Where am I?

I just read the following post on Digital Photography School entitled "Taking stock of your own photography." It made me think...

I have been working on a few pieces for my optometrist's office.  As I looked through the images I have to offer, I asked myself the same question everyone does, "what makes my photography special?"

I think we can all learn from taking the time to look through our past and see where we have come from. After all, if you don't know where you have come from and where you are; you might just be going in circles... :-) Here are a few of my favorite older images...

Golden Gate bridge (1998):

Interestingly this was taken with a Kodak DC120 camera. It had a whopping 1.2 Mega pixels. I still have a print of this on my desk at work. It is a 5x7 and is a bit grainy but I still get comments on it.

A couple from Arches National Park (2000):

 

 

A rare lighting storm in San Jose (2003):

It was not raining where I was on my front porch. I got really lucky with this and a couple of other shots.

Castle Geyser, Yellowstone National Park (2007):

It's all about the light right! We had been to Geyser basin earlier but I wanted to go back in the evening when the light might be better. It was! You have to stay on the walkways there for your safety as well as to preserve the gysers themselves so your options are often limited.

Finally (2008)...

Looking back through these images I see a progression toward better images, but at the same time I see talent. As we all do I strive to be better each day. My Photography now is light years ahead of what it once. So where are you in your photography?

Until next time,
Light Cipher

Uvas Canyon -- Tracy Camera Club outing

Yesterday we took a trip to Uvas Canyon.  Uvas is a great place and I have been wanting to go there for a while.  Unfortunately, every time I look at going down it is a "bad" time.  Last time was in the fall during the drought.  Uvas is known for it's waterfalls so going when there is no water seemed like a bad idea...

Anyway, luckily we have a new trip coordinator at the Tracy Camera Club who organized a trip.  Frank could not have picked a better day.

It turns out that not only is Uvas Canyon known for it's waterfalls... Apparently this is the best time to see Ladybugs by the thousands!  The Ladybugs hibernate here during the winter (Nov-Feb). These turned out to be some of the best subjects for the day!

Of course the waterfalls were nice as well!

On the way we found some trees which seemed to be missing something...

 

Throwing a flash in the roots seemed like a better idea when we thought that all the holes in there were connected.  It turns out they were not so the effect was a bit lost.  But as Jeff pointed out as he and his wife passed by "You gotta try!"

In the end I had the most fun working with the Ladybugs.  This little lady was very friendly and posed for nearly 20mins for us!  My friend Steggy and wife Lorrie really helped out on this shot.  A bit of flash, and 2 reflectors really got the shot I think.

Early afternoon was spent getting some lunch...  Well breakfast, an omelet, for me...  ;-)

On the way home we looked for some abandoned... (Abandoned is one of the subjects for our club this year.)

This used to be KAZA radio station.  There are all new houses popping up around it.

Once again, I would like to thank Frank from the Tracy Camera Club.  This was a great trip.  Thanks Frank!

Until next time,
Light Cipher