16. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

This is an other piece of driftwood that sparks imagination. For me it is the head of some sort of a monster, or is it a deformed, genetically altered skull of an animal?

For next weeks exercise go and collect four small rocks or stones that you can put on a table. Have a great week-end!

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15. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

I called this image “Open Mouth.”The dynamic of the lines and the simple black background give this picture an interesting appeal. In addition color does not get in the way this time. I also converted the image into black and white and decided to use the color version.

Enjoy and happy Thursday!

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14. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

I found a piece of wood that was partially burned. I decided to shoot with an open lens to get a shallow depth of field.

Enjoy!

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13. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

I carefully arranged my pieces of driftwood and decided to use a barn door strobe from the left and a fill in strobe 45 degrees from the right. I used as little light power as possible and I used two neutral density filters to get this image.

Enjoy and as always happy photographing!

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12. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

This is my third exercise involving wood. This exercises require that you go out through and collect pieces of wood. You need to take them home and here you can experiment with them. I use a light tent and usually two light source to create my images.

I collected pieces of driftwood. In this image I used two pieces of driftwood. I opted for a very shallow depth of field and an even light. I also converted the image to black & white to put an emphasis on the structure of the wood.

As always, enjoy this exercise!

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9. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

I visited downtown Merced looking for interesting windows. I came across this bar right around sunset. First I thought the tree is in the way then I decided that the tree makes the composition interesting.

Enjoy and happy Friday!

PS: I loved the tree exercises and I would like to shoot wood next week again. I started collecting driftwood while I visited a few beaches. You can also collect ordinary branches from any local park that are laying around. Please, don’t cut of break them off a tree!

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8. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

After coming home from my trip to Northern California and Oregon I took my photographic exercise walk around my neighborhood to see if I could find some interesting windows. I saw this window and it created in me all kinds of different feelings. It is dark inside, it’s mysterious, is it an invitation to peek in? All these feelings are most likely wrong. The window lays on the second floor and the owner most likely kept it open in the morning to get some cool air in.

Also, one person stopped me and asked what I am doing? He relaxed when I told him that I lived just around the corner. September 11 changed many of us. There is a lot of fear out and I am determined that fear is not running my life!

Enjoy photographing but be careful when you walk around your neighborhood with a camera!

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7. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

Photographing windows can be tricky, especially when the reflect things or people. I could have easily used this window to create some sort of self portrait. Instead I created a highly image with a lot of tension.  On one side your eyes are automatically drawn to the reflection and letters in the window on the other side the lines of the window frame point to the red alarm system in the upper right corner.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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6. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

I decided to photograph this window because of the interesting color combination. The warm red brick compliments the cold blueish window frame. The tobacco box inside the windows adds to the antique feeling.

Enjoy and happy window photographing!

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5. July 2010 by Friedhelm.

This weeks photographic exercise is easy but it also could be very challenging. Go out and photograph windows. Windows provide the opportunity for “framing” and partially photographing a subject. Both methods can be used to create and interesting image. As always have fun with this exercise.

I photographed this window in Jacksonville, OR, a beautiful historic town with millions of opportunity for every image maker. I decided to frame this window with the plants that are growing all around it.

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