![<span id="date">_05/08/10_</span> <span id="title">Towering Cage</span>
This imposing structure is a play tower at Clover Park, site of today's Santa Monica Festival which I attended briefly. It was fun - I hope to go again next year. I'd never been to the park before and I immediately noticed this cool tower. I just might have to go up it myself sometime...
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#531711259_6fqKN">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-SpTxcJN/3/d4c07894/L/2010-05-08%20Tower-L.jpg)
_05/08/10_ Towering Cage This imposing structure is a play tower at Clover Park, site of today's Santa Monica Festival which I attended briefly. It was fun - I hope to go again next year. I'd never been to the park before and I immediately noticed this cool tower. I just might have to go up it myself sometime... [last year]
![<span id="date">_05/24/10_</span> <span id="title">Bees on Flower</span>
This is the same flower - a Matilija Poppy (<em>Romneya coulteri</em>, native to SoCal) - as my <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year3/11272102_ACXDJ#867234029_53kRH">5/14/10</a> photo, but shot with my phone. I'm not super-happy with how it turned out, but I'm too tired to do anything else. I blame Monday.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#547523551_JAr5e">[last year]</a> <em>panoramadness! ...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-BxZDmGD/3/2b244a46/Ti/2010-05-24%20Bee%20on%20Flower-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/23/10_</span> <span id="title">Moody Splashing</span>
Waves crashing against the Santa Monica Pier. I used the cold tone preset in Lightroom and added a few of my own changes to get this look.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#547239075_se3xc">[last year]</a> <em>wish I were back here...</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-fdDzwjs/3/0a3022aa/Ti/2010-05-23%20Splashing-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/22/10_</span> <span id="title">Wet Vision</span>
I had a great afternoon in Culver City today with some friends. I took many photos, and so many of them turned out well, I posted them <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Misc/Culver-City">here</a>!
This was the last photo I took, just as the sun was going down. Someone had left these glasses in the fountain that's between the hotel and movie theater. If you've been there, you probably know what I'm talking about - there's a giant dancing lion statue in the middle of it - kids love it. Be sure to check the other photos, especially the one of the <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Misc/Culver-City/12278425_mMTVD#875686707_ZkN64">whisks</a> (it was the runner-up).
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#547073599_An43F">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-NZLvsM4/3/a7c79400/Ti/2010-05-22%20Wet%20Glasses-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/21/10_</span> <span id="title">Dancing Child</span>
Gettin' down with da island riddum.
I have no idea why this guy was playing the steel drums in front of a health food store, but it makes for a much more positive photo than the dead raccoon I saw on my walk home.
Have a great weekend!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#542614192_En7fP">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-tTVc2Mc/3/1a51839e/Ti/2010-05-21%20Dancing%20Child-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/20/10_</span> <span id="title">Trippy Bike</span>
For this shot, I set my bike upside down so the wheel could spin freely, then took a photo with my flash on repeating mode (strobe), while zooming in.
Today is LA's <a href="http://www.metro.net/around/bikes/bikes-metro/bike-to-work/">Bike to Work Day</a>, and I'm proud to say I participated. Besides getting exercise and keeping a car off the road, I also got free food! First pancakes at one pit stop, then a bagel and pastries at a 2nd later in the day. Not bad, not bad.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#542290111_SUAPE">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-dh9Cv6B/3/49de7a75/Ti/2010-05-20%20Trippy%20Bike-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/19/10_</span> <span id="title">Forgotten</span>
Turns out it's Bike to Work Week and so far I've failed to ride. I will tomorrow!
Got this shot as I left work today. This u-lock has obviously been here for a long time, and the dead leaves added a nice touch. Edits in Lightroom include lowering the overall clarity and then painting clarity back in on the lock and some of the leaves.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#541054012_Dg9XY">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-GZbw6c5/3/e388c040/Ti/2010-05-19%20Forgotten-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/18/10_</span> <span id="title">Couple on Pier</span>
It rained a bit today so I headed to the Santa Monica pier around sunset, hoping for something pretty. The sunset was a bust, but I got some good shots anyhow. Deciding on my favorite was a tough call; I chose it because the composition was better than the others. I increased the exposure to give it more of a blown-out look, although it was taken 10 minutes after sunset. I like the motion blur on the 2 couples in the background.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#540044069_4XnsG">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-p3Qt3n6/3/1b0833d4/Ti/2010-05-18%20Couple%20on%20Pier-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/17/10_</span> <span id="title">Glowing Balls</span>
Of cotton, that is!
I was searching for some sort of shot tonight, and I ended up with this - a jar holding cotton balls, placed on the edge of the sink. The faucet handles are what you see in the background, and I taped a black cloth against our mirror to hide our patterned tile. My SB-800 is in the sink, pointed up at the cotton balls.
It came out pretty close to what I envisioned, although now that I've put everything away I wish I'd cleaned off the water spots a little better.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#539268303_Rptjs">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-JLcRBHM/4/181b1fc8/Ti/2010-05-17%20Glowing%20Balls-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/16/10_</span> <span id="title">Tethering!</span>
I just found out about this! Mr. R Cooper over at <a href="http://www.mountainstorm.co.uk/photography/Tether-Overview/Tether-Overview.html">Mountainstorm</a> has written a tethering program with a Lightroom plug-in and is giving it away! You should donate if you use it, of course, although as of press time I don't see the "collection plate" he mentions. I'm pretty excited to find this, especially after hearing that Lightroom 3 will not support tethering on the D80, although it will for many newer cameras.
To show my appreciation for this new ability, but lacking a good subject, I photographed my computer screen with StudioTether running. Because of the LightroomTether plugin, each image I took automatically popped up on the screen, allowing me to take another photo with an extra StudioTether window. As you can see, these built up quickly, and the quality of the first shots is pretty degraded. This particular shot had 12 other shots before it.
Hope that makes sense - try it out yourself!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#538844190_6opdt">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-BWdJCKC/4/07775879/Ti/2010-05-16%20Tethering-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/15/10_</span> <span id="title">Wood Utensils</span>
Tonight I used my dishwasher as a light source. I started out just taking a quick shot of the clean dishes with my flash lighting from within, but then I got the idea for this and spent a good hour or so on it. Check out my <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Utility/Setups/8246339_SpVpq#868258628_UDH7A">setup shots</a> to get an idea of why it took so long.
The split toning effect was applied in Lightroom.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#538739112_53cLc">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-z3DqNww/3/c2966a8a/Ti/2010-05-15%20Wood%20Utensils-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/14/10_</span> <span id="title">Flight of the Honeybee</span>
In my head, the bee's soundtrack is Ride of the Valkyries.
I like this shot because it got the bee in focus at an interesting point in the composition, and you can see its wings! I took a lot of bee-on-flower shots today, because the Coulter's Matilija Poppies (<em>Romneya coulteri</em>, native to SoCal) were in full bloom and the bees seem to love them.
I made some adjustments on the bee to make it stand out a bit more, including the obvious desaturation of the background.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#538058211_cT84R">[last year]</a> <em>go Mark! ...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-J2fDjvF/3/0cabaff9/Ti/2010-05-14%20Flight%20of%20the%20Honeybee-2-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/13/10_</span> <span id="title">White Chair</span>
This chair can be found outside the Annenberg Space for Photography where I went for a lecture this evening. The speaker was Dennis Dimick, one of the executive editors at National Geographic. He gave a talk on environmental photojournalism that was really interesting.
In other news, I got my <a href="http://www.moo.com/">moo.com</a> business cards today! They look great! I highly recommend them.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#537979599_SLvGR">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-SMJJfKp/4/e2d1d254/Ti/2010-05-13%20White%20Chair-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/12/10_</span> <span id="title">Tulip</span>
Got this close up of a tulip using the morning light coming in through the window. It caught my eye a couple days ago as we ate breakfast, but I finally grabbed the camera today. I positioned our curtain behind it so the background would be black.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#535210992_a6kUh">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-f559QnN/3/e234c35c/Ti/2010-05-12%20Tulip-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/11/10_</span> <span id="title">Street Trash</span>
Not a very picturesque photo today - it's a shopping cart filled with trash, next to an on ramp for the 405 South. I liked the shadows, and it was pretty random to find a shopping cart completely filled with trash.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#534287662_rHETR">[last year]</a> <em>I should really revisit this tree as a subject...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-5dT6PBp/3/63b8321f/Ti/2010-05-11%20Street%20Trash-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/10/10_</span> <span id="title">Construction</span>
Rubble of old food place. Looking forward to the shiny new food place in about a year...
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#533462484_LXXpc">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-SQ6ZmzW/3/81adca96/Ti/2010-05-10%20Rubble-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/09/10_</span> <span id="title">Focus Stacked Tulip</span>
Well clearly I need more practice at this. I think it looks pretty cool, but at 100% there are lots of out of focus areas and weird artifacts. One thing I did to improve results was to align the layers before blending them. I'd love to hear your comments if you've played around with focus stacking. Here's the <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Utility/Setups/8246339_SpVpq#862307153_iFz3P">setup</a> for the shots.
I was inspired to give it another shot (I've done focus stacking daily photos before) after seeing <a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/2010/05/lighting-bugs-with-layers-of-genius.html">this post</a> on a blog.
Also, Happy Mother's day!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#532580609_S3vMH">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-76hWSgs/3/2635371c/Ti/2010-05-09%20Focus%20Stacked%20Tulip-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/08/10_</span> <span id="title">Towering Cage</span>
This imposing structure is a play tower at Clover Park, site of today's Santa Monica Festival which I attended briefly. It was fun - I hope to go again next year. I'd never been to the park before and I immediately noticed this cool tower. I just might have to go up it myself sometime...
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#531711259_6fqKN">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-SpTxcJN/3/d4c07894/Ti/2010-05-08%20Tower-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/07/10_</span> <span id="title">Air Filter</span>
Got a long-overdue replacement filter for our vacuum today. I took some decent shots comparing the old, dirty one to the new one, but my editor liked this abstract one instead. I used my macro lens and stuck it right on top of the filter so I could focus on the inside folds. I like how the plastic in between the folds looks a little like smoke. The steel blue color is how it came out of the camera.
In case you're wondering, my editor is my wife.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#531021256_TQBtS">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-d7JCnP6/3/1f8f7298/Ti/2010-05-07%20Air%20Filter-2-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/06/10_</span> <span id="title">Albino Damselfly</span>
Not really, of course.
I took this shot in the botanical gardens and didn't find it terribly interesting on its own. So often you see selective coloration - I kind of like selective desaturation myself. It's like a fill-in-the-blank!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#530214255_Evqjg">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-rWdrbzm/3/db3921f2/Ti/2010-05-06%20Albino%20Damselfly-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_05/05/10_</span> <span id="title">Federal</span>
This is the Federal building on Wilshire Boulevard. The building has the architectural character of a potato, but I thought it'd make a cool backdrop for one of the many flags. Because the flag was in line with the <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=&ll=34.057213,-118.449266&spn=0,0.004128&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=34.057175,-118.449354&panoid=EPSOpzbnPE0BHUNHCPcvcg&cbp=12,118.31,,0,-10.02">giant sign</a> (it's like 30 feet long), I couldn't get it perfectly straight. I decided to crop it so the bottom windows were level and the roof line was skewed.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#529485619_TFpPW">[last year]</a> <em>also, happy Cinco de Mayo! ...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Daily/Year3/i-j3SmSvv/3/133b1b38/Ti/2010-05-05%20Federal%20Building-Ti.jpg)