Tag Archives: photography

07/09/2021
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Photography, Social Media

Cheers to You!

I do not know how some of y’all do it. Out here looking flawless and know exactly the best way to show it. I’m amazed, inspired, in awe and let you know about it with all this stuff❤💜💙👍🏾👏🏾😍🥰🤩

Then you have folks like me, stay trying to get it all to work at the same time but failing miserably at the look and the mechanics of the situation.

I can’t take a selfie to save my life.

Y’all I must have assistance because I dont know how to hold the phone so I dont drop or take a photo of my palm. If I do manage to keep it on my hand part of my head or something else is chopped off. The only modicum of success I have is by using a tripod and still end up looking like this.

So I dedicate this post to the self portrait photogs of the world. I appreciate how you make the process look easy and you look bomb at the same time.

Can an old broad get a class or sump’n?

Shirt from the shop of dope DJ @iammissher

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05/26/2014
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Photography

Not a Photographer on Weather, Food and Wine

Atlanta shut down in February for a bit as well.  These photos sum that time up for me.

IMG_7853_lzn 20140209_172258 20140202_093830_lzn 20140201_183250_lzn

 

Photos: MsThorns

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05/20/2014
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Photography

Not a Photographer But… I Keep Taking Pictures

As chronicled before I participated in the Google+ 365 Photo Project for 2012 and 2013. For 2014 I decided against it, because I found that trying to find something new and/or inspiring on a daily basis was quite challenging. Then a funny thing happened I found that I was still taking photos quite a bit, not every day but certainly more than I expected. I actually missed doing it as it was a routine and made me pay attention to things that I normally would not pay attention to. As such I’m going to begin publishing some of those photos here. A story may be attached, a story may not. At any rate I hope you enjoy it.

H/T to M Hardy, I needed to do this anyway. Thank you.

First up, a couple of shots from January.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I am fascinated by heavy equipment.  I blame my father an automotive guy and being Hoosier surrounded by farmland, tractors and such.  The photo above is of construction near my job (the old location).  What made me take this photo was the giant “screw/drill” entering the ground. If you know the proper name, please feel free to drop that in the comments.  I’m curious.

IMG_7699 IMG_7672

The two icy looking photos are from Snowmageddon/Snowpacalypse I in Atlanta on January 28-29 of this year.  I’m sure you saw all of the hoopla and jokes.  They were all TRUE.  We were shut down until that Friday. The shut down was pretty fab as far I was concerned as I had plenty of food, wine and naps to pass the time away.

Look for the next installment of whatever this is going to be called on Not an Expert soon.

 

photos: MsThorns

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08/23/2012
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Photography, Uncategorized

Not a Photographer but I’m doing the G+ 365 Project Anyway

After joining the Google+ community (and yes it is that, forget what you heard) I found it to be a great place for photo-sharing.  As a person who is not a photographer but takes a lot of pictures and likes to share (some of them), I wanted to participate in/engage with the photography community. During the Christmas holiday last year, a door was opened, called the G+ 365/366 project.

About the G+ 365 project

In a nutshell G+365 is a photo-a-day project.  You take a photo every day, tag it with the +G+ 365 Project tag and share it.  The curators of the project/page may also reshare your “Public” photos.  Day 1 of your project starts whenever you decide to start so if you didn’t start on January 1, it is okay. Overall the guidelines for participating/posting are simple and of course participants have to adhere to Google’s Terms of Service.

Why did I do it?

First there was an expectation that viewing, commenting, re-sharing others photos and sharing my own shots would be inspiring.  Secondly, some skills had to be learned if I wanted to get any better and eventually upgrade to a DSLR. Participating in the project would be an education. Thirdly it was a test to see if for ONCE this old broad could stick to something for an extended period of time, without it being required.


How’s it going?
  • A month and half in, my camera broke (not really just the battery door), other than that snafu it’s been great. Thus far I’ve:
  • viewed a lot of beautiful photos
  • talked to real photographers, who are all very nice
  • learned by imitation and by just trying to stuff to see if works
  • found a couple of photography themes that I really like including +Sacred Sunday and +Powerline Friday 
  • been inspired to look at my surroundings differently
and
  • not quit the project 🙂
There are days when I’m tired after work and don’t feel like shooting.  There are days when I have no ideas, no inspiration and not even the strength to look up a theme to help me, but at the same time, quitting has not been an option. The rewards of participating however, greatly outweigh those bad days, just because of all the cool, quirky and even mundane things that I’ve seen along the way. So if you’re looking for something fun, yet challenging I highly recommend the G+ 365 Project.
In case you’re curious about what a non-photographer shoots you can see my album here.
 
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04/01/2012
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Photography

Not a photographer and still don’t have a tripod

In my last post about the Nikon L105 I talked about how there is no full time image stabilization.  Nikon calls it motion detection and it is not available in the following situations:

  • When the camera is set to Fill Flash
  • When the ISO is set to a specific number in Auto Mode
  • When using multishot
  • When using these scene modes: Night Portrait, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Museum, Backlight
  • When using Sports Continuous mode
or when the subject is too dark or too far away, like the moon. Whew!

I haven’t tried to get the moon again at night, but lucked up on it this evening near sunset.  I know there was some camera shake because of the way I positioned myself on top of the car.  This is what I got:

 
A little fuzzy, but not too bad and no post-processing.

Think I may wait on the tripod a little while longer.

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03/27/2012
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Not photographer but I may need a tripod

I wrote a post in February about my camera woes.  My Canon SX130is (point and shoot) suffered an injury and requires special care when in use, it is thank goodness, not completely broken. During the camera’s downtime, the backup camera a smaller less powerful was put in use for my daily photo-taking needs.  On a Saturday night whim I went into Target and rolled up on this:

for $89 bucks and the 15X zoom I figured, this was a no brainer.  My dad uses a Nikon DSLR, I liked it I figured I could get a baby one to meet my needs.  For the most part so far, it has. For the most part.
What I dig about it
The weight.  Some folk don’t like heavier point and shoots, I do.  The smaller camera’s like the A2200, though it takes some pretty smashing photos feels a little fragile in my hands.  The L105 is listed at 14.4 oz.
The Zoom
Is a 15X Wide Angle zoom.  Since I’m not a photographer I don’t know what all that means but I do know that I can be a bit further away from the object that I’m shooting and capture a nice image.
 
The Speed
Seems much faster especially when using flash.  The delay is not nearly as long as what I was accustomed to between shots.
It’s Simple
There’s really a ton of scene modes on the L105.  I’ve used them all with the exception of panorama.

What I didn’t care for

The Simplicity
For a person trying to learn photography and absolutely adamant about not purchasing a DSLR until she’s satisfied with her skills, the simplicity of the camera is a drawback.  The scene modes, though plentiful don’t allow you to change much.  I was pretty much accustomed to using AV and making adjustments.  On the L105 you can make a few adjustments in auto mode, but it requires several clicks through the menu to get what you want.
Image Stabilization or the lack thereof
I didn’t know that I had such a shaky hand until I went out to take pictures of the moon.  Image stabilization is not a full time option on the L105.  Only certain scene modes and Auto without full deployment of the lense have image stabilization.  I would think (can could be wrong for doing so), that full-time image stabilization should be standard on a point and shoot.
Macro
Is weird. There is an obvious macro button, but when used, the focus goes completely out of whack.  My shots in macro mode have been hit or miss.
Those three things aside, I’m fairly happy with this camera.  I do think because of Canon’s image stabilization I’ll likely switch back on the next purchase.  In the meantime I will continue learning/using the Nikon day to day and use the Canon, when I want to shoot the moon.
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02/27/2012
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Not a photographer, but not exactly pleased with Canon

If’ you’re on Google+ you may know about my woes with my Canon SX130 is.  It’s a nice substantial point and shoot that I won back at the end of 2010.  I’ve taken a bazillion pictures with it and was working on the next bazillion when on Valentine’s Day it failed.
It kept cutting off and the lense wouldn’t collapse back into the body.  After being pissed about it for a few days.  I gave the camera a closer inspection and found that the battery door was cracked and wouldn’t close.
This is my fourth Canon point and shoot, the second with a battery door problem. Two Saturdays ago I took a chance at getting the camera fixed and stopped at Wolf Camera.  The salesperson said they don’t do on-site work, the SX130is was still so new that it was even listed in their service book and it would likely cost $200 to send out, which I thought was outrageous. She then suggested that I use duct-tape, proceeded to tape it up for me and also recommended another a repair shop to get the battery door replaced.
On President’s Day I went to Camera Repair Japan (CRJ) and a few days later they told me that Canon is not producing battery covers for this model and that they are only offering replacement cameras.  She like the lady at Wolf Camera recommended duct tape.
Friday I finally called Canon.  They told me that they are offering replacements for out of warranty models for $130.00.  I was like WHAT?  She also told me that there was a Canon loyalty program in which I could purchase another camera at a discounted price which included (all refurbs) the SX 120is, T1i, Rebel XS and T2i, but none of my current model.  Though I’d love an SLR I can’t justify that purchase right now due to my lack of knowledge (remember, not a photographer) and I just don’t have the cash.  I decided to roll with the duct tape or to hold the cover closed while taking pictures.
Then I went to Target.
There to pick up a new gym bag and socks I stopped in electronics and saw that my model was on sale for $99, there was also a Nikon on sale for the same price. The guy tells me the only $99 Nikon available was the display.
I walked out with the Nikon, like it so far and will discuss it in a subsequent post.
 
What rubbed me raw about the battery door situation was that Canon wanted me to buy a refurb for more than what a new one costs. Although the camera is just a point and shoot I do use it daily and want it to perform.  If it  doesn’t for whatever reason I really don’t want to go through a bunch of changes to get it fixed or replaced.
If it’s this difficult now, what will it be like be like when I plunk down DSLR change?
Photographers and hobbyists please weigh in.  What’s been your experience with Canon repair and replacement? Does it get better or worse as the price of your gear goes up?
Note: I am aware that Nikon is changing or attempting to change their policy which would prohibit local repair shops from receiving parts to fix their products.  What is going on with that?
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