a whole lot of wishes

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

A whole Lot of Wishes

 

I visited Th's fountain over the weekend and saw all of these coins sitting at inside. Each coin represented a wish that somebody had deposited at the bottom. I figured that the fountain contained a couple thousand wishes and probably received tens of thousands of wishes each year. That's a lot of wishes. What if they all came true?

If every wish in Th's fountain came true. A lot of happy people would be walking around central Ohio. The chances are that I would run into one every once in a while. Now, when I see somebody with a particularly happy smile, I will wonder if they threw a coin in the fountain and made a wish.

 

 

pictures of rob

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

Rob 1

 

Rob 2

 

These are two portrait images that although very soft, I like very much. I would like to shoot them again to get them sharper? Why are they so soft? Well, I was shooting in dim light at f1.8. Combine the narrow DOF that resulted with the wide open aperture along with the my struggle to focus in dim light and you have the perfect condisitons to produce the soft images you see.

Still, I am happy with the light and compositions. Next time around, I would shoot with a nnarrower aperture, lower ISO, and use a tripod.

 

best of 2011

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

Floating Leaf

 

In another forum, I was asked to pick my 12 best photos of 2012. Really! It's like trying to pick your favorite child. As much as I tried to make my selection based on technical merit and composition, my emotional connection the the images kept creeping back into the decision making process.

Narrowing the selection down even further to a single "BEST OF 2011" image would be impossible. So, I will leave it up to you, my readers. Which of these images do you think is the best?

 

Back in the Saddle Again

 

Morning Barn

 

Shy Smile

 

Springfield Solstice

 

Cincinnati Sunrise 2

 

Barn Dance 3

 

Blue Wall, Red Window

 

Grove Pano 2

 

Ballerina Reflection B&W

 

On the Fence

 

Laundry Day 2

 

Leave a comment with your nomination of "Tim's Best Photo of 2011."

 

thistle and teazle

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

DSC02149

 

On Monday's outing in the snow, I came across some thistle and teazle and thought they were pretty interesting.

 

DSC02153

 

The snow was being blown by the wind and only one side of them was covered.I had to grab the stalks while I was shooting to keep them in focus. Can you tell which is the thistle and which is the teazle?

 

DSC02148

 

One of the plants had an industrial use. It was used by fullers to comb cloth.

 

Teazle 1

 

The other just sticks to your clothes and gets caught in your pets fur. Can you tell the difference?

 

 

first snow 2012

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

DSC02146

 

What a strange weather pattern we have had this winter and past fall. The unusually warm temperatures mean that not only is Monday's snow fall the first accumulation of 2012, but also the first of the entire season.

Normally we would have had some snow accumulation back in November and again in December. Not this season. We don't even expect this little dusting to last long. temperatures would be back in the forties by the end of the week and the snow will melt by the weekend.

Don't think that I am complaining, I'll take the warm weather while I can. February is just a few weeks away and I am sure that Old Man Winter will wake up and spread his cold blanket over Ohio before Spring arrives in April.

 

we had a ball

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

Ball 1

 

New Year's Eve, I took a friend up on an invitation to attend a Civil War ball held annually in SOuth Charleston, OH. I am not a reenactor and I really didn't know what to expect.

 

Ball 2

 

I don't think that I have ever used the word "enchanting" in my entire life. However, enchanting is the only word that really covers my experience. The ladies in their hooped skirts and the gentlemen in their tails and dress uniforms were a spectacular sight.

 

Ball 4

 

Just a little costume failure. Nothing that a couple safety pins couldn't remedy.

 

Hats 2

 

Ball 6

 

The ball was held in an old 1880's era opera house and the proceeds from the door charge went towards the upkeep of the building.

 

Fiddler

 

The small music group played throughout the evening and the guests waltzed and danced reels non-stop.

 

Ball 7

 

The ball is held twice a year, on January first and mid summer. I think I will plan on joining them again and again. After all, we can all use a little enchantment in our lives.

 

fourteen months

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

Fourteen Months

 

If you are a photographer, you probably put a lot of effort into creating images of places you have visited, friends and family, or special occasions. Then what? You might post them online, e-mail them to friends, and maybe you print some of them out so that you can place them in an album or post them on the refrigerator with a banana magnet (only the best photos get to use the banana magnet.) If you are particularly fond of an image, you might even print one large so that you can hang it on the wall.

Have you ever thought about putting them into a book and having them printed? 

There is nothing quite like seeing your photos printed in a book that you can share with other people. I create an annual book of my favorite photos of the preceding year. I also create a book for every destination vacation and give one to every one that traveled with me. You can see my latest annual photo book, titled fourteen months here: Download fourteen months.pdf (Its a big file at 160Mb).

With today's digital printing technology, printing your own custom photo book is affordable. From small pocket sized paperbacks to large hard bound coffee table books, there is probably a size and style that fits your needs perfectly.

If you have an Apple Mac, you already have alll the software you need on your computer in the form of iPhoto. However, there are a lot of other options available for Apple and PCs. Blurb, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Kodak and many more all come to mind. There are many companies offering similar services, just search Google for "custom photo books."

 

Check these out:

Aperture

Blurb

iPhoto

Shutterfly

Snapfish

 

I have used Aperture, Blurb, and iPhoto publishing services. The Apple products (Aperture and iPhoto) both offer nearly identical services and very good quality. Blurb offers an excellent option for Adobe InDesign users in the form of fully customize-able templates.

 

happy new year!

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

Fiddler

 

I had a fantastic New Year's Eve. For the first time in several years, I actually went out. Really! We normally stay home on New Year's Eve and have some family over for a fun evening of hanging out, eating and drinking. However, this year, I received an interesting invitation that just could not be turned down. And so, I braved the cold mean streets of Ohio and ventured out into the dark evening, only to find a lot of light and great music. I'll tell you more about my evening as the week goes by. How about you? What did you do for New Year's Eve?

 

the one for uncle eddie

Posted on by Tim McMurdo

The One for Uncle Eddie

 

This barn is located just a few minutes from my parent's home in northern Georgia. My Uncle Eddie has had his eye on this barn for some time and though he has photographed it on several occasions, he has never been happy with the results. He asked me to give it a try so that we could compare results.

We packed up our gear and made the short drive. Unfortunately, the gorgeous morning light was on the back side of the building and we had to shoot the front in shade. We tried several angles and lenses & out of the dozen shots that I took, this is my favorite.

Now, I am looking forward to seeing Uncle Eddie's results.