mmm...rubber...

at dawn:



by late afternoon:


..and utter exhaustion.

rainy

Here we have two standbys of rebelyang and bokehed: tons of bokeh and underexposure (respectively). Hannah passed through the region this morning, and while I waited for my food to heat up, I saw some interesting opportunities. This shot was inspired by steph's latest post. After attempting a few times to shoot through a rain-speckled portion of glass, it occurred to me to make the glass the subject and crank the aperture. I like the effect. There's also this subtle vignetting...I think just from coincidence from darker colors or shaded areas, but I think it adds an extra bit of focus to the center of the frame.

Bonus pic since I may be late/missing tomorrow...



Yes, it's underexposed. Yes, the white balance is off. When I imagine a well-exposed version of this in the correct white balance, though...I'm not sure it'd be _better_. It's raining...it's _supposed_ to be dreary.

morning person convert

morning person convert, originally uploaded by edfooliu.

Since steph's got all the night shots covered, I suppose I'll take mornings.

Nothing (intentionally) special about this--just a view of my new morning
hangout. I've never (as in ever) been a 'morning person', but I've been
trying out an early start for almost two weeks. I've always loved the
feeling of being out in a fresh world yet untainted by busy-ness, and this
may very well permanently usurp the eternal 'ten more minutes' struggle
(well. not so much a struggle as a formality). Quick workout at the gym,
hot shower, then a quick hop over for coffee and breakfast while working
through my huge backlog of readings and writings. Invigorating. And, for
once, it feels like I've stolen time in a good way (as opposed to stealing
it from the other end of the day, which always leaves lingering guilt and
physical debt).

so begins a season of woe and frustration.

so beings a season of woe and frustration., originally uploaded by edfooliu.

In other news, I wonder if there's a way to intentionally compose lens flare
without blinding yourself in the process.

gotta mess around with more of these...

gotta mess around with more of these..., originally uploaded by edfooliu.

lazy post today.

more wide(ish) angle tomfoolery

more wide(ish) angle tomfoolery, originally uploaded by edfooliu.

I'm really starting to like how short focal lengths can make some.ugh, note
to self: I need to find more subtle/specific ways to describe what's
happening in photos besides 'dramatic'. I really like the detail on the
pipe.the splotchy, rusted dirtiness of it is a nice contrast to the trim,
uniform lines that otherwise dominate the rest of the shot. For some reason
it just felt a better subject than the row of cars. I made a few attempts
to shoot the cars, but they just made for lousy subjects. For one, black
cars are impossible to get proper exposures of. but for whatever reason, the
cars seemed to work much better as part of the background.

perspective

I'll try not to milk my autox photos for the next whole week, but these are two I really like. So far all I've used the zoom for on my kit lens has been to get my lens where my feet can't go. With these next two shots, taken at 18mm, I've discovered this perspective thing (sue me, I only have time for one or two obsessively-studied/read interests, so most of my photography knowledge comes from stumbling/bumbling..or steph.).



Ok, so the nose is out of focus/motion blurred, but I still like this shot. The wide angle combined with the point-of-view looking down on the car really bring out the size of the car (well, lack thereof). It kinda squeezes the greenhouse in as the roof recedes into the background. I just think it fits the character of the car...



Now this may be my favorite shot of the entire day. That evo's just got _presence_, and the wide angle, low-height shot makes it really punch off the 'surface' of the photo. In stark contrast to the shot I posted yesterday with FedEx Field filling the background behind the Miata, this is more a juxtaposition of peers. It's just a brute.

UPDATE: per steph's suggestion, a fairly aggressive crop of the evo... I think it loses some of that low-angle/looking-up-at-the-car feel that I wanted. There's a lot more focus on the car/stadium, though. Don't know which I prefer...