High Contrast
2011-05-03 I got shot today. With drugs. The Hepatitis A vaccine to be exact. It's one of the things the CDC says you need when traveling overseas to Africa. But more on that later... The really exciting thing is this staircase that led up to the doctor's office. It seemed like a nice study in... lines and patterns, I guess. It was a slow day for photography, but I do like how this turned out - I knew this staircase had some sort of potential. In other news, check out my new website for sharing cool photos I find (including a few from the dailies!) - jawsnap.tumblr.com [last year]
blockstaircasestairsuclawindow2011HighContrastblack and white
![<span id="date">_09/14/10_</span> <span id="title">Pull</span>
Desperation shot tonight. You pull this string and the light turns off - like magic!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#650076340_MSSbk">[last year]</a> <em>my favorite egg shot...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-dtLZPcD/2/701b202f/Ti/2010-09-14%20Pull-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_12/31/10_</span> <span id="title">Icicle Lights</span>
Here it is, the last photo for 2010. Exactly 60 photos remain until I complete Year 3 and start on Year 4 of this crazy project.
In addition to the last day of the year, it's also our last night in Tucson, and I wanted to get a shot of something from my parents house. I noticed the light bulbs catching the late sun, so I went with that. I like how the vegetation is subtle and blurry, but still recognizable as the desert. I mainly used the B&W Creative - Look 3 preset in Lightroom for editing.
Also - <strong>HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!</strong>
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#754302180_CD3iN">[last year]</a> <em>big bird...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-6QJSgBZ/2/d3be5c93/Ti/2010-12-31%20Icicle%20Lights-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">__01/05/11__</span> <span id="title">Alan</span>
This curly-haired fellow is Alan. We work together and were at a farewell party for one of our bosses. I had hoped to get her as the photo of the day, but too many people had said too many nice things about her and she was in no mood to be photographed. As you can see, it worked out. I haven't done a portrait for a daily photo since <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year3/11272102_ACXDJ#1072478145_sXVno">Halloween</a>, unless you count <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year3/11272102_ACXDJ#1096457758_2eDsW">this mashup</a>.
In other news, check out my newest post - <a href="http://blog.jawsnap.net/2011/01/8-crazy-days-in-hawaii/">8 Crazy Days in Hawaii</a>. We did so much on the trip that it's taken forever to write, but I'm pretty happy with it.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#758360693_szCYF">[last year]</a> <em>also curly...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-ngSg2NC/2/aefd3b28/Ti/2011-01-05%20Alan-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_10/20/10_</span> <span id="title">Wet Agave</span>
Today's wet photo is of some agave in the UCLA botanical gardens. I had my macro lens, but this was as close as I could get without getting stabbed by the plant next to it. The clouds cleared up this evening, so hopefully that's the last of the rain for a while.
Thanks for all the comments on <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year3/11272102_ACXDJ#1055496213_iHf3T">yesterday's shot</a>! Did you notice it was taken with an iPhone?
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#687518462_f3Roa">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-nwMMj8b/2/41436a78/Ti/2010-10-20%20Wet%20Agave-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">__01/15/11__</span> <span id="title">Glass of Shells</span>
This lovely glass full of little shells can be found in our bathroom, like <a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/seashells-transform-suburban-bathroom-into-tropica,17582/">so many bathrooms</a>.
Setup: I set the glass on a piece of large white paperboard to get a background with no seams. On the right, I set the back of the foam board I used in yesterday's shot and pointed my off-camera flash at it, so it would bounce off. On the left, I set up a black cloth to avoid reflections. I intentionally overexposed, and then tweaked a little in Lightroom.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#765461555_ML9k9">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-nL4ghhL/2/b0f3e92d/Ti/2011-01-15%20Glass%20of%20Shells-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">__01/29/11__</span> <span id="title">Walking in Black</span>
These two women were photographed while walking down an alley in Santa Monica. My position was on level 8 of a parking garage. We had just watched True Grit. I liked it.
You may have noticed that this photo is a bit gritty. Truly, it's because of the ISO noise.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#776411998_XMTot">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-PsmBSrN/2/4ceea77c/Ti/2011-01-29%20Walking%20in%20Black-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/20/10_</span> <span id="title">Light and Webs</span>
A light fixture with a lot of cobwebs. Pretty much a desperation shot, didn't do a whole lot today.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#625882902_LcrfC">[last year]</a> <em>now this is a desperation shot...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-MmztHZV/3/83bd8bc6/Ti/2010-08-20%20Light%20and%20Webs-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_08/27/10_</span> <span id="title">Fancy Mac</span>
Even Apple haters can't deny the beautiful engineering of the Mac Pro chassis. This one is a couple years old, but I just got it at work to use today. This shot was taken with my phone, it's pretty much a desperation shot.
Have a super weekend, y'all!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#632372508_ximNP">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-tW2LQmf/3/5d6dc98c/Ti/2010-08-27%20Mac%20Pro-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">__01/10/11__</span> <span id="title">Laces</span>
It may not be as cool as <a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year3/11272102_ACXDJ#1152242507_PgvC9">yesterday's photo</a>, but here is yet another black and white. Fear not, there will be more water droplet photos in the future.
These are the laces of the shoes I wore today to my first day of a 3 month long fitness program at work. I am so exhausted, I had no idea we'd work so hard the first day. My legs were buckling at the end and I could barely make it up and down small sets of stairs. I can't help but think my daily photos will suffer as a result, but hopefully I just need to make it over the hump and then I'll be good. I hope the hump is tomorrow...
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#762166878_JBbtn">[last year]</a> <em>ugh, not one of my better efforts...</em>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-d2CS6pD/2/e27a8107/Ti/2011-01-10%20Laces-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">__01/31/11__</span> <span id="title">Cooked</span>
This lime slice helped flavor some chicken we ate tonight. It was tasty.
Pretty much a desperation shot, I used my macro lens and set my off-camera flash to the side of the pan. Converted to B&W in LR3 using the 'Look 3' preset.
In other news, I entered a bunch of photos into an iPhone photo contest. If you have a few seconds (really, just seconds) then please vote for my <a href="http://www.thebestcamerachallenge.com/bin/Rate?image_id=2000307105">sea turtle</a> and/or <a href="http://www.thebestcamerachallenge.com/bin/Rate?image_id=2000307108">leaf drop</a> photo - both were photos of the day. Thanks!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#778175730_DFMqk">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-9L8XKz6/2/72324802/Ti/2011-01-31%20Cooked-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_04/28/10_</span> <span id="title">Forbidden Love</span>
Quick 'n dirty iPhone shot today. If you don't get this, the keywords might help. I tried to position the cables so the black one was "looking" at the white one. Have a good day!
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/gallery/7157835_BfJPF#523841405_z9g4F">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-s8jNRv5/3/45485fb3/Ti/2010-04-28%20Forbidden%20Love-Ti.jpg)
![<span id="date">_06/19/10_</span> <span id="title">Trail of the Wet Dog</span>
A wet dog ran past me today, leaving a winding trail of water originating from the fountain that you can see at the top of this photo. Hee hee. Dogs are funny.
<a href="http://www.jawsnap.net/Daily/year2/7157835_BfJPF#568719822_LXRho">[last year]</a>](https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Black-and-white/i-78Ft4Zg/3/84adab14/Ti/2010-06-19%20Trail%20of%20the%20Wet%20Dog-Ti.jpg)