...
not exactly as 'tac' sharp as i'd like...
this is behind my house, i shot this one time with film when i first started shooting.
4th day in a row.

20 d - iso 100 - 10mm - 1/20s - f22