Hookah was lemonade flavoured tabacco! Honest pete.
It was wild and nico-teeny in a big way;)!
~m

Sigh, I REALLY wish I could indulge in a bit of hookah now and then, but alas, I cannot. Sounds tasty, it does!

Cher

yeah, it was weird... clean smoke (not all burnt-papery like a cigarette/cigar) and it tasted like freakin' lemonade. wild.

~fff

Taken with the OLY SP-550UZ:


Beware Of the Dog



Thanks for looking!

Cher

Two new ones:


Alley Songs - Lily Shadows2


Alley Songs - Mattress In Window

Both taken with the OLY SP-550UZ.

Thanks for looking!

Cher

greetings from ocean isle beach, nc...

birds!


a model-esque captsomer...


the darling friend...

Kylie - looks like that new DSLR is working great! Hope to see more photos.

Cher

I know this has been said before, but there are some FABULOUS pictures in here! I am SO impressed!

Debated whether or not this should go here or in the Music forum and finally opted for here.

This has been a long time favorite TVZ song of mine. Sometimes a gal just gets lucky and stumbles upon the NEATEST things to photograph!


White Freightliner Blues

White Freightliner Blues
By Townes Van Zandt

I'm goin out on the highway
Listen to them big trucks whine
I'm goin out on the highway
Listen to them big trucks whine

White freight liner
Won't you steal away my mind
Ah, New Mexico ain't bad, Lord
And the people there they treat you kind
And the people there they treat you kind

Well, its bad news from Houston
Half my friends are dying
Well, its bad news from Houston
Half my friends are dying

Ah, Lord, Im gonna ramble
Till I get back to where I came
Ah, Lord, Im gonna ramble
Till I get back to where I came

I'm goin out on the highway
Listen to them big trucks whine
I'm goin out on the highway
Listen to them big trucks whine

Cher

I've not been on much lately--been busy thanks to summer and all. Right now I am down in the sunshine state and here are some pics I took last night (Thursday, June 28, 2007) of the skies here in Central Florida:

I am heading to Savannah, GA and Hilton Head Isl. SC for the weekend and plan to get some nice shots of the squares in Savannah, the tidal marshes and the beaches in and around that part of "the Low Country" so I will post some of those shots once I have them.

Someone mentioned RAW files-I have that ability to capture RAW file photos on my new cam but have yet to get that far with it yet--it is going to take me a bit to figure out all this new camera can do.

I do need to get Photoshop Essentials---

so that's my vacation in a nutshell.

GREAT vacation from the looks of it!

Cher

Kylie, Your photos are wonderful. You may have studied to be a message therapist but photography is your calling. You have a gift. Txo

as usual kj, great stuff. only seven pictures...ummm, what else were you doing?

KJ I lovvvvvvvve your pictures!!! That looks AWESOME.

Great photos Kylie---excellent----

Here are some of the pics I took at Hilton Head:

Kylie - seriously, girl, you're photos are awesome. Need I ask just how much you are enjoying the DSLR? The photo of the little girl is priceless. Well done!

Cher

No kidding... you and that camera were made for each other, kayjay!

thanks, guys. i'm really enjoying it... but honestly, i don't feel like i know how to use it! it's one heckuva camera.

pretty pics there, mpgarr.

Shit, I just caught my mistake quoted by Keith for all eternity. Sheesh, and I used to be good in grammar and spelling!

Cher

No trespassing ... fo' shizzle!


No Trespassing!

Mellencamp WAS right. There are little pink houses to be found in Indiana!


Little Pink House

Taken with the OLY SP-550UZ.

Thanks Kylie--but my hat is off to you--those were some awesome pics you took down on the Outer Banks----what camera did ya get and what photo editor are you using---I really like the pic of the board walk and the surrealistic effect---it looks great---

I am going to get Photoshop Essentials---

I got a Nikon d50 (DSLR)... very nice camera, and I got a great deal on it by getting a factory refurbished product. I use Picasa and Paint Shop Pro... which I need to upgrade.

Thanks for reminding me about Picasa Kylie--I took some time and reworked some of those shots and some new pics I have taken---including some as the sun set tonight (July 4th)---I am back up on Indian Lake here in Ohio---



























The first seven pictures were from Hilton Head---the final group were from Indian Lake, Ohio over the past several days--my camera is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 Compact Digital--it has many of the same features as does DSLR cameras--it can actually take other lenses with a special adapter--I am still learning all of the functions and features of this one---it is going to take me awhile--right now I am mostly taking pictures in either the "Easy Mode" or using the menu of "Scenes" the camera offers---My skills may not be up to the camera's potential as yet, but it sure is nice to have a camera that can do lots of things!!!

I sure do enjoy seeing everyone's work--hope everyone has been liking mine as well---

Here are 3 photos of 'illegal' fireworks that I shot from the roof of my residence hall tonight before the "real" show started. I believe these were being shot off by someone in a nearby river camp. They were NOT a part of the city's show.


Illegal Fireworks1


Illegal Fireworks2


Illegal Fireworks3

All were shot in Fireworks mode and using a tripod. In the 2nd photo, I was resting my hand on the camera and jiggled it as I removed my hand after shooting the photo.

I think I'm going to be purchasing a quick release shutter cable next. It would make it MUCH EASIER to watch the show and photograph at the same time.

All were taken with the OLY SP-550UZ.

This is the only hand-held shot of the night, and I like it very much!


Fireworks34 (handheld)

This is it for the fireworks photos ... I promise!

All taken with the OLY SP-550UZ, Fireworks mode and with tripod. They were taken from the top of my residence hall several blocks away from the launch site on the river near downtown. It's the best place to view them, and you don't have to fight the crowd!


Fireworks14


Fireworks33


Fireworks21


Fireworks11


Fireworks9


Fireworks5


Fireworks29


Fireworks32

Kinda like this in a creepy sort of way:


End Of Dreams5

Taken with the OLY SP-550UZ.

Thanks for looking at them all!

Cher

Michael, I love the clouds and sky shots. Beautiful. The beach ones look like postcards.

Cher, Great fireworks. My son had one of the remote release buttons. Great for seeing the real thing in full before shooting, instead of a little frame.....and no jitters
The graffiti is great photo-journalism.

Thanks again, everybody for sharing your art.

When it comes to shooting fireworks, I like the sometimes random effects I get with the handheld camera:
I think shooting through a screened window gave me a sort of starburst filter on this one.














I took photos of both the Dayton fireworks on July 1st and the Kettering fireworks last night, where things got a bit wet before the finale.

The album index can be found here, if you want to see more.

A shutter release cable is on my "to get" list. I can use it on the OLY. Couldn't use one on the Kodak. It would have sure made things a lot easier. Oh well.

Thanks, Trudes.

Cher

Jeanne - great photos! I WILL someday capture one like you did in #6. They have long been my faves.

Cher

Thanks Trudes--glad you like the shots from the beach---I like the fireworks pics too--I hope to get some on Saturday night when they shoot them off over the lake--the only problem is--I will be on the boat and that is not too stable of a platform if the wind is up and kicking up the waves--but I hope that conditions will be favorable--we have sure had our share of lovely evenings the past several days.

Tonight--I was riding around in the rural Ohio countryside near the lake and went past some of the fields belonging to one concentration of Amish--as I am sure most are aware--they tend to use less modern methods of farming and such---

I love the way their fields look after they harvest their wheat--I went out into one of their fields and captured a number of shots of their harvest and also had the added bonus of being able to shoot pictures of one of their harvester/thrasher machines---at first I was a bit concerned that the blue tarp they had covering some of the mechanicals of the device would make for bad photos-but as you can see--it added a dramatic element to the pics---

I had vowed not to take specific sky photos tonight---but when I got home--the last shot is one of a series I took of the sky off to the east--the land below is a farm field--this one worked by a "modern farmer." This year he has soybeans growing---I love it when he has corn growing, but it can restrict a view of the eastern horizon though---

Well--here are some more shots---hope everyone likes 'em!





















This shot above is just across the dirt lane that leads to the area where the lake house is--the lake is on the west side of the lane--so we have two cool things--a fairly sizeable, navigable body of water on one side---farm fields on the other---

SENSATI NAL!!! Thanks for sharing a slice of your part of the world! Great, great job.

Cher

Thanks so much for that compliment Cher--coming from you-with all of your great photos--that is very high praise indeed!!!

I have always enjoyed your photos, as well of those of others such as bivester and now Kylie Jo---


I do enjoy seeing what everyone is doing--it is those pics was one of the reasons I decided it was high time for me to invest in something better than a simple point and shoot.

These new digital cameras and the software available makes it much easier to take geat photos---some time back I have had film 35mm SLR cameras, but never approached anything like what I have already done with my new digital camera and editing software.

I was thinking--taking photos like these does kind of make one see the world in a slightly different way---

It is also interesting that the finished photos can be much more interesting and prettier than what the eye caught at the time and place the pictures were taken!!!!

I had not considered that aspect of photography before experiencing this myself firsthand----

Great photos all. Jeanne, the photo you have showcased in your post is like a Norman Rockwell print. Wonderful. Michael, I love the clouds and especially the road pix: ...the slow curve of a back road, one hand on the wheel...
yeah.

It is really neat ... no? The best advice that I can give is HAVE FUN and experiment, experiment, experiment.

Cher

Cher--I really liked your fireworks pics--my favorite is the one where the green burst lights up the water tower that has the name of your town on it---that is a great photo---

I love the B&W photo of the wall---it is "most interesting"

I had no photos to post tonight--I spent most of the day doing a decorative wall treatment to some of the walls of the main living area in my lake cottage--I only did three adjoining walls--but now that I am done--I have decided--I have to finish off and do the rest of them--and since my kitchen is part of the main area---I am going to have to do one more wall in the style I did the rest of the kitchen to make it look finished off too, but when I am done--it will really make the place very nice....

There is always something to be done!!!!

This is a great photo--I love it for the same reasons---awesome!!!!

Thanks for your kind words!

How 'bout posting some before and afters?

Cher

Thought for sure that we were going to get hammered yesterday evening, but it ended up being all bluster. It did cool things down nicely, however. Looked like a HUGE hole in the sky.

Taken with the OLY SP-550UZ:


Torn

Thanks for looking!

Cher

Cher--I do need to get some "before and after" shots of my little place--I will taKe them and post----I did splurge and get Photoshop Elements 5.0---it is going to take a bit to figure that all out...the main reason I did get it---my camera can take RAW photos and I plan to start experimenting with working with photos done in that mode-----

Looking at some of the shots you and others took of some Midwest landscapes and scenes--I think I am going to do a bit of exporing around my area in the next few days---take some shots of some country scenes---

Another photo mission I am planning---taking shots of Cincinnati all over the area beginning early in the day and going till past nightfall to get some scenes of the city at night----

There is literally no end to the subject matter that lend themselves to great photos----

BTW--I love the "hole in the sky" photo you just posted....

Cher...Torn is awesome. Are you sure you didn't paint that picture?

Errrrmmmmmm, well .... not exactly, but I did do an auto tone correction with the OLY software. Other than that, it's how it came out of the camera.

Thanks, Trudes!

Cher

Here are 2 pictures of Hanging Rock in Australia where the Weir movie "Picnic at Hanging Rock" was shot.

just playin' around...

Now that I am in love with John Butler, I really want to go to Australia.
Nice shots Robert.
Brilliant work, Bill.

I'm not sure just who this fellow is, but I see him walking from the grocery store quite often. I've thought of offering him a lift, but something tells me that he would turn me down. He's always dressed in a white shirt, black pants and shoes and has a large wooden cross hanging on his neck, oh and the hat is always a part of his costume as well. I've wanted to get a photo of him but can never seem to catch him. This is the closest I've gotten so far. Almost deleted it, but for some odd reason I like the shot. Perhaps because the auto focus of the OLY caught on his shoe, and the sign in the shoe store window kind of completes the story.

I'm posting both the color and the B&W version here. I'm not sure which one I like the best.


The Shoe1


The Shoe2

Thanks for looking!

Cher

cher, just a little info...the blur is due to the movement of the subject, not focus. just a hint, if it's a "blur" (as in this picture) w/some things focused/sharp, others not, it's subject movement. if things are on the same "plane" (as in his body and his leg) and one is sharp and the other isn't, it can't be focus, focus is entirely based on the distance of the subject to the point where the image is captured. if one thing on that plane or in that area of "depth of field/depth of focus" (based on the aperature settings), is in focus, all will be. so oddly, that one leg was fairly stable as the rest of his body was moving (it doesn't take much movement for this to happen, i'm guessing your shutter was prob aroung 1/8th - 1/30th of a sec). if nothing in the entire pic is sharp, 9 out of 10 times, it's camera movement, rather than focus. usually if it's a "focus" issue, something will be sharp in the pic, just the wrong thing.